Look-Alike. Rita Herron
she drew a blank. In her mind, she saw her and Nora as ten-year-olds. Anything more recent remained a dark empty hole. “No…as far as I know she…she didn’t have any enemies.”
“She had one—the person who killed her,” Brown said. “And I intend to find out who it was.”
CAITLIN’S GRIEF and guilt-ridden look tugged at Miles’s sympathy. He understood those feelings well. He’d been bombarded by them since the day she’d disappeared. Remembering how weak she’d been the night before, he poured her a cup of coffee, then slipped it into her hands. She sank onto the sofa and gave him a fleeting smile of gratitude. Then she dumped a packet of sweetener into the cup, and swirled it around just as Caitlin used to do.
“When did you last see your sister?” Brown asked.
She cradled the mug in her hands, blowing on the steamy coffee. “I d-don’t remember.”
Brown propped one foot on the coffee table, leaned over and glared at her. “What do you mean, you don’t remember? I thought you said you were close.”
Caitlin backed farther into the sofa cushion, her hands trembling.
“She claims she has amnesia,” Miles answered for her. “She doesn’t remember marrying me, doesn’t know what happened to her sister, doesn’t know what happened to her the last few weeks.”
Brown’s eyebrow rose in question. “Amnesia? That’s convenient.”
Caitlin flinched. “It’s the truth. I remember the two of us being together as kids, but nothing later on.”
“Did she live here in Raven’s Peak?”
Caitlin massaged her temple as if trying to think. “No…I don’t think so.”
“What about you?” Brown asked. “Where are you from?”
“I…think we grew up in Georgia, near here, in the mountains.”
“Her parents are dead,” Miles interjected. “After she disappeared, I checked into her past. According to records, the Colliers only had one child.”
Brown frowned, and Caitlin gaped at him, her hands knotted. “I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I,” Miles said flatly. “Someone must have tampered with the files.”
“If you were so close to your sister, where was she living? And why didn’t you report her missing?” Brown asked.
“I told you I don’t remember.” Frustration laced Caitlin’s ragged whisper. “Like I said, I’ve been in a hospital for the past few weeks.”
“When she showed up at my office, she was in shock, dehydrated and disoriented,” Miles explained. Hoping to earn her trust, he omitted the part about the track marks.
Brown gave him a skeptical look. “Where were you in the hospital, and why?”
“I…it was in Savannah.”
She hesitated, and Miles realized she was holding back, that her story made her sound unstable. He had to wonder if she was. Maybe Caitlin hadn’t mentioned her twin because she suffered from mental problems, and she’d been embarrassed.
Brown continued to drill her. “How did you get from Raven’s Peak to Savannah?”
She squinted. “I don’t know.” Frustration filled her voice. “I realize my story sounds crazy,” she said in a shaky voice. “But someone locked me in a psychiatric ward. I was on this island, at a research facility. It was off the coast of Savannah.”
Brown exhaled. “The Coastal Island Research Park?”
“Yes, on Nighthawk Island.”
Brown paced across the room to the window, then turned back to her. “Go on.”
“The doctors at the hospital drugged me and kept me locked up. I escaped the night before last and hitched a ride into Savannah.” She sipped her coffee, then glanced at Miles with those pale green eyes, imploring him to believe her. “I went in to a diner in Savannah to warm up, and saw the news report about my sister, so I hitched a ride here.”
A heartbeat of tension followed, then Brown asked, “What was the name of the doctor who treated you?”
“I…his name is foggy. But a nurse named Donna took care of me most of the time.”
“Have you been treated for mental illness before?” Brown asked.
“No.” Caitlin stood and squared her shoulders. “I’m not insane. I didn’t commit myself to that facility, and I didn’t belong there, either.”
Miles studied her, wanted to believe her. But her look-alike was dead, and her story sounded far-fetched. Although he had heard about that research park at Nighthawk Island…
Brown shot him a suspicious look. “If you two are lying to cover up something, I’ll find out.”
“I want the truth as much as you do,” Miles said.
Caitlin inhaled sharply. “And so do I. I may not remember the last few months but I loved my sister. She didn’t deserve to die like this.”
Miles bit back a caustic remark. He had no idea if Caitlin was telling the truth, but she was right. Her sister hadn’t deserved to die at the hands of a ruthless serial killer.
Still, the Caitlin he’d married had obviously kept secrets from him.
Secrets that might have led to her hospitalization.
Or to her sister’s death.
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