Chapter 22
Leighanne lay awake in bed, just thinking. She had gotten only a couple hours of
restless sleep the night before, and now it was nine in the morning. She knew that out in California, Kevin was
planning to find evidence to get the Brian imposter arrested. It was her job to try to find the real
Brian. But what should she do? Who should she call? Where should she go?
That was what she was thinking about. And just as she was about to call the
police, a flashback came jolting into her memory…
Leighanne sat at a red light, examining her freshly
manicured nails. She suddenly heard the
screeching of car tires and looked up to see a silver BMW pull a U-turn on the
road in front of her and head back in the other direction.
That’s Brian, she realized, watching the car speed away
from her. She squinted, watching as his
car got smaller and smaller in the distance.
Where was he going?
As the light changed to green, Leighanne decided to follow
him and practically gunned her engine, hurrying to catch up to him. Why is he going this way? she wondered,
perplexed. This road leads out of town.
Her confusion increased as she followed him all the way out
of Atlanta and into the rural area just outside of the city. Never taking her eyes off his car, she drove
on, just far enough away from him to still be able to see his car but not be
recognized when he looked into his rearview mirror.
Her mouth opened in surprise as he suddenly made a left
turn, pulling into the driveway of a small house sitting all alone in a field…
“Leigh! Boy, am I
glad to see you!”
“Brian?” Leighanne asked, looking around in confusion. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, I was just about out of gas and stopped here to see
if this man had any. Thank the Lord he
does. He’s goin’ to get me some now.”
“What are you doing all the way out here though?” she
asked.
“Uh… well, I can’t tell you, honey. It… it has to do with a surprise I have
planned for you. Yeah, that’s it. A surprise.”
He flashed her an innocent smile.
“A surprise? What
kind of surprise?” Leighanne asked.
“Well, I can’t tell you that, silly,” Brian replied. “Then it wouldn’t be a surprise!”
She smiled, rolling her eyes. “Well, fine then. It better be good though, mister.”
Now, Leighanne frowned.
She had never gotten any surprise.
She doubted “Brian” was even out of gas that day. He had been up to something. And it took place at that house.
***
Brendan stood in the bathroom doorway, his eyes flicking from
Kevin, to the bed, to his suitcase, to his shaving kit, to his knife, and back
to Kevin, whose face was a mask of guilt.
He knows.
Brendan knew then that his charade was over. With Kevin, at least. And that meant one thing - one of them was
going down. And as far as Brendan was
concerned, it wasn’t going to be him.
***
Kevin’s eyes widened as the imposter’s eyes narrowed.
He knows I know.
Kevin knew then that his plan wasn’t going to go exactly how he
wanted it to. There was going to be
trouble. One of them was going
down. And as far as Kevin was
concerned, it wasn’t going to be him.
The twin glared levelly at Kevin.
And suddenly, he made a move, darting forward, his eyes focused on one
thing – the knife.
But Kevin was quick. With
one swift motion, he snatched the knife away, no longer caring whose
fingerprints stained it. He held it out
menacingly and saw the imposter freeze.
Kevin couldn’t help but grin darkly. He had control. He had power.
It was a good feeling.
“Who are you?” he asked, making his voice as low and intimidating
as he could.
The imposter was not as easily scared as Kevin had hoped
though. He glared back at Kevin with
just as much intimidating. But although
Kevin was slightly afraid of this man, who had done such horrible things, he
didn’t back down. He kept telling
himself that he had all the advantages – he was armed, he was angry, and he was
much bigger than the imposter, who had the same small frame as Brian.
“I said who are you?!” Kevin boomed.
He saw the imposter flinch ever-so-slightly, and he smiled in
satisfaction. Underneath his bravado,
this man was a coward. And that was
another advantage.
“Brendan,” the man muttered, his voice so low Kevin could barely
hear him.
“Brendan?”
“Brendan Graves,” the man spat, his voice rising angrily.
“Brendan Graves,” Kevin echoed, saying the name with utter
disdain. “Now tell me, Brendan Graves,
did you attack AJ last night?”
Brendan stood with his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at
Kevin in complete defiance.
Kevin took a step forward, holding out his knife. “I asked you a question,” he said through
gritted teeth, taking another step forward.
Brendan continued to glare at Kevin and did not move. Maybe he was not so much of a coward after
all.
But Kevin did not back down.
He took yet another step forward, thrusting his knife forward. It was close to touching Brendan. He glared at the look-alike, his green eyes
boring into Brendan’s blue ones, which were so much like Brian’s.
Brendan took a step back.
Kevin stepped forward.
Brendan stepped back again.
Before he knew it, he was up against the wall, and Kevin was standing in
front of him with a sharp knife.
Brendan swallowed hard. How
am I going to get out of this? he wondered, a sense of panic rising within
him.
But then, suddenly, came the distraction he had been looking for,
as the door to the suite swung open.
“Kevin!?”
***
