by Amy McKinley
“We had the security clearance changed.”
A muscle jumped at the corner of her mouth, the only indication of a challenge to her scheme. “That was unfortunate. But there were ways around that.” She held up her thumb.
There was a barely discernable silicone coating over her finger.
“You used my prints?”
She answered with a smile, and I could only assume she’d gotten my print from a glass or something I’d touched and had it duplicated. Should’ve gone with a retina scan.
Do I want to know? My gaze skimmed over her identical outfit, and the pieces fell into place. “The screen saver. That was you?”
She snorted. “Of course. It was generous of me, wouldn’t you say? I gave you a warning not once but twice. Actually, three times. I thought the clocks stopping at 7:16 was a nice touch.”
The time of her birth. “The shower? You wrote on the mirror that morning?”
“I was inside your house. You never suspected. And the guards were a piece of cake to fool.” She paused for a beat. “Most of them, anyway.”
“What do you mean ‘most of them’?” I had to stall. I didn’t know what she would do.
“There was one who seemed smarter, more intuitive. I didn’t go anywhere near him when I entered or exited. But other than that, getting into your house was easy. They thought I was you.”
“Why? I don’t understand. You have your own life in Italy. Why would you care about me over here?”
A deep-pink flush climbed Anabella’s cheeks, and daggers shot from her narrowed eyes. “You had Mom, and now she’s dead. You stole all those years with her when she should have been with Dad and me.”
“I didn’t steal Mom. She took me away because you’re a psychopath. What the hell is wrong with you, Bella? You’re my twin,” I whisper-yelled at her.
An emotionless shield dropped over her face. If I had to guess what she was masking, it was rage. I’d pushed her, called her out on her shit. In a flash of clarity, I remember doing that once as a kid. It hadn’t ended well for me. She’d shoved me off my bike into a pile of gravel—thankfully not in front of a car, but it had been bloody and painful all the same. After that little show of who was in charge, I’d fallen in line like the dutiful younger sister she liked to remind me I was.
“Get up.”
Bella’s words cracked like a whip across my skin. I slipped my phone in my pants pocket. Since I hadn’t gone to my office yet, I didn’t have my lab coat on. I hoped she didn’t notice the phone’s outline, but I wanted to keep recording her. If I could have, I would have sent the file to Trev.
I leaned back, defying her despite the goose bumps that erupted over my skin in anticipation of her reprimand. “Why? Where are we going?”
Her lips curled into a menacing grin, and her eyes had the crazed gleam I’d learned to fear. “Remember that knife, the one I used to carve your arm up? I kept it.”
All the blood left my face, and tingles stabbed my fingers from the memory of when she’d sliced me open.
“It’s in my hand. If you don’t want to die here and now, get up.”
She didn’t bluff. I’d learned that about her in our younger years. I stood, whispering a prayer to my mom in my mind that Bella wouldn’t stab me in the back.
Behind me, she directed where she wanted me to go. We got into the elevator and headed to the twenty-third floor, the one above my lab. Silence stretched between us until I couldn’t stand it anymore. “Why did you kill Fran?”
“Because she was your friend, not just your assistant. But that shouldn’t be the way of things. You shouldn’t exist. Fran and I had a few too many glasses of whiskey that night. I got to see how much you meant to her. It was easy. After she passed out, I marked her like you. With the same scar, I was sure the cause of her murder would point to you. That was me being humane a second time.” Bella sneered. “You would’ve ended up in jail but still alive.”
Anger skated along my spine, and I choked down a bitter cocktail of horror and grief—it wouldn’t serve me well. I was older and no longer living in her shadow. Not only that—I wouldn’t back down. “Bullshit. You are not God. I have a life that you’re not part of. Why did you have to come here?” I let a sliver of disdain drip from my words. “We don’t need to be in each other’s space anymore. Our parents made sacrifices so we could grow up apart and have full, healthy lives.”
“I’m surprised you believe that. You’re a copy of me, a mistake. There can only be one of us, and it will be me.”
“That’s insane.” We stopped, and the elevator doors whooshed open. No one was in the hallway. It was weird, but it was after most people started work, and I wasn’t familiar with the floor. It held offices that weren’t associated with the laboratory facility—it was an IT department.
“Get off the elevator.”
I stepped off. She moved to my side. It was my only possible opportunity to drag my phone from my pocket. Thank God it was still recording. With a few moves, I opened up the messenger app and shot off a quick text to Trev: SOS. Roof. I couldn’t risk any more explanation or she might have seen what I was doing. With a flick of my fingers, I slipped my cell back into my pocket. We’d arrived at the stairwell door.
She tilted her head, indicating that I should enter. Memories sharpened, as did the horror of reliving them. I guessed where she wanted to go. We’d had a tree house as kids.
With Bella prodding my back, I shoved open the heavy steel door to the rooftop. A stiff wind whipped my hair around.
Bella had a viselike grip on my wrist, anchoring my light sweater in place. There was a strong chance it wouldn’t end well for me.
All it had taken was one glance at the message Jules had texted. The two words she’d sent seared in my brain. They’d conveyed everything I needed to know. Her twin had found her, and they were on the roof.
An arctic chill pumped through my veins as I sped through the city streets to get to Jules. After one look at my face, Connor had told me to get out and do what I needed to. I would have even if he hadn’t. Omar was in good hands and would soon be in cuffs at the police station.
Please let me get there in time. In front of the office building, I slammed on the brakes, put the truck in Park, and was out the door. I raced inside. Josh’s eyes went wide.
“Roof access?” I didn’t have time to explain. I didn’t need to—he knew who I was.
“Get off on twenty-three and take the stairs.” The security guard waved me through.
After I passed him, I shoved in between the elevator doors as they were closing. My heart pounded, and my skin felt stretched too tight over my body. There were two people in the cramped space with me as I hit the number for the floor I wanted. They shrunk back, putting as much space between us as the four walls permitted.
The motor whirled to life, and the elevator sped upward. We stopped for their floor, and I growled at them to get off. They slipped past me, maintaining their distance. As they were getting out, I drilled my finger against the panel. I hit the close-door button repeatedly. The doors slid shut. Finally. In a matter of seconds, I was out of the elevator and on the designated floor. The stairwell entrance was marked, and I took off for it, gun in hand. My shoulder and hip slammed into the metal. The door burst open, and I took the stairs two at a time. At the entrance to the roof, I slowed, inching it forward on the off chance I could take Anabella by surprise.
No. My gaze locked on the two women, hand to wrist and facing one another, inches from the roofline. It was impossible to tell who had whom because they wore identical outfits and their hair was done the same way. Because of how they held onto one another, I wasn’t able to see even a hint of the scar.
I know Jules. My mind warred with my racing heart. Another second passed, then they turned to me. Tension lined the corners of both of their mouths.
Christ! Their hair was even the same length. I took a cautious step forward. “Jules, Bella.”
“Trev!” The twin on the
left yelled. “Help!”
“No.” The woman to the right’s eyes widened. “It’s me. I’m Jules.”
My skin crawled at the game Anabella played. Accusations filled the air between them. I ignored their protests. Instead, I focused on their posture and their facial expressions, trying to glimpse Jules’s scar. I had to be sure.
I took another step forward. The door clicked shut behind me. I caught the barely indiscernible narrowing of the woman on the left’s eyelid. I shifted the angle of my gun to cover her.
“Stop!” Her hands tightened on the other woman.
I froze. I was ninety percent sure the woman on the left was Anabella. She pulled the other woman closer. The other’s thumb shifted, trying to force back the fabric around the woman’s sleeve on the left. Jules is on the right.
Jules, the twin on the right—I was calling it—whispered to Bella, and she jerked her focus back on her sister. Thank you. She was giving me an opportunity.
I had to be careful. I inched forward, barely noticing the distant sound of cars buzzing below. A slight breeze blew, ruffling their hair. My movements were slow, measured. Locked together, they hadn’t yet moved in either direction, toward or away from the ledge. I couldn’t risk charging them. Bella’s state of mind was off, and if she pushed Jules over the edge, given that we were almost thirty floors up, she would die instantly upon impact.
One wrong move, and they could both die. I took another step closer. About fifteen feet separated us. Jules had pushed the end of Bella’s cuff another few millimeters. The sleeve Bella held on Jules hadn’t moved an inch. I got Jules’s message. A bracelet, identical to the broken one Jules had on her dresser, dangled from Bella’s other wrist.
“You.” Bella’s head whipped back to me. “Back the hell up.”
“Let her go, Bella.”
The lines bracketing Bella’s mouth deepened. The muscles in her shoulders tensed. Shit! Jules pushed back, hard, and freed herself. Shock widened Bella’s eyes. Didn’t expect your sister to fight back, did you? I was so damn proud of her.
As Jules turned to me, my heart stopped. Bella recovered from the stumble. Malice transformed her face, and she shoved Jules, attempting to push her over. I pulled the trigger. As soon as the bullet left the chamber, I pushed off the balls of my feet, lunging for them. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion.
They screamed. The bullet pierced Bella’s shoulder. Bella again shoved Jules, sending her hurtling toward the roof’s edge. Intent on reaching Jules, I bypassed Bella but flung my arm out. The butt of my gun made contact with Bella’s head. She crumpled. Without breaking stride, I stretched my right hand out. Sheer terror was etched in Jules’s wide mouth and eyes. Her body flailed backward.
My fingers curled around hers. The pop of her joints was like a shot going off. Another step, and I dropped the gun. Without my hand free, I snagged the fabric of her sweater. I yanked her close. She’s safe. “I’ve got you.” Holding her tightly in my arms, I took several steps to safety.
Sobs wracked her slight frame. I whispered that everything would be okay. My body shook. I’d never been so terrified in my life. Those horrifying moments made it very clear that she’d become my world.
In my peripheral vision, I sensed movement. No! Roughly, I tore Jules from my arms and shoved her to the ground as the sound of a gun went off. My body jerked as the bullet pierced my leg, but the pain didn’t register. I weaved left, making it harder for her to take aim. The second shot went wide. Jules screamed at Bella. It wasn’t what I wanted. Horror had me in a choke hold. Jules was trying to draw Bella’s fire to her. I lunged. My hand wrapped around Bella’s wrist as the gun went off once more. I had no idea if she’d shot me again as we fell to the ground. Her head hit the surface with a thunk. Her eyes rolled back, and I tore my gun from her unresisting grasp.
Sucking in air, I rolled to my back as Jules rushed me. She fell to the ground, pressing her hand over the bloody wound on my thigh. As I sucked in air, I reached for her hand and covered it with mine. Her sweater had inched up from the ordeal, and the edge of her scar peaked out.
I pulled my cell from my pocket. Jules kept her gaze locked on me as I called Connor to inform him what happened. An ambulance was on its way. Bella hadn’t moved. I wasn’t sure if she was unconscious or dead. I pressed my hand over her pulse point, and a thready beat told me she lived, at least for the time being. I couldn’t tell how much damage she’d sustained, but a trail of blood from the back of her head seeped onto the ground. I shifted my focus away from Bella.
“Jules.” I cupped her cheek, wiping some of the tears away with my thumb. There was so much I wanted to say, but not now. Especially not so close to her crazy sister, who was lying about a foot away, unconscious but still potentially dangerous. “Let’s go.” I sat up and grimaced.
Tears streamed down her cheeks. “But your leg…”
“I’ll be fine. We can rig the door so Bella can’t get back into the building.” I needed Bella to remain there until the police arrived. My only concern was Jules.
Jules slipped her sweater off, leaving her in a thin camisole. After she tied the shirt around my thigh to help staunch the bleeding, she helped me stand. The pain from the bullet wound was registering, and I fought the burn as we made slow progress to the door. With my arm around her shoulders, she wrapped hers in a viselike grip around my waist. I reached for the handle and almost fell back as the door burst open. Two police officers, their guns drawn, blocked our path. A third officer pushed through, someone I recognized from the department.
Josh, the security guard, hovered at the rear of the group, his gaze darting to Jules. I nudged her toward Josh to fill him in while I leaned against the doorframe. It didn’t take long to debrief the police, thanks to Mark, the officer I was friends with. As I shuffled forward and they turned to take care of Bella, Jules reached out and threaded her fingers with mine. Even stressed, scratched up, and bruised, she was lovely.
“You’re beautiful.” I cupped her cheek.
She let loose a shaky laugh. “I’m a mess.”
“Trust me”—I squeezed her hand—“you’re perfect.” For me.
She pressed her body against mine. “When you arrived, I was equally relieved and then terrified for you. It’s finally over.”
I nodded to reassure her, but it wasn’t over yet.
Jules wrapped her arm around my waist. We made our way to the elevator and down to the main floor. Once there, I waved away the paramedic. I would go to the hospital and have the bullet taken out, though I would have preferred talking Jules into doing it to save me the hassle, but she’d been through enough for one day.
Before leaving the roof, an officer had checked on her sister. She was alive. We would cross the next bridge soon enough.
Five months later
The sun was high in the sky, casting rays that reflected off the water like a million sparkling diamonds. Even with that view off the balcony of my—no, our—San Francisco beach home, it couldn’t compare to the stunning woman who stood mesmerized by the sight before her. It made sense for Jules to move in with me after her sister was charged with murder and multiple counts of aggravated assault, among other things. Carl had recovered and apologized profusely for his behavior toward Jules, which was caused by Bella messing with his head. Omar had been admitted to a mental hospital and would serve time after grief counseling.
Thankfully, there wasn’t a biowarfare threat, because things could have turned out badly. My gaze strayed to Jules again. I loved that she was with me every night when we went to sleep and that we woke to start each day together. My beach house was much larger than hers, and it was a fresh start for her and for us.
With a shove, I opened the double sliding-glass doors that merged the living room with the outdoors.
Jules turned at the commotion, a wide smile curving her full lips. “What are you doing?” She waved to the room behind me. “It’s cold out here.”
“It’s February and six
ty-one degrees.” I wrapped my arms around her sweater-clad form and drew her against me. “It’s warm.”
She rose to her toes and pressed a kiss to my lips. “Now it is.”
“We leave in fifteen minutes.” It was our first vacation together. The trip to Maine didn’t count. She worked too hard, but her hours did help to ease my mind when I went on missions. I knew she would be busy.
Then there was Becs, her best friend who’d moved into her house when Jules agreed to live with me. A position at Zen Pharmaceuticals, Thorn Pharmaceuticals’ competitor, had opened, and Becs had snatched the job to be closer to Jules. “Is there anything else you need before we go?”
“Just you.”
I tucked a piece of silky hair behind her ear as her arms squeezed my waist.
“I can’t wait. Fourteen days in the Cook Islands sounds like heaven.” Her fingers trailed through my newly short hair, and she laughed, the corners of her almond-shaped eyes crinkling. “I’m still getting used to this.”
I grinned as her fingers tugged on the strands by my neck. “It was time. Why don’t you do a quick check to make sure you have everything, and then I’ll carry our bags out to the car?” With reluctance, I released her from my embrace. I couldn’t get enough of her.
“I’m going to call Becs. I’ll only be a minute,” she called before she disappeared into our bedroom.
“Make sure she got the plane ticket.” I’d sent her a ticket for a flight out of California so she could join us. Hayden would be there too. He’d had a thing for Becs ever since he’d met her after visiting us a few weeks before. I was glad he’d forced his way onto the trip—he’d be useful for keeping Becs occupied when Jules and I wanted time alone. It would mean a lot to Jules to spend some time with the woman she thought of as a real sister, and I would do anything for the woman I loved.