Her smile returned briefly before faltering again. “There’s something else, isn’t there?”
I nodded again. “What happened to Mom and Dad?”
She chewed on her lip, studying me. “How much do you know?”
“Bones said something about a cover up.”
“Their death wasn’t an accident, Ari. They were going to rat out some dirty cops and…” She looked down.
“And they were murdered for it,” I said.
She nodded.
It didn’t surprise me at all that our parents were killed for taking the high road. Truly honorable people rarely lived to old age. Knowing they’d been betrayed by other cops did sting, though. “And Uncle Jay?” Our uncle was our hometown’s district attorney. He had the power to bring guilty people to justice, but he was an asshole who rarely used his power for good.
“He knew. I didn’t tell you about it, because I knew you’d confront him. You can’t talk to him about it, Ari. He made it clear that if this gets out, the cops who killed mom and dad would come after you and me. And you know Uncle Jay will rat us out in a second.”
My chest felt like it would burst. My parents had been murdered, and my big sister had kept it from me.
She hadn’t trusted me to keep my mouth closed.
Granted, I hated Uncle Jay already, and probably would have laid into him, so she’d probably been wise to keep the truth from me. The more I thought about it, the more I appreciated her wisdom. I hadn’t been mature enough to deal with it back then, but I was now. Nine years had passed since our parents’ death. The cops involved were probably either retired or transferred by now.
“Say something. You’re not plotting my murder, are you?” she asked.
“No.”
“Uncle Jay’s murder?”
“I’ve already plotted that one out.” I cracked a smile and she gave me one back.
“Hopefully you have plans to make it painful? Lots of suffering?”
“Sharks with frickin’ laser beams,” I said, quoting Dr. Evil.
We shared a conspiratorial grin. Then Markie rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling. “Thank you for coming to see me. And for talking about this stuff with me. The old Ari would have just gotten mad and avoided me.”
True. “And the old Markie would have dodged my questions, insisting I was too young for the truth.”
“We used to be such bitches,” she said, giggling as she reached for my hand. “I’m glad we’re not like that anymore.”
Holding her hand, I agreed, “Me too.”
“Now, tell me what’s up with you and Bones. Have you figured out how to get him in your pants yet?”
My face warmed and I shifted, collapsing on my back to stare at the ceiling as well. While Markie was drugged out of her mind, I’d poured out my feelings and intentions for Bones to her, thinking she wouldn’t remember any of it. Turns out she remembered everything, and she’d been bugging me to come clean with Bones about my feelings ever since.
“We’re keeping it casual,” I said.
Propping herself up on an elbow, she stared at me. “You and Bones did…”
“Everything.”
A grin stretched across her face. “I need details.”
I groaned in protest.
“Look, Angel hasn’t touched me since we’ve been home from the hospital. He’s giving me time to heal and I hate it. Ineeddetails. I need to live vicariously through you right now. I need stories of hot romance and wild sex.”
