by Brenda Joyce
“Right,” Lana said with a shrug. “Kait, you were pathetic. You had this business meeting with a complete stranger, and I could tell you had made up your mind to find him interesting—as if you were thirteen, not twenty-six. I didn’t mean to hurt you, not in any way, but he was just the perfect mark—a golden opportunity I could not pass up. And he was so easy. He fell right into my lap. He was a very lonely man.”
Kait felt hatred then. It blinded her with its force. Lana had stolen Trev Coleman from her in the first place. He had married the wrong twin. He should have been with her from the start. And if they had met as they should have, they would have been, too.
Then she leapt back, aghast with the depth of her loathing. She must not succumb to hatred now. She needed her wits about her, because a decision was looming, and it had to be a rational one, not an emotional one.
“Kait? Relax.” Lana went to her and put her arm around her.
Kait was sweating. She managed to stand still, when what she wanted to do was push her sister far away.
Once she would have given anything for a single embrace. Now, she was repulsed by her own twin.
Lana looked surprised. “Honey, I am giving you the man of your dreams. Don’t cry. Please. This will all work out for the best for everyone, actually.” She was pleased. “Honey, you really don’t have a choice, now, do you?”
“How can our relationship ever work out when it is built on this kind of lie?” Kait shot. And in that moment, she knew it never would work out for her and Trev—because of the lies. Not if she confessed, and not if she did not.
She was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Then she realized she wasn’t stuck at all, because Lana was right—she had no choice, not a single one.
“Are you about to faint?” Lana asked, gripping her arm. “You just lost all of your coloring.”
Her ears were ringing. Kait pulled free. “No, I’m fine.” She fought for composure now.
Lana regarded her through narrowed eyes.
Kait swallowed. “I want to help you. Lana, you need help.”
Lana smiled, amused. “Want to know a secret?”
Kait shuddered. “Not really.”
Lana ignored her response. “We’d been living together about six months and we’d just pulled our first job—I was a maid on Fifth Avenue”—and Lana smiled at the memory—“and, boy, was my employer’s wife the dumbest bimbo! It took her forever to realize she had a thief in her midst—but a bit afterwards, I went to a shrink. Yeah, that’s right, a shrink. I found stealing from the bimbo who was signing my paychecks so exciting, yet I knew it was wrong. But I didn’t have any guilt. So I saw this old fart... exactly twice. You know why I only saw him twice?”
Numb, Kait shook her head. It was hard to focus on Lana’s words. Could she really go through with this?
“Because he said I was a sociopath. A sociopath. And he wouldn’t see me again—because sociopaths are, apparently, not treatable.”
Kait shivered. “What, exactly, is a sociopath?” Images of bloody serial killers danced through her mind.
Lana smiled. “Someone who understands society’s rule—ethics—whatever—and breaks them with no remorse—and no guilt. I have no guilt, Kait. I just don’t have any. Unlike you,” she added.
Kait felt faint again. “I want you to get help. To stop this kind of life. Lana, you have the most wonderful daughter, and I love you, and together we can beat this thing.”
Lana sighed. “Didn’t you hear a word I said? I don’t feel guilt! And I love what I do. Ever have an orgasm, Kait?”
Kait flushed. “Excuse me?”
“Well magnify the high a hundred times. That’s what pulling a job off feels like.” She smiled. “It is sweet.”
“Please listen to me,” Kait whispered.
“No, you listen to me—because I have to go. I am offering you my life, Kait. I am offering you the life you deserve! You don’t have to stay. In fact, you can do whatever you want, Kait, but I am out of here tonight.” Lana was unruffled. “I came back to say good-bye, Kait. To say good-bye to you and to see Marni one last time.” She sighed then. Suddenly there was a sheen in her sister’s eyes, as if she was over-wrought and about to cry. “We’re history, Kait. Colin and I are out of here in another moment—and we’ll never cross paths again. You’ll never see me again. So you can stay—and be me—and have everything you ever dreamed of having—or you can leave.” She shrugged. “And we both know that Trev will never forgive you if he learns you are Kait London and not Lana Coleman.”
Yes, Kait already knew that. “How can you leave this way? How can you leave Marni this way?” she asked in a ragged whisper.
“It’s not as easy as I’m making it seem.” She touched her. Kait fought not to recoil. “But I’m no good for her, Kait, and you know it.” She smiled then. “I saw the two of you together at her school this morning, Kait. She loves you so. It’s as if you are really her mother.”
Lana wasn’t playing fair and Kait knew it. “Where are you going after Paris?” Her lips felt so stiff, like two small boards.
“Can’t tell,” Lana said with a smile. “Not even you. But I have a present for you.” She opened her purse and as she did so, a small black object fell out. Lana blinked. Kait stared.
A gun lay at their feet.
“It’s protection,” Lana said by way of explanation. She finally bent to retrieve it and dropped it again.
Automatically, Kait picked it up and handed it to her. “You don’t owe anyone any money, do you?”
“No. That was a big lie, to get you in the door here.” Lana slipped the gun back into her purse.
“Someone is after you. Who is it?”
“I don’t know,” Lana said. “Are you sure you’re not mistaken? Because until you arrived here, no one ever tried anything against me.”
“I was shot at, run off the road, and yesterday someone set Trev’s barn on fire—while I was locked in it.”
Lana’s eyes widened. Then, “Well, that is a legitimate mystery for the police. If I knew who it was, I would tell you, honey. I guess if you really want Trev and Marni, you’ll have to take a risk, now, won’t you? You can get police protection. It is all in the family.” She grinned. “Here.”
A small object was tucked into her hand. Kait recognized the feel instantly. She cried out, horrified, and saw Georgina Parker’s diamond ring sitting in her palm. “I’m not taking this! I don’t want it!”
“But it’s my parting gift, Kait. It’s worth about one-fifty. A nice little nest egg. Don’t you think?” Lana was amused.
Kate’s mind raced. Lana wasn’t giving her a choice, not about anything. Slowly, she looked up into eyes that might have been her own—but weren’t.
“My, my, so you’re not quite the Goody Two-shoes after all,” Lana said with some glee. She slipped the ring into Kait’s purse.
Kait gripped her purse, almost panicking. Could she really do this?Her heart said no, her mind said yes.
“Are you going to cry?” Lana asked, amused.
Kait fought the tears. “Will I ever see you again?”
“I think not,” Lana said calmly. “Kait—this is the deal. First, I trust you. I know you’d never hurt me, not in a million years. I know you’d never tell the police about me and Colin, besides—would they even believe you? So go home. Go back to Fox Hollow. Take care of Trev—and take care of Marni. Be the mother I can never be. Take your dream, Kait. It’s all yours now. And I’ll take freedom.”
Kait began to shake all over again. It was hard to speak. She felt dazed, and she was blinded now by fear. She wanted to tell Lana that it didn’t have to be this way. But she knew that it did, and she was crying now, so she simply could not speak.
Lana understood. She hugged her, hard. “I’ll miss you. But I just can’t go to jail and being as I can’t quit, well...” She shrugged. “It’s been too hot around here for a while. I’m pretty sure that PI Zara uncovered some stupid stuff I
did when I was a kid, and Coleman’s no dummy. I’ve had a feeling for a few months now that the two of them have figured me and Colin out. So I have to go.” She kissed Kait’s cheeks, her lips surprisingly cool. “Just lie low and things will cool down. I’m so happy for you, Kait,” she said. “I know how much you love Trev and Marni.”
Kait could no longer breathe. The stairwell had become boiling hot. She felt faint, and as if she was suffocating. But her decision had been made, and there was no turning back. Especially not with the stolen ring burning a hole in her handbag. Her eyes locked with her sister’s.
Lana smiled.
Kait could not.
“Good-bye,” Lana said.
Kait nodded. “Lana?”
Lana paused at the door.
“I love you,” Kait said through stiff lips.
Kait looked into the hospital room where Gabe Jenkins lay unconscious. The tableau hadn’t changed since she had left. Sam and his mother remained at his side, Trev and Rafe remained at the foot of the bed, talking quietly. Trev immediately sensed her presence, because he turned.
Kait couldn’t move. Their eyes met and locked.
Kait licked her lips. “Rafe?”
Rafe also turned.
She cleared her throat. “May I speak with you—privately?” And she was dizzy, reeling. But she had made her decision five minutes ago on that cold iron gray stairwell with her sister offering Kait her marriage, her husband, her life.
Rafe and Trev exchanged a glance and Rafe left the room. “Let’s go somewhere quiet,” Kait said, her heart beating with alarming force now. She did not want Trev to overhear the conversation she intended to have.
Rafe followed her into a small and empty waiting area. “What is this about?”
Kait looked him in the eye. “My name is Kait London. I’m Lana Coleman’s twin.”
For one moment he did not even blink, and then he said, calmly, “Really.”
“Yes, really,” Kait said, not able to detach herself from all feeling. She hugged herself and felt the tears come to her eyes. “My sister is a criminal, but I think you already know that. Ten minutes ago she dragged me into a stairwell to tell me that I could have her life and that she was going on the run. She said she’s on her way to Paris tonight, but I know that’s bullshit. She’s too smart to tell me the truth.”
Rafe said, “Don’t fucking move.” And he took off.
Kait sank down in a chair, cradling her head on her arms, and she wept. She cried because the sister she had admired and loved her entire life had been an illusion and the more she recalled the past, the more certain she was that Lana had always lied to and cheated everyone. Her sister had had all the charisma, all the sex appeal, all the charm, but she had always done whatever she felt like, no matter whom she hurt, no matter the consequences.
Kait felt as if she had loved a lie her entire life, and maybe she had.
But it was over now. Lana was far more than an adultress, a con woman, and a professional thief; even she herself had admitted that she was a sociopath.
Kait wiped her eyes and leaned back in her chair, staring blindly at the ceiling. A sociopath was, apparently, someone who broke every rule and law known to mankind and didn’t have one iota of remorse, one bit of guilt. Well, that was Lana, wasn’t it?
Had she really thought Kait such a pushover that she would accept Lana’s life, and live a lie for the rest of her own life? In the end, there had been no temptation at all.
Had she really thought Kait so weak that she would let her sister get away unpunished for all of her crimes? Turning her own sister in had required all the strength and moral fiber Kait had.
Oddly, Kait thought the biggest crime of all was the way Lana had emotionally betrayed her own family—Kait, Trev, Marni, and Sam. But that was a crime she would never pay for, and her family would be the ones to pay the price instead.
Kait was glad their parents weren’t alive to see how Lana had turned out in the end.
And now, there would be some justice—because Kait had turned her own sister in.
Suddenly Rafe strode into the room, speaking into a walkie-talkie. “She can’t have gotten far. Seal off the hospital, put up a roadblock at the exit. Check every car and every passenger, damn!” He clicked off just as someone said, “Ten-four,” and stared at Kait.
Kait didn’t like the way he was looking at her. She slowly stood up.
“Maybe you should put up some more roadblocks, in case she’s already off hospital grounds. I’d also get someone over to Farrell’s—and have him followed.”
“Impossible. Too many intersecting streets.” But he lifted the walkie-talkie to his mouth. “Send someone over to Farrell’s. Two-oh-one Park Lane. Surveillance. If he leaves, tail him, and whatever you do, don’t lose him,” he snapped. Then he turned his unwavering stare on her again.
She shifted uneasily. “I’ve hated every moment of this charade.”
“Right.” He was grim.
“She told me she was in danger; in fact, she made me believe that Marni’s life was in danger, too,” Kait said hoarsely. “She didn’t even give me a chance to object. I hadn’t seen her in years—I didn’t even know she was married. She appeared, told me she was in trouble, gave me a letter, and took off. I mean, it was like a five-minute broadside.”
“You two switch places often?”
“No. Never. Not since we were eight or nine,” Kait said. “You don’t believe me.”
“I don’t know what to believe, but Max found out Lana had a twin a few days ago. Question is, which one are you?”
Kait shivered. “I’m Kait. Kait London. I’ve been working at a Madison Avenue publicity firm. Check it out. Check me out. I’m who I say I am.”
He stared for a long moment. “What do you want... Kait? And why turn your own sister in now?”
Kait opened her purse and gave him the diamond ring. “Farrell stole this the night of Parker’s gala.” He stared at the ring, his expression inscrutable. “It’s Georgina’s,” she added.
“I know.”
Kait was grim. “I didn’t know who Farrell was or that he and my sister have been partners—and lovers—for a decade. They did set up Trev, by the way. She married him for his money and his social connections.”
Rafe lifted his gaze to hers. “So you and Farrell stole this—or was it Farrell and your twin?”
She swallowed uneasily, aware of where he was heading now—that the confusion of which sister was who and who had really done what was more than confusion—it had become a web that might not even be unraveled correctly. “I was with Farrell. But I have never stolen anything in my life, and I watched him steal it—then he tried to give it to me. I gave it back the other day.”
“To him. Not me, not the police.” He was watching her very carefully now.
“I wasn’t ready to turn my own sister in! To betray her—to send her to jail!” Kait cried, losing all of her composure.
“But now you’re ready to do all that.”
“Yes.” She gritted her teeth. “Yes, I am. She just gave me the ring, as a little parting gift. While trying to convince me to stay in her lie forever.” She turned away, closing her eyes tightly. “Don’t tell Trev. Please. I’ll tell him tonight, when we get home.”
There was silence.
She felt his eyes boring into her back.
Slowly, she turned. “I could arrest you on the spot.”
“Good,” Kait whispered. “Because that is what I want you to do.”
And finally, he was surprised. “What?!”
“Arrest me, Rafe. Arrest me and make it headline news. It’s what she wants. You see, Lana’s plan isn’t to give me her life; she wants me to take the fall for her.”
Their gazes locked.
“You think your own sister wants you to go to jail in her place?”
Kait nodded, stabbed with heartache.
“If you are really who you say you are, then I’d be arresting the wrong person—at le
ast as far as grand larceny is concerned.”
Kait shook her head, not liking his implication about arresting her at some other time for fraud. “Don’t you see? Once you arrest me—as Lana—she’ll think she’s free. And then you can bring her to justice,” Kait said.
Somehow, it was almost eleven o’clock at night. Kait hardly knew where the day had gone; spent as it was at the hospital, it had passed in an odd and surreal blur. Had it only been six, seven, or eight hours ago that she had finally come face-to-face with her sister in the stairwell of the hospital? Had it only been hours ago that she had turned her own sister in to the authorities? It felt as if it had been a lifetime ago. Kait had somehow gone through all the right motions, bringing sandwiches, cookies, soda, and water back to Gabe’s room. Holding Sam’s hand, then holding Trev’s. Mitch had come by to oversee Gabe’s care, and to try to sedate Sam and get her home. Sam would have none of it; it was Kait who had finally convinced Sam to go home and take a Valium, and Kait couldn’t remember how she had done it or a single word that she had said.
Now, Trev stood on the threshold of Sam’s room, his arms folded across his chest, not moving. He seemed so tired. Sam was in bed, still in her jeans and a T-shirt, soundly asleep. She’d finally taken the Valium Mitch had prescribed, just a few moments ago, and the moment her head had touched the pillow, she’d gone out like a light. Gabe remained in satisfactory condition in ICU and Ben Abbott had been released on bail.
Kait remained numb, and she supposed it was an effect of shock. She carefully pulled off Sam’s boots and then her socks, concentrating very hard on what she was doing—as if that would block out her memory of her confrontation with Lana and her conversation with Rafe Coleman. She knew he wanted to apprehend her sister and Farrell at Reagan International; she also knew he’d never catch them so easily. If Lana said she was on her way to Paris tonight, she’d probably be heading for Singapore tomorrow instead.
Kait was numb with exhaustion and despondency. She had been fighting her terrible memories all day while trying to act normal—whatever that now meant. She was also aware of Trev watching her from the doorway. She had been acutely, painfully, aware of him all day. The moment of truth had come, and there was no more escaping it. If she didn’t tell him, Rafe Coleman would. He’d said he give her until midnight.