Deadly Double

by Adrianne Byrd

  “Yeah. I did some digging, pushed a few envelopes, and peeked inside their adoption records. Apparently, this sister, Josephine Ferrell, was adopted by some well-to-do family and lived most of her life overseas. She was even a jazz slash blues singer for a couple of years. All in all, she’s just some rich kid who inherited a ton of money about a year ago when her father was killed in a plane crash.”

  “I take it this Andrews wasn’t so lucky?”

  “She wasn’t adopted by a rich family, but a pretty good suburbanite family took on the challenge...and failed. When Tyrese and I went to talk with Michelle’s adoptive mother, she made it pretty clear that she’d severed all ties with Michelle sometime ago. She didn’t show the least bit of interest in her daughter’s disappearance.”

  “Ouch.”

  “You’re telling me.” Ming thought about it for a moment. “This Josephine has a clean record, but she’s definitely a handful. I didn’t care for her.” She paused. “Actually, something about her made my skin crawl.”

  “All right, all right.” He set his beer down, braided his fingers, and cracked his knuckles as a stalling tactic. “Okay, how about this. This Andrews chick killed her boyfriend or had him killed, I don’t know, maybe he slapped her around one too many times, and then she entered the mental institution to cover her butt. So if she’s arrested or found guilty, she can say that she was crazy at the time.” “And the doctor?” Conan shrugged. “I don’t know. I usually think better after sex.” Ming shook her head. “No dice. You’re supposed to offer a fresh look at this. You didn’t fulfill your end of the bargain.” “You mean if I come up with something that you haven’t thought of, I get to have sex?” “You got it.”

  Excited, Conan turned up his bottle and drained the rest of its contents. “All right. Something you haven’t thought of...okay. I think I got it. Michelle killed her boyfriend…”

  “You said that already.”

  He held up his hand. “Let me finish. She killed her boyfriend, and then convinced someone at the institution to help her escape. The doctor stumbled onto their escape so they killed her and then she went on to kill her twin sister so she could take her place.” “Wait a minute. That’s three murders. Who said anything about three murders?” Conan got to his feet, and then pulled Ming to hers. “Hey, have you ever seen the two sisters side by side?” She blinked. “Well, no. But the staff at Keystone…”

  “Saw them before the patient disappeared,” he reminded her. “How do you know that there isn’t another body out there to be discovered?” He began to rock against her. “Did I tell you about this fantasy I had of you the other day? You never took off your gun.” “Switch places?” Ming said, frowning. “Yep.” He nuzzled her neck. “You’re wearing my favorite cologne.” “It’s Ivory soap.” “Still my favorite.” He worked his way down her collarbone.

  “How did they meet?”

  “Who cares?” He slid open her top button. “Boy, your skin sure is soft.”

  “Josephine lived most of her life in Paris,” She mused. “She’s rich, has everything going for her...how does Michelle fit in the picture?” Conan worked his magic on a few more buttons. “Someone like Michelle wouldn’t be too happy that her twin sister received the better end of the stick.” “Mm-hmm.” He slid off her shirt and fumbled with the hooks of her bra.

  “That would mean I met Michelle, not Josephine.” She thought it over, and then shook her head. “Nothing in my notes supports your theory,” she continued on. “I mean, this is pretty thin.” “Thin is good.” He tried tugging. “Was this thing so difficult last time?” Ming wiggled away. “Baby, stop. I think I better call Tyrese.” She grabbed her shirt from the floor. “But…”

  “We’ve looked at everything else, it won’t hurt to check, this out.” She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and then rushed off to find the cordless phone. “But…” “Thanks, honey,” she called out over her shoulder. “I owe you one.” “But...” Conan hunched his shoulders and slumped back in his chair at the table. “I want to have sex.”

  Chapter 17

  “When do you mean, ‘you can’t find her?’” Michelle Andrews seethed as she paced the green room inside the Ferrell estate. Josephine couldn’t have walked out of that hospital room in her own.” Her eyes flashed, and then narrowed. “If I didn’t know any better, I think you had something to do with her escape.”

  “You’re being ridiculous.” Dr. Ambrose Turner retreated in the mist of her growing anger and took a nervous sip from his scotch on the rocks.

  “Am I?” her voice dripped with venom. She closed in on him, and then circled as if contemplating to attack. “ Then how come my guys couldn’t find her when he went upstairs to her room?” “We’ve been over this a thousand times.” Ambrose slammed his glass down on a nearby table. “I don’t know.” Disbelief blanketed her face. “I do know that you never mention killing Dr. Bancroft,” he snapped.

  Finally, Michelle’s intense expression relaxed with a sinister smile. “I don’t like loose ends.” Their gazes clashed, while she added, “you should know that.” Ambrose’s heart skipped a beat. Michelle shrugged. “She saw my face.” “And who is this D’Angelo? How do we know that we can trust him?”

  “Don’t worry about D’Angelo. He’s a good friend of mine. Besides, it’s not like I could have gone in there myself. I would’ve been recognized, and you were too chicken to do the job.”

  He stared at her and felt, once again, that he was in way over his head. However, it wasn’t easy untangling from Michele’s finely spun web. A few had died trying.

  Michelle drew a deep breath and settled into a plush couch across the room. Her long shapely legs crossed about the leak, and Ambrose felt his anger ebb away.

  “I still have a major problem,” she announced a pout. “I need to know whether you’re still on board or whether you need some further coaxing.”

  Ambrose swallowed the large lump lodged in his throat.

  Michele’s smile widened. “You know I haven’t asked you how Tricia was doing lately.”

  The mere mention of his wife’s name caused a trickle of fear to slither down his spine. For a fleeting moment, he thought about lashing out, but wondered how close to a weapon Michelle hovered. He knew perhaps more than anyone that Michelle was not a woman to cross, and she was most certainly always prepared for the unexpected.

  “Of course, I’m on board,” he said, with a tight smile and an erratic pulse.

  “Good.” She winked. “Then you’ll have no problem finding who helped Josie out of that hospital.” She uncrossed her legs and stood once again.

  As she closed the gap between them, Ambrose hated to admit even to himself that he was more turned on than he had ever been in his life. This was how it was always like between them. A dangerous attraction. “You’ll help me find her, won’t you?” she asked, pressing her body against his. He couldn’t think when she did that. She leaned forward until her lips were just inches away from his. “Will find her and kill her.” Ambrose sealed the deal with a kiss.

  #

  Josie sighed and stretched out her body as far as she could, then snapped back into her tried-and-true fetal position beneath the many piles of blankets William had supplied. She drew a deep, cleansing breath and smiled lazily.

  She felt good, damn good, in fact.

  Slowly, she became aware of a light snoring. Was that her? Couldn’t be, she concluded, and opened her eyes.

  The room’s popcorn ceiling was the first thing that came into focus before her gaze slide down teal-colored walls. Oil paintings of luminous lighthouses and cobblestone churches hung from the walls.

  The snoring continued from her right side. She turned her head and was startled by the close proximity of Williams’s handsome, but sleeping face.

  Belatedly, she realized that one of his arms was draped across her waist. He must have fallen asleep comforting her last night.

  Josie smiled.

  He was so adorable when he slept. The sm
all wrinkles and character lines she’d noticed the previous night were now smoothed and relaxed. He deceptively looked as though he didn’t have a care in the world.

  “I still can’t believe you’re here,” she whispered, then stretched out her hand to brush her finger lightly against the petals of his lips.

  He stirred, but didn’t wake.

  For a moment, Josie watched him. Lord knows, she had never thought she would have this opportunity again.

  She had spent more than a decade regretting the day she’d met the man, and suddenly, here he was, playing the role of her knight in armor. It didn’t make sense.

  Josie turned away and gently pried his arms from around her waist.

  When she sat up, she expected to be woozy, but was pleasantly surprised that she felt fine. Glancing down at herself, she repositioned her robe and tightened the belt before she chanced standing up from the bed.

  There was a slight tremor to her legs, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle. A towel fell from her neck and face. She pushed it from her eyes and hooked it behind her ears.

  Unsure whether she should risk walking on her own, Josie stood beside the bed a long time before she inched one foot forward, then the other. Successful, she permitted herself a small smile.

  Before long she had made her way across the room to the door. She left William sleeping in bed while curiosity led her to explore the house.

  The cold surprised her, and she wished she’d thought to put something on her bare feet as she moved around on the hardwood floors, Josie took her time checking out the other unoccupied rooms. Everything had a country feel to it. That was interesting. It wasn’t quite her taste, but it was interesting.

  Back in the hall, she discovered a wall leading down the staircase covered with family pictures. Josie recognized the couple smiling back at her.

  Sheila. They were definitely not cousins. Her gaze drifted to Sheila’s husband, and now she knew why his eyes were so familiar. Larry. He was William’s older brother.

  Studying the man’s face, she was struck by the brother’s differences. Larry’s features were broader, his dimpled cheeks pinchable, but where William was tall and muscular, Larry was shorter and stockier.

  Overall, she was convinced that her William was the better-looking of the two.

  Smiling, she grabbed hold of the banister and descended the stairs one step at a time. Once she reached the bottom, she noted that cold was nearly unbearable, and she wondered if the heat was working.

  There were two other bedrooms and a full bath on the bottom floor, not to mention a large kitchen that paid homage to wooden roosters and ceramic cows. It was cute in a strange way.

  The refrigerator was packed with food. She grabbed a bottle of water and took an apple that was nestled in a fruit bowl.

  The living room revealed more pictures and an interesting set of plaid furniture. Are these people related to Jed Clampett?

  The room also displayed three floor-to-ceiling windows, which gave panoramic view of a forest of some kind. Where was she?

  She moved closer to one of the windows and smiled at the deer congregating around the house.

  She was at peace watching them and the occasional squirrel darting off a tree. As a result, she stood there a long time drinking water and eating her apple.

  However, peace never lasts long, for fear has a way of embedding itself in one’s heart and thoughts. At that moment, Michelle terrified her. She didn’t know how Michelle got the better of her or even how she pulled off the impossible.

  Josie glanced down at her scarred wrist and, in her mind’s eye an image of them covered in blood weakened her knees.

  She quickly closed her eyes in remorse and turned away from the window. The chill in the house seemed to seep into her bones.

  During her roaming, she had discovered a den equipped with blue-and-white plaid furniture, a fireplace, and an upright piano. Her heart immediately lightened at the sight of the polished instrument, and she crossed the room toward it as if hypnotized.

  Before she sat down on the small bench, her eyes were drawn to the photograph placed on cute little dollies on top of the piano. These pictures weren’t of Sheila and Larry, but of a wedding William’s wedding.

  Air rushed from her lungs as she lowered herself onto the bench. She took in every detail of the woman’s smile to the glittering diamond on her fingers and the bulge of her belly.

  Unexpected tears seeped from her eyes as the pain from that distant heartbreak returned.

  Tossing her apple away in a plastic wastebasket beneath an end table, she opened the piano’s wooden cover and lightly walked her fingers down the ivory keys. Pleasantly surprised to find it in tune, Josie straightened her posture and began to play.

  Immediately, her mood lightened as her hands danced over the keys. Once upon a time, music was her passion. Her life.

  Her hands slowed.

  She couldn’t remember a time when music wasn’t a part of her. Her parents were supportive and did all they could by sending her to the best schools. It had always been a fair conclusion that she would be a famous musician.

  One of her hands fumbled over a key as her eyes misted.

  Before she had met William, she had everything figured out. She was happy and engaged to the perfect man or so she thought. Up until that point, she thought she knew what she wanted and knew how to get it.

  But it was all a lie.

  Josie stopped playing as her mind drifted back to her and William’s emotional good-bye…

  “You love me!” William shouted, gripping her arms and pulling her close. Her bedroom walls vibrated with the force of his anger. “You know you do!”

  Josie struggled against him. “I’m engaged, William. Last night was a mistake. It should’ve never happened.”

  “How can you say that?”

  He released her and she staggered backwards. When she glanced up into his eyes, her heart felt as if it was being ripped out of her chest. “I’m sorry, William. I never meant to hurt you, but…“

  “Don’t say it.” He reached for her again. “You’re making a mistake. We belong together.” She shook her head. “No. There are too many differences. You know it, and I know it.” His face darkened. “What, because you’re black and I’m white? Is that what you’re telling me?” She swallowed her shock and outrage. “Of course that’s not what I meant.” His eyes narrowed as if he didn’t believe her.

  “We’re from two different worlds. We want different things out of life,” she insisted. “Etienne and I are cut from the same cloth.”

  William’s gaze drifted to the man in the photograph beside her bed, and a mask of utter-loathing covered his features. “You mean you’re from the social class.”

  “Why are you refusing to hear what I’m saying?”

  “Because it’s not the truth,” he snapped, and succeeded in drawing her back into his arms. “You can study music back in the States. There are just as many opportunities there, if not more.”

  “Why do I have to give up my life?” “Fine. I’ll move here. I don’t care where I practice medicine. I just want us to be together.” “And what about Etienne?” “What about him?” Again, she extracted herself from William’s grasp. “I can’t just break my promise to him.” “But I’m the one that you want,” he insisted. She said nothing as her lower lip trembled, and her eyes brimmed with tears.

  Doubt crept into his eyes. “You do love me,” he said, but it sounded more like a question. “Josie?”

  She stepped back, while her gaze lowered to the hardwood floor. In an instant, William’s strong fingers directed her chin up. “I’ll leave if you can look me in the eye and tell me that you don’t love me.”

  Her gaze met his sharp blue eyes, and a painful lump swelled in the center of her throat. As much as she wanted to give in to his man, she couldn’t completely ignore her promise to another.

  “Josie,” he urged again.

  “I’m sorry, William, but I don’t love
you…”

  “Why did you stop playing?” Josie jumped and looked up to see William smiling from the fen’s entryway. “I’m sorry. Did I wake you?” “Frightened me is more like it.” He crossed his arms. “But it’s good to see you up and about. How do you feel?”

  “Good. I’m still a little shaky, but overall, I feel a lot better.” She met his steady gaze and gave him a wobbly smile. “I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.” “You don’t own me anything. I’m just glad I could help.” Josie’s gaze fell. He moved away from the archway and over to the piano. “Mind if I join you?” “Not at all.” She scooted over on the beach to make room.

  William sat beside her. “You know it’s been a long time since we’ve sang together.” He played a few bars of “Willow Weep for Me” “Remember that one?” Josie smiled but felt the sting of tears behind her eyes. “How could I ever forget?” “I always thought that you were the next Billie Holiday.” She shifted uncomfortable in her seat. William abruptly changed the music and sang, “I’m a fool to want you.”

  She closed her eyes and remembered their first night onstage. “To want a love that can’t be true.” Her voice trembled so badly that she lowered her head in shame. He stopped playing. “What’s wrong?” She shook her head and refused to look up at him. He draped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her trembling body against his. “You can tell me,” he encouraged.