Page 62 of One More Chance

Her head throbbed, pounding where he’d slammed his against it. “That hurt a lot.”

“Getting headbutted usually does.”

The man blinked, dazed.

She said, “I need to check something. I don’t think this is Earnest, but I want to be sure.”

“Cops are here.” He looked from the open front door back to the man sitting on his behind in his hallway. Shotgun. Shells. Why would a police officer open fire on someone showing up at his house?

Unless he knew for sure he’d been outed and wanted to resolve the situation with as much trouble as possible. She didn’tunderstand it. Only this man could explain why he’d done what he had done.

She headed for the living room but found nothing personal, just the usual couch and TV. He didn’t even have a magazine lying around. The remote was tucked away in a console in the couch arm.

The bedroom she’d been in already.

Second room in the hall was more of an office setup. Computer. File cabinet, mostly empty. She found a few old paper bills from years ago in hanging file folders in one of the drawers.

Kenna rifled back far enough to find a birth certificate—along with a second one. Really the only explanation, apart fromDominatuswas that Earnest had an identical twin. The organization might have had something to do with that, but it could also be unrelated to her enemy.

Maybe Doctor Buzard had wanted a set of twins, one a cop and the other one of his minions. Or they were both in his employ. Maybe the kind of twins who switched out for each other, assuming one persona between the two of them. It would only work for so long.

The name on this birth certificate was Regis Albertson.

She found one for Earnest Albertson right behind it. Time of birth and the date were near exact matches. She took both papers with her back to Jax. “Twins. I’m guessing they’re identical.”

The man scowled up at her from the floor.

“Which one are you?”

“The one who’s gonna kill you.” He laughed.

Two police officers announced their presence and came in. “Albertson, why are you on the floor?”

Kenna glanced at the cops. “Are you talking about Earnest or Regis? Because your Officer Albertson is a twin.” She looked at the guy on the carpet. “And both of them need to explain whathappened to those two kids escorted away from the medical center.”

Near as she could figure, Earnest was the doctor’s minion, but the cop also used the same name. Either one twin was both, or Regis worked as an officer under his brother’s name. An interesting thought.

The cop with graying hair cut high and tight looked at Albertson. “You have any idea what she’s talking about?”

Kenna explained about the medical center and the cops agreeing to take care of the kids. She shrugged. “Now where are they?”

High and Tight said, “You couldn’t just call the precinct and ask.”

“Why didn’t Earnest here just answer the door? Why did he shoot at the FBI with a shotgun?” She added an explanation about the other guy who’d climbed out the window.

High and Tight’s partner went to the front door, striding out. Probably looking for her “associate” and the man they’d secured on the grass outside.

Jax introduced himself. “This man shot at us through the door. I’d like him to answer questions, but we can do that at your precinct so he can have representation if he so desires.”

Why did her mind immediately conjure images of the lawyers she’d met? It wasn’t like they’d represent a piece of dirt like this. Unless that was part of how they went after Doctor Buzard, inadvertently gaining intel on him by representing people who knew him or worked for him.

“Kenna, do you need to get checked out by medics?”

She wanted to shake her head, but it was still pounding. “I’ll make a statement and file charges because this police officer assaulted me.”

“After you broke into his home, forcing him to defend himself?” High and Tight’s eyebrows rose.

She focused on his nameplate, pinned to the front of his uniform shirt.Sandring.She could remember that name, in case she needed it later. “I’m sure Earnest will explain what happened, along with his reasoning for shooting at his front door. He could have shot an innocent person with all that wild firing.”

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