Chapter 21
Kevin’s mouth dropped open.
“What?!”
“Kevin… Brian has a twin,” Leighanne said.
“What are you talking about?” Kevin cried. “A twin?!”
“Yes, a twin,” Leighanne repeated.
“And I think somehow this twin has done something with the real Brian
and has been posing as him for God knows how long.”
Kevin’s mouth dropped open.
“That’s insane!” he spat.
“I thought so too. But,
Kevin, it makes sense. Brian’s been
acting funny for weeks. And… well, AJ
called me two nights ago to ask me about something. Have you noticed that Brian’s scar has
disappeared?”
“Huh?”
“His scar. The one on his
chest. AJ told me it’s gone.”
Kevin was silent, thinking back to the last time he had seen Brian
shirtless, just two nights earlier, when they were swimming. He hadn’t really looked closely enough to
notice. He had gotten so used to the
scar that he never noticed it anymore.
“It’s gone?” he asked in disbelief.
“I guess so. I never
noticed it either, but the only time I’ve seen Brian’s chest in the past few
weeks has been when we’re making love, and… well, I was thinking of other
things then. But AJ swore it wasn’t
there, and I believe him. Something’s
not right. The man that’s there with
you now is not my husband.”
“So what are you saying?” Kevin asked, still in a state of shock
and confusion. “That Brian has an evil
twin who’s kidnapped him and taken over his life and that he was the one who
did this to AJ?”
He was making it sound like a joke, but as he said it, he couldn’t
help but think of how serious Leighanne sounded. Leighanne may have been blonde, but she
definitely wasn’t dumb, and if she believed it, it could be true.
“Yes,” Leighanne said, her voice grave. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. Kevin, we have to do something. If this is true, he’s done something to
Brian and to AJ. You, Howie, or Nick
could be next!”
A chill ran through Kevin’s spine, as her words echoed through his
ears. You could be next!
He swallowed hard and gripped the phone tightly to his ear.
“So what do we do?”
***
Kevin was up at the crack of dawn the next morning, after less
than two hours’ sleep. He had talked to
Leighanne for hours, and they had decided the best way to make sure Brian’s
twin didn’t hurt anyone else was to go to the police.
But to do that, they needed proof that he really had stabbed
AJ. Otherwise, if the police arrested
him only to find they were unable to prove he was the attacker and released
him, there would definitely be trouble.
If they were going to get rid of him, they had to do it right. And that meant finding evidence.
But Kevin’s first concern was AJ.
He had called the hospital as soon as he woke up and was told that his
friend was out of surgery, but in critical condition. Kevin was just relieved that AJ had made it
through the night and could only hope he would get better.
He wanted to go to the hospital to be with AJ, but first, he had
to get into “Brian’s” room. He waited
until six and then knocked on “Brian’s” door.
It took a few minutes, but finally, the door swung open, and there
stood a sleepy-eyed Brian look alike.
“It’s six in the morning!
What the hell do you want!?” the man asked irritably, rubbing his eyes
and glaring at Kevin.
Kevin tried his best not to glare right back. But he was now certain that this was not
Brian. The real Brian never would act
like that.
“Don’t you want to go see AJ?” he asked. He inwardly smiled, for he was actually
testing the imposter. Obviously, he
didn’t care to go see AJ at all, but the real Brian would want nothing more
than to be there. He was curious to see
how well this twin could act.
As it turned out, pretty well.
“Yeah, of course,” “Brian” said, his tone softening so that he
almost sounded compassionate. “We’re
leaving now?”
“Pretty soon. Go get
ready,” Kevin said. Slyly, he added,
“And make sure you take a shower and get freshened up. You look like shit, cuz.”
I’m a pretty damn good actor too, Kevin
thought smugly, as his cousin (who actually was still his cousin, since he was
Brian’s twin) nodded and walked back into the room, heading for the
bathroom. Normally, the door would have
clicked shut behind him, but Kevin caught it with his foot and silently stepped
in before letting it shut.
He hid just inside the doorway until he heard the imposter shut
the bathroom door. When the shower
water began to run, he hurried into the room to find Brian’s luggage.
He found Brian’s suitcase and hauled it onto his bed, flipping the
latches up and opening it. Kevin sorted
through piles of wadded up clothes, looking for AJ’s key, a knife, or anything
that would prove “Brian’s” guilt.
At the bottom of the suitcase, he found a shaving kit and opened
it up. And lying inside, right between a
bottle of shaving cream and a razor, was a knife.
Kevin stared at it in awe, his body beginning to tremble. This was it. He had found the weapon. He started to reach into grab it, but stopped
himself. The police would need to
fingerprint it, and he sure didn’t want his prints on it.
Just as he was trying to figure out how to get a hold of the knife
without touching it with his bare hands, the door to the bathroom swung open,
and “Brian” walked back into the room.
And there stood Kevin, looking like a deer caught in headlights.
“Kevin?” the twin asked in shock.
And then his eyes came to rest on what was laying on the bed right
in front of Kevin. The suitcase, the
shaving kit, and… the knife.
***
