Page 74 of No Merciful Corruption
“I’m not pretending anything. You are my brother. Same mother, same father. What difference does it make who gave birth to you when the same mother raised us? Nursed us?” I tell him. “And if you’re having second thoughts about Kay and the baby then—”
“I’m not having second thoughts!”
My phone rings and I dig it out of my pocket to forward the call but Dahlia’s name flashes across the screen.
“Dahlia, can I call—”
“Alex?” Karina rasps.
Diego tries to walk past me again but this time I grab his arm and don’t let go. “Kay? Are you all right?”
“I-I-I…” she inhales a shaky breath. “I’m fine. We’re fine.”
“Where’s Dahlia?”
“She’s fine, she’s—” Karina hiccups before letting out a little cry. “Oh my God…there’s so much blood.”
I cover the phone. “Bring the car around, now.”
Diego doesn’t wait for further instruction. He grabs the keys off the side table in the hall and sprints out the front door while I go for our jackets in the coat closet.
“Where are you?” I ask.
“We…we’re at my house…please, you need to come. Right away.” She chokes on a sob. “Brent is dead.”
OUR FORTUNES ARE MADE
Alejandro
The hallway floor runs red like a river of blood.
Most of it is in a pool directly under the staircase where the railing upstairs is cracked and broken. Then the blood spreads in thick, consistent streaks like a paved road leading to the kitchen.
Dahlia stands under the archway to the living room and watches me examine the area.
“He bled this much from a fall down the stairs?” I ask.
“He split his skull open.” She answers curtly.
“There’s no brain matter.”
She doesn’t answer me.
I take in the scene around me. Blood splatters upstairs, a broken railing, a pool near the front door, and a path going all the way to the kitchen. Brent wasn’t a large man but I can’t imagine it was easy to drag that much deadweight from one end of the house to the other.
“Why did you move him?”
“I couldn’t exactly leave a dead body by the front door.”
“So you thought it was a better idea to corrupt a potential crime scene?”
Dahlia bristles and turns to enter the living room. I follow and turn her around to face me.
“Dee, I can’t help you unless I know what happened.”
“It was an accident.” She insists.
“I wouldn’t care if it wasn’t. I’m glad he’s dead.”
