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“I knew that he didn’t work for any car dealership.” Brook rested her hand on the dashboard when she caught sight of Jacob’s taillights. He was slowing down again, this time to make a lefthand turn. The road seemed to split two cornfields in half. “Don’t turn, Sally. Keep going straight. We can make a U-turn at the next intersection and catch up that way.”
Thankfully, Sally had been driving slow enough that Jacob had already been mid-turn when they passed him. Jacob would have been paying attention to the road instead of a passing car.
“Where do you think he’s going?” Sally asked as she pressed the brake pedal. She turned on her left blinker as she maneuvered her mom’s car into the far lefthand lane. The light was red, so they had no choice but to come to a full stop. “I don’t like this, Brook.”
Brook shifted in her seat so that she could look out the back window. Her hope of finding out where her brother went five days a week was dying with each passing second. She quickly shot a glance at the red light. Why was it taking so long to turn green?
“We aren’t going to find him,” Sally finally said a minute later. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. “Brook?”
Brook sighed in defeat.
It didn’t matter that Sally was finally able to make a U-turn, because it was clear that the weather was turning worse. It was dangerous for them to be on the roads this far from home. Sally’s mom believed that they’d remained in town. One of the boutiques was having a jewelry sale for the holidays, and the sale started today.
Sally had convinced her mom that she and Brook wanted matching bracelets, which was going to be their gifts to one another for Christmas. When Mrs. Pearson had asked why they wanted to leave so early, Sally had said that they had wanted to be the first customers so that no one else bought the jewelry.
To make the story even more believable, they had thrown into the discussion their desire to visit a friend who worked at Eli’s Coffee Shop. That part had been true, and the two of them had eaten the blueberry muffins while waiting for Jacob to come out of the house.
“Just head back home, Sally. I shouldn’t have talked you into doing this, anyway.”
Brook leaned back against her seat and stared out the window.
She was left to wonder if she would ever be able to prove that her brother was a liar.
Worse, she believed that he was a cold-blooded murderer.
She’d been in denial for so long, but that had all changed when she figured out that Jacob had been stealing from their parents. Brook technically hadn’t lied to Sally. Therehadbeen a bit of truth mixed in with her fib.
The more Brook thought back to Jacob’s behavior when Pamela Murray’s remains had been found, the greater her belief became that there was something really wrong with her brother.
Unfortunately, she had no proof.
“I’m going to talk to Mom and Dad,” Brook stated as she reversed her mindset. Maybe her parents would believe her instead of Jacob. “I’ve decided to tell them, Sally.
“My brother would kill me if I ever ratted him out,” Sally muttered as she slowed the car down so that they could take the onramp back to the highway. “What are you going to say to them?”
“I’m going to tell them to check their receipts.” Brook was also going to call the car dealership when they got home. She would prove that Jacob was lying, and then maybe she would fill them in on the rest. She debated sharing her theories regarding Pamela Murray with Sally, but something was holding her back. She would come clean once she had more proof. “They’ll have evidence that Jacob is stealing, and then they can figure out what to do.”
“Like what? Jacob is twenty years old, Brook. Your parents won’t call the police, because then your brother would be arrested,” Sally pointed out as she once again straightened in her seat. The snow was coming down heavier than before, and the traffic was starting to slow down. “My parents would never do something like that, and I can’t believe yours would, either. I guess they could kick him out of the house, though.”
Brook shouldn’t want something like to happen, but she couldn’t deny being relieved at the possibility of not having to look over her shoulder all the time. It wasn’t healthy to live in a house where she was constantly on edge. Didn’t she deserve to spend the rest of her high school years without the stress of thinking her brother had killed someone?
If she was honest with herself, the reason that she wanted her parents to know about the money was so that they would look deeper into his life. Maybe then they would find the sketchbook.
Maybe then they would believe her that Jacob was capable of murder.
Chapter Two
Brooklyn Sloane
December 2022
Thursday — 5:34pm
Theloudcrowdnearlydrowned out the holiday music that was spilling from the overhead speakers of the pub. Most of the patrons were glued to the televisions that had been strategically placed in specific corners, and every single one of them was tuned into the World Cup.
The world’s largest fútbol tournament was being hosted in Qatar this time around, and the U.S. Men’s National Soccer team had qualified to participate. Since more than one game was being played throughout the eight stadiums scattered along the eastern side of the country, it was easier to have the TVs muted while keeping everyone in the holiday spirit. Celebratory moods usually meant more alcohol consumption over the course of an evening.
A round of applause broke out just as Brook spotted her group sitting at a table in the back corner of the venue.
