After Before and After

Phase 4: Chapter 60

"Are you nuts?!" Jack Merridew screamed as he pushed his way into Roger Conroy's hotel room late that Tuesday night. After hearing Roger throw him under the bus on tape, Jack genuinely couldn't believe what he heard. At no point in the last two years did the former mention anything about naming Jack in his Flag State interview. In fact, Roger was very adamant about making sure Ralph didn't implicate them, all while he was the thing Jack should've been worried about.

The worst kind of betrayal, Jack decided it was.

Jack would've sought out the chance to confront his island accomplice the day before when he heard Roger's tape, but Paige dragged him to some fancy restaurant a friend told her about, and the Merridew siblings didn't get back to the hotel until after 2300 hours on Monday night.

Only a mere few hours after his own tape was played before the court, Jack burst into Roger's room in a fit of rage. He had no way of knowing the Conroy parents weren't there, but somehow Jack got lucky with that one. It seemed to be the only time luck was on his side as of late.

"What the fuck, man?" Roger presently spat back at Jack as the blond boy shoved him on his way into the former's room.

"You gave me up!" Jack spun around to face Roger as he shouted. "All this time you've been bagging on me about the possibility that Ralph might've sold us out to Flag State, but you were the one I shoulda been worried about! How could you do this to me?"

"Look man, I didn't mean anything by it" Roger took a cautionary step back, his hands out in front of him.

"You didn't mean anything by it?" Jack questioned forcefully, taking a step toward the other. "Really? That's all you got? You stab me in the back, and that's all you fuckin' got?!"

"I didn't stab you anywhere, shithead" Roger retorted. "All I said was that you thought Simon was the monster. I didn't say you told us to kill 'im. You're overreacting, Merridew! I protected you!" he angrily shouted at the other.

"No" Jack said, his tone suddenly and alarmingly low and heavy. "You didn't protect me, Ralph did" he finished as he closed most of the gap between them, standing close in front of Roger in a threatening manner.

"Oh for fuck's sake" Roger scoffed as he stepped away from Jack, minimizing the effect of the minor but still effective height difference between them. "Don't tell me you're still broken up about Langley."

"Don't change the subject!" Jack snapped, "you betrayed me! I said nothing that could remotely suggest you did the things we both know you did out there, Rog! That stupid agent said today that our stories don't line up anymore, all because you gave 'em my name! I can't believe I protected you, that I threw Ralph under the bus because you fuckin' told me to. How could you keep this from me all this time, huh? Why didn't you tell me so I could've at least been prepared for this? I looked guilty as hell out there today, Roger! What do you have to say for yourself, huh? Say something!"

"You're losing it, Merridew" Roger calmly spoke after a brief but quiet moment. "It's way too soon for you to be breaking like this."

Even angrier than he was a minute before, and surprised that was even possible, Jack lost the patience to respond with words. Instead, he lunged at Roger and the two of them started going after each other on Roger's hotel room floor. Jack used every bit of physical strength he had in him to attack his opponent, in a much less merciful way than he ever fought Ralph Langley over the past two years, and even the years prior to that.

Before the fight came to its inevitable end, Rhonda and Gregory Conroy returned to their family hotel room to find their son and Jack Merridew pummeling each other in the middle of the floor. By the time the boys were alerted to their presence, the floor was stained with blood, and both were looking up at the Conroys with bruises and cuts galore.