My Twin Flame

by C C Simeon

  People were only out to help themselves , she’d realized. Even the people we see as heroes.

  Hayden doubted even the chief cared as much as she did. His concern was keeping the NYPD’s asses covered and out of the dirt. He didn’t care how. If he had to bury information, he wasn’t above doing it. He wasn’t above doing many, many things to keep his ass covered. If only New York knew what this beloved man had done and was willing to do. Would they still have worshipped him as the best thing to happen to this city? Hayden doubted it. But who the hell had the balls to go after one of the most influential people in the state? Hayden sure didn’t have that sort of testicular fortitude. She could take on murderers and go on car chases, but never someone with so much power. Usually, criminals were poor and didn’t know any other way to support themselves and their families. People like the chief were different. They knew how to live an honest life, they just preferred not to. That was what made them so dangerous. They knew the difference between right and wrong, and they chose wrong. That went for murderers, too. They knew that killing people was wrong, but they did it anyway because it was easy and, in their sick minds, oddly satisfying.

  “You know,” a voice said from behind Hayden, making her groan, “staring at the body isn’t going to make it suddenly sit up and answer you.”

  Hayden didn’t bother turning around to look at Warren. “Making quirky comments doesn’t make you quirky, either. It just makes you annoying.”

  “Ouch,” he said, and Hayden saw him, from the corner of her eye, coming to stand next to her. The medical examiner wasn’t very tall, but he was a handsome man. If you found cocky and full of it handsome, which Hayden didn’t. Not in the slightest. “You hurt me, Detective.” His black hair seemed almost blue in the sunlight. It made Hayden horribly self-aware of her dirty-blonde locks. It didn’t have the same complexity his hair did. Not in the slightest.

  “It’s never stopped you from sticking your business where it doesn’t belong before.”

  “Then why do you still do it?”

  “Because if I stop trying, you might think that I enjoy your company,” Hayden retorted as she turned to him, her hands crossed over her chest.

  Hayden wasn’t the sort of person to be rude to anyone if they didn’t deserve it. She was one of the nicest people any one of her colleagues would ever work with, even if they were horrible to her. Warren was the one guy that had accepted her from day one and although he annoyed her sometimes and she made some snarky comments, she still enjoyed working with him. She knew that, despite the insults and half-hearted dismissals, he enjoyed working with her, too.

  “It looks like the other murders, doesn’t it?”

  “Identical.” Warren nodded, his brown eyes darting from the body to Hayden, then back again. “Even the wound is in the exact same spot. I’m thinking that it’s the same person.”

  “I’m thinking that, as well. There have been too many murders lately. They’re too similar, too precise. I don’t think it’s a coincidence.” Hayden was thinking out loud, and Warren nodded along with her as if he had thought the exact same thing.

  This was the case that was going to make or break her career. If she looked at the evidence she’d already gathered, she was betting on the latter. There was nothing solid to go on, nothing concrete. She didn’t even have an idea of a suspect yet, never mind a perp in custody. She sighed in frustration, wanting to kick herself for not going into business as her mother had suggested all those years ago. It would have been so much easier than solving this impossible case.

  “All of the murders are completely random,” Hayden said, pushing a hand through her long blonde curls. She wished she had something to tie her hair up with. “None of the victims have anything in common. The first one was an old woman in her 70s who lived in a nursing home and played bingo every Friday night. Last week, we had a drummer from some local garage band. He had some outstanding parking tickets, but that’s it. And now…”

  Hayden looked at the middle-aged man, his mouth agape with horror and pain. His stomach was bloody, soaking his entire shirt in sticky red liquid. That was the fatal wound—the same one that had killed the other two victims. Hayden knew that there were a dozen stab wounds on his back, too, if Warren was telling the truth and the wounds were identical.

  Hayden tried to think of anything that could connect the first two victims but came up short. Perhaps having a bit more detail about the most recent one would give her more to work with. Perhaps he was the missing piece of the puzzle that she needed. Perhaps he was going to make her life easier—or perhaps he was going to make this case just that much more complicated.

  For some reason, Hayden already knew that he was not going to be of help. She knew that she was going to be pushed back even farther than where she’d started. This murderer was smart—too smart. He outthought her at every turn. Everything that could have led to a clue was obstructed, weak, or, more often than not, nonexistent. It infuriated Hayden, made her blood boil like water in a kettle. She didn’t like the idea of this madman being on the loose while her husband and child were living their lives, oblivious to the horrors that are going on around them.

  Levi, her little boy, was only three years old. Would the killer stoop as low as killing a child? If he could kill a grandmother of nine, surely he could kill a kid. There was no telling where he would hit next, or who his next victim might be. There was no knowing who was safe and who was not. Hayden knew she had to catch him soon—before he could get further into Manhattan and stalk his way to her neighborhood. To her family. She knew she had to catch him—but at this point, she didn’t even know whether the murderer she was after was a him or a her.

  “I’m going to ask around. Maybe someone saw something.” Hayden turned to walk away.

  “I don’t think anyone will be stupid enough to talk, Hayden. If the killer was on the loose and the police haven’t been able to catch him yet, what makes you think that anyone would be willing to give him up? They are scared, and rightfully so.”

  Hayden sighed and turned to face the medical examiner. “I have to try. I’ll offer them protection. Somewhere, there’s someone who saw something, and I have to find that person.”

  “What makes you think you’ll find them? What makes you think the last victim wasn’t that person?”

  Warren made a fair point, but Hayden couldn’t allow herself to think so negatively. “I just need to get them talking. Everyone lies, but every lie has at least some truth in it. Once we know the lies, we can find the truth.”

  Warren laughed. “Your logic is flawless.”

  Hayden glared at him. “Just do your job, Warren, and let me know as soon as you find something different.”

  “What makes you think that I will find anything different?”

  “A girl can hope, can’t she?” Hayden smiled at him, then headed toward the nearest building to ask for their security footage.

  Chapter 3: The Law of Attraction

  The restaurant was located on the corner of a back street of Manhattan. It was a quaint little place, with few guests and even fewer items on the menu. It was perfect for Amelia. She was incapable of making even the smallest decisions without overthinking every detail, so there was little she appreciated more than anything that helped make her choices simpler. Amelia was familiar with the little restaurant, too. It was one she frequented with Joy. Which meant that it felt very strange for Hunter to bring her here on a business meeting. Perhaps he enjoyed the private, little spot as much as she did.

  “This is one of my favorite places,” Amelia admitted as Hunter pulled out a chair for her. She took her seat with a smile. Indeed, when someone hated cooking as much as Amelia did, they quickly found restaurants and takeout joints they loved to frequent. It wasn’t necessarily cheaper, but it was better than her usual instant ramen with hot sauce. When Amelia cooked, it was safe to say that her dogs ate better than she did.

  “Really?” Hunter said, taking his own seat. “I didn’t peg y
ou for a restaurant kind of person.”

  “What do you mean?” Amelia asked, smiling at the waiter who handed them their menus. She didn’t have to look through the options to know what she was getting, but she opened it anyway, needing something to keep her hands busy.

  She didn’t know why she was nervous. This wasn’t a date, after all. Still, being alone with a man, especially a man as handsome as Hunter, felt intimate in a way that she couldn’t describe. This was only a business meeting, and yet she could tell that it didn’t really matter. They were alone at one of her favorite restaurants, talking about things unrelated to work. In fact, they hadn’t even mentioned the project on their way to the restaurant. The entire cab ride had been filled with conversation about everything and nothing all at once. Time flew by as they spoke. Or at least it had for her. She couldn’t tell how Hunter was feeling. He was the sort of guy that had the same stony expression no matter what he was experiencing. It made him hard to read.

  “You’re friends with Joy, aren’t you?” he asked, opening his own menu but peeking at her over the top. His eyes looked darker in the dim light, like two pools of water—never-ending wells, filled with mystery.

  Amelia took a deep breath and broke eye contact. Was she really so pathetic to start daydreaming about her boss’ eyes? Was she so desperate for a man that she would fall for the first one to take her out to dinner? It was a business meeting, she continued to tell herself. There was nothing going on. Still, she would be lying if she said that she hadn’tdaydreamed about her smoking hot boss, but that was where it always ended. She knew there was no possibility of anything between them. No one actually knew him. No one knew anything about his personal life.

  Perhaps that was what pulled her toward him. Perhaps she liked the mystery.

  “Joy and I have the sort of friendship where she gets into trouble and I’m the one who gets her out of it. We’re opposites, which is probably why we jive together so well,” was all she said, not looking up from the menu.

  She pretended to read the options, but her mind was twirling in odd directions. Why was it so hard for her to fight this connection she felt? She’d never had an issue with keeping things professional in the past. Then again, she’d never had to deal with Hunter, who seemed to poke and prod at her walls, trying to get a glimpse at what she hid behind them. He was the sort of guy she didn’t mind opening the door for and inviting in. It scared her.

  Hunter nodded. “Joy is a very strange person. She’s an asset, but she loves getting into other people’s business.”

  Amelia laughed. “Joy gets satisfaction from knowing other people’s lives aren’t much better than hers. She likes to know that she isn’t the only one who messes up sometimes or is unhappy with certain aspects of her life.”

  “And you?”

  “Hm?” Amelia looked up from her menu, finding that Hunter was looking at her once again.

  “Are you unhappy?”

  The question caught her off-guard. This was hardly a question appropriate for a business meeting. Amelia realized that this dinner wasn’t going to be business-related at all—they enjoyed each other’s company too much.

  It was dangerous, in a way. How were they going to work together on this project if they couldn’t even stick to the script at their very first meeting? Maybe she should just go with it. Maybe he was as curious about her as she was about him. Perhaps he would give her a look at his life, as well.

  Amelia thought it over for a second, choosing her words very carefully. “If the question is, ‘would I change anything about my life,’ the answer would be yes. If the question is, ‘am I truly unhappy,’ the answer would also be yes.”

  “That’s one way of answering things. I suppose that not having everything we want doesn’t necessarily mean that we are unhappy.”

  “I believe we are as happy as we allow ourselves to be.” Amelia shrugged.

  Hunter tilted his head to the side. “What do you mean?”

  “I believe in the law of attraction. I believe that words have power. If we tell ourselves that we are unhappy, we will be. But if we tell ourselves that we are happy—”

  “You’ll start to believe it,” Hunter said, finishing her sentence for her.

  “Not necessarily. I think the universe starts to believe it. The universe is an amazing thing; it listens more than we know. We have the power to manifest amazing things, if only we try. I know this all sounds crazy to you, I get it.” Amelia laughed. “I think we all believe in something to help us survive. Some people find God, others find the law of attraction, others believe in karma. Some of us find all of it, and it makes life just a little bit easier. It gives us hope, and hope is the one thing that can change everything.”

  Hunter looked at her, a ghost of a smile on his face. There was some pop song playing in the background, but Amelia hardly noticed. His eyes drew her in, made her stomach practice gymnastics. “And what do you believe in?”

  “All of the above,” Amelia admitted.

  “All of it?”

  “Why not? We all need something to believe in, don’t we? I manifest things every day. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe that saying you’ll get something means that you will just get it without working for it. All I’m saying is that it’s easier to work for something you know you are going to get than to press on without a goal. Everything works in mysterious ways and if you want something bad enough, if you tell the universe that you will do it or you will get it, the universe will listen.”

  “Where did this manner of thinking originate? Were your parents hippies, too?”

  Amelia laughed. “No, not my parents. At least, I don’t think so. I was taken away from my parents when I was two. I don’t really know why; I never bothered to ask. I figured that not knowing was better than knowing and having to live with it. I think growing up in the system gave me a lot of reasons to believe in better things. I needed something to hold on to, and this just happened to work for me.”

  “I’m sorry you had to go through all that.” The lightheartedness of the conversation evaporated, and Amelia was desperate to get it back.

  She shrugged. “It’s fine. I think I was much better off in the system than with my parents. I had a big family in the foster home, and I still have contact with most of them. With my foster mom, too. I think she was the one who taught me all of these things. I don’t know if it stuck with the other kids, but it stuck with me. We were in church every Sunday, and while they got bored or fell asleep, I was listening with big eyes, on the edge of my seat. I loved the idea of someone having unconditional love for me. I liked the idea of there being more to this life. Even if, one day, it happens that none of what I believe is true, I won’t be angry about what I believed in. I won’t be angry, because, for the time in my life where I needed something to hold on to, the law of attraction, manifestation, and God were there.”

  He grinned. “I’ll bet you believe in karma, too.”

  Amelia laughed. “Oh, 100%. I once ate my roommate’s Twinkie and pretended like it wasn’t me. I broke my leg the next day. If that wasn’t karma for being a thieving liar, then I don’t know what is.”

  “That escalated quickly,” he said with a grin.

  “How about you? Are you unhappy?” Amelia asked after being greeted by a waiter who took their drink orders. She glanced down at the menu again as she spoke.

  She hoped the gesture was as casual as she intended it to be. She was curious about his answer, but she didn’t want him to know as much. She had shared so much about herself already. It was something she didn’t usually do, but with Hunter, it felt safe. As if he wouldn’t judge her for her beliefs. Amelia knew that what she told him would stay between them. Usually, her gut feelings were spot on, and she decided to trust them. She had a good feeling about Hunter. She had been manifesting a good guy for so long and now, was he actually here? Even if it didn’t result in a romance, perhaps it would just be nice to have him around as a friend.

  “I’m n
ot unhappy. There isn’t much I would change, either. Although, I do wish there was more.”

  They were two peas in a pod, apparently.

  “More?” Amelia looked up from her menu. “What’s your version of more?”

  “Surely there must be more to life, right? I mean”—Hunter set down his menu, and Amelia did the same—“there must be more to life than work and home. There must be adventure out there, somewhere.”

  “You mean, traveling?” Somehow, Amelia knew that wasn’t entirely what he meant.

  “No, that’s overrated. You get to a new country and you have a week or two to see every single thing? No, I mean an adventure.”

  “Like The Hobbit.” Amelia grinned.

  Hunter smiled back, a little wildness in his eyes. “Exactly. There are so many things to explore, people to meet, things to discover—there must be more out there than an office full of prying eyes and gray walls.”

  “I mean,” Amelia said with a shrug, “you could always paint the office yellow.”

  “Yellow?” Hunter pulled a face.

  “Why not? Yellow is my favorite color. It’s the color of joy and happiness.”

  Hunter laughed. “I suppose that could be a start.”

  “But I know what you mean,” Amelia said after a moment of silence, “there’s something that calls to a person. Something that I think most people choose to ignore. We’re stuck in a concrete jungle with nothing but survival in mind. We need money to live, so we work our asses off, and then we go home and watch other people live their dreams on the TV. I think it’s time we set out on our own adventures, don’t you agree?”

  “Amelia,” he started, smiling as the waiter set down their wine glasses and filled them. He picked his glass up and held it toward her. “I think our adventure has just begun.”

  ***

  Hunter was surprised to find that he didn’t have to carry the conversation the entire night like he usually had to do whenever he took one of his colleagues out. Hunter was typically the one who brought up new topics and then, subtly navigated the conversation around to work. That way, his employees felt like he was interested in their lives, and he got his work done. But that night with Amelia, he found that he didn’t want to steer the conversation to work at all. In fact, whenever she brought it up, he changed the topic swiftly.