Rayna turns to look at Brown, who’s finished exiting the cellar himself and is talking to the EMT. “Grady and I have to stay here,” he says, noticing her gaze. “But we will come to the hospital to interview you in awhile, okay?”
She nods as she’s led away by James. He leads her through the house she saw briefly before, jolting slightly when they pass Mark handcuffed to the stairs. He’s looking at her with confusion in his eyes as two officers Rayna doesn’t recognize are talking to him.
James leads her outside into the back of a waiting ambulance. “Your parents will meet us at the hospital, okay?”
She nods mutely, overwhelmed as shock starts to set in. He closes the double metal doors and they’re on their way.
***
They’ve just finished setting her broken arm and shoulder and outfitting her with the fanciest cast known to man when her parents rush in the room.
“Oh my God, are you okay?” her mom screeches, partially hysterical.
“I’m fine mom, really. I’ll be good as new in…” She trails off and looks at the doctor expectantly.
“Eight to ten weeks,” he rattles off as he scribbles out a prescription for pain medication.
“That’s a long time,” Rayna’s dad replies, inspecting the contraption on her arm. “Will you be coming home with us, then?”
Rayna nods. “I don’t really have another choice with the FBI seizing Zeki’s place and Remi’s still being a crime scene.”
Her father nods knowingly. “You can stay as long as you like.”
Rayna hears footsteps and looks up to see Detective Grady entering the room. She smiles when she sees Rayna sitting up and bandaged up. “I see they’re taking good care of you.” She looks at her parents. “Can I have a minute alone with Rayna please?”
“Uh…sure...” her mom replies, as if she’s been helping instead of crying the whole time. The doctor also gives a polite nod and steps out with her parents. Once the door is closed and they’re alone in the room, Grady looks at her expectantly.
“Can you tell me how you ended up in your friends cellar?”
Rayna shakes her head in shame. “I thought we were friends, but apparently not. Anyways, I was taking the metro to my parents’ house and she was there outside the station by their house and offered me a ride.” She takes a deep breath, remembers Katie’s confusion, and feels like an idiot, but continues. “I didn’t want to ride with her. She seemed really confused and out of it and I think that’s because she already killed Remi.” As she says the last part, tears start to well up in her eyes.
“Why do you say that?” Detective Grady asks, pulling out her iPad.
“Well she seemed absolutely shocked to see me. I think it’s because she’d never met Remi and didn’t realize how alike we were. There was an empty water bottle in that cellar—”
Grady interrupts, “we found it and sent it to the lab.”
Rayna nods. “Test for Remi’s DNA, because the only thing that makes sense to me why Katie would be so shocked to see me is if she had already killed Remi thinking she was me and thought I was a dead person walking.” Tears are flowing freely down her face now.
Grady comes over and puts a hand on Rayna’s shoulder. “We will find her, don’t worry.”
“Did Katie say where she is?” Rayna asks hopefully as Grady hands her a tissue.
“Katie is still in surgery. Bullet hit a few major organs, they aren’t sure if she will survive or not. I’ll let you know when I hear something, okay?”
“Okay.” Rayna reaches for a second tissue. “Where’s Detective Brown?” she asks, just now remembering he said they would come to the hospital together.
A small smile plays on Grady’s lips. “He wanted to come but he has to go through a process since he discharged his weapon today. I think they’re about to discharge you but I’m sure we will both stop by your house later once we get news of your sister.”
Rayna nods solemnly as Grady takes some quick pictures of her cast on her iPad. “What are the pictures for?”
“In case this goes to court,” Grady replies and snaps a few more. “I doubt it will, but you never know.” After she’s finished, she goes and opens the door and Rayna’s parents rush back in.
“The doctor says you’re good to go home!” Her mother is dry eyed for the first time since she heard of Remi’s disappearance, and a slight smile occupies her lips.
“We will fill your prescriptions on the way home okay?” her dad suggests, yawning and helping her off the table. It’s now almost seven in the morning and they were up all night. “I think everyone deserves some rest.”
“Wait,” Rayna says as they lead her towards the door, “I don’t have any shoes.”
Grady smiles from the corner of the room. “I’ll go grab some hospital slippers for you. Those shoes you were wearing saved your life.”
“They did?!” Rayna asks incredulously.
Grady nods. “Yes, Brown recognized them when we went to question Katie. Him and those shoes are the only reason we came back.” And with that, she exits the room and heads down the hall to get her the slippers she promised.
She’s back within minutes and begins taking off the plastic wrap. Grady then walks with Rayna’s parents as Rayna is wheeled in a wheelchair towards the check out desk. The minute the desk woman sees Rayna she startles. The movement doesn’t escape Grady’s notice.
“Everything okay?” she asks the woman at the desk.
“Yes,” the woman clears her throat in embarrassment. “It’s just, uh,” she looks at the discharge papers in her hand to find Rayna’s name, “Ms. Casell looks just like one of our other patients.”
Grady nearly drops her iPad. Rayna’s mom does drop her purse. “Where, what room, what’s going on with her?” Grady snaps immediately into cop mode.
The nurse shakes her head. “I’m not sure. I’ll have the doctor come talk to you, Ms. Grady,” she says pointedly, as if Rayna and her parents are about to get information they aren’t privy to.
Grady doesn’t argue, she just nods then turns to Rayna’s parents. “I’m going to head down to intake. Wait out in the waiting room for me. We need to confirm it’s her first.”
Her dad nods excitedly and begins to turn Rayna toward the door. But Rayna doesn’t miss Grady’s long stare as they wheel her away.
They didn’t say anything about Remi being alive.
DETECTIVE GRADY
NOW
It feels like the intake woman at the ER is taking forever to get back to her. She inquired almost twenty minutes ago about a Jane Doe brought in. She even showed the picture of Remi she had with her, hoping to speed up the process, but it apparently did no good.
“Grady,” the doctor finally calls from the door. Grady stands quietly and follows him into his office. This can’t be good.
He sits down behind his large mahogany desk and leans back in his chair, letting out the breath in his lungs. “I hear you’re inquiring about our Jane Doe.”
“Yes.” Grady sits up straighter. “I believe she’s the victim in the missing persons case I’m investigating.”
“I understand that. The reason I took so long to get back to you is this Jane Doe you were asking about,” he looks down at the paper in his hand, “Remi Casell, just came in a little over an hour ago and...” He sets down the papers on the desk and looks Grady straight in the eyes. “Things don’t look good.”
She pulls out her iPad, quickly typing in what the doctor just said. “Can you elaborate?” she asks without looking up from her iPad.
“Well, she was brought in unconscious, suffering from extreme hypothermia.”
“Who brought her in?” Grady was in her car on the way to the hospital a little over an hour ago and she didn’t hear anything on the radio.
“A good Samaritan. He brought her to the hospital in his vehicle.”
“And he didn’t call an ambulance?” Grady asks. It’s odd in this day and age that someone would drive someone they d
on’t know to the hospital. Without waiting for an answer, Grady blurts out her next question. “And can I get his information?”
The doctor shakes his head. “That’s what took me so long. I don’t know why this guy didn’t call the police. He didn’t speak to any of our staff, he simply pulled up in a green Subaru.” He shuffles the papers in his hand and hands Grady a security camera picture of the vehicle.
“He set her on the ER waiting room floor.” He pulls out another picture showing a balding man, probably in his mid forties, wearing a black hoodie, carrying Remi bridal style, wrapped in a quilt into the lobby.
Grady takes the photo from him and studies it intently. The man’s features are hard to distinguish in the grainy security camera photo, but she figures her tech team can enhance it.
“—And then he left.” The doctor hands her a final picture showing the man climbing back in his vehicle to presumably drive away. Grady takes pictures of all the pictures provided and quickly sends a message over to Brown, with nothing but the words ‘found Remi’ in the title. She’ll call her partner as soon as she’s finished.
“Can I see her?” Grady’s mind is already running a million miles a minute about how they can trace the license plate, facial recognition the guy, and find the person who kidnapped Remi. But first, she needs to help the poor family waiting in the waiting room upstairs for news of their daughter and sister.
“Yes. But she’s not good, like I said. She’s unconscious and severely hypothermic. I suspect she spent the entire night outside somewhere. She wasn’t wearing any shoes. We are doing everything to raise her body temperature, but it’s too soon to tell if it’s doing any good.” He stands from his desk and crosses the room over to the door.
Grady slides her iPad under her arm and follows suit. He leads her down the hall of the ER, which is surprisingly quiet for this time of the morning.
They stop in front of a room where nurses are crowded around a woman. Grady immediately recognizes her simply from the fact that she looks just like Rayna. The resemblance is completely uncanny.
She’s wrapped tightly in hospital blankets, tubes are fed up each of her nostrils, and a small portion of her arm is showing as the nurse switches out the IV.
“We are giving her warmth, keeping her humidified, feeding her oxygen and warmed IV fluids. If things don’t improve in,” he checks his wrist watch, “less than five minutes we will have to start with peritoneal lavage, which is not easy and has many dangerous side effects of its own.”
Grady doesn’t know what that is but it definitely doesn’t sound good. “What should I tell the family?”
The doctor shakes his head. “Tell them the truth, she might not make it.”
She takes that as her cue to leave the room, making note of the room number as she does. She makes her way back upstairs to the waiting room where the family is.
The parents jump up the minute they see her. Rayna observes her apprehensively.
“Is it her?”
“Is she okay?”
“What happened?”
“Who did this?”
The questions come in quick succession from the parents as Rayna continues to sit there quietly. Even though she claims she and Remi don’t share a mental connection, it seems to Grady that she already knows.
“I’m pretty sure it’s her, but it’s not looking good. They aren’t exactly sure what happened yet.” Grady decides to spare them the gruesome details.
Both parents immediately become very solemn.
“Can we see her?” the mother asks, her eyes once again damp.
“Not at this exact second, they’re working to save her life, but I will ask.”
“Can I talk to you for a second?” Rayna asks meekly. “Privately,” she adds with a glance at her parents.
Grady nods and wheels Rayna down the hall and towards the cafeteria.
“Everything okay?” Grady questions as soon as they’re out of the earshot of Rayna’s parents.
“Yes, but I want you to take me to see Remi, now.” Grady starts to interrupt but Rayna holds up her hand to stop her and continues. “I know they’re trying to save her life, I don’t need to be in the room. I just need to see her. Just in case.”
She doesn’t feel right about taking Rayna to the flurry of activity she just left, but figures she’ll let the doctor be the bad guy in this situation. “Alright,” she replies and turns the wheelchair towards the elevator.
Rayna is quiet on the elevator ride, and Grady knows she’s probably feeling guilty, scared, and possibly still in shock. She makes a mental note to recommend a psychiatrist before she leaves the hospital.
They exit the elevator to come face to face with a worried looking Detective Brown. Some of the worry etched on his face fades as he notices Rayna.
“Well look who’s good as new,” he comments, eyeing the cast. “I’ve never seen a contraption quite like that.”
Rayna tries to shrug and winces. “Yeah it’s all the rage these days, you should get one.” Sarcasm is evident in her voice. Grady smiles a little bit at the exchange.
Brown shifts his attention to his partner. “Remi?”
Grady shakes her head in dismay. “We are on our way to see her now.”
She pushes Rayna up to the counter and asks the nurse to page the doctor she talked with moments before. She does so, and within moments he’s pushing open the door.
Just like everyone, he nearly stops in his tracks when he sees Rayna sitting in the wheelchair.
“Twin sister,” Grady provides before the guy has a coronary.
He wipes imaginary sweat off his forehead. “The resemblance is uncanny.” He looks towards Brown.
“My partner Detective Brown.” The two men shake hands. “Now I know you’re busy, but Rayna here wanted to just see the room where her sister is. She understands she may not be able to go inside.”
The doctor looks between Rayna and Grady. “We just started a blood rewarming procedure, where the blood is removed from her body, warmed, and put back in. Hopefully this works or we will be prepping her for the peritoneal lavage. But you can see her now. Just be careful with all the equipment around.” He motions to the wheelchair.
“I can walk,” Rayna replies, struggling to stand to follow the doctor. Brown gives her a hand.
Grady smiles to herself as they make their way down the hall. She isn’t sure what the department will think of Brown dating a victim in a case, but she can’t imagine it will be much of an issue if the case is closed quickly.
The trio makes its way down the hall to Remi’s room. The minute she catches sight of her sister, the color drains from Rayna’s face.
Brown hesitantly leads her over to the bed, which is surrounded by all sorts of machines. Rayna reaches out a hand and touches her sister’s face.
It’s crazy. Grady didn’t believe Rayna when she said she and her sister were exact replicas of each other, but it’s true. They are.
Rayna doesn’t say anything. She simply stands there, a hand on Remi’s face. Finally, she turns to Grady.
“She’ll make it. I know she will.”
She doesn’t give any explanation, simply turns and leaves the room.
Grady makes eye contact with Brown and shrugs. Maybe they do share a mental connection after all.
EPILOGUE
RAYNA
THREE WEEKS LATER
“Now lean back so I can wash the shampoo out of your hair,” Remi says as she stands on a stool, helping Rayna in the shower. Thanks to the fancy cast that can’t get wet, she still needs help with even the most basic tasks.
“Thanks,” Rayna says quietly, still a little embarrassed she can’t do things on her own.
“That’s what sisters are for,” Remi replies, equally as quiet.
Things are still a bit strange between them. They’ve been talking more, but they haven’t quite made it back to the camaraderie they had before Rayna moved out months ago.
Remi was discharged from the
hospital after a week. Although she made a full physical recovery, her mind still has miles to go. Both girls are currently seeing a recommended psychiatrist who helps women who have been abducted.
Rayna feels a little bad, as she doesn’t have near the amount of negative mental implications as her twin. Remi can’t stand being in enclosed places, restrained, or in the dark. All repercussions of spending what the police estimate to be four full days locked in the same cellar Rayna was locked in.
Remi quit her job, deciding to take a few weeks off to help Rayna before going back to work as a CPA. She’s considering a smaller firm this time, after the mess at Johnson Finance. As it turns out, Jonathon, Remi’s boss, was fired for allegedly laundering money from the company through a number of false subsidies. Jared and Lyle both took a plea deal in exchange for testifying against him.
Remi decided to take the high road and dropped the harassment charges against the men for their phone calls and thefts from her apartment. As she told the cops, it wasn’t worth the mental stress. Detective Grady agreed.
Katie, who imprisoned both girls in her wine cellar, never made it off the operating table, saving Remi and Rayna from having to testify in court. The police questioned and released Mark after realizing he had nothing to do with his wife’s actions. Remi told Grady about the two “henchmen,” as she called them, but the police were unable to discover their identities. Whoever they were, they must’ve gone back to their normal lives, or hired hitman lives, wherever they came from.
Although she says the fact that the two men are still at large doesn’t bother her, Rayna knows Remi is just putting on a good façade. Remi changed the locks and had four additional locks put in on the apartment since being released from the hospital. Rayna suggested they move, but Remi said not yet, she really likes this location and wants to wait.
And Rayna knows what she’s waiting for. John.
Things between the couple have been rocky at best since the incident. They’re still together, and John is filing for a divorce from his estranged wife, but there’s a broken trust between them that needs to heal. Remi hopes it will just take time. But she isn’t sure if she can honestly ever trust John again. And Rayna knows if Remi calls it quits, they will most likely move somewhere else.
Before Now Page 22