My Brother's Keeper by Adrienne Wilder Page A

decking.
    Disjointed sound effects and a squeaky mouse voice joined in. The glow of the TV set made lines of color on Rudy’s face.
    “You should probably move back from the TV.”
    “Ellis says I’ll go blind. But I haven’t gone blind because I can see.”
    “Humor me. Scoot back.”
    Rudy moved a few inches.
    “A little more.”
    He gave another few inches.
    “Thank you.”
    Rudy leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees, erasing distance.
    Water hit the screen door making it slap the frame. Ellis’s fuzzy shape moved back and forth behind the curtain on the front door. How much of a fight would Ellis put up if he went out there and demanded the hose? Jon had a feeling he’d wind up soaking wet.
    The phone rang.
    “Telephone.” Rudy didn’t take his eyes off the screen.
    Jon picked up the receiver. “Hello?”
    “Do you want the good news or the bad news first?” George said.
    Jon leaned back and stared at the ceiling. “I guess hit me with the bad news.”
    “We can only hold Lenny for seventy two hours.”
    “What? Why?”
    “He has an alibi.”
    “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
    Rudy said, “No cussing.”
    Jon got up and went into the dining room. “Who the hell gave him an alibi?”
    “Some guys were at his place for a cookout and a few games of poker.”
    “They’re full of shit. He was here. I saw him.”
    “You saw a man in camo, with his face painted.”
    “Jesus, George. Are you doubting me too?”
    “Of course not, son. But Lenny has five witnesses who put him at his house the whole time. And one of those men is a retired judge.”
    “So what? They think I made this up and beat two men with a baseball bat for the hell of it?”
    “No. Obviously some men showed up at your home and you did what you had to do to protect it. But there’s only you to say Lenny was there and, because of the current situation, the DA is reluctant to challenge the integrity of a judge.”
    “I thought the DA was on our side?”
    “He is, but this is a small town and there are strong politics.”
    “Then how do I know I won’t wind up in jail because of the same politics?”
    “Billy looked at the evidence and decided you acted appropriately. Not to mention, you were a marshal. That gives you more credibility than the average citizen.”
    “But not enough to put that asshole in jail?” Why the hell did it feel like he’d failed Ellis and Rudy?
    “Do you want the good news now?”
    Jon propped his shoulder against the wall. Rudy was back to sitting too close to the TV.
    “Yeah. Hit me with the good news.”
    “We identified the two men. Byron Pits and Dale Andrews. Both of them have mile long records for assault, robbery, even arson.”
    “How is that good news?”
    “Because they’ve been known to do stuff like this for money. Dale made it to the hospital alive but he’s in intensive care.”
    “Do they think he’ll live?” The possibility created a tug-o-war between Jon’s conscience and his vengeance.
    “They’re not sure. It’s still touch and go. You did a number on him.”
    “Don’t remind me.”
    “If he does and he wakes up, there’s a good possibility he’ll roll on Lenny. And if we find a money trail, we won’t even need his testimony.”
    Jon was used to that when dealing with wealthy criminals who had powerful lawyers, but Lenny was a nobody. Just some piece of trash with a personality defect. How he controlled people and kept getting away with this shit just wasn’t…normal.
    “What if he didn’t pay them?”
    “What do you mean?”
    Jon wasn’t sure. “What if they just did it?”
    “Why would they do that?”
    “For the same reason two deputies tried to kill me and a judge is lying to protect him? Maybe they did it because they wanted to.”
    “That doesn’t even make sense.”
    “Exactly my point. You said yourself, evil is like a disease. I’m starting to wonder if you’re not right.”
    “I can’t say why those two deputies went