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“He never tried that with me.”
“He wanted to, trust me,” said Rochelle, who was now looking off like Doug had been.
“Then why didn’t he?”
“Because he had me instead. I figured if he did the shit to me, he’d leave you alone. In fact, I made him promise to leave you alone.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Twelfth Night?”
“What?”
“You were a much better actress than I was. I could never get Viola’s cadence right. Or really get into the spirit of her character. I just memorized the lines and regurgitated them when I was supposed to.”
“I heard the performance was well received.”
“It should have been you onstage, not me.” Rochelle paused. “That was one reason why I let Bruce do what he did to me.”
“And the other reason?”
Rochelle looked at Doug. “You’re his sister. That means you’re precious to me. And just in case you’re wondering, as soon as Bruce saw us when he opened the door at his house he went after Dougie with a machete. Dougie didn’t have a choice. It was him or Bruce.”
“Why did you even try to find him?” asked Francine.
“He had something of mine that I wanted back.”
“What?”
In answer Rochelle lifted a small gold necklace off her chest. “Your brother gave it to me. Worked his ass off doing construction when we were in New Mexico. Bruce took it one time when I was forced to have sex with him. Next thing I knew his father croaked, and he and his mom vanished.”
“How did you find him?”
“Remember, I worked at the marshal’s office cleaning shit, too. I found what I needed to find. Unlike us, Bruce and his mom kept in touch with the WITSEC folks. But old Bruce thought we were there for another reason, I guess. Like revenge for raping me. Anyway, he tried to cut Dougie’s head off before Dougie showed him who was the better man.”
“I saw the aftermath. Didn’t look to be much of a struggle.”
“We cleaned it up. And put Bruce in the bed. We knew the cops would probably figure shit out, and they’d never believe it was self-defense, even though it was. Dougie was a lot bigger than Bruce, but I guess Bruce still thought he was Superman.”
Francine looked at her brother, who was now rummaging in his pocket. He pulled out another smoke and lit up.
She turned back to Rochelle. “You cut my neck.”
“I never said I was completely good,” noted Rochelle. “Or entirely sane.”
“You went to visit Harry. How and why?”
“We were looking for him all that time. Finally found him. Dougie went in to negotiate with him. Basically, he gives us a share of the money if we don’t expose him. Then Harry tells Dougie that he’s dying and basically to fuck off.”
Francine said, “I talked to the housekeeper. She said Dougie told her to get another job and it was because he knew Harry was dying?”
Doug nodded. “Yes.”
Francine slid the gun into her jacket pocket. “I’ll get the money. Tell Mommy I said hello, and that I’ll be back for her. And that we’ll all live happily ever after.” She started to walk away and then turned back. “It was good to see you, Dougie.”
Her brother nodded, and didn’t glance away this time. He watched her leave, even as his fingers curled around Rochelle’s in a firm, unyielding grip.
CHAPTER76
