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“Goddammit, Alex,
move
.” Mikey tried
to shove me aside, but we were a jumble of arms and legs and
blankets.

“Give me the fucking gun, Salazar.” I
disentangled myself and flipped on the light and looked around.
He’d shot the shit out of my wall, but there was no sign of Ski
Mask or any blood.

“Shit, he got away,” Mikey growled, tucking
the gun into the waistband of the sweats and looking through the
broken door.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” I
screeched.

“You’re welcome.”

I took a breath. I knew he’d saved me, and I
was beyond grateful. But the men in this town were so dumb it was
beginning to send me right around the bend. “Thank you. I mean
that. But the whole point of all this,” I waved my arms randomly,
“is to keep you out of jail. What good is it going to do if we
prove you didn’t do Chambers and the body shop, only to have you
sent away for shooting someone? With an illegal firearm, no less.
Maybe they forgot to mention it when you got out, but convicted
felons are supposed to give up the whole gun-toting thing, okay?
For crissake, every time I see you, you end up pulling a weapon on
someone.”

He was staring at me, and I could see that
he’d stopped listening some time ago. Typical guy. “The whole point
is to keep
me
out of jail? I thought the whole point was to
keep our brothers out of jail. Since when do I rate?”

I looked at him, and I realized I was
shaking. The adrenaline was wearing off, and the horror of what had
just happened was starting to sink in. Someone had broken into my
house, with the apparent intention of raping and killing me. And
there was a good chance my very own brother had hired him to do it.
This kind of thing wasn’t supposed to happen in real life. Not in
my life. My throat closed, a roar started somewhere in the back of
my mind, and the room got very bright, and I thought, so this is
what it feels like to faint. Mikey shoved me to a sitting position
on the bed and pushed my head between my knees.

“Breathe, Alex.”

I took a few deep breaths and things swam
back into focus. I sat up, looking around my trashed bedroom.

“Should I call the cops?”

“It’s up to you. It seems like our plan to
push Brian to get sloppy is working, and I’d kinda like to see what
he does next. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you. But if
you’re scared, I understand.” He paused, then grinned. “I would
appreciate it if you wouldn’t tell the cops where the bullet hole
in the wall came from, though, since I’m apparently supposed to
have given up the whole ‘gun-toting thing.’”

I shrugged. “It’s okay. I don’t need to call
them. I can’t sleep in here, though,” I gestured to the broken
door, open to all manner of intruders. Not that it had been such a
deterrent when it wasn’t broken. Guess I should have gotten that
security system, I thought.

“Come on.” Mikey led me back to the living
room, squeaking as we went. I resolved not to have Jack fix the
floorboard again. The tears had started, and I didn’t even try to
stop them. Mikey deposited me on the couch, then went into the
kitchen. He came back a few minutes later carrying a cup of tea and
a plate with two slices of cold pizza. I ate a slice and
sniffled.

“You want that?” I asked, nodding towards the
second slice. He shook his head, and I ate it too. I washed the
pizza down with chamomile tea, a strange but not entirely
unpleasant combination.

The doorbell rang, and my heart stopped.
Mikey pulled the gun out of his pants and went to check the
peephole. “Cop,” he whispered, disappearing around the corner.

I looked in the hall mirror and took a swipe
at my tear-streaked face. I opened the door to a uniformed cop I’d
never seen before.

“Yes?”

“Sorry to disturb you, ma’am. We had a report
of a gunshot in the area. Did you hear anything?” He looked as
interested as a five year old in church.

“Uh, no. But occasionally I hear things
coming from the house two doors down. I’ve heard it’s a meth lab.
Maybe something was going on there.”

He peeked around me, trying to see into the
living room. “Mind if I have a look around?”

I pictured the havoc in my bedroom, and
thought, hmmm, probably not a good idea. I whispered
conspiratorially, “I have company.”

He nodded, a knowing grin on his bored face.
“Murphy? I didn’t see his truck.”

I wondered if I could get his gun out of his
holster and shoot him in the foot with it. “Parked it in the garage
tonight.”

Dopey Grin shrugged, “Okay, g’night
then.”

I closed the door and ran into Mikey when I
turned around. He was grinning, too. “Murphy? He’s the contractor
you only screwed the one time?” Jesus, did he remember everything I
said to him? “Bet my brother loved that.”

“He’s heard the rumors. Doesn’t know for sure
if they’re true or not.”

Evidently that was Danny’s cue, because the
door opened again and he walked in. He glanced from me to Mikey and
back to me, looking mildly annoyed.

“Fuck,” he growled. Okay, moderately annoyed.
How the hell had he heard about the shenanigans at the fundraiser
already? I imagined the local eleven o’clock news leading with the
story. “Brian Jordan dropped seventy-five points in the polls this
evening, after his sister proved she has no character by flaunting
her inappropriate affair with convicted felon Junior Salazar. Now,
live team coverage of the shenanigans...”

Mikey apparently decided he’d had enough fun
for one night. “Goodnight, kids,” he said, heading for the garage
and slapping Danny on the back as he walked past. “Don’t be an
asshole, bro.”

“It’s been a long day, Lex,” Danny said after
Mikey had gone. “I don’t have the energy to fight with you.”

“Then don’t.” We went into the living room,
and Danny sank onto the sofa, glowering. I took the chair. “I don’t
know what you heard, but nothing is going on with me and your
brother.” I belatedly explained my plan, downplaying the kiss, but
the glowering didn’t lessen and was soon accompanied by
snarling.

“Jesus Christ,” he bellowed. “What the hell
kind of plan is that?”

“It worked,” I snapped, filling him in on
Brian’s reaction.

“Just because Brian flipped out doesn’t mean
anything. Hell, I’d’ve done more than shatter a glass if I saw you
kissing my brother.”

“Not the same thing.”

“No shit. But you said yourself he’s obsessed
with his image. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out
he’d react to his sister making a spectacle of herself with an
ex-con. That hardly proves anything.” His eyes flashed and settled
on mine. “So then what? You and Mikey were having so much fun, you
decided to bring the party back to your place?”

“Mikey thought I needed a bodyguard till you
got back.”

“Right.”

Jackass. “Brian sent someone over here,
Danny. Ski Mask. Broke in through the French doors. Attacked me in
my bed. Mikey heard him and scared him off. It was quite the
party.”

He was on his feet. “Jesus, Lex,” he said,
then stormed down the hallway to have a look. When he came back,
the annoyed face was finally gone, replaced by one of rage.

“That’s it. You stay out of this from here on
out.” He was through yelling. Now his voice was tight but quiet.
“If Brian’s this far gone, the cops will figure it out soon enough.
Are you okay?”

I nodded. “Will you stay?”

“What do you think?” he asked, pulling me up
into a hug. He held me for a long time, resting his chin on my
head.

He stripped to his boxers, which I was too
exhausted to appreciate, and he wedged himself against the back of
the couch, tucking me in front of him, spoon-style.

“What happened with the lawyer?” I asked,
snuggling against his chest.

“Don’t ask.”

Okey-dokey. “How’d you hear about the
fundraiser already, anyway?”

“I stopped at Shop-N-Save for some ice cream
on my way over here. A couple of the cashiers were talking about
Jack Murphy’s ungrateful wife making out in public with Junior
Salazar. Didn’t do much for my mood.” At least I hadn’t made the
news.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t do it again.” He still sounded
annoyed, but he kissed my neck, so I figured I was forgiven.

“So. Where’s the ice cream?”

“I didn’t think you deserved ice cream, so I
decided not to buy it after all.”

“That’s just mean. Was it Cherry Garcia?”

“Yep.”

Shit. I could use some Cherry Garcia right
about now.

The rest of the night was uneventful. I woke
the next morning to the sound of a key in the lock. Danny heard it,
too, and sat up, tensing. I sat up, too, and elbowed him. “It’s
Murphy. He may have a nail gun but he’s usually not violent, so
please try not to attack him.”

Danny made a face, and I swear he flexed his
muscles when Murphy walked into the room. Honestly, men. Murphy
took in the slumber party, silently nodded hello and went in search
of food.

Danny stood. “I have to go. Jimmy C wants to
talk to your brother and me this morning. Separately of course.” He
rolled his eyes. “And afterwards, I have to take care of some
stuff, in case... Anyway, I was going to drag you along, but you’ll
be safe with Murphy,” he said grudgingly. I nodded, and he
continued, “I don’t think I need to tell you to stay away from your
brother. And don’t be alone today. At all. How long’s Jack going to
be here?”

“He’s probably just here for breakfast.”

He shook his head. “You have a weird life,
Lex. Well, if I’m not back by the time he leaves, you leave. Go
somewhere public. Try not to annoy Brian. In fact, try not to annoy
anybody.”

Jack had already poured me coffee by the time
I got to the kitchen after Danny left. “Sorry about before. I saw
the Mustang, but I assumed you’d be in your room. You know, with
the door closed.” His eyes were twinkling.

“You’d think. But there’s a problem with my
bedroom. You can check it out. And whenever you have a chance, I
think I’d like some shelves installed in the garage.”

“Sure thing, doll.” He ambled towards my
room, curious.

I wondered if my house had some kind of bad
bungalow karma that caused people to rip it apart and set fire to
it and shoot it. It seemed like a friendly enough place, and the
pool hadn’t tried to drown anybody, feline or otherwise, but maybe
the house was possessed. I thought about calling one of those
feng-shui people to give it an exorcism or whatever it was they
did.

Jack returned less than a minute later,
eyebrows a giant M on his forehead. I shrugged. “The door got
broken, and the wall got shot.”

“So I see.” He checked his watch. “I’m just
here to meet the building inspector to sign off on your electrical
panel. I’ll board up the door, but I won’t have time to get to the
other stuff today. In fact, I probably won’t be around for a couple
days. We’re framing that new subdivision, and I’m going to be there
all day.”

I nodded. I couldn’t very well expect him to
give up his livelihood to mend my house and guard my body. “Thanks
a lot for everything.”

“Don’t mention it. It’s the least I can do
for my new bride. Oh, I noticed your squeak is back. I’ll add it to
the new list.”

I had a momentary flashback and shuddered.
“No, leave it. I’ve gotten rather fond of it.”

He shrugged and went outside to wait for the
inspector.

I swept up the glass in my bedroom, then took
a fast shower and pulled on jeans and a t-shirt, plus the red
converse high-tops. I was interrupted by the phone three times, and
every time I looked at the display it was the blocked caller. The
telephonic equivalent of covering the peephole, I thought. I
answered anyway, but no one spoke. As instructed, I left when Jack
left, and I made my way to the police station to meet with Jimmy
C.

I was annoying Jimmy C, I could see it in his
face. “Alex, I’m sorry. Really. But we don’t have any reason, none
at all, to look elsewhere.” I hadn’t come out and said, “Gee, I
think my brother Brian killed Chambers and tried to kill Sherry
and, oh, did I mention he hired someone to rape and kill me? And I
have no idea why or how he did any of these things, but could you
arrest him anyway?” I thought that might sound feeble. I’d asked if
they had located Jenkins yet, and he said someone had used his
credit card at a motel in Pleasanton, but by the time the police
got there, whoever it was had checked out. I was on a fishing trip,
and Jimmy C knew that and he was losing patience with me, and I
suspected, with the case. He sighed.

“As usual, you didn’t hear this from me, but
the judge will be issuing arrest warrants later today for Danny and
Kevin. We don’t have enough to bring in Junior, but with his
brother in custody, he might just confess.”

Shit. “Thanks Jimmy C. Sorry to bother you.”
We were sitting on the bench in the park, sweating at ten in the
morning.

He seemed to feel bad about being annoyed.
“No bother, Alex. Really, all I ever want is to catch the bad guys.
Call me anytime. You have my cell?”

I shook my head no, and he reached into his
suit pocket for a business card and handed it to me. I slipped it
into the back pocket of my 501s and felt a piece of paper there. I
pulled out the newspaper article about the reward.

“Hey, you know anything about the reward my
brother Brian offered?”

“Sure. He donated fifty large for the arrest
and conviction of the guilty parties. He’s running on that tough on
crime platform, you know.”

“Do you already have the money?”

“Yeah, there’s a city account set up for such
things, and the money’s already cleared. We thought it might help,
maybe spur a drunken Clamper to remember Junior leaving the dinner,
say, around nine o’clock, but so far no one has come forward with
anything new.”