AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’m moving toward the door in a heartbeat, brushing past people, my phone out. I try Marci’s number again, but she’s not answering. I call Savage, but he doesn’t pick up either. I leave him a voicemail.
“Kick the door down if you have to. Something’s wrong. I can feel it.”
Thirty-Nine
MARCI
“Billy, what the fuck?”I stare at the gun, a matte black pistol, that’s shaking in his grasp. “What are you doing?”
“I’m pointing a gun at you, sissy, what does it look like I’m doing?” he asks.
I can’t comprehend how or why he would do this. It’s— This is Billy. Billy, for fuck’s sake.
“Why?”
Billy’s back is to the door, blocking me from an easy escape. I could try make a run for it through the kitchen and out the back, but we are in close quarters, and if Billy wants to shoot me, he can do it while I run away.
“Why do you think?” Billy asks.
“Billy.”
“You treat me like trash,” he says. “You act like you’re better than me. You won’t give me what I want. But now, I’m going to get what I want anyway. You’re going to sell the diner and give me my half of the money. If you don’t, I’ll shoot you.”
I frown at him.
It’s the weirdest thing, but I’m not afraid. I’ve gone completely blank inside as I study my brother. I’ve spent years trying to protect him, raise him, make him comfortable, and it’s at this moment that the stark realization hits home.
If I’d never blamed myself for what happened to Dad, I wouldn’t have taken my guilt out on Billy. I would have raised him better. He wouldn’t be this entitled.
But I also can’t blame myself for the past anymore. I have to figure this out. Now.
“Say something.” Billy rattles the gun, and it sounds odd.
“What do you want me to say?” I ask. “I can’t sell the diner on the spot. How did you think this was going to go, Billy? Did you think you’d point a gun at me, and I’d cave?”
His bottom lip quivers.
“Billy, was there even a Jonesy? Or was that you in the diner?” I’m cold as the words leave my mouth. “Was it you with the knife?”
“I wanted to scare you a little,” he says. “I wanted you to sell so that we could share the money.”
“Why?”
“Because you owe me that money,” he says. “We could’ve split it, and I could’ve left town and started a new life. Everyone hates me here. They hate you too.”
“I don’t care what they think.”
But that isn’t entirely true anymore. I care what Jesse thinks. And my friends. And even the rest of the Taylor family. They’ve been a family to me when Billy couldn’t be. They accepted me with open arms, and when Billy made a scene at the wedding, they didn’t mention it afterward. They supported me.
“I need the money, sissy,” Billy says, his voice taking on a pleading quality.
“Why? There’s no loan shark. So why do you need the money?”
“Because I can’t go to jail again, and I’ve gotta get out of here. Leave the country, maybe. Start a new life.”
“What the fuck, Billy?” I say. “You can’t run away from what you’ve done. You broke the law. You’ve broken the law multiple times now.”
“I thought you were on my side.”
