Free Deathwatch by Dana Marton Page A

dust-filled cobwebs hanging from the ceiling, the garage large enough to hold two cars, plus Doug’s little man-cave in the back. The only place in the house where he could almost do whatever he wanted.
    He puffed on his cigarette then hung his head, the light reflecting off the top where his brownish hair had begun to thin. “Needed some extra money to fix the truck. Then this hot chick at Finnegan’s said she was looking for a place to crash….” He put on his best repentant face. “I figured, what would it hurt? You’re my brother. You’d help out if you could.”
    The door that led to the house opened, Felicia, Doug’s wife, standing in the threshold, glaring at them. Doug snapped his hand down to hide his cigarette behind his back.
    “ You need to walk the dog. You both need the exercise.” She let the black lab out, narrowing her eyes. “Are you smoking out here?”  
    Doug flashed an all innocent look, jerking his head toward the heater. “Kerosene.”
    She shot him a look that could curdle milk, then yanked the door closed without another word.
    “ She’s right. I could use the walk.” Doug patted his potbelly with a sheepish look. “I did put on a couple of pounds.”  
    Bella, the dog, ran to greet Murph. He scratched behind her ears. “There you are, girl. Look at you. Happy to see me?”
    Bella put her front paws on his knees so she could lick his face, the warmest welcome Murph had received in this house yet.
    Doug pulled his cigarette back out and drew on it. “Felicia’s been in a mood all week.” He shrugged, then blew out smoke and looked at Murph. “Do you ever miss Mom?” he asked out of the blue.
    Murph had to think about it. There wasn’t much to miss, as horrible as that sounded. “I think about her.”
    “ She used to go after you something fierce.”  
    “ She did.” Doug had always been the golden boy. He was four years younger, had always been their mother’s favorite. Murph looked too much like their deadbeat father, so their mother couldn’t stand him. Nothing he’d ever done had been good enough. Doug had always been the prince, gotten everything their mother had been able to give, including the house when she’d passed.  
    “ She went easier on me,” Doug said in a sentimental tone. “I always thought I had it good.”  
    “ You did.”  
    But Doug shook his head. “I never learned to fend for myself, not like you.” He took a swig of his beer. “Felicia’s different.”
    Maybe. But Felicia could be mean in her own way. Doug had married an overbearing wife because he missed his mother, but Murph had a feeling the marriage wasn’t working out for Doug exactly as he’d expected.
    Murph used to be jealous of his little brother back in the day, but now he was beginning to think he might have gotten the better end of the deal.
    Doug drew on his cigarette, then dropped his hand, in case Felicia came back. “Hey, maybe now that you’re home for good, you’ll settle down and get hitched.”
    “ I don’t think so.” Murph didn’t plan on getting married. He hadn’t so much as lived with a woman. He was very comfortable with the whole solitude thing.  
    “ Kate’s pretty.”  
    “ She’s moving out.”  
    Doug nodded, bent to tip some ashes into the ashtray he kept hidden under the couch—no matter how many times Murph had told him it was a fire hazard—then looked up. “I already spent her rent money. I can’t give it back.”
    “ Don’t worry about it. How about if we grab a couple of beers later this week?” Felicia didn’t like it when Doug had people over. She was likely to give him an earful for Murph stopping in unannounced today.  
    “ Anytime, bro. You give me a call.” Doug grinned with relief.  
    They talked some about what had happened in town while Murph had been gone, what was going on at the lumber yard where Doug sometimes worked. Then, when Felicia came out the second time, glaring at Doug to walk the dog already,