“Me? If this is about a job?—”
“It’s about Tyler.”
Cole’s heart began to thump. “T-Tyler? Where?—?
“There was an accident on the job tonight. Tyler’s team was scouting in one of the abandoned skyscrapers. The floor gave way. Your brother fell.”
“Fell? Where is he? Is he okay?”
“No, Cole. He’s…not okay. It was a long fall. He didn’t make it. I’m sorry. I know how close you two were and, while it was an accident, I take care of my own.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills. “This is five hundred dollars. For you.”
Colesat in the dark, shivering and alone. He’d already flown into a rage. He’d already broken things. He’d already cried. Now he sat on his crate with the pile of money in front of him. But he wasn’t looking at the stack. He was looking at the crate where he’d hidden the paw.
That accursed thing.
Cole hadn’t been specific enough—he hadn’t saidhowhe wanted the money. So the paw provided it, in the worst possible way. That’s why the old man gave it to Murray. Cole had no idea what Murray had done to the old man, but it had been something, and that “gift” was revenge. That’s why he hadn’t taken the bills.
I killed my brother. I was foolish and I was greedy, and I thought maybe, just maybe, I could be lucky. I got my money and it cost me the only thing I cared about.
Unless…
Cole rose and made his way to the crate. He reached in and found it, down in the bottom.
The monkey’s paw.
He could use it to bring Tyler back. He’d learned his lesson. He took the paw’s powers seriously now and he knew to be very,very careful what he asked for. That was the trick. And if it failed? Well, it had already done its worst.
Still, he formulated his wish with care.
“I wish my brother?—”
Was alive again?Hell, no. That wasn’t nearly specific enough. Tyler would probably rise from wherever McClintock dumped him, his broken body crawling back?—
Cole shivered. No, he’d read too many horror novels to make that mistake.
“I wish my brother, Tyler, was alive and healed, just as he was before he fell and I want him to be right outside our building, safely standing on the ground, in two minutes, with no memory of how he died or how he arrived there, just thinking that he’s come home, tired, after a regular job.”
There. You couldn’t get any more specific than that.
Cole stuffed the monkey’s paw back in the crate. He crawled out into the dark alley, looked one way and then the other. There was no sign of Tyler.
Had he done something wrong? He ran through the wish again. No, it was specific?—
“Hey,” said a voice behind him. “What are you doing out here? Locking up?”
He turned and saw Tyler. His brother managed a faint smile and then rubbed his eyes. He yawned and looked around, blinking as if confused.
Cole’s heart thudded and he wanted to run over and hug Tyler like he hadn’t since he was twelve. But he didn’t dare, as if Tyler might evaporate the minute he threw his arms around him.
“You okay?” Cole asked finally.
“Yeah. Just a long day.” Another tired smile as Tyler clapped Cole on the back. “Come on, bud. Let’s get inside.”
Tylerhad conked out almost the moment he laid down. It took hours for Cole to fall asleep. He kept crawling over and listening to make sure his brother was still breathing. He was. He seemed fine. He’d rubbed his right arm a few times, but there was nothing wrong with it that Cole could see. He must have knocked it before the fall and it still stung.
Finally Cole drifted off. He’d barely gotten to sleep when Tyler bolted awake, Cole jumping up, too.
“Jake,” Tyler said. “Goddamn, Jake. That son of a bitch!”
