Now
Jude
Through the window, I stare as the coroner’s van loads up my brother.
They zip him into a black bag and take him away, slamming the van doors behind him, and now he’s gone.
I’m in shock.
I can’t feel my feet.
I can’t feel my heart.
I can’t feel.
I’m in complete and utter shock.
“Mr. Cabot?” The detective stares at me, waiting. “Do you have any idea who might want to hurt your brother?”
“No, I don’t. Everyone loves him. Loved him. He’s a priest, for God’s sake.”
Was a priest.
Oh my God, my brother is dead.
This can’t be real.
But then something...something...something jumps into my mind, and I can’t breathe. Zoe’s text from last night.
You’ll always regret it if you do.
I’ll make you regret it.
She basically was saying she’d make me pay if I listened to my brother.
I stare at the bloodstain on the floor, and at the stone crucifix that is splattered in his blood.
“Could a small person have done this?” I ask hesitantly. The detective looks at me.
“Yeah. If he was caught by surprise, anyone could’ve done it.”
I feel sick to my stomach as I examine that possibility. It can’t be. It can’t...
“What are you thinking?” he asks me, waiting.
I hesitate and then tell him of my involvement with Zoe, and of how she threatened to blow everything out of the water if I didn’t stay with her, and how Michel took her from my house last night.
His expression changes, and am I imagining that he’s looking at me differently now?
“So he was upset with you last night?”
I nod. “Yeah. But not as upset as I was with myself.”
The detective’s face is expressionless.
“Did you argue?”
Shock slams into me. “Jesus, man. I didn’t hurt my brother. I love my brother. He’s my twin, my other half. I’m going to be lost without him. What the hell?”
The detective is calm. “I’m just doing my job, Mr. Cabot. We’ll look into Zoe. And I hope you’ll be around for further questions if we have them.”
“Of course I will,” I snap. “I want whoever did this to pay.”
He leaves, and I walk to my truck, and I’m limp as I slump behind the wheel.
What am I supposed to do now?
My phone is in my pocket, and it buzzes with a voice mail, and I listen to Dr. Phillips’s voice.
“Corinne is having a rough session. It would be nice if you could come be here for her when she’s finished. Give me a call.”
I don’t bother calling. I just head for Reflections. I drive down the road, and when I’m passing my neighborhood, I’m so overcome by anger and rage and grief that I can’t even see straight. Red billows in from the corners of my eyes, and I can’t think one coherent thought. That’s why it takes a while for me to notice the car behind me is gaining on me, and flashing its lights.
I startle, my first thought being that it’s Zoe, but it’s not a Hyundai.
I pull over, and Chelsie bounds out of her car at me.
“You’ve got to listen to me. Zoe has lost her damned mind.”
Blood is staining her clothes, and she’s got scratches on her face, red angry welts that will stay with her for days.
“What happened?” I ask her quickly.
She limps toward me and I see that even her ankle has a welt. She stumbles into me, and I steady her arm.
“Zoe happened,” she snaps angrily. “I’ve known that girl for a long time, but I’ve never seen her like this. I don’t know what you did, but she’s out for blood.”
“I didn’t do anything but tell her that I can’t see her anymore,” I say tiredly, flinching as the headlights from cars passing by shine into my eyes. “She was a mistake. She’s had her claws in me for weeks, and this might sound crazy, but I think she might’ve killed my brother.”
Chelsie looks at me, and pity hides in the depths of her eyes.
“It doesn’t sound crazy,” she tells me. “She attacked me tonight. I went to her house and found a bunch of stuff on her table. Stuff she didn’t want me to see. A ton of articles about your wife, and you, and a bunch of her notes. Zoe has planned everything down to the tiniest detail. She wanted you, and she worked hard to get you. She’s not going to give up now.”
I’m still and quiet. “Why?”
“Revenge of some sort. She had lots of photos of your wife, with her face scratched out, and one with her belly cut out.”
Her belly.
“Did she give my wife abortion pills?”
“I think she did. She knows your wife somehow. And I don’t know what else she’s going to do. She said she’s just getting started. I swear to you, I didn’t know about any of this.”
Chelsie is ominous and covered in blood, and my wife is at Reflections alone, unsuspecting and helpless.
“Fuck.”
I try to call Dr. Phillips, but there’s no answer. So I try again. Still no answer.
I call the reception desk and ask to be connected to him. After a minute, the receptionist comes back.
“I’m sorry, sir, he’s not answering right now. He must be with a patient. Would you like to leave a message?”
“Motherfuck.”
I hang up and turn to Chelsie. “You need to call the police and tell them what she’s done and then go to the hospital.”
She nods and I get into my car and head for my wife.