Page 16 of He Had It Coming

“Willa. When you were late again, I made her tell me where you were. About this ridiculous boat purchase. She’s my assistant, not yours.”

Wow. Turned out Maeve was as singularly corporate focused as Jerek was evil. I probably should have seen that coming. “Not sure this is a great time to review the company’s organizational chart, but you do you.”

“Ignore her.” Jerek didn’t spare me a glance as he issued the order. “Just explain, Maeve.”

Their dynamic was even more screwed up than I thought. “Isn’t your big sis your boss?”

“Shut up.” Jerek’s gaze flicked to me before returning to Maeve.

The “boss” comment made him flinch. Interesting how touchy that subject appeared to be. Seemed like the pathetic man-child didn’t like being reminded that he was the least impressive Hayes sibling.

“I came here to find you. I didn’t see anyone or hear anything, but then I spotted your cell phone with that ridiculous case on the steps going up to the top deck. I bent down to grab it and someone hit me.” Maeve stopped talking, then looked at me. “Your work, I’m assuming.”

I decided to reward her decent storytelling performance. “Be happy I used up most of my ire and strength on hitting him. You got more of a tap.”

Maeve frowned. “It was hard enough to make me pass out.”

Yeah, whatever.

Jerek’s mouth dropped open. “That doesn’t make sense. I’m missing, so you call the police. You ask someone at the marina for help. What the hell, Maeve? You walked right into a trap.”

“This is my fault? You got yourself in trouble. You weren’t at our scheduled meeting. You hid this excursion. You did all of this on a workday, in the middle of an important project.” Maeve’s fingers wrapped around the arms of her chair in a tight grip. “You and your needs. You throwing money around. You out there looking for toys while you escape responsibility.”

He pulled and strained against the ropes as his voice rose in volume. The chair legs creaked as he shifted and spewed venom at Maeve. “Do you understand what’s happening here? This nutcase—”

“Nope.” I beat back the sudden urge to slice into him again. Barely. “Don’t love that description.”

“Who cares?” he yelled the question, then shut his eyes.

He looked like he was in pain, which made my day. “Dropping a pertinent reminder here for your consideration. I still have the knife.”

He blew out a long breath before diving in again. “Sabrina lured me here. She’s been spreading shit about me online. She attacked me. Cut me. Hit me. And you’re upset I missed one of your unnecessary meetings?”

For a few seconds, Maeve didn’t say anything. She stared at Jerek with an unreadable expression. “Is anything ever your fault?”

And there it was. I wanted to know the answer to that, too. That’s why I came here. Why I did all of this. “Your sister asks a fair question. Let’s find out your response.”

Chapter Seventeen

I’d cultivated the art of patience. Law enforcement and the fractured court system put me in this disastrous place. The constant status of hurry up and wait grated against the concept of justice. A churning of in and out without ever finding a concrete answer or peace.

Jerek hid for so many years. Kept his name out of the news. Rode out the wave of women who stood up to publicly say what a load of garbage he was. He depended on his name and family money to allow him to act a certain way. He laid low long enough for true crime enthusiasts and public opinion to move on.

People would hear his name now and have a few seconds of Why does he sound familiar? before locking in on the newest documentary about some woman slayed here or found there or gone missing way on the other side of the country. Because there was always another woman and their bodies piled up, burying Ruby under a thick layer of other people’s grief and convenience.

My anger at the tendency of the public to hold on to their shock and fury for a limited time before moving on wasn’t fair. If this sort of devastating event never happened to them or their loved ones, they would not be able to fathom the unending darkness stretching out in front of them and how it sucked a person down and held them there.

When Mom died, I experienced an odd sort of freedom. One wrapped in a suffocating blanket of despair. As the last Forde standing, there was no longer a reason to hold back or be careful. I didn’t have to weigh the risks of delivering one more blow to Mom. What happened to me no longer mattered to anyone.

That’s when I started planning. That’s how Jerek’s final reckoning turned into my overwhelming obsession. It only seemed right that the confidential settlement Jerek’s father paid my parents all those years ago, the funds they could never bring themselves to spend except on a charitable college grant in my sister’s honor, paid for my revenge now. Thanks to the Hayes family and their guilt money, destroying Jerek turned into my actual full-time job.

I sighed because I needed a physical release from the unrelenting pressure strangling the room. “This is your last chance to tell the truth, Jerek.”

These two siblings and their endless daddy-likes-me-more bickering were exhausting. They thought they had it tough? Try being the imperfect kid left over and forgotten. The one who had not risen to martyr status in the family. That was my world.

Jerek winced as he blinked a few times. “I already made my admission. Eight years ago, and everyone who mattered believed me.”

I should have hit him harder. “Right. Your cute story about how you and Ruby were kissing and she got aggressive. You worried she was too drunk to know what she was doing, so you held her off. Because you’re such a great guy and all.”