Suzanne was staring right back at him in the cabinet glass. Her eyes looked directly in to his, and she spoke to him as a friend.

“Donnie, you know me. You know this doesn’t have to happen. You have the power to stop now, no one has died, and no one needs to die.”

Donnie slowly shook his head. He knew he had to finish or all this would be for nothing. Donnie could not face the possibility that all of this did not accomplish its purpose, and for that to happen Suzanne had to play. He broke his eyes away from her stare, rolled the chamber three times, pulled back the hammer and laid the gun against her head.

“No! Donnie no!”

Her voice reverberated around the room as he pulled the trigger.

Click!

Donnie had braced himself for the gun to go off. Now his head spun from the silence. Nobody moved, Chelsea still sobbed but without making any noise. Suzanne let out a sigh and Donnie caught her look in the china cabinet. The relief on her face was obvious but Donnie also saw something else. Was it sadness for him?

Donnie stood there, the gun in his hand, and tried to make sense of what just happened.

All four have played and no one died. Everything I’ve done to bring about this moment, was for nothing. It hasn’t changed anything. Billy is still the only one who is dead.

Donnie still couldn’t grasp the fact everything was over. He didn’t feel relief, nor did he feel like he had accomplished something wonderful. The thought that Billy might now be at rest did not help.

Donnie reached onto the table and picked up the five bullets still standing in the middle. One by one, he put them back into the gun’s chamber. The eyes of everyone at the table grew wide with fear.

But he didn’t aim at anyone. Instead, he took the keys to the handcuffs and threw them on the table. Everyone’s focus went to the ring of keys while Donnie walked away, through the back door and out to Momma’s grave.

****

Nina stopped the car next to a van parked in front of the house. Both detectives got out. Nina took a quick look and cleared the van before the two detectives walked onto the front porch. Jason knocked on the door.

“Help! Help us!”

Both detectives drew their guns, Nina pulled open the screen door and Jason kicked the front door in.

“Police!”

When the two detectives came through the door, it took them a few seconds to let the scene before them sink in. It was clear their suspect was not in the room.

One of the girls spoke up.

“He went out back.”

Jason looked towards the back door.

“Is he alone?”

“Yes.”

“Is he armed?”

“Yes.”

“Is there anyone else in the house?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

Jason looked at Nina.

“Call it in. I’m gonna see if I can find him.”

Jason ran out the front door.

****

Donnie stood at the foot of Momma’s grave. Something wasn’t right. He could feel it inside. He had done everything Billy had told him but nothing had changed. Billy was still the only one who had died from playing the game. Donnie had put these people through all this and nothing changed.

Donnie started to doubt the entire plan. Maybe the whole purpose was revenge for his brother. Or maybe he had never heard Billy. Was all this his own idea? Was it him who couldn’t accept the death of his brother? Had he been the one who needed the others to play?

Despair washed over him as the questions weighed him down. He was alone now. No Billy. No Momma. No purpose.

****

Jason had just stepped off the front porch when he heard the explosion of a gun going off. Still with his weapon drawn, he came around the side of the house but didn’t see anybody. He ran up the side of the garage and stuck his head around the corner.

“Damn!”

****

Nina heard the gunshot and didn’t know where Jason was. She left the room going through the back door, crossing over to the side of the garage.  She crept along the wall and peered around the corner.

Under a large oak tree, Jason was knelt over a body, his fingers at the throat of a young man. He looked at Nina and shook his head.

There was a loud banging against the garage wall. Both officers went to the back door of the garage, weapons drawn. Again, Jason kicked the door open and the two rushed in. They trained their guns on the surprised face of Devin James.

 

Epilogue

 

Jason got off the elevator on the second floor. Lieutenant Banks had made it clear Jason was to stop by her office before going upstairs. He had taken a few days off after the Jarvis arrest but he knew a time was coming when he would have to face Sarah Banks. That time was now.

She was sitting at her desk going over some paperwork when he knocked on the door jamb. She looked up and removed her glasses.

“Come in detective. Shut the door behind you.”

He did but did not sit down. Instead he leaned against the door he had just closed. He suspected it made him feel better to be close to an exit. She didn’t waste time.

“I expect any detective working a case for me to make themselves available to me whenever I see the need. I also insist on being kept in the loop about the cases they have been assigned by me. I do not like being kept in the dark.”

“Yes Maam.”

“Having said that, I consider a detective’s gut instinct to be his or hers best tool in solving difficult cases.”

Jason shifted from one foot to the other but didn’t say anything.

“You followed your gut and put the victims ahead of a department protocol. As a result, lives were saved.”

The lieutenant stood up and extended her hand.

“Excellent work Detective Strong. And thank you.”

Jason stepped forward and shook the lieutenant’s hand.

“Thank you, Lieutenant. I appreciate it.”

Jason turned and left the office. On his way out, he saw Nina Jefferson sitting at a desk. He stopped.

“Hi Nina. You finishing up the file on Jarvis?”

Nina looked up and gave Jason a sheepish grin.

“Uh…no. That’s done. Actually, Lieutenant Banks asked me to join her team and I accepted.”

Jason just stared at her for a minute, before breaking into laughter.

“No kidding? Well, good luck.”

“Thanks. I’m going to miss working with you.”

Jason laid his hand on Nina’s shoulder.

“The feeling is mutual. See ya’ around, Detective.”

“Bye Jason, and tell Vanessa welcome back.”

Jason rode the elevator up to Homicide on the third floor. When the doors opened, he was greeted by a familiar sight, one he’d been missing for awhile now.

Detective Vanessa Layne sat at her desk, which was pushed up against his, reading a file. He walked up without her noticing.

“Good morning.”

She looked up and smiled at him.

“Morning JD. How’s it going this morning?”

“Fine. Just fine.”

 

A note from the Author

 

As I prepare to release the third novella in the Jason Strong series, I wish to say to all who have written me, how grateful I am to hear you have taken Jason and his crew into your life. It has been exciting for me to meet these characters but even better to find out that you like them as well.

“For My Brother” was by far the hardest story to write so far. In fact, this is the second time I’ve finished the book. The idea came together early on and fairly quickly but the sequence of events in the first writing didn’t provide the book I had hoped for. The first writing also did not provide the book my wife, Beverly, expected from me. Hence, the second writing. She had approved this one as I went along and I trusted her instincts.