Dead Ringer

by Lisa Scottoline

  Bennie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She didn’t know what to say. This was her dream, and she hadn’t even realized it until this very moment, when it came true. Phones that rang off the hook, faxes that never stopped coming, and E-mail that busted the server. And associates who grew up to be real lawyers in their own right. Bennie felt a wrench in her chest, but it had to be her stitches. Okay, maybe it wasn’t.

  “Bennie, did you forget about me?” came a shout from behind the boxes, and Bennie looked up to see Marshall coming around the box.

  “Marshall!” she shouted, and they embraced. The receptionist smelled like fresh Ivory soap and felt strong and healthy, almost back to her normal weight despite the hell she’d been through. Bennie swallowed the lump in her throat and held her out to look at her. “You came to say hi?”

  “Are you kidding? I came to work!” Marshall answered, beaming. “This is my first day back, too, and boy, do you need me! I’ll start part-time, and share with Marie, in the beginning. This joint is jumpin’, just like old times. No, better than old times!”

  “But what about—”

  “The baby?” Marshall waved her off. “She’s fine. She still has some delays, but she’ll catch up, and I got the best baby-sitter ever!”

  “She sure does,” Mary chimed in, throwing an arm around Marshall’s shoulders. “Hey, baby-sitter!” she shouted, and from behind the boxes, cuddling a newborn baby girl in acres of receiving blanket, came Vita DiNunzio.

  Bennie burst into surprised laughter. “Mrs. DiNunzio is going to be your sitter? How great!” She caught Mary’s eye. “Why do I think you had something to do with this, girl?”

  “I plead the Fifth,” the associate answered, holding up a testimonial hand, and Mrs. DiNunzio leaned over the baby.

  “Bennie! Bennie! See the baby!” Mrs. DiNunzio cried, dabbing at the baby’s mouth with Kleenex. “I just feed her the bottle! See her, so sweet! See Gabrielle!”

  “Gabrielle, welcome to Rosato & Associates!” Bennie said, giving the infant’s impossibly soft cheek a stroke with her finger. The baby gurgled adorably in response, with bright blue eyes peeking from her blanket, a nose like a pink button, and a mouth that formed a seraph’s smile. Even Bennie had to admit, she was even cuter than a puppy. “Gabrielle, did you get that present I sent you?”

  “The laptop?” Marshall laughed. “It’s a little early, don’t you think?”

  “It was either that or a chew toy,” Bennie answered, and they all laughed. She looked at Mrs. DiNunzio, obviously in her glory. “You got a baby again, huh?”

  “Yes, yes, sى! She’s a good baby, a beautiful baby!” Mrs. DiNunzio beamed behind thick glasses that magnified eyes full of happiness. She wore a flowered housedress and had shed her winter coat for the occasion. “I take care of her, me and my husband. He helps, too, while Marshall work!”

  “Wonderful!”

  “Benedetta,” Mrs. DiNunzio whispered, beckoning her closer with her finger. “Your sister, she’sa here. To see you, in your office. She says she wants to talk to you.”

  Bennie blinked, astonished. “Really? Alice is here? Here?” She and David exchanged looks.

  “I think it’s safe, if you want to talk to her,” he said. “If you don’t, I’ll throw her out. We’ll call the cops when you give the word.”

  The associates nodded unhappily. Carrier said, “We called security, too, and David’s here, and we’re all standing by, just in case. We thought you might want to see her.”

  “I thought you might like to speak to her,” Mary said.

  “I didn’t think you would,” Murphy chimed in, “not after what she’s done to you.”

  “Me, either.” Marshall nodded, folding her arms, next to a scowling Sam, and Mrs. DiNunzio was beside herself, even with the baby in her arms.

  “She’s a devil! A devil! I tell her to go home! She don’t listen! She don’t care about you! She don’t care about anybody but herself!”

  Bennie smiled, but she couldn’t deny it. Alice was a devil. But she was a devil Bennie couldn’t ignore any longer. So she said good-bye to all of them, steeled herself, and went to her office. She had wondered what would happen if ever she saw Alice again, and so far it wasn’t going the way she’d planned.

  For one thing, she didn’t have a flamethrower.

  40

  Bennie opened her office door into the aroma of brewing coffee, and Alice turned from the credenza. She looked better than she had behind a loaded Beretta. The hardness had gone from her expression, and her eyes were a clear blue and softly made-up. Her hair curled to her shoulders, and her lips were slick with a fresh peachy gloss. She wore jeans too low for most jurisdictions, with a smallish white T-shirt that showed her curves to advantage. Bennie was looking at herself, with a beauty makeover. And a black heart.

  “Want some coffee?” Alice poured the fresh brew into a Styrofoam cup and held it out.

  “I’ll get it myself,” Bennie said. She set down her bouquets, briefcase, and purse on the conference table, crossed to the credenza, and chose the perfect mug for her mood. HEAD BITCH. She poured herself some coffee, avoiding eye contact. “So, Alice, come to turn yourself in?”

  “Yes.”

  Huh? Bennie’s chest tightened, but she got over it by shaking sugar and fake creamer into her coffee and watching with unusual interest as they dissolved. “You’re kidding.”

  “No, I mean it. I’m turning myself in. I thought I should call the cops from here, to clear up the confusion, with the theft charges and all. And I wanted to see how you felt, if you’re all healed.”

  Bennie was so astounded that she didn’t know what to say. She was still getting used to the sound of her own voice coming out of someone else.

  “So, how do you feel?”

  “Alive. Thanks for asking.” Bennie turned her back and went over to her desk with her coffee. She always felt in control there, at least she had before she’d played hostess to the twin who tried to kill her.

  “Look, I know this is totally weird, but I am very sorry.” Alice went to the chair on the other side of the desk and sat down with her cup of coffee. “I’m sorry for everything I did to you.”

  “’I’m sorry’?” Anger flared like a flame in Bennie’s chest. “’I’m sorry,’ doesn’t cut it, Alice. You tried to kill me.”

  “No I didn’t. I could have shot you and I didn’t. I’ll tell the cops the way it went down, and they can charge me if they want to.” Alice’s tone was urgent, if oddly reasonable. “But I want you to know, I would not have killed you.”

  “Bullshit!” Yet another exception to the curse diet. Bennie set her mug down. “You were going to, I saw it in your eyes. You planned to kill me. You even bought the gun in my name.”

  “I couldn’t have gone through with it.”

  “Of course you could! You’ve killed before, haven’t you?”

  “Only in self-defense.”

  Bennie wasn’t asking for details. “What about Georges? You tried to kill him!”

  “No I didn’t. I aimed for his shoulder.”

  “Oh, come on, Alice!” Bennie shot back, raising her voice. “The bullet went astray because I knocked you when you were shooting.”

  “I’m a better shot than that. I wanted to disarm him. Girl, if I’d wanted to kill him, he’d be dead.”

  The coldness in Alice’s tone chilled Bennie. She didn’t believe her for a minute, and she couldn’t process the distinction anyway. Shooting another human being wasn’t approved behavior, no matter where the bullet landed, and she felt ridiculous arguing over it. It wasn’t the kind of thing the other kids fought about.

  “I did have a plan, but I swear, I couldn’t have gone through with it. And all that was before, anyway.”

  “Before what?”

  “Before I knew that Dad had died.”

  “So what?”

  “So that meant you were all I had left. It hit me, when you told me.” A thoughtful expression crossed Alice’s fa
ce, as if she were reflecting on the moment of her decision. “It struck me, caught me up short, that we were it.”

  “Oh, please.”

  “It’s the truth. Think about it.” Alice blinked. “Now that Dad is gone, we’re the only family we have left.”

  “We’re not family!” Bennie snorted. “But for some tenuous connection of bad blood and a very twisted strand of DNA, we don’t even know each other. I haven’t even heard from you in two years. And let’s get real, it’s not like you made any effort to stay in touch. I got you off on a murder charge and never heard from you again.”

  “The day you left me off at the train station, I knew I’d made enemies in town. I was framed for murder, if you remember. And then you didn’t matter to me. Now, you do. We’re family.”

  “We’ve never been family!”

  “Of course we were, and we still are. You and I, we have the same parents, Bill and Carmella. So what if we never lived together or even knew each other? In the world, there’s only us now. You and me. Sisters. Twins.”

  “So what?” Bennie ignored the wrench in her heart. “What follows from that? Nothing!”

  “Really?” Alice’s eyes narrowed. “That’s not what you used to think, when you defended me on that murder rap.”

  “And look where it got me! You tried to kill me! You tried to kill my dog!” Even if Bennie could forgive Alice for trying to kill her, she could never forgive her for trying to kill Bear. She wasn’t about to parse her own reasoning; she knew only that it was true. “What about my dog?”

  “I said I’m sorry, for everything. It seems like a very nice dog.”

  “He’s a great dog! He’s one of the greatest dogs of all time! He never did anything to you, and you tried to run him into traffic!”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You’re damn right you’re sorry! You’d better be sorry!” Bennie grabbed the phone and shoved it at her across the desk. “You said you wanna call the cops? Do it! Why wait?”

  “Hold on a minute.” Alice reached into a purse on the floor, pulled out Bennie’s black Filofax, and set it on the desk. “This belongs to you. Your ID’s inside, and credit cards. I sent the earrings back to Tiffany too.”

  “What a gal.” Bennie hoped that Carrier had called the DA about her indictment. She made a mental to-do list: Get acquitted. “They’ll still prosecute you, you know. It’s a felony and you assaulted the guard.”

  “I know. I’m ready to take what comes. And I’ll never pretend to be you again, I swear.” Alice’s eyes narrowed. “I do have a question, though. If I really don’t mean anything to you, why did you save my life?”

  Ouch. “Everybody makes mistakes.”

  “You didn’t make a mistake. You stepped in front of a bullet. For me. I’d like to know why.”

  “None of your business.”

  “How can it not be?” Alice laughed, Bennie’s own laugh. “It’s my life, it has to be my business.”

  “Well, it’s my reason, so it isn’t.”

  “Thank you for it, whatever the reason.” Alice gestured at Bennie’s wall of fame, behind her. “You know, I learned something that day, at the hospital. I used to be so jealous of you. I used to want what you had. But I got to see myself, when Georges pulled that gun. He killed his own brother, and I didn’t want to become him. I don’t want to become you, either. I want to become me.” Alice shook her head, musing. “See, you saved my life, and now I have a second one, because of you. From now on, I want to get it right, if you can understand that.” Alice’s face softened, her lips curving into a sweet smile that Bennie had seen on only one other person in the world. Her mother.

  My God. Bennie found herself wondering. Is there any of my mother in Alice? Any of her sweetness, her goodness of heart? It stood to reason that there would be. Alice was her full-blooded child, just like Bennie. And before Bennie had met Alice, she had believed that blood was all. It was only afterward she’d concluded that blood meant nothing. But maybe the answer lay somewhere in the middle ground.

  “Do you believe in redemption? Well, I’m redeeming myself. You’ll see. I’m starting by turning myself in. I figure I’ll get maybe probation or county time for the earrings. When I get out, I’m going to stay in Philly.”

  “Philly? Why?”

  “I have family here,” Alice answered with a smile, but Bennie didn’t see the humor. Her hometown wasn’t the middle ground she’d had in mind. She was thinking Timbuktu.

  “But what would you do here?”

  “I thought I’d get a job.”

  “What, in sales? Cocaine or crack?”

  “No. A legitimate job, a straight job. I went to college, I majored in criminal justice. I could do something in a law office.”

  “You asking me for a job?” Bennie asked in disbelief.

  “No, not at all. It’s too weird, with us being twins and all, but I think it wouldn’t be the worst thing if we got to know each other. I’ve been staying in a little efficiency in town, on Bainbridge, nice and clean, and I take care of it. I bought curtains with ruffles and ordered HBO. It’s a cute place. Sunny, nice.” The faint pride in her voice made her sound oddly vulnerable, and believable.

  Do you believe in redemption? Bennie couldn’t deny that she did. That was why she had saved Alice’s life. For her, and for her mother. The weight Bennie had carried over being chosen had been lifted. And her mother could never be happy, had never been happy, until now.

  “I’m changing, I really am. I’m going to change, whether I’m in the joint or out. So let’s call the cops.”

  Bennie turned the telephone back to her, picked up the receiver, and punched in the number. Her whole legal career had been about finding justice, and she was going to see that justice was served, right now. “This is Bennie Rosato,” she said when the call connected. “Can I speak to the boss?”

  Alice watched her in silence, her expression turning grave.

  “This you?” Bennie said into the phone when the familiar voice came on. It wasn’t Detective Needleman; it was Karen Wise, the director of the Public Law Group. Alice didn’t know that, yet she still didn’t get up and run away, which confirmed to Bennie the correctness of her decision. It was the right decision, even if it was a little, well, unorthodox. But then again, Bennie always was a maverick.

  “Karen,” Bennie said, “I have a woman you might want to interview, sitting here in my office. She’s about to serve some county time, about eighteen months, but she says she wants to change when she gets out. You guys believe that’s possible over there, right? That people can redeem themselves? That good can triumph over evil, even when lawyers are involved?”

  Alice straightened in her chair, and an incredulous smile spread across her face.

  “She’s smart and resourceful and I think she’d work hard. She says she wants to change, and I’m fool enough to believe her. She hasn’t been given a lot of chances in her life. I think I’d bet on her this one time. You might recognize her when you meet her. Who is she?” Bennie eyed the blonde on the other side of the desk, and when she answered, she chose her words carefully:

  “Her name is Alice Connelly, and she’s my twin sister.”