P. Parrish - Thicker Than Water

Louis stared at the Brenner headstone. All the feelings that had been churning inside him for the last hour were now settling into one deep ache.

Brian looked up, tears in his eyes. “She was so pretty,” he whispered.

The quiet was broken by the thud of a car door. Louis turned. A figure was coming over the rise toward them. It was Scott.

Scott paused on the top of the hill, a silhouette against the rising gray mist. Brian looked up at him, tears streaking his face.

“I should have known you would come here, Brian,” Scott said quietly. “It took me a while to figure it out. But I should have known.”

Scott came toward them, looking over at Louis, then back at his brother.

“What did you tell him, Brian?” Scott asked.

Brian shook his head.

Louis was watching Scott. His face was composed, almost serene. Standing there in his perfect gray suit, he seemed almost a part of the morning vapor, like a benign spirit.

But he was a man. And Louis could see him, his body covering Kitty’s. He could see him thrusting at her, his grunts mixing with her sobs.

Louis looked up into the tree’s canopy, feeling his chest tighten. God, don’t let me kill the bastard.

“What did you tell him?” Scott said.

“Everything,” Brian said.

Scott came over to Brian and stood in front of him. Louis thought he was going to hit or slap him, but Scott didn’t lift a hand.

“You stupid sonofabitch,” Scott whispered.

“I didn’t know about the other girl,” Brian said softly. “I didn’t know. I thought you were. . Oh, Jesus, Scott.”

“I told you,” Scott said. “I told you that you don’t talk, you don’t admit anything. I told you, it’s just a problem, something to be fixed.”

Scott turned from his brother and crossed to his father’s headstone.

“You’re not going to be able to handle this problem, Scott,” Louis said.

Scott looked at him. “I can handle it.”

“I know what you did to Kitty,” Louis said.

Scott pointed a finger at Louis. “You don’t know shit. And neither will anyone else.”

“You killed two girls, Scott. How do you expect to walk away from that?”

Scott walked behind the headstone, looking down. “Do you remember what you signed the day after I hired you?”

“That confidentiality agreement doesn’t include you, asshole. Only your clients.”

Scott looked over at his brother. “Brian, poor bastard that he is, is a client. You knew he was my client before he allegedly confessed to you.”

“What about you?”

“I am his client,” Scott said. “Privilege belongs to the client and I’m not waiving mine. And I’m sure when he thinks about it, neither will Brian. And since I never fired you, our agreement is still in place.”

Louis took a quick step toward him. “Fuck your privilege!”

Scott’s face was emerging in the light and it was near a smile. “Okay, let’s do that. How about hearsay? That’s always a good one. Or I could argue you were acting as an agent of the sheriff’s office and you had no right to talk to my client outside of my presence.”

“I’m not a cop!”

“You sure looked like one tearing my cabana apart.”

Louis glared at him. Scott’s face relaxed and now the smile emerged.

“I have one more argument too,” Scott said. “But I think I’ll wait to see if it pans out.”

“Argue your ass off if you want, I’ll tell my story anyway.”

“And you know how you’ll come across? Like the lovesick dick you are, obsessed with a dead girl.”

Louis took another step toward Scott, and Scott backed up quickly, but the smirk never left his face.

“Self-control is an admirable trait,” Scott said.

Louis drew in a breath, pointing at Brian. “How much self-control does he have? What makes you think he won’t break down again and tell a jury the same story he told me?”

Scott glanced at Brian. “Because he knows what I did for him. He knows that I’m the one who got him through law school. I’m the one who made him a lawyer. I’m the one who was always there to clean up his mess. He’s my brother and he owes me.”

Louis looked back at Brian. He looked like a beaten animal, sitting with his hands between his knees, head down.

“Blood is thicker than water,” Scott said.

Louis looked at the grass, his jaw was clenched tighter than his fist. The only thing that kept him from killing Scott was the thought that some way, some how, Brian’s confession could still be used.

“Besides,” Scott added, running his hand along the rough edge of the marble headstone. “Brian wouldn’t want to disappoint Dad. Would you Brian?”

Brian’s head shot up.

“You made a promise to Dad that night,” Scott said. “You remember? After Duvall left and Dad came up to your room? You remember what he said to you?”

Brian’s eyes teared up again.

“He told you that you could never screw up again. He told you he had made a deal to save your ass. You remember, Brian?” Scott said.

Brian didn’t move.

“Do you remember?”

Brian nodded slowly.

“And you promised him you wouldn’t. You promised him you would try harder.”

Louis’s muscles were so tense they burned.

“I did try,” Brian whispered.

“You failed!” Scott yelled. “You failed Dad and you failed me.”

Brian started rubbing his hands back and forth across his knees.

“But you can still make things right, Brian.”

Louis faced Scott. “You sonofabitch. You’re going to ask him to plead, aren’t you?”

“It keeps him off the witness stand,” Scott said, leaning against the headstone.

The graveyard fell silent. Louis couldn’t move, his eyes locked on Brian, who was just sitting there, just sitting there, ready to take the blame for everything again. What kind of man was he?

Scott suddenly laughed.

Louis turned to look at him.

“Jesus Christ,” Scott said. “I just realized something. Do either of you see the irony of all this?”

“Scott, stop,” Brian said. “Just stop.”

Scott rose off the headstone. “No, listen. Let’s say, twenty years ago, I have sex with the daughter of a cop. When she cries rape, I get angry and kill her with a kitchen knife. Her father is then assigned to handle the case of the next stupid bitch I rape and kill. But he’s too pissed at his dead daughter to do a decent job.” Scott paused. “That is how you explained it, right Louis?”

Louis didn’t move. He couldn’t believe this. Scott was telling him everything.

Scott gave a small smile and went on.

“Wait. It gets better. An innocent asshole is convicted and twenty years later, he hires me, the killer, to help him prove his innocence and sue the state so we can both get a lot of money.”

Scott spread his hands, looking at Louis. “Surely you can appreciate the irony?”

Brian was staring at his brother in disbelief.

“You talk too much, Scott,” Louis said slowly. “Brian may be protected by privilege, but you’re not.”

Scott laughed again. “Jesus Christ, Louis. Don’t you see? I can tell you whatever I want. No one will believe you.”

“Don’t bet on it.”

Scott shook his head slowly. “You are outclassed here, Louis, outclassed and outsmarted.”

“Fuck you, Scott,” Louis snapped.

He spun away, drawing on every ounce of strength he had. He started walking.

“Louis! Where you going?” Scott called out.

“To the sheriff’s office.”

“To do what? We’ll deny everything. We were never here and we never talked to you.”