Deja Vu

by Samantha Gentry

  The stress surged just below the surface of Gable’s skin. The next hour would be the most tense and stressful time he had ever endured. From the age of fifteen he had been working toward this moment with unwavering dedication. And now…just a little while longer and it would all be over. The culmination of twenty-five years of effort.

  “This is it, lad.” Robert hugged his nephew, a gesture immediately returned by Gable.

  “Right you are, Uncle Robert.”

  Gable stopped the music, then watched through the viewing portal as his stand-in played out the part, including an excellent imitation of Gable’s voice. It took only a couple of minutes for him to clear the dance floor and bring the Prescott imposter to the center of the ballroom to make his announcement.

  Hal Bentley played the part of J.D. Prescott to perfection. “Ladies and gentlemen. I know your host, Gable Talbot, has already welcomed you, but I would like to extend my personal welcome and appreciation for this wonderful turnout tonight. This truly marvelous house…this gracious and magnificent ballroom…this must be just the way it looked that night thirty years ago when most of you were in attendance at another party.

  “As has been reported, I’m using the disappearance of Winthrop and Evelyn Hollingsworth as the launching event for my next book, a story that does not follow the real life events but starts there. Several incidents have occurred in the last few days that shed new light on the mystery of what happened to Winthrop and Evelyn and also reinforce my solution to the decades-old mystery.

  “As you are no doubt aware, two bodies…actually skeletons…were discovered a few days ago less than a hundred yards from here. They were naturally assumed to be Evelyn and Winthrop Hollingsworth. Evelyn’s identity was immediately confirmed through dental records and it was dental records that ruled out the other skeleton being Winthrop. For those of you who aren’t aware, it was my researcher, Alexandra Caldwell, who provided the authorities with a means of positively identifying the other skeleton as Jack Stinson, a Hollingsworth employee who went missing that same day.

  “And then, to the shock of everyone connected with this matter, Gable Talbot came forth and admitted to being the son of Jack Stinson and provided the authorities with a DNA sample in order to reinforce the identification of his father and prove his own identity. The authorities have verified through court records showing a change of name that Mr. Talbot is who he claims to be. Miss Caldwell’s presence on Skull Island was at my behest to provide me with some additional information, a situation that ultimately put her in extreme danger.”

  Hal Bentley worked his audience as if it was opening night on Broadway, making sure he had everyone in the room totally engaged and hanging on his every word. “I encouraged Mr. Talbot to host this party prior to the disclosure of his true identity. My purpose was to present you with my well researched and carefully constructed solution to the thirty year old mystery. The unexpected events that have occurred in the last few days only go to reinforce my belief that my solution is the only possible one and finally closes this case after all these years.”

  The stand-ins for Gable and Lexi eased their way toward the side door as they had been instructed. They moved slowly and carefully, pausing every few steps to make sure there wasn’t anyone watching them. Lexi’s stand-in reached for her mask as if to remove it, but Gable’s stand-in quickly stopped her.

  Hal Bentley continued with his rehearsed performance. “So, I’ll cut to the chase and give you the solution to the mystery, including what happened to Winthrop Hollingsworth who, it turns out, was not buried here on the island he owned.” He paused for a moment, more for dramatic effect than anything else. “It was Winthrop Hollingsworth who murdered his wife, Evelyn. Then he murdered Jack Stinson, an employee, in order to have a scapegoat for his crime.” He paused again as a collective gasp came from the assembled party guests.

  “The inevitable conclusion, the one Winthrop wanted, said that Jack Stinson had murdered both Evelyn and Winthrop and escaped that same night. Winthrop believed the authorities would accept that theory as fact and the case would be put on the back shelf to languish. Well, the case did end up on that shelf, but not before one more murder and then years later another death occurred both connected to the original crime of thirty years ago.

  “Jack was shot before the party and his body hidden away in the carriage house. During the power outage that Winthrop staged, he shot Evelyn and put her body with Jack’s. He buried them later that night, with the storm as his ally in obscuring the freshly dug grave. Then the murderer prepared to make his escape, to steal away under cover of that same storm without anyone seeing him.

  “Now…at this time I’d like to introduce you to a new player in our little drama.” He opened the long cardboard tube he had in his hand, extracted a poster, unrolled it and held it up for everyone to see. “This, ladies and gentlemen, is Santorini The Great, known the world over as a master illusionist. In real life, Robert Stinson—Jack Stinson’s twin brother. Brothers are close. Sisters are close. But twins are so close that they are almost like one. Robert retired from performing two years ago. I tracked him down in Spain and interviewed him about the night his brother disappeared. The story he related to me is truly amazing and I want to share it with you now.” An excited murmur ran through the assembled guests, showing that he had their undivided attention.

  “According to Robert, he had been on the island that night to meet with his brother, unknown to anyone else. But his brother did not appear at the designated location. Robert remained out of sight and later that night he witnessed Winthrop murder Evelyn. That’s when he located his brother, when Winthrop hid his wife’s body with the body of the already dead Jack Stinson. Robert feared no one would believe him with it being his word against someone as powerful as Winthrop Hollingsworth. And, you have to remember, those were the days before DNA and all the high tech forensic tools available to today’s investigators.

  “Robert continued to watch Winthrop and saw him bury the bodies. His grief at the death of his twin brother caused him to confront the murderer. They struggled and Winthrop ended up shot with his own gun. Now Robert was really in a quandary. He took Winthrop’s body and left the island the way Winthrop had planned to escape, using the small boat hidden away in the cove…the boat employees reported as having disappeared that night. Robert dumped Winthrop’s body at sea, then returned to his touring schedule and spent the next few years performing out of the country. Robert Stinson, unfortunately, perished in an automobile accident in Spain shortly after I interviewed him.”

  The Gable and Lexi stand-ins slipped out the side door and headed toward the dock as Hal Bentley finished his J.D. Prescott performance. “That, ladies and gentlemen, is what happened here that night thirty years ago. With the death of Robert Stinson there isn’t anyone alive who had a connection to the disappearances. And that closes the case. I will be happy to turn over copies of my notes of the interview with Robert Stinson to the authorities to be placed in the official file as corroborating evidence.

  “And now Gable Talbot would like to make a statement.” The Prescott imposter scanned the assembled faces. A slight frown wrinkled across his forehead when he didn’t see Gable anywhere. “Mr. Talbot? Are you here?” Then the voice intruded from the far side of the ballroom.

  “I’m afraid I’m going to have to disagree with Mr. Prescott’s summation.”

  Everyone turned toward the sound to be greeted by the sight of Gable Talbot standing on the bandstand dressed in jeans and a sweater. The look of total confusion on the face of the Prescott imposter was the response Gable wanted. His internal nervousness subsided and a calm settled over him as he continued to talk.

  “First I’d like to introduce you to this man.” Gable gestured toward the Prescott imposter. “This is not J.D. Prescott. This man is an actor named Hal Bentley.” He addressed his comment directly to the imposter. “I’m sure if there was a critic here, you’d have an excellent review for this performance. But for
now, I’d appreciate it if you’d take a seat over there against the wall because I’m sure the sheriff’s department will be wanting to talk to you about your part in all of this.”

  Not a sound emanated from the assembled guests. The expressions on the collective faces said they were captivated by the strange turn of events unfolding in front of them and what Gable was saying. He had their total and complete attention. “Why, you are probably asking, would J.D. Prescott hire an actor to impersonate him? It’s a well-known fact that he’s a recluse, but to hire an actor to attend a party held on a private island with no access for the general public…a party being held at his insistence…well, that certainly needs a bit of explanation. And, as it happens, I have the answer to that question. J.D. Prescott could not risk appearing here in person. Even though it was thirty years ago, he could not take a chance on some of you recognizing him even if he wore a costume.”

  Excited voices again filtered through the air. Gable raised his hand. “Please hold your comments. I haven’t finished with my little announcement yet.” He attempted to stop the slight grin turning the corners of his mouth, but without much success. “Let me assure you, ladies and gentlemen, the best is yet to come. First, let’s tackle the question that is probably foremost in your mind and that would be exactly who is J.D. Prescott that he would be concerned about being recognized by the guests gathered here.”

  Gable looked toward Hal Bentley. “Perhaps our actor can shed some light on the situation. How about that, Hal?”

  Gable hadn’t planned on dragging things out, but the thought amused him of Winthrop hiding somewhere on the premises, watching and sweating out this unexpected intrusion into the drama he thought he had carefully orchestrated. Gable also wanted to do everything possible to aggravate Winthrop’s panic at having lost control of his own carefully planned out drama. Hopefully Gable’s nemesis would be forced into an impulsive and unwise course of action.

  Hal’s smooth performance totally collapsed. “I…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  The sarcasm dripped from Gable’s words. “Of course not.” He returned his attention to the assembled guests. “The only thing our fake Prescott had right was his statement that Winthrop killed his wife and my father. Any similarity to the truth stops at that point. J.D. Prescott is, in real life, none other than the missing but very much alive Winthrop Hollingsworth. And I have the proof.”

  A hushed silence fell over the room. Stunned expressions covered all the faces. Gable stood perfectly still, as if waiting for something to happen. And he didn’t have to wait long.

  A serving cart crashed to the floor, breaking the eerie silence. The man emerged from behind the drape in back of the cart. Anger colored his sixty-five-year-old face a bright red. His voice carried all the fury that contorted his features.

  “You bastard! You won’t get away with this slander. There is no proof—”

  “My name is Jack Stinson and you, Winthrop Hollingsworth, shot me.” The voice came from the man who had seemingly stepped from the shadows and stood next to Gable. “You murdered me just as you murdered your wife thirty years ago. And now I intend to make you pay for your crimes.”

  “NO!” Winthrop’s anguished cry filled the room. The genuine look of fear covering his face far surpassed anything J.D. Prescott had ever written in his books. The man whose mind had created so many horror novels found himself on the receiving end of that terror. “You can’t be Jack Stinson. This is a trick. A lie.”

  Winthrop yanked a gun from his pocket. His voice seethed with rage. “I killed you thirty years ago and I can do it again! Both of you!” In a state of frenzied panic, he fired point blank at both men. The party guests screamed and dove for cover, getting as far away from the scene as they could. He continued to squeeze the trigger until all the bullets had been spent. Yet both men remained standing, apparently unscathed by the brutal attack as the bullets passed through their bodies and lodged in the wall behind them.

  And a horrified Winthrop Hollingsworth let out a blood curdling scream.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Absolute panic unlike anything she had ever known gripped Lexi’s body and consciousness, engulfing her entire existence as she watched the man pointing the gun at Gable and Robert. The breath froze in her lungs and her mouth went dry. Hard tremors of fear bombarded her. A sick lump pushed its way up her throat, threatening to choke her if she couldn’t find a way of stopping it.

  But none of that mattered. The only reality she could comprehend was someone pointing a gun at Gable at point blank range—exactly like her vision. She bolted out of the closet and charged across the ballroom toward Gable. But before she could reach him, the shots rang out…one after the other. She heard screaming, then realized it had come from her.

  “Gable…Gable…look out!” Her attention remained focused on Gable, even as she bumped into Winthrop and sent him stumbling sideways. Then, to her shock, both Gable and Robert disappeared right before her eyes. She came to an abrupt halt. The spot where they stood was now empty. Had she lost her mind? What happened?

  The small door next to the bandstand opened. Gable and Robert emerged from the band room. Robert shoved his way through the crowd toward Winthrop and Gable reached for Lexi. “It’s okay, Lexi. I’m fine. No one has been hurt.”

  She glanced over toward Winthrop struggling with Robert while the party guests slowly emerged from their hiding places, seemingly too stunned to know what to do. He plopped Lexi down into a chair.

  “Stay here. I need to help Uncle Robert.”

  Lexi watched in stunned silence as Gable charged through the crowd. By the time he reached Robert, Winthrop broke free and ran out the ballroom door into the night. Gable paused long enough to make sure Robert wasn’t hurt, then he gave chase after Winthrop.

  “Gable!” Lexi called after him, but he disappeared into the darkness. She jumped up from the chair only to have Robert restrain her.

  “Stay here, Lexi. It’s not going to help Gable if he has to worry about you.”

  As much as she didn’t like hearing it, she knew Robert was right. She would be a distraction and Gable needed to have all his wits and attention focused on Winthrop. Then another more important possibility hit her. What if Gable took out his vengeance on Winthrop? She had to keep him from doing something in a fit of long repressed anger that he would never do under normal circumstances.

  ****

  Gable flashed on a quick thought about where Brian was as he dug his shoes into the soft ground to gain traction. Could he be waiting for Winthrop, ready with a boat to make a getaway as a back-up plan if something went wrong? Well, nothing could have gone more wrong for Hollingsworth than his confession in full view a room full of prominent people.

  Another thought shot through Gable’s mind as he raced through the night to catch up with his quarry. Winthrop disappeared from this same house thirty years ago and he had the money to do it again. A fierce anger spurred him on. No way would he allow Winthrop Hollingsworth to vanish again. He would do whatever it took to see that Winthrop did not get off the island any way other than being in custody. He touched the 9mm snugged securely in the clip-on holster beneath his sweater at his waist, reassured by its presence.

  No matter what it took.

  The full moon illuminated the form of a man running along the path way out in front of him. A potent surge of adrenaline jolted through his body. He pumped his legs harder forcing himself into a faster pace. His heart pounded in his chest as he closed the distance between himself and his life long nemesis.

  “Gable…be careful.” Lexi’s voice reached out to him. He slowed and glanced back over his shoulder.

  “Robert has alerted the sheriff. Hollingsworth can’t get off the island.” Her words restored his logic and senses, bringing him to a halt.

  “Lexi…” he whispered her name. Just the thought of having her in his arms allowed a sense of calm to settle over him. She was right. Winthrop couldn’t get off the island, ce
rtainly not without help, and he had a guard stationed at the only two places where someone could reach a boat.

  Millions of thoughts and feelings swirled around inside him, each screaming the same thing at him. Each telling him not to exchange his entire future…a future he hoped would include Lexi…for one moment of revenge-fueled satisfaction. One foolish act of vengeance could not change the past. Nothing would bring back his father and to end up disgracing his father’s name was untenable.

  Gable held his arms out to Lexi. A second later he had her wrapped in his embrace, her body pulled tightly against his. And nothing had ever provided him a greater sense of contentment. He felt her tremble and her heart pound as she caught her breath. And he continued to hold her.

  Then a new sound filled the air. A man’s scream followed by the rumble of moving earth. Gable and Lexi advanced cautiously toward the sound. He took the flashlight from her and switched it on, then illuminated the path in front of them. The beam of light caught the bright yellow crime scene tape still cordoning off the area where the skeletons had been found.

  Another sound grabbed their attention from behind, footsteps hitting the ground hard. Could it be Brian? Gable moved Lexi protectively behind him as he swung the flashlight beam around. It caught Robert running toward them. He turned it back in the direction Winthrop had gone. The scream, the rumble of moving earth, the unstable ground along the path. He could see in Lexi’s eyes the identical realization that hit him. Winthrop had been caught in the same trap that had unearthed his victims.

  As soon as Robert reached them, they cautiously made their way around the cordoned off area as quickly as they dared, keeping well away from the edge. When they reached the other side, Gable shined the light along the ravine and saw where the new slide had occurred. When they didn’t see anything else, he tried again moving the beam of light slowly along the same area.