Murder Deja Vu

chute. On the way to meet the others at the bar I tossed the knife down a sewer drain. I’d been gone less than an hour. The guys said that, but Marcy swore I was with her during that time. We got a little rowdy, and the girls went home. I invited Steve and Mark back to the apartment to carry on the party so I wouldn’t walk alone into what I knew waited.”
    As stunned as he was, Reece remembered that had come out at the trial. Jeri tried to break the alibi, causing doubt to the jury any way she could, but Marcy insisted Carl had stayed with her until she fell asleep, citing the time he had planted in her brain. No one saw Carl back at the apartment, and the time frame gelled with Steve and Mark. Even if it had come out that Carl had slept with Karen, what reason would he have had to kill her? But according to the world, Reece had motive and opportunity.
    “Was I collateral damage?” Reece asked.
    “You didn’t do it. There was no weapon, no evidence. During the trial, when I saw how things were going, I still didn’t believe you’d be convicted.”
    “Ha!” Reece scoffed. “We all know how that turned out, don’t we? When the police hauled me away for what could have been the rest of my life, did you ever think of speaking up?”
    Carl went into his bottom drawer, still holding the gun, and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and a glass. He managed to unscrew the bottle and pour a shot, emptying half down his throat. “Your lawyer seemed so sure she could get another trial in a different venue because of the prejudicial way the press handled it. I thought she would.”
    “So the answer is no—you never thought of coming clean. That’s what you’re saying, isn’t it?” Reece sprang to his feet. He planted both palms on the desk, arms like support columns. Again, Carl pushed his rolling chair back with a thrust of his feet, but he kept the gun aimed at Reece’s chest.
    “Why should you go to prison and be gang-raped by a bunch of Neanderthals? Or come close to dying when some psycho con almost bisects you? Your big brother could handle it, right? Is that what you thought?”
    “Oh, my God, is that what— Oh, my God.”
    “Right. Those were things you didn’t want to know as long as it was happening to me and not you. My own brother. The brother I loved.” Reece slunk into the chair. “And for extra measure, you did it again. You killed another innocent woman to make sure you diverted blame to me. How did you justify that?”
    “I saw what prison did to you. I couldn’t survive there. You…you knew the ropes. Your life was already ruined.”
    “My—” A shiver ran down Reece’s spine. “My life was already ruined? You got that right. What I don’t understand is why you didn’t call the police when I phoned to meet you?”
    Carl looked away. “I did. They were waiting at the nursing home, but I couldn’t convince you to go. I thought it would look less obvious there than at the dog park, and I knew you wouldn’t go to the house or come here. ‘Reece Daughtry captured while visiting his dying father.’ Those were the headlines I pictured.”
    Reece’s body went numb; his head verged on exploding. He’d succeeded in recording Carl’s confession. All he had to do was walk out of the office, turn over the recorder to the police, and he’d be free.
    But could he walk out? Carl had killed two people to protect himself. What would stop him from shooting Reece now? He had two options. One: go for the gun, which would surely result in his death. Two: walk nonchalantly to the door and hope he made it through. He chose to bet his life Carl couldn’t pull the trigger. He stood and headed for the exit.
    Carl bounded from his chair, panicked. “What are you going to do?”
    “Turn myself in.”
    “You’ll tell?”
    Reece turned. “What do you think?”
    “They won’t believe you.”
    “No. Probably not.”
    Carl’s face drained of color. “Don’t, Reece.”
    “What are you going to do? Kill me? You said yourself they won’t believe me.”
    “They…they might.” Tears ran down Carl’s cheeks; the hand holding the gun shook. “I’m not going to prison.”
    The desperation in Carl’s voice told Reece he’d miscalculated once again. A fatal mistake. The gunshot boomed like a cannon in the enclosed space. Reece felt the sting in his chest as the bullet ripped into him. He saw the tortured look on Carl’s face, heard his brother cry out his name as he fell to the floor.