by Levi Fuller
“Jesus,” Dr. Adams said, shaking her head. “I wouldn’t believe it. I still don’t, really. I mean, if you see her in the lab, working hard, you’d never—”
“That wasn’t her,” Kyle said.
“Still going to tell us you aren’t denying things out of sentimentality?” Olsen spat, his look of horrified nausea morphing into grim triumph. “We’re going to take her down, Green. If you don’t have the stomach for that, then you can leave. And make no mistake, if you interfere, I have no qualms in taking her down in a more permanent way.”
“You sure you should be in law enforcement? You seem to want to be on the other side of that line.”
Olsen sprang to his feet, his face contorted in anger. Kyle braced himself. He shouldn't have taunted him. It was the shock of hearing her voice. Landers was right; it wasn’t court submissible proof, but for someone who knew her, it was all the proof he needed.
“Enough!” Landers’s voice was razor-sharp, biting, and commanding all at once, silencing the beginnings of Olsen’s ill-advised come back. “Commissioner, sit down. We need Detective Green more than anyone else. Besides, he is right.”
“You just played a recording to prove your point against Summers, and now you’re saying that the voice we all recognize as hers, isn’t hers?”
“That is not what I meant, and I believe it is not what he meant either,” Landers said, casting a glance at Kyle.
“You’re saying, what, she has a split personality?”
“Yes.” Kyle and Landers spoke in unison, and Kyle sighed.
“Who else knows?” he asked.
“No one knows, Detective, not even Kate herself,” Landers answered.
“But you plan to change that,” Kyle stated, finally feeling like he’d made it to the same page. “You want her to realize the correlation between her burst of missing time and the deaths that follow.”
“Correct,” Landers said, a tiny smile tilting one side of his mouth. “It will be easier now. We set up Forbes’s death; I invited her to play. At the very least, she will want to silence me, but if we follow my plan of false leads, she’ll have multiple targets.”
“You want us to put our lives on the line?” Olsen asked.
“Protect and serve. Putting your life on the line is what you signed up for,” Kyle countered.
“Not when I know who the perp is!”
“Okay, so arrest her, then see how badly this unravels when you have no choice but to let her go for lack of evidence.”
Landers nodded. “Exactly. Right now, the game is in our hands. Don’t give it away.”
3
Kate knocked on Dr. Adams’s door, still glancing at her security card in confusion and irritation.
She’d been down to the evidence rooms, wanting to look at what had been taken from Forbes’s home. Although the man was gone, there was a high chance something good might be found among his things.
“Come in.”
Kate entered and looked at the older woman. She looked as tired as her voice had sounded. Kate didn’t blame her. She and her team were stretched thin with the fire at the homeless shelter, the death of Alexander Forbes, and the fire at the fair.
“Are you okay? Can I get you anything?”
Dr. Adams jumped in her seat, then shook her head. “No. Thank you, I am fine. Did you need something, Dr. Summers?”
Kate tilted her head to the side, deciding that Dr. Adams’s invitation to enter had been an automatic response, her mind still fully occupied with whatever files she was viewing on her computer screen.
“Sorry to bother you, but my card doesn’t seem to be working. I just tried to gain access to the Forbes’s stuff and was denied.”
“Stuff?” Adams asked, still seeming to be concentrating on something else.
“Yeah. Kyle said they’d gotten a warrant. I’m assuming you still swept his home.”
Adams finally looked at her properly, but it was a look of complete confusion and something undefinable hidden behind. “Alexander Forbes died in a fire, Dr. Summers. We have, of course, his remains and whatever other small finds, but no more than that. I’m afraid they’ll likely be as useless as the previous ones.”
Kate tried to get her frozen muscles to move. Kyle hadn’t mentioned that it had been a fire too. “I’d still like to look. It seems obvious that it is linked to the other two cases.”
“Of course, of course,” Adams said. “You should be cleared, so I’ll send a message ahead to security. Go check in with them as there must be a fault with your card itself.”
Kate nodded. “You should get some rest, Dr. Adams. Overwork is a killer.”
Adams laughed, the sound a little off-key, and Kate shook her head, as she made her way to security, wondering when the woman had last slept.
“Dr. Summers.”
Kate turned to see Simon Landers, watching her. In her mind, a brief image of a small shadowy figure blossomed to mind again.
“Mr. Landers. I am surprised you are still here,” she said, her mind suddenly jumping to the fact that the man had not only stayed but also seemed to be allowed anywhere. It would grant him the ability to know their progress, and she had little doubt he was intelligent enough to make good on that information.
“Your commissioner asked me to stick around.”
Olsen. Of course. “I see.”
“Are you having security issues?”
Kate shrugged. “Glitchy card. Nothing overly concerning.”
Landers watched her a moment longer before speaking again. “Did you get my post?”
Kate turned to face him, her reflection in the security huts window turning too. For a brief moment, she was seized by the insane urge to laugh. Both her prime suspects, facing off on the plane the glass mirrored back. “I did.”
“And?”
“And that is classified, Mr. Landers. Whatever Olsen had asked of you, you are a civilian, and this is an ongoing investigation.”
Landers smiled. “You are not ignoring it. That is good. Courage and honesty.”
Kate resisted the urge to roll her eyes, instead, turning back as a guard called her name.
“Here’s your card back, Dr. Summers. I am not sure what the problem was, but it passed inspection without issue. I recommend you try it again.”
Kate frowned but took the card. Perhaps it was the scanner that was faulty. She thanked him and turned away, intending to take her leave of Landers, but found the man already gone.
She looked all around her, spooked by his sudden appearances and disappearances. Someone needed to buy that man a collar with a bell.
****
Kate sighed at the pitiful array before her. Everything from Forbes’s place, including his own remains, fit comfortably on one examination table. She hadn’t yet read the report on the nature of the fire, but given the extent of the damage to his body, she determined he was likely doused in a fuel of some kind.
Sighing again, she flipped open Kyle’s case file, where he’d put together everything he and Jack had been finding in the lead-up to bring him in for questioning. Kate muttered a surprised oath and nearly dropped the file. The first page was a scanned photograph. A photo she’d recognize anywhere, having seen it her whole life. It showed three men, all in their late teens or early twenties. One was her father, the other was her Uncle Ben. The last man’s face had been circled. Alexander Forbes.
Kate stared at the picture, a frown of concentration creasing her brow. She’d seen this picture sure enough, but she had no memories of a Mr. Forbes. The man in the picture had always been Ace. Perhaps it had been a nickname given by her father or uncle, that she, as a child, had simply picked up and used, with no one bothering to correct her.
She felt her eyes begin to burn and turned the page. She had fond memories of Ace. He’d been kind of like the fun uncle that always brought presents, sneaked her sweets, and laughed without end.
The next image didn’t soothe her burning eyes. It should be a real estate photogr
aph of his house, rather than one taken by the police after the fire. There was nothing left: the wooden construction entirely destroyed, along with almost everything in it.
Kate set down the file and looked at the pitiful array of finds. One was a small metal plate that had likely been part of a trophy or memorial of some kind. On it, she could make out the name Grace Thompson. The name seemed to tickle something in the back of her mind, but she couldn’t quite draw it forwards. She felt her hands curl into fists, a flare of anger pulsing through her. Anger for the lack of recall ability, or for emotions tied to the name? Kate shifted that back aside. She didn’t know yet what was happening here, but she knew that she was a damn good forensic analyst and, for now, that was all that mattered. Something here would tell her what she needed to know.
****
Kyle watched the screen, trying to ignore Landers, perched like a bird on the desk behind him.
“It looks like you were right to hope,” Landers commented, sliding off the desk, as Kate got to work, examining the remains.
Kyle felt a stab of guilt for spying on her like this. “Of course I was right, but I appreciate you saying it all the same.”
“She’ll realize what that name means soon enough. Make sure you are ready.”
Kyle turned to look at the small man. “You really think she’ll switch?”
“I know she will, but when is determined by two factors.”
“And what might those be?”
“On what triggers the change, as the obvious one,” Landers said, moving towards the door.
“And the not so obvious one?” Kyle asked, determined to get an answer.
Landers gave him a long, calculating look. “The second factor depends on how much she knows.”
Kyle frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, we know Kate can’t remember anything in her time lapses, but we don’t know if it is the same for the other. If it is, then the trigger alone is important. If it isn’t,” Landers shrugged, “then I guess we’d all better grow eyes in the back of our heads.”
Kyle watched him leave and felt real fear sneak up his back and race back down again, as he turned to face the monitor, streaming live footage of Kate at work.
If what Landers had just said was true, then they stood next to no chance of winning. How could you fight someone who hid until the odds were in their favor? If he was right, the other, as he called it, would be watching through Kate’s eyes, waiting for an ideal time to strike. She’d know everything they knew; she’d be sleeping in his house; she’d be entirely impossible to predict or control.
Kyle shuddered again and turned away, scooping up his phone. If they wanted this over quicker, and without such an imbalance of advantages, then they would need help.
4
“Hi, Jack.”
He looked up, his green eyes showing his curiosity at her tone. She had already looked around the office. Kyle was not here. Good.
Kate smiled, a predatory pulling up of her lips. “I was hoping to catch you alone.”
Jack swallowed audibly and smiled back, as she sauntered a little closer. “Oh? Does this mean you’ve remembered?”
“I remember everything. It was a memorable night.”
Jack shot out of his chair and placed his hands on Kate’s shoulders, then slowly ran them down her arms. “Really?”
In response, she pushed herself up and kissed him hard.
Jack blinked, as she rocked back. “Thank goodness. I was going slightly mad.”
His choice of words made her want to laugh, even as the weaker other in her mind tried to break from the oblivion she’d been set in. She wouldn’t remember. But I will, and he will. “You know, given our relationship, I think you should call me Katie.”
“But you said you hated that.”
“That was before. It was a pet name used only by my family—by those closest to me. When you asked, we weren’t that close. No one alive was. Now, you are the one closest to me.” Jack shuddered, as she added a touch to reinforce her words, and she moved on to the real reason she was here. “We’re having a meeting tomorrow. I want you to go to Olsen now and suggest that we all do a little show and tell.”
“What?” Jack asked, clearly not having expected the change of subject.
Katie shrugged, “I just feel like Adams and I haven’t met with you and Kyle in a long enough time frame—we might have something the others find interesting or important. I would tell Olsen myself, but he doesn’t like me much.”
Jack chuckled, kissed her, then nodded. “You make a good point; I’ll go do that now.”
Katie thanked him and turned to leave as Kyle entered the room. His sky-blue eyes flickered from her to Jack and settled back on her. “Did you find something for us, Kate?”
The name was like a summoning. Not the word so much as the way he said it, a way filled with the bond built over a lifetime. A way that made her sure if he was allowed to look too long into her eyes, he’d realize Kate was not here.
“I’m not sure, but that’s what we’ll find out tomorrow. Now I’d better get back. Adams and I have a meeting this afternoon to share our finds and join our reports.”
“You aren’t having lunch with us?” Kyle asked, still blocking the doorway.
Katie looked up at him, knowing she couldn’t hurt him. Not here. Not yet. She slowly shook her head. “Not today. I feel like I need to make up for lost time.”
Kyle moved aside, and she left, fighting down a fit of giggles at her own choice of words.
“What was that all about?”
“What do you mean?” Jack asked, turning his back to Kyle.
Kyle finally took his partner in properly. The man’s ears were bright enough to rival his hair, and his voice was tense. “Don’t you think she was acting a little strange?”
Jack turned back so fast the movement was a blur. “She remembered, okay? Everything about me and her. But don’t let on you know. She said she wanted to find me alone, so I guess that means she doesn’t want everybody knowing just yet.”
Kyle felt his blood run cold. His mind had been too full of the conversation he had just had with a man he had never met before. He didn’t realize that Landers had already covered that base, although he was glad to know it. Kate was on the move, but as his mind drew back the past few minutes in detail, he realized that she wasn’t the only one.
“You’re looking sick. Did you catch whatever Katie had?”
Kyle’s head snapped back up so fast that he pulled a muscle in his neck. “What did you call her?” he asked, wincing and rubbing the sore muscle.
Jack flushed. “Katie: she said I could. Anyway. She asked me to see Olsen. If you aren’t feeling well, maybe you should head on home.”
Kyle watched him leave, knowing he should stop him and find out what he was telling Olsen, but was unable to move. It took him an eternal moment to realize why. He had been holding out hope. Despite everything Landers had shown them, despite the coincidences that were piling up, he had hoped that Kate—his Kate—was stronger.
That hope was now shattered. Landers’s question about whether the other knew what Kate was doing or also suffered the sensation of lost time, was answered. The other did not lose time. She knew what was happening. He had watched Adams ask Kate for a meeting this morning, and had no doubt that had been his Kate, her awkwardness at Jack’s proximity an easy tell. So if the other knew, then she did not lose time and memories.
“Katie.” He said the name softly, shaking his head. Kate had always hated that nickname, bearing it only because her parents, then her aunt and uncle used it, and she felt she couldn’t take that memory from them. But no one else was ever allowed. For a brief moment, he wished she’d never come back—that he was still dancing on the edge of a precipice, drunken despair on one end and guilt-fueled catatonia on the other—and that she was still a big shot, living it up in New York.
But we aren’t. She fought hard to stop me from becoming something she knew
I didn’t want to be. I have to do the same.
Kyle sighed, not liking where this was heading, but making a mental note to pass on this new discovery.
In fact, he might as well go pass it on now. Scooping up a random folder from his desk, he made for Olsen’s office, hoping he might catch Jack still there.
“Come in.”
Kyle entered and found the room empty but for Olsen himself. “I have two questions, which I hope you’ll answer, despite our history.”
Olsen raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been spending too much time with Landers. What do you want, Green?”
“One, I want to know what Jack just asked for.”
Olsen raised an eyebrow and shrugged. “He wanted me to order a combined meeting. It is a good idea, really. You detectives and the forensic techs haven’t had a big share in a week.”
“So you agreed?” Kyle said, his mind racing through the options. Katie, the other, clearly wanted to have all the pieces.
“Of course I did, Green. What’s your other question? I am busy.”
Kyle bit his tongue and pursued only his original question. “Do you know how to get in touch with Landers?”
Olsen eyed him a moment, then sighed. “No. He appears and disappears. Look. I’m just following orders with regards to him.”
Kyle sighed. He could tell Olsen, but something held him back. No, if Olsen thought the evil twin was taking the reins at work, he’d pull the trigger for sure.
“Thanks then. See you at the meeting tomorrow.”
“Kyle.”
Kyle’s head snapped up at the voice, adrenaline flooding his blood. “Kate. Back so soon?”
“What do you mean? I’ve been down in the evidence labs all morning. Adams just came to moan at me, telling me not to skip lunch. Are you still free?”
Kyle cast around for a chair, feeling like his legs were going to give out on him at any moment. He caught the calculation and worry beginning to grow in her eyes, and he smoothed his features.