Page 22 of He Had It Coming

Ruby’s murder became nothing more than a death marked with an asterisk.

—Anonymous

Chapter Twenty-Two

Between the loss of blood and his injuries, Jerek should be fading. He’d grown more pale since the stabbing. Once or twice, his head rolled to the side, causing him to wince before sitting up straight again. Being lost in a frenzy of rage and hostility, wallowing in a general how dare she state, appeared to fuel him longer than expected.

His energy eventually would fade. And I’d be ready.

“That’s not funny.” He aimed all of his ire, all that heat, right at his sister.

She shifted in her chair to face him but didn’t move back. If he scared her, she hid it well. “What I said about when I got here today is true. It’s not a joke. I’ve been hiding, listening, and waiting to come out.”

I admired the spunk but time was ticking and I had places to be. “This just got interesting, right?”

“Shut up.” Jerek didn’t break eye contact with Maeve as he yelled at me.

“You sound angry.” It was fun to play with him. Reel him in. Watch him flounder.

This time Maeve reacted to my sarcasm. “Would you please stop.”

“Fine.” I motioned for them to keep going at each other but neither of them looked at me. “Proceed.”

“What do you mean you came to the boat with her?” he asked.

“Dad.” Maeve let the word sit there.

Jerek started to shake his head again but stopped before he could cause any more damage. “I don’t get it.”

Admittedly, I didn’t understand the topic pivot either. I knew how we got here and why but her comment shot past all the explanations to a simple but confusing end. One that didn’t quite fit. Maeve seemed determined to lead the discussion on her terms, and I admired that. Nothing else about any of the Hayes family members but that.

“Dad held your secret for as long as he could. For as long as his mind allowed him to compartmentalize and honor his vow of silence.” The boat rocked with the waves as Maeve spoke. “He played along with the public version of the story you and he concocted with the help of the attorneys on Dad’s payroll, but the pieces are fading now.”

“This is wild.” Jerek barked out a harsh laugh. “The man didn’t even remember your mother’s name a week ago, but you believe some bit he said probably in the middle of a sundowning episode? You’ve built a narrative off a stray comment.”

The glimpse into the elder Conrad Hayes’s downfall didn’t move me at all. With anyone else, yes. People didn’t deserve to fade away and forget as their loved ones wrestled with heartache and loss.

Conrad didn’t deserve that ending but for very different reasons. He hadn’t earned relief that allowed him to slip away quietly, avoiding and forgetting his sins. He’d played a role in condemning me to a lifetime of unwanted memories and haunting what-ifs, and he should share that burden.

“Dad has moments of clarity. You know that.” Maeve crossed her legs. Acted like she was engaging in a civil conversation about mundane things. Like the hideousness of the moment and all that came before didn’t touch her.

The lack of introspection left me breathless.

“Sometimes Dad thinks it’s 1972. Other times he confuses stories and people.” Jerek let his head fall forward. Just a bit. “God, Maeve. Please tell me you didn’t throw in with this nutcase because of a random comment Dad made during a lack of lucidity.”

“The memory loss didn’t hit him out of nowhere. He saw it coming. He planned.” Maeve sat rigid in the hard seat. “He warned me.”

“About me? No way. He wouldn’t do that.”

She snorted. “Because you’re his favorite?”

“Frankly, yes.”

The conversation dragged on longer than I would have liked. Pure subterfuge on Jerek’s part. He acted like I couldn’t see him but he kept moving his feet and his hands as if he could stretch the ropes and slip out beneath them.

Probably not a surprise he thought there would be an easy out to this scene. His whole life had been one big slide out of the responsibility spotlight. For him, that’s how his world worked. Someone else created the acceptable story to form the alibi, then cleaned up his mess.

Maeve clearly didn’t want that caretaking role. Jerek’s father had lost the ability to play it. Yet Jerek still believed a white knight would ride in with a checkbook and save him. If he counted on my largess or my having an off switch, he was about to be disappointed.