“Thanks. Where’s Jack?” he asked.
“At the waterfront. Said he was going to do some fishing.” Fear danced over her face. “He’s not in a very good mood.”
Rodney’s mouth twisted. “No, I don’t imagine he is. Please come with us. As his wife, you need to hear what I have to tell him.”
“Sure. I’ll get my sunglasses.”
When the three of them reached the waterfront, Jack was sitting on the pier, swinging his legs. His head was bent so far over the pole, he looked like a rejected child. Dee almost couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. Almost, but not quite.
“Hello, Jack.” Rodney stepped onto the pier and crossed his arms across his broad chest. Dee stood beside him. “So. What do you have to say for yourself?”
“You played a rotten trick on me last night,” he muttered.
“And pretending to be me wasn’t?”
Jack glared up from his pole. “I’m sorry, all right?”
“Sorry isn’t good enough. You impersonated me. I’m going to give you a choice, though.”
Dee groaned inside. There he went again, being too nice to his snake of a brother.
“Go out West somewhere and live a quiet life. I’ll even give you some money to get started. In return, stay away from this house, my loved ones, and my shows. I don’t ever want to see or hear from you again.”
Linda nodded her agreement. “Sounds more than fair to me.”
“Exile? Fuck that,” Jack spat. “What’s the other choice?”
“I’ll have you charged with identity theft, to the full extent of the law.” He nodded at Dee. “It won’t be pretty. My future wife is an attorney and will find me the best counselor money can buy.”
“Future wife?” his brother sneered. “You’ve got to be kidding. Maybe I’ll take you up on your offer because that is one wedding I sure as hell don’t want to see.”
Bile crept up her throat. Maybe she shouldn’t have come after all. The man was so poisonous, merely being around him eroded her strength.
Rodney cracked his knuckles. “Apologize to Dee. You’ve insulted her for the last time.”
In reply, Jack spat on the pier. Dee could feel the tension, like an electrical field, rippling around Rodney’s arms. Half of her wanted him to slug Jack as he deserved, but the other half hoped her man wouldn’t stoop to the snake’s level.
“You’re just like your father,” he said under his breath.
“You mean our father, bro’,” Jack corrected.
It was Rodney’s turn to smirk. “No, Jack, your father was Ernie.”
Jack turned so sharply he almost fell into the water. “What? The hell you say.”
“It’s true,” Rodney said, his face totally serious. “He was supposed to look after our mother while Daddy was in the service. Instead, he abused her trust and raped her. As a result, she got pregnant.”
“Oh my God,” Linda breathed.
“That’s why Ma and Daddy could never stand the sight of you.”
Jack stood on shaky legs, looking even whiter than he had last night at the show. “You’re lying!”
“Why would I lie about something like that? If you need proof, I have the letters she wrote locked away. I’ll be glad to show them to you.” His face softened a little as he gripped his brother’s shoulder. “What I won’t do anymore, though, is keep making excuses for you. I can’t stand by any longer while you walk all over everybody.”
Dee couldn’t believe he’d told him, but she was glad the truth was finally out. Hopefully, Jack could now understand his childhood pain and turn a new leaf.
“No wonder you always act like your shit don’t stink,” Jack snarled. “Well, no one’s asking you to feel sorry for the family bastard!”
Rodney’s face blanched, and he shook his head. Feeling his pain made Dee’s heart ache, too.
“Let it go,” she whispered.
“I have a confession to make, too,” Linda said, stepping closer to the pier. “It’s about the plane crash.”
They all looked at the woman who rarely said much.
“Keep your mouth shut, bitch,” Jack snarled.
She clenched her fists. “No. Rodney, I hate to tell you this, but Jack did a lot more than steal your identity. H-he also tried to take your life.”
“What?” Rodney demanded, his voice completely raw.
“I saw everything. Jack switched wallets with you, and then he pushed you into the water.” Her eyes grew hazy, and her lips trembled as if she were back at the scene, reliving it. “Maybe he thought you were already dead. Then…then he took his knife out of his pocket a-and slashed up his own face.”
Dee stumbled as if an explosion had gone off. Rodney grabbed her arm and squeezed, his anguish causing her physical pain.
“You…you’re a fucking murderer,” Rodney breathed.
“Who are you going to believe,” Jack asked, shaking harder than a leaf in a windstorm, “my two-bit whore of a wife or your own flesh and blood?”
“Her, you son of a bitch!” Rodney said before decking him with a punch to the jaw.
Jack cartwheeled and fell headfirst into the water.
Rodney immediately dropped to his knees. “Oh, shit. Jack!”
“What was that?” Dee asked, flinching, when a strange snapping noise filled the air.
“An alligator,” Linda exclaimed. “Rodney, don’t go in there.”
Dee’s heart jumped out of her chest. If her man died trying to save him, she’d never be able to keep living, herself.
Instead, he jumped onto the bank and grabbed a big stick. It reminded her of the flood rescue they’d done in Wheeling.
“Come on, Jack,” Rodney yelled as the water churned, turning redder by the second. “Grab the goddamn stick.”
As soon as a white hand fumbled for the stick, it went slack. It was too late. Jack’s corpse floated to the top, revealing the awful truth. The alligator had disemboweled him.
Dee covered her mouth with her hand, fighting overwhelming nausea. As much as she’d always hated Jack, no one deserved such a horrible death. She had to remind herself the man had once sentenced Rodney to the same fate. He had the alligator scar on his arm to prove it.
Still holding the stick, Rodney collapsed onto the pier,
