Beth perks up a little, but my stomach flips. He cups Beth’s face in his hands. “I swear,” he says. “I pay off Nate, and then we’re gone. You and me. I can’t be without you. Please.”
I back away, wanting to get the hell out of there, but when I’m almost out of sight Jackson looks up. “What’d you say to that old lady?” he asks.
“Old lady?” Beth asks.
The skin around Jackson’s eye is turning purple. “Jackson, seriously. You should keep ice on that,” I say.
“She just called. Said you turned her down.”
I meet my brother’s gaze, trying to keep a straight face, but I’ve never been a good liar. “I’m just tired of it,” I say. “Like Beth said, I’m through. Each time I do a gig, the nightmares get worse. We don’t have the equipment to cover a place that big anyway.”
“We’ll fake it. Lady sounds ancient. She won’t know the difference.”
“Scary shit has happened in that house, Jackson.”
He groans. “Like thirty years ago.”
“Are you listening to yourself?”
He picks at the cut on his arm. “Come on. It’s going to be like every other gig. ‘Oh my dead kid, I miss her. My dead wife, she won’t leave us alone. Boo hoo.’ We’re going to get in. We’re going to get out. We’re going to make some money. And as for those nightmares you’re having? I can’t believe we’re still discussing those.”
“You always say that, but…”
“This lady needs us, Ange. It’s as simple as that. You think she wants the truth? That she wants to hear the voices that haunt her are just in her head? All we have to do is show up, put on a damn good show, and she sleeps better at night.”
“That has nothing to do with…”
“The woman wants to pay double our rate so that she can move on, and you want to deny her that? It’s a no-brainer. We all need the money.”
“I don’t know, Jackson. How much does that shit you’re snortin’ cost these days?”
A flash of anger crosses Jackson’s face. “You really want to go there?” He steps closer. “Ever since Mom offed herself, all you’ve done is judge me. About how I dealt with it, or didn’t deal with it. But you’re the one that can’t hold a job…”
“Okay,” Beth says. “Maybe let’s not do this now.” She tries to get in-between us, but Jackson points a finger in my face.