Jane’s message to Tommy was the prodding I needed to do what my gut had been telling me to do since the beginning.
CHAPTER 115
I PARKED IN the driveway of a house with a pediment and Doric columns and underwater lights turning the reflecting pool deep ocean-blue. It was the very picture of over-the-top conspicuous consumption as only Californians could do it.
Lights were on in the house.
I set the brake, climbed the walk, rang the doorbell a couple of times, and when no one came to the door, I let myself into the house.
I found my sister-in-law in the five-hundred-thousand-dollar kitchen, making chocolate pudding and watching Goodfellas on TV. Her back was to me.
I said, not too loud, “Annie. Hey.”
Annie screamed and dropped the spoon. She turned, hands to her cheeks, still screaming.
“It’s me, it’s me. I rang the bell.”
She took a breath, put her arms out, and hugged me. “You’re a menace, Jack,” she said. “Feel my heart racing?”
“I’m sorry.” Maybe she’d lied to give my brother an alibi, but I loved her anyway.
“Are you okay?” she asked me.
I hugged her, patted her back, said, “I’m fine. But I’ve got to see Tommy. Believe it or not, I need his help.”
“He’s in the barn. Go wake up your nephew. He’s worried about you. Take this.”
She took a jug of milk out of the refrigerator, poured a glass, and handed it to me. “You remember where his room is?”
Ned was asleep.
I turned on the lamp and lit up a room lined with posters: military recruitment, dinosaurs, action figures. I sat on the side of the bed, looked at the eight-year-old boy who wasn’t my child but carried half my genes.
I put the milk down, touched Ned’s arm, said, “Hey, buddy. It’s your old uncle Jack.”
His eyelids flew open and he sat up fast, throwing his arms around my chest. I hugged him and kissed his hair.
“How are you, buddy? How’s Ned?”
He pulled back and grinned at me. “I was digging and look what I found. Dad says it’s older than he is.”
I followed his finger, saw the old glass Coke bottle on the night table. I picked it up, and admired it under the light.
“This is fantastic. It’s a real antique.”
“I saw you on TV,” Ned said. I put the bottle down, and Ned was back in my arms, talking into my chest. “They said you killed someone. Colleen.”
“It’s not true, honey. I know what people say, but I didn’t kill her. I’m being framed.”
He looked up at me, questions and tears in his eyes.
“Someone lied about you? But why? ”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not right. That’s whack, Uncle Jack.”
“He’s not going to get away with it. I’m not kidding.”