“Cordial. Not loving. He’d always been distant with me. Made sure I had food, clothes, went to school, didn’t cause him problems the way Carter did.”
“And when Carter killed him?” Jenkins prodded.
“They were arguing.” I sipped my ginger ale to soothe my throat. “As usual. I was more irritated than upset about it. They always fought. Anyway, I went downstairs to get something, I don’t remember what now. They were in Dad’s den when I stopped at the doorway to ask them to shut up. That’s when Carter pulled his gun and shot Dad.”
I swallowed hard. “It stunned me. Seeing my father with his face blown to hell. I couldn’t believe it.”
Jenkins gave me a few minutes to gather my thoughts, not pressuring me. “Take your time.”
Squeezing Avery’s hand, I continued. “I don’t think Carter knew I was home. He suddenly saw me. He went white. He said my name.” I drank more ale from my cup. “I knew in an instant he’d shoot me, too. Cover his tracks. He couldn’t risk me talking to the cops.”
“So what did you do?”
“I ran like a rabbit,” I replied softly. “Didn’t look back.”
“What did your brother do?”
“Called for me to wait, to stop. But he didn’t chase after me. I don’t know why he didn’t. He probably could have caught me if he had.”
“Have you seen him since that day?” Jenkins asked, his voice bland.
“I guess you know I did.”
“What?” Avery barked. “When?”
“At the grocery store,” I said. “He said he wanted to talk. I stood up to him, told him I’d kill him if he bothered me. He walked away, and I thought he’d leave me alone. That I’d won.”
“I’d say he wanted you to lower your guard,” Jenkins commented dryly. “Does he drive a pickup?”
“No. A Mercedes.”
“We still can’t rule him out.” Jenkins finally stood. “I’ll work with the PD and the feds from your home city on this. I’ll also get an arrest warrant issued. I’m sure he knows he didn’t kill you and may stick around for another go.”
“Let him.” Avery’s eyes burned with rage. “I’ll rip his heart from his chest and make him eat it.”
“Whoa there, cowboy,” Jenkins said. “No vigilante shit, okay? I don’t want to arrest you for foolishness.”
Avery smiled. “You won’t have to.”
Obviously, Jenkins didn’t much like Avery’s smile nor his attitude. Still, there wasn’t anything he could do about either one. He stared at Avery, their gazes locked for a long time, then he breathed deeply. Jenkins turned to me and patted my arm.
“You get better, eh? If you suspect your brother is around, or if you see him, you call me. Day or night. Got it?”
“Yeah.”
He fished his card from his wallet and left it on my bedside table. After a nod toward Avery, he left my room. I shut my eyes, exhausted from the ordeal, and craving the sweet oblivion of sleep. I thumbed my morphine drip – finally.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Avery asked, his tone soft.
“I was going to. Eventually. But I thought Carter would leave me alone.”
“He’s been looking for you all this time.”
I remembered the lady outside the library, the goon I’d killed. “He’s known exactly where I was the entire time I’ve been here.”
“So why did he wait so long to act?”
“To torture me. Psychologically. He told me he wanted to talk, his goon was supposed to only scare me. He found out I’m not scared at all.”
