Page 53 of Not Quite Dead Yet

‘– Shot herself in the head?’ He laughed, empty and vicious, ripping a strip from the bottle’s label. ‘Yeah, it wasreally hard.Even harder knowing whose fault it was.’

Jet blinked. She knew she was close to something, didn’t want to push too hard, push him over the edge. ‘Who –’ she began.

‘– Dianne.’ Not a name, but a rumble in the back of his throat.

‘My mom?’

Andrew rubbed his hands through his hair, down his face. His movements erratic, unpredictable. The hairs rose up the back of Jet’s neck, her heart picking up, warning her.

‘Even after everything we’ve been through, sh-she …’

‘What are you talking about?’ Jet pressed.

‘She’s the reason Nina killed herself. The last straw. Got her fired from her job at the hotel. Nina loved that job. She was doing so well.’

Too many questions; Jet didn’t know which one to go for.

‘How do you know –’

‘– Because Nina told me. She said that Dianne had it out for her, that she just got fired and knew who was behind it. Your mom pulled some strings, and she’s got many strings, doesn’t she? With her seat on the trustee board, running this town. She did that, Nina knew, and then two days later Nina …’

Jet gripped the chair beneath her, her hand grazing Billy’s on the way. He grazed hers back, like she’d done it on purpose, like their hands had a secret conversation of their own.

‘Why would my mom get Nina fired?’

Andrew coughed, a wet, gravelly sound. ‘I don’t know, ask her. Nina never got the chance to tell me.’ His face cracked then, struggling against it, trying not to break, not to cry. He fought hard and only one tear managed to get through. ‘It wasn’t just the job. She’d had a hard life, Nina. Losing her best friend so suddenly like that, only sixteen. Then her mom getting sick and passing away, when Nina needed her most. She didn’t want me to sell the house, said she’d always imagined living there, raising kids of her own, that it had too many memories. But I did, and I shouldn’t have. I shouldn’thave sold it. It broke her heart. But they were offering too much money.’

‘Who?’ Jet asked.

‘You!’ Andrew’s voice whistled. ‘Your family. Luke. Came to me with an offer. They already had the property next door, wanted mine too. It was way over what the asking price would have been. What was I going to say?No, Luke, you keep all that money.He knew exactly how to convince me to do it, made it seem like a favor almost, a kindness. Of course I sold it.’ He hiccupped. ‘Though where all that money has gone, I couldn’t tell you.’

He glanced over at the bar, at the bottles behind, like he knew exactly where all that money had gone. Down the drain, down his throat.

‘Said they were going to renovate and resell it. I used to walk by, see what they were doing to it, especially after Nina …’ He sniffed. ‘There was some holdup in the construction, think they changed their mind. They’ve knocked it down now. My old house, and the one next door. Think they’re going to combine the lots, build one giant McMansion for some rich asshole. Nina would have been devastated, to know the house she grew up in is completely gone. It’s gone, all gone. I checked last week. Digging foundations where our home used to be.’

Jet nodded, because she had her answer now:Why do you hate my family so much?But none of that had been her. It was Luke, it was Mom. Or maybe that was why he’d chosen Jet – taking Dianne’s daughter, like he thought she’d taken his?

‘I’m sorry my brother knocked down your house, but –’

Andrew laughed over her, ripping his beer label clear off. ‘He’snot. I’m sure he’ll make a nice big profit off it. Show his daddy who the big man is now.’ He laughed again, harder, almost frantic, like it hurt his ribs to do it. ‘You know what’s funny, though?’

Jet didn’t.

Andrew rubbed his nose. ‘Luke thinks it’s gonna be him next, doesn’t he? That he’s going to betheMason, your dad retiring, leaving the company to him. Well, I know something you don’t. Man, I’d love to be the one to tell him.’

‘Tell him what?’ Jet said, losing track. ‘What do you know?’

‘Your daddy’s not leaving the company to little Luke.’ His breath whistled through his teeth. ‘He’s going to sell it. To Nell Jankowski.’

Jet narrowed her eyes and Andrew licked his lips. Must have enjoyed the confusion on her face, ate it up, a substitute for her brother. This couldn’t be true, could it? Andrew was making shit up; he was a drunk, maybe even a murderer.

‘How do you know this?’ Billy asked, stepping in.

‘She told me herself. Nell.’

‘The chief’s wife?’ Billy asked.

Andrew nodded. ‘She’s got a construction business too, out of town. Makes sense she’d want to expand here, in Woodstock, now they live here, now he’s running the police. She’s going to buy Mason Construction – they’ve already started talking, she and your daddy.’

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