Jack In The Box novel Chapter 47

EZRA POV

I should’ve been in my hotel room packing, better yet, spending my final hours in WoodVille screwing the bartender I’d met at the club, instead a new discovery had forced me to first talk this out with my brother before I drew up any conclusions. My gut feeling told me that what I’d witnessed and seen was wrong, but I knew in my heart that it could as well be true.

“Sir, I’ve been instructed not to let any visitors disturb Mr. Wolfe at this hour.” Lynn followed me, hot on his heels, dabbing a handkerchief on his forehead.

Poor Lynn and the other house staff. They’d thought I’d died during one of my missions, and I’d made sure to keep my existence from public knowledge. I was someone who worked from the shadows, and so, my agency had completely wiped out my remnants from this mansion. I had no reason to live here after I’d joined the FBI because unlike Jack, this place haunted me. I couldn’t look at the shed outside without thinking of our mother; I couldn’t even step towards the same floor as my father’s room because I often thought he’d still be there inside, sitting in his usual chair, smoking a cigar.

When I’d turned up at the mansion, months later, Lynn and the staff had nearly survived a coronary. They thought they’d seen a ghost, and I had to quickly explain what had happened. I’d claimed back my old room, the one on the same floor as Jack’s but my room consisted of less things and even lesser furniture.

I knocked on the door of Jack’s room, scratch that, I rapped on the door with angry thumps.

The Jackass better be awake.

“Sir...But...”

“Lynn, please remind me who I am.” I told the butler.

He opened his palms as if to ask why I was even asking this question. “You are Ezra Wolfe, sir.”

“And what does that make me?” I asked.

“An important member of this house.” Lynn looked like a kid giving his best answers to win Who wants to be a Millionaire?

“Right. So, if the owner of this house, my brother wishes not to speak with me, he’d have to throw me out himself, which he can’t because it’s my house too. You’re not losing your job so...pretend like I’m not here and run back downstairs.”

Lynn huffed. The door of the room opened and a very sleepy Jack walked out of the room. I could see Riley sleeping on her side, the white comforter drawn up to cover the lower half of her body. It’s no wonder his phone was switched off.

“It’s four a.m, Ezra. What the fuck do you want at this hour?” Jack asked, barely opening his eyes. No shirt on, just a pair of jeans, unzipped and unbuttoned.

I had barely even slept, because my new partner had called me to discuss this new undercover case. I had a flight in two hours but this conversation needed to happen.

“Lynn, I need breakfast.” Jack said. “Eggs would be good.”

“It’s just four a.m, sir.”

“I can read time.” Jack replied, grumpily.

“Get me a strong coffee, black.” I told him and the butler was dismissed.

I turned my gaze towards Jack. He closed his bedroom door carefully behind him, like making the slightest sound would wake up the sleeping baby in his crib. Yeah, right.

“Jose Fisher.” I said.

The name was enough to remind him what had happened. Jack watched me, his demeanor as cool as a cucumber. Anyone else would have been fooled, not me.

“Who’s that?” He asked.

“You should try enrolling into a better acting school because you’re definitely not passing any auditions any time soon, brother.”

“Don’t talk in riddles.” He snapped. “Say it clearly.”

“Jose’s body was found in a ditch last night, butchered beyond recognition. Let me paraphrase that in a better way. His eyeballs are missing, Jackson and so was his penis. His organs laying in a pile beside him.” I told him. “The new FBI recruit puked his guts and almost called quits when he looked at the mess.”

“Who do you think did it?” Jack asked, watching me closely. “Certainly it’s not Aaron because he’s dead. Maybe it’s someone else?” He leaned against the doorframe. I knew that posture, he was trying to intimidate me, dominate me even.

“I won’t play your game, Jack. It probably charms the fuck out of Riley, it does nothing to me.”

“Get to the point, hermano. I need to get back to Riley. She’d probably start missing me.”

“I know you did it.” I said and watched as his expressions did not change.

Jack stared at me with the same darkness in his eyes. “What are you going to do about it?”

Good Lord!

He hadn’t even tried to debunk the suspicion I’d planted.

“You killed a man for fuck’s sake! I’m an FBI Special agent, Jackson! You have no idea what I can do!”

Jack gritted his teeth and looked at his closed room door. “Lower your damn voice.”

“What were you thinking? Killing that man like that!”

“He tried to rape Riley that night when you locked her up under the suspicion of the murders.” Jack said coldly. “I’d checked his records, he’s been reported of sexual assault more times than you could count but the hospital authorities didn’t want to report it because they didn’t want to be involved in a scandal.”

“Jack, you could have told me about this. There’s a way we could have handled through the law.”

“If it had been at the hands of the law, Ezra, he would still be free raping other women. If the law is the right way to go then I wouldn’t have to hunt our mother’s killers down and kill each one of em. One of us needed to do the dirty work and heck, if I regret it.”

Jack said he didn’t regret killing those three men in the past, but he couldn’t deny how it had changed him. The way I see it, Jack was always surrounded by darkness, it was about time he let it consume him. After he’d killed the people, he hadn’t been the same man.

“You scooped his eyeballs out! How angry were you?”

Jack’s jaw muscle twitched. “If you truly loved a woman, and saw some dirtbag try to soil her, you’d do the same thing.”

“I wouldn’t. Don’t compare me with you.” I said frustratingly.

“I don’t understand why you’re being such a hypocrite. You’ve killed far more people than I have, don’t deny it.” Jack said, hitting the bullys-eye.

My hands were balled into tight fists. “That’s a different case. I killed because I was protecting some innocents—”

“I was protecting innocents too.” He chimed in.

“I take a shot, point-blank not butcher them like they are animals brought into a meat farm. There’s a difference.”

Jack didn’t even feign indifference. It’s when I realized there was no point in arguing with him. What was done was done.

“What do you plan to do? Pull this up in the police department? Put me back in the asylum or maybe prison this time. You know, my fiancé won’t be happy about it, probably won’t believe you about the murder story either.”

I stared at him, speechless. He’d asked Riley to marry him, and she’d said yes…

That changed a lot of things. I didn’t know for the better, or worse.

“What do you want Ezra? The company? We’ve talked about this a dozen times. I don’t want it. This entire fucking murder spree happened because of it, remember? I want to live with my happiness, with my Riley. And you can’t take her away from me.”

It was a warning that I should be taking, but damn him if I was even a bit scared.

“For the millionth time, I’m not interested in the company. I’m interested in my brother’s well-being and keeping his sanity in check, but seeing as the way things have taken a turn, I think it’s too late for that.”

“Let’s hope you’re wrong.” He said.

“I know you killed Mad-Dave, too.”

Jack’s brow twitched upward. “How do you figure?”

“My instincts never lie, especially if it concerns you. What was the reason behind it?”