his eyes wide. “I...I went to the shooting range.” He twisted his thumb in that way he did when he lied.
Carrie Ann recognized the tell. “No, you didn’t. I know you, Drew. Tell me the truth.”
Drew’s chin quivered and he sank to the ground. He curled his legs up close to his chest, wrapped his arms around his shins and buried his face on his knees. “I had to, don’t you see? I still have to. I can’t live like this.”
Carrie Ann barely heard him and her pulse leaped. “Had to do what?”
“Julie!” he yelled, still hiding his head.
She covered her face with both hands, her heart slamming against her ribs. No, no, please God, no. She didn’t want to believe her brother had fallen so far. She’d been in denial for too many years and now it had come back to bite her in the ass. “Drew, did you shoot Julie? Did you blow up her car?”
He was crying hard now, rocking back and forth, a little ball of pity. “I’m sorry. I’m not sorry. I’m sorry. I’m not sorry.” He kept repeating the same words over and over again.
Numb, Carrie Ann sat next to him, the hardwood floor cool under her ass. How could this have happened? How had he managed it? How the hell was she going to fix it? “Why? Drew, why?” God, a police officer was still in a coma because of him.
“She lies to me. She tells me she’ll see me then she cancels. I’m not good enough for her,” he spat. He shook his head. “I can’t live like this. I love her. I love her so much and she keeps saying she’ll be with me, and I can’t do it anymore. I want her gone. If she’s gone, I won’t see her anymore. I won’t want her anymore. She’s everywhere and I can’t... I just can’t...” Tears cascaded uncontrolled down his cheeks and broke Carrie Ann’s heart.
All this time, she’d thought she was the only one with a key to the gun cabinet. All this time, it had been Drew after Julie.
God dammit! Julie! Fresh anger exploded in Cal’s chest. Julie didn’t have to deal with Drew on a regular basis. Julie didn’t know how far he’d slid into his own private hell and she’d been the one to make him worse.
Drew needed help. Serious help. Tears pricked Carrie Ann’s eyes. No way in hell was she putting her brother in any type of mental facility. She’d had to research one for a part years ago and she’d sworn then that she’d pay for private care before placing him in one of those hellholes. Drew needed care and a gentle hand. He needed attention. He needed the love of family and friends to help him get better.
“And at the luncheon,” Drew said between sobs. “She didn’t even have us at her table. Are we not good enough for her? We can’t be seen with her because we’re less than?”
“She told me she didn’t have any control over it,” Carrie Ann murmured.
“Bullshit!” Drew roared, his brown eyes feral. “You were already there. Someone else could’ve moved to another table and I could’ve joined you. She did it! She pretends to be nice, but she’s a lying, scheming fucking Hollywood diva and she has to go!”
Carrie Ann felt the sting behind her eyes. She’d always taken care of Drew. She’d promised her mother before she died to do everything in her power to keep Drew healthy and happy. And now he was as miserable as a man could be. She’d failed. She’d failed her mother and brother just as their father had failed them when he’d taken his own life. Just as Julie had failed them today. Again. Julie had none of the pressure, none of the shitty day-to-day life issues that Cal dealt with on a regular basis.
“You know I’m right,” Drew went on quietly, his voice a bare whisper near her ear as she stared forward, eyes transfixed on the empty gun cabinet. “It’s not just me, Carrie Ann. She treats you like shit too. She dangles movies in front of you, then steals them away.”
“I got Nowhere to Hide,” Cal said quietly.
Drew scoffed “Yeah, and look what that did for you? She purposely tanked your career. She made it so you’d have to work for every role you get. You don’t think she did that on purpose? All she did was talk about how great that movie was going to be,