Chapter 2 – Deaths

1 year ago (November 2004)…

At the funeral, Bobby stood between his brothers Jack and Jeremiah. He stared at the coffin that held his mother's body, but oddly enough his thoughts were elsewhere. He'd been thinking about Grace the whole day and he couldn't possibly fathom why. Grace had been gone now for five years.

Still, he thought about the first day he met her, the day he took her home to meet his mother and brothers. He remembered how she sat on the couch with her back as straight as a pin while he introduced his brothers to her. Bobby was sure that Grace had been surprised to see that two of his brothers' ebony skin contrasted sharply with his own pallid white flesh, but she hid it very well.

Grace had centered most of her attention on Jack. At that point, seven-year-old Jack was a new addition to the Mercer house and he had far from comfortably settled in to his new home. Bobby didn't know exactly what had happened to his youngest brother before then, but he did know that it was enough to make Jack avoid talking to and touching anyone other than Bobby for the first several months in the Mercer house.

13-year-old Jeremiah was very polite to Bobby's guest, as usual. He was always the best-behaved of the four brothers. Grace passed 11-year-old player Angel's test. He considered her to be extremely good looking for an eight-year-old.

15-year-old Bobby watched Grace as his mother brought in a plate of cookies with five glasses for milk. She stared at Evelyn for a moment as if she knew her from somewhere, but then she looked away. "Relax, dear," Evelyn said, noting Grace's rigid posture. Startled, Grace looked at Evelyn with tears in her eyes.

"I can't," she whispered.

The boys stared at her like she was crazy. Then they looked at each other, and understanding coursed through Bobby. Her parents were those kind of parents. They probably weren't the kind who physically abused her. Her parents were the kind to hurt with harsh words and lack of love. They probably hadn't said a kind word to Grace in a very long time from the look on her face.

About that time Jerry and Angel started one of their infamous tussles and landed in a heap on the floor. Bobby smiled as he watched his brothers, a cookie in his hand. Grace looked alarmed to see the boys wrestling on the ground, but Evelyn patted her on the knee and said, "It's alright Grace. They're not hurting each other. Would you like a cookie?"

Bobby knew that that was the moment when Grace fell in love with Evelyn Mercer. He knew because he had seen it happen time and time again, and this time it made him happier than ever. For a reason he couldn't quite explain, it was very important to him that Grace and his mother were friends because Bobby planned on having Grace at the house often. She would be an unofficial Mercer, he decided.

Grace accepted the cookie with a shy smile and offered half of it to wild haired Jack. To Bobby's surprise, Jack accepted and munched quietly on the cookie.

Shaking himself back to his mother's funeral, Bobby glanced at 21-year-old Jack and followed his brother's stare to a hill in the distance. There was nothing there, but Bobby got the distinct feeling that Jack had seen something. Something important.

Later that night…

Jack sat red-eyed on his bed, strumming quietly at his guitar when Bobby came in. It seemed like everything Jack did was quiet.

"You crying again, fairy?" Bobby asked, sitting on the floor beside Jack's bed trying to hide his own tears.

"Leave it alone, man," Jack said in his deep voice. Bobby was always amazed at how Jack had grown up to be the tallest of the four of them. Bobby, as it were, was the shortest. Jack sniffled and set his guitar aside to roll a fresh cigarette.

"I saw Grace at the funeral," Jack said after a moment's pause. He lit his cigarette as Bobby stared at him.

"What?"

"She was there. I knew she would be."

"Jack, Gracie's dead," Bobby reminded his brother.

"You know that's a fucking lie," Jack said angrily, his eyes filling with tears.

Bobby sighed. "I know it's a fucking lie," he confessed. "Why wouldn't she come see us?"

"Something chased her away from here once Bobby. She's not ready to face it yet. She'll come back to us though. I know she will," Jack assured him taking a long drag of his cigarette. He exhaled up to the ceiling. "I miss her, Bobby."

"Me too," Bobby agreed. "But I miss Ma too, and we can do something about that, Jack."

"I know. We've got some hunting to do."

Several days later…

After days of tracking down their mother's killer and unraveling the twisted web of mystery surrounding her death, Bobby was facing the worst enemy he could possibly imagine – his own brother.

Jack and Angel sat on the couch as Bobby paced the floor in the upstairs landing. The door opened and both Angel and Jack glanced over as Jerry walked through the door.

"What?" he asked at their solemn looks as he removed his coat and hat.

They didn't answer. "Where's Bobby?" Jerry asked as he entered the room.

"Right here, Jerry," Bobby answered, appearing out of nowhere with a fist aimed at Jerry's face.

Jack winced as he watched his brothers fight. Angel joined them on the floor. There was a lot of yelling and cursing and punching. There was a knock at the door, and Jack jumped up, relieved at the distraction. He opened the door and a masked man flicked him off as he walked away saying, "Your mother was a whore."

"Motherfucker," Jack growled, leaning down to scoop up a handful of snow. "Come back here, you shit!" he yelled as he chased after the guy.

Too late did he see the guy was packing. As the masked dude raised his weapon, Jack leaped towards the nearest light pole, hoping for some cover. There was a loud pop and Jack felt pain spread through his shoulder. He landed hard, still a yard or so away from the pole. He staggered into a standing position and fresh pain seared his chest. He went down again.

"JACK!" he heard Bobby yell through his haze of pain and was vaguely aware that there was an entire posse of men opening fire upon the Mercer house.

"Bobby," Jack said as he managed to drag himself to the light pole, but he knew his brother wouldn't hear him. He hoped Bobby had enough sense to duck back into the house. Jack knew that he was going to die. He just hoped his brothers were safe. That's all he wanted.

Before he lost consciousness, Jack felt a warm hand press against his chest. The pain was not so bad now. He expected to open his eyes and see his mother's face hovering above him. It was someone else entirely.

"Grace?" he asked, trying to reach a hand up to touch her tear-stained face.

"Jackie, don't you dare die on me," she pleaded. Jack couldn't answer her. He felt blood fill his mouth and his entire strength trickle out of his body. Jack's eyes closed as he felt the heat of Grace's hand disappear. So this was death.