The Next Victim by Jonnie Jacobs Page A

it's the truth," Kali told her. But she'd vented most of her anger and now felt a hollowness in its place. The notion of John as a murderer didn't sit any better with her than it did with Sabrina.
    When they reached Sabrina's Ford Explorer, Kali asked, "You want me to drive?"
    Sabrina wiped her eyes and handed Kali the keys. "You never gave him a chance," she said softly. "You think you're so much better than everyone else, you don't give anyone a chance."
    "Oh, please." Kali opened the driver's-side door and climbed in.
    Never gave him a chance, indeed
. Kali was the youngest of the three. As a girl she'd idolized her older brother and longed for attention from him. But John couldn't be bothered. She was an annoyance he did his best to ignore unless it was to tease her or ridicule her in some way. To be fair, her parents shared some of the blame. In their minds, he could do no wrong.
    When their mother died, Kali had looked in vain to John for the emotional support she didn't get from her father, who preferred staring at the television and downing liberal amounts of alcohol to consoling his daughters. Sabrina, with her multitude of friends and boyfriends, had found support elsewhere, but Kali had no one.
    When their father died years later, John was again unavailable. He hadn't even come home for the funeral. Kali had tried for many years to build a relationship with John. She thought of the phone calls he never returned, the cards and notes he never acknowledged, the e-mails he ignored. John didn't have time for her; he was too busy looking out for John.
    "He never gave a damn about anybody but himself," Kali said. "Even growing up."
    "You think you were the only one who had a hard time in our family?" Sabrina shot back. "It wasn't easy for me, or for John, either. Especially John. He was the oldest, the only boy. Nothing he did was ever good enough."
    "Could have fooled me."
    "You know what your problem is?" Sabrina asked, slamming the passenger-side door. "You're inflexible. You expect everyone to be like you and do things your way."
    "My problem? I thought we were talking about John." But Sabrina's words struck a chord. Several boyfriends, including Bryce, had told her the same thing.
    "Don't you feel
anything
, Kali?"
    She'd heard that before, too. "Of course," she countered angrily. "It's awful that John's dead. I feel wretched about it. And I'm sad and upset that he was a murder suspect. What do you think I am, anyway?"
    "The Tin Man, maybe. Only
he
at least knew he didn't have a heart."
    "That's so unfair--"
    Sabrina seemed to have shocked even herself. "Oh, God. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. It's just that I'm so...so mixed up, I guess. And it hurts so much."
    Kali felt tears prick her own eyes. It did hurt, though she'd been trying to convince herself it didn't. She closed her eyes, hoping to stem the tide of sorrow. But it bubbled inside her, along with anger and guilt.
    "I loved John," Sabrina said softly. "Even if I sometimes wanted to wring his neck." She paused. "Just like I love you."
    Kali wiped her eye with the heel of her hand. "In spite of all the times you want to wring my neck?"
    Sabrina managed a weak smile. "Yeah."
    "I love you, too, you know." Kali didn't bother with the qualifiers. They both knew how often she was exasperated with her sister.
    "Yeah," Sabrina said. "I do know that."
    For now, peace. If past experience was any guide, it wouldn't last forever. Maybe not even the rest of the day. But Kali was suddenly grateful for the chance to bury the tension, however temporarily. She realized, with a fresh pang of grief, that she'd never have that opportunity with her brother.
    Kali started the engine. "You still want to stay at John's?" They'd decided on the phone that it made sense to stay there rather than a hotel, but now Kali wasn't sure it was such a good idea. Maybe it was too soon.
    "We have to deal with the house at some point," Sabrina pointed out.
    Kali nodded in agreement, though