Page 65 of Twin Jeopardy

Tammy swallowed hard. The gun, and the fact that Valerie had admitted to killing Mitch, indicated the payback could be a fatal one. “I’m not part of your family,” she said. “Why waste your time with me?”

“Because Vinceloooovesyou.” She drew out the word. “The first time I saw you together, I knew it. He didn’t care about me, his twin, but he’s all gaga for you. Hurting you will hurt him. I thought at first that beating you up would be enough. You put up quite a fight, by the way. I can admire that, even if it made things inconvenient for me. But it also made me realize that a beating wasn’t going to be enough. Vince can watch you die, then I’ll kill him. It will be perfect.”

Tammy choked back a moan. “What about your parents?” she asked. She didn’t want more horrible details, but she needed to keep Valerie talking.

“I’ll get them next, but no hurry. I won’t have to sneak up on them like I did you and Vince. They’ll be happy to open the door for their long-lost little girl. Then I can take my time deciding how to put an end to them and all their lies about truly loving me.”

Tammy heard the hurt behind the hatred. What had Paul done to this young woman to damage her so much?

But she couldn’t let sympathy blind her to the danger she was in. And Vince. Could she find a way to warn him before he came home and walked into his own death sentence?

Chapter Twenty-One

It was after seven when Vince unlocked the Escape parked at search and rescue headquarters. He had tried calling Tammy as soon as he picked up a phone signal, but the call had gone to voice mail after six rings. Maybe she was in the shower or busy with something else.

It was better if he gave her the message about her brother in person. Or maybe she already knew. That might explain why she hadn’t answered the phone. She might be with her mother. Vince had told Declan and Ryker about Elisabeth as soon as he reached the top of the canyon, and they had radioed the information to the sheriff and started the search for her. They would have reached out to Mrs. Patterson and Tammy too.

“Vince, wait up!” He looked up and let out a groan when he saw Bethany jogging toward him.

“I don’t have time to talk now,” he said.

She stopped in front of him. “This won’t take long. I just want to apologize for being so, well, awkward around you.” She studied the ground between them. “I came to town to make a fresh start, right? I was trying to be all independent, going after what I wanted and that kind of thing? And I thought you were cute and nice and would be a fun date. But I should have realized you were already involved. I was so embarrassed when I found out you were already with someone. But I just wanted you to know I won’t bother you anymore. And no hard feelings—I hope.”

“Sure. No hard feelings.” She looked so sad, standing there with her head down. Harmless, and probably lonely too. “Are you okay?”

She looked up, a forced smiled on her lips. “I’m fine.” She shrugged. “Being alone in a new place is hard, but I’m starting to make friends.”

“Count me as one of them,” he said. “Me and Tammy.”

The smile became more genuine. “Thanks.” She took a step back. “I’ll let you go now.” She turned and hurried away, this time with her head up.

Vince drove to his condo and parked. Tammy had left the outside light on for him. Keys in hand, he moved toward the door. But it wasn’t locked. Not good. Maybe she had forgotten in her distress over her brother, but with V still at large, it wasn’t safe to leave the condo unsecured.

The hallway was dark. He left his jacket and pack on the hooks by the door, then almost fell over a bicycle. What was that doing there?

“Tammy?” he called.

“Vince, don’t—Ahhh!”

He sprinted toward the living room but skidded to a stop when he saw Elisabeth standing by the sofa, one hand gripping Tammy’s arm, the other holding a gun pressed to the side of Tammy’s head. Blood trickled from Tammy’s temple.

“Don’t worry. I just tapped her with the gun barrel this time,” Elisabeth said. “But if you don’t cooperate, I’ll shoot her.”

“You shot Mitch,” he said.

“Am I supposed to tell you you’re a clever boy because you figured that out?” She sneered. “Vin, Vin, Vinnie, Vince.”

He almost staggered under the weight of the knowledge that hit him then. Elisabeth was from Omaha, Nebraska. The town where his father had seen a young woman who looked like Valerie. She had shown up in Eagle Mountain about the time the messages from V began arriving. Her hair was darker than Valerie’s, but she had the same slightly upturned nose and the same dimple in her left cheek that he had. “Valerie, what are you doing?” he asked.

“It took you long enough to recognize me. I shouldn’t have to tell you how insulting it is that you didn’t even know who I was. Your long-lost twin. The one you had supposedly mourned all these years. Such hypocrisy.”

“What do you want from us?” he asked.

Valerie looked at Tammy. “You see how he gets right to the point? He doesn’t care what I’ve been up to for the past fifteen years. He just wants to know the bottom line. What will it take to make me go away again?”

“That’s not what I meant,” he said. “And I do care—”

“Shut up! Don’t waste my time with more lies. As for what I want from you, that’s easy. You and Mom and Dad—mostly Mom and Dad, but I blame you too, because you were their favorite and you didn’t do anything to stop them—took away my life. The life I could have had, anyway. Now you get to pay withyourlife.”

---