Double Trouble

by Curry, Edna

  Rosie said, “But if he’s disguised, you might not recognize him.”

  Lee said, “But a police dog will. We’ll need something with his scent, like a shoe or a shirt he’s worn.”

  Kirk said, “Ken kept his gym bag in his car trunk. I’ll get it for you.”

  “Great. I’m sure his tennis shoes will do for his scent,” Lee said.

  “Rosie, let’s go back to the office. I’m going to see if I can find anything on Ken’s computer or in his desk that may give us a clue to the identity he might be flying under.”

  “Good idea,” Lee said. He gave Kirk his cell phone number. “Call me if you find anything.”

  “Be careful, Lee,” Rosie said. “I’d like to be there when you catch him.”

  “That’s not a good idea, Rosie,” Lee said. “You’d just be in our way. You know I can’t let a civilian join us.”

  “I agree,” Kirk said, picking up the check and putting down some bills for the tip. “When Ken gets mad, there’s no telling what he might do. I want you safely out of the line of fire.”

  Rosie paled. “What do you mean, ‘line of fire?’ He couldn’t bring a gun on the plane. Besides, Ken wouldn’t shoot at me!”

  “He might. If their security was good, he shouldn’t have a gun. But you never know. If he does have a gun, he’ll surely shoot at the police if he realizes they’re going to arrest him, Rosie. Please stay with me?”

  “All right. Maybe I can help you find something on his computer.”

  “Good idea. If he slips by the police, he’ll probably come looking for us. I want you where I can see you.”

  Lee frowned. “You really think he’d come after Rosie?”

  Kirk nodded. “And me. I’m sure of it. Ken will want revenge.”

  “Then I’d better get cracking to make sure he doesn’t slip through the net at the airport,” Lee said, rising.

  Kirk rose, too. “I’ll give you his gym bag for your dogs.”

  They walked out to Ken’s Cadillac and Kirk opened the trunk and handed Lee Ken’s gym bag. Then Lee left for the airport and Kirk and Rosie headed back to the office.

  Chapter 16

  When they arrived, Harry and Karen were talking at her desk. They guiltily stopped talking and Harry mumbled something about needing to get back to work.

  Kirk and Rosie exchanged frustrated looks. “Just a minute,” Kirk said, causing Harry to stop and turn back to face them. “What’s going on here?”

  “Going on?” Harry asked, flushing beet red.

  Karen blushed, too. “What do you mean, Mr. Latham?”

  “This is the second time I’ve caught you two together and you’re both looking guilty as hell. Why? What have you been up to?”

  “Third time, if you counted twice,” Rosie put in. “Were you two involved with the embezzlement?”

  “Embezzlement?” Karen squeaked, her face turning white. “What embezzlement?”

  Harry stared at them. “So that’s what all the sorting invoices and taking extra inventories was about, eh?”

  Rosie had forgotten that their financial problems were not common knowledge. Kirk shrugged at her gasp of dismay and they gave them a quick update. By Harry and Karen’s stunned faces, they were quite sure this was all news to them. The employees agreed to keep it under their hat.

  “You still haven’t explained what you were looking so guilty about,” Rosie said.

  Karen and Harry exchanged a long look and then, apparently silently agreeing, Karen said, “We’ve been dating. We just didn’t want anyone to know about it yet.”

  “Oh,” Kirk said. “Is that all? No problem.”

  “You don’t mind? I thought every company frowned on ‘office romances.’”

  “Why should I mind? I’m having an office romance, myself.” He and Rosie gazed into each other’s’ eyes.

  “Yeah, I guess,” Karen agreed, relief in her voice.

  Kirk grinned at them and he and Rosie went on to his office.

  ~ * ~

  When Ken stepped off the plane an hour later, a police dog immediately picked him out, in spite of his wearing a wig and dark glasses. Rosie’s brother, Lee, and several other policemen surrounded him.

  Ken swore and started to run, but as soon as he saw the dog, he put up his hands and gave them no resistance. The policemen put him between them and rode an airport transfer vehicle to the main entrance.

  Dozens of other cars and cabs lined the busy entrance, with people pulling wheeled luggage moving toward the automatic doors. They walked Ken out to a waiting squad car. Lee held the back door open, saying, “Watch your head.”

  Ken started to get into the police car when another car pulled up beside them.

  Shots rang out. Ken slumped onto the seat and the car sped away. Lee dropped, turned and fired at the car, but it kept going.

  People screamed and scattered for cover, dropping luggage and hiding behind whatever was near them.

  Another policeman jumped into his car and gave chase, siren screaming. A second police car roared after the first, but the traffic was heavy.

  Lee immediately called for back-up and an ambulance.

  But as he checked Ken for a pulse, he looked at the other officer and shook his head. Ken was gone.

  He hated his next task, to go back to Kirk and Rosie and tell them. It was definitely the worst thing about this job.

  Lee called Rosie on her cell phone and learned she and Kirk were having supper at her house. He told her he’d stop over in a few minutes.

  He was almost to Rosie’s house when he got the call on his radio that the two gunmen in the car had also been killed after being stopped by police and shooting at the officers.

  ~ * ~

  To Rosie, it seemed that the next few days passed in a blur. Lee had come to tell them of Ken’s death. Their plan had succeeded in bringing Ken back to the States, but had come to a tragic end.

  They were quite sure the gunmen were some of the same men who had been threatening Ken earlier and who had mugged and shot at Kirk in front of Rosie’s place that night. They could only assume that Ken’s gambling debts were the likely cause. Hopefully Ken’s death would have ended their harassment of Rosie as well.

  After Lee left, Kirk stayed with Rosie. Rosie knew he was feeling terrible about his brother’s death. They sat on the sofa, watching TV, but not really seeing what was on the tube.

  “He was still my twin brother, no matter what he did,” Kirk said.

  “Of course,” Rosie said, holding his hand tightly. “You can’t turn off love just like water on a faucet. Try to remember the good times, before everything went wrong.”

  “Mom and Dad are going to be so crushed. “

  “Try not to think about it,” she murmured. She pulled him down and cradled his head in her lap.

  “Yeah, I wish…” They both fell asleep that way.

  ~ * ~

  Kirk’s parents and Lester arrived in Minnesota the next day for the funeral. They stayed in the motel next door to Kirk, and then left again shortly after the funeral.

  She liked his parents, but they and Kirk were devastated by this turn of events, so they had little to say to each other, beyond explaining their fake engagement scheme to get Ken to return to own up to his embezzlement.

  “But we never dreamed it would end like this,” Rosie explained to them.

  Kirk’s mom patted her hand, saying, “Of course not. You couldn’t know this would happen.”

  Kirk’s parents looked so tired and worn that Rosie’s throat closed in sympathy for their pain. In spite of what Ken had done, he was still their son and they’d loved him.

  Her heart felt heavy for them all as she and Kirk watched them board their plane to return home, then silently drove back to Latham’s to return to work.

  Rosie hardly saw Kirk at all since the night after Ken had died. He seemed to pull away from her emotionally and she didn’t quite know how to deal with that.

  Of course, Kirk had been busy
taking care of all the details. He’d given the reporter who’d helped them an interview, announcing that Ken had been killed at the airport in a drive-by shooting, believed to be related to his gambling debts. He’d told her that he, as Ken’s twin brother, was temporarily filling in for Ken at Latham Building Supply.

  So everyone knew who Kirk was and they could drop the pretense of Kirk playing Ken, and of being engaged.

  Now, Rosie sat in her office and wondered if Kirk was planning to leave soon. Lester had said nothing about hiring a replacement for Ken. She wondered whether he would promote Harry, and cringed at the thought of working under him. Maybe it was time she looked for another job.

  Just before closing, Kirk buzzed her on the intercom and said, “Rosie, I have to work late. But we need to talk. Will you go out for a late supper with me?”

  “Sure,” she said, surprised. “But I was just heading home. Why don’t I fix something for us at my house instead?”

  “All right,” Kirk said. “I’ll see you about seven.”

  Rosie went home and prepared a salad and chicken casserole. What did Kirk want to talk about? Was he ready to return to Chicago? Did he plan to tell her goodbye?”

  Her stomach in knots, Rosie set the table with her mother’s good china and crystal goblets. She put some white wine in the refrigerator to chill.

  Kirk arrived promptly at seven, greeting her with a kiss. But he was quiet through most of their meal. Understandable, she thought, after all that had happened. He had after all, lost his twin, even though they hadn’t been close in recent years.

  When she brought out the wine and chocolate cake for dessert, he said, “I’m closing up Ken’s affairs. We may be able to recover some of the money. Donald retrieved Ken’s laptop from his villa in the Cayman Islands, and it had his bank account information on it.”

  “Oh. That’s good.”

  Kirk nodded and pushed his empty plate aside.

  Rosie ate the last bite of her cake. “Has Lester said anything about who will replace Ken as Latham’s manager here?”

  Kirk looked at her. “We’ve talked of some possible choices.”

  “I see. Is Harry one of them?”

  “Yes, among others.”

  Her stomach churned and she sipped her coffee. Then she remembered his grandmother’s ring and went to get it from her purse. “I meant to return this earlier,” she said, holding it out to him. “But there never seemed to be a good time.”

  He took the ring and held it, looking at it with a little smile on his face.

  Then he met her gaze and pulled her down onto his lap. “Rosie, you’ve come to mean a lot to me over the past few weeks.”

  She smiled down at him nervously. “You mean a lot to me, too, Kirk.”

  “I was wondering if you’d like to have this ring permanently?”

  “Oh, but I couldn’t accept it, Kirk. You can’t give that away. It’s a family heirloom!”

  “You don’t understand. I love you. Will you marry me and wear it as your engagement ring?”

  “You mean, for real?”

  “Yes, definitely, for real. I hated pretending you were engaged to Ken when I wanted you for myself.” He leaned forward and took her hand. He slipped the ring back onto her finger and kissed her.

  “Yes, I’ll marry you, Kirk,” she managed to say between kisses.

  “And come live in Chicago with me?”

  She thought about that a moment and nodded. “I think I’d like that. Minneapolis has too many bad memories now.”

  Kirk said, “Now that you’ve agreed to marry me, I’ll tell you the rest. Lester has decided to put Harry in charge of this store. And he says a job is waiting for you at headquarters if you want it.”

  “Oh, that’s great,” Rosie said. “I think I’d like that.”

  “So, start planning your wedding. I’m not a patient man. I’ll stay here with you for a couple weeks if you want a big wedding.”

  Rosie swallowed back tears.

  Kirk reached out and took her hand. “What did I say? Whatever it was, I’m sorry.”

  She smiled and wiped away the tears. “No, it’s okay. It’s just that Mom made so many wedding plans for me. And now she’s not here to see me get married.”

  “I know. But I like to think she knows you’re happy. “

  “Yes, I think she does. And as you said earlier, we have to remember the good times, even if they were quite a while ago.” She returned to her chair and poured their wine. “I don’t think it would be proper to have a big wedding so soon after my mother’s death and Ken’s funeral, Kirk. I’d rather have only a small ceremony, with the immediate family and Gloria for my attendant.”

  “That’s fine with me. “

  She lifted the crystal goblet. “Mom served a lot of company dinners with these on her table.”

  “Here’s to our future, darling. May you serve many lovely meals with them, too.”

  Tears of joy shimmered in her eyes as they clinked glasses in agreement.

  The End.

  (This book was formerly published by Class Act Books.)

  ###

  About the author:

  Edna Curry lives in MN and often sets her novels there among the lakes, evergreens and river valleys. She especially enjoys the Dalles area of the St. Croix Valley, gateway to the Wild River, which draws many tourists who give her story ideas. Besides short stories and non-fiction articles, she writes mystery, romance and romantic suspense novels.

  Edna is married and is a member of the Romance Writers of America and four of its chapters: Midwest Fiction Writers, KOD, WISRWA and Northern Lights Writers.

  Circle of Shadows (half of Deadly Duos #1) was a finalist in RWA’s prestigious Golden Heart Contest.

  Visit her webpage at http://www.ednacurry.com

  Recent or upcoming books:

  My Sister’s Keeper by Edna Curry

  Mirror Image by Edna Curry

  Traveling Bug by Edna Curry

  Dead Man’s Image by Edna Curry

  Circle of Shadows by Edna Curry

  Yesterday’s Shadow by Edna Curry

  4/2010 Secret Daddy by Edna Curry Whiskey Creek Press

  8/2010 Best Friends by Edna Curry

  10/2010 Bear Trap by Edna Curry

  7/2010 Runaway Mom by Edna Curry Red Rose Publishing

  2/2011 Double Trouble by Edna Curry

  5/2011 Dead in Bed by Edna Curry Whiskey Creek Press

  8/15/2011 I’ll Always Find You by Edna Curry Whiskey Creek Press/Torrid

  10/2011 Never Love a Logger by Edna Curry Whiskey Creek Press

  8-2012 Meet Me, Darling by Edna Curry Melange-Books

  Dead Man’s Image

  By Edna Curry

  Lacey Summer’s Mystery #2

  Copyright 2001 by Edna Curry

  ________________________________________

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  This is a work of fiction. All names in this story are fictitious and any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental.

  No portion of this book may be reprinted in whole or in part, by printing, faxing, E-mail, copying electronically or by any other means without permission of the author, except for short excerpts for reviews.

  Smashwords Edition.

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  ***________________________________________

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three

  Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine

  C
hapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen

  About the Author

  ________________________________________

  Chapter One

  Paul Menns entered the crowded truck stop for a bite to eat and coffee. A delicious mixture of food aromas met his nose, and the warmth of the cafe felt wonderful after working outdoors in the chilly spring air. He sat down at the counter, wrapped his long legs around the base of the stool and placed his order.

  Picking up the Minneapolis Star-Tribune from the end of the counter, he scanned the headlines, then turned to the Metro section. For a long, confused moment, Paul thought he was looking at his reflection. That looks like me. What is my picture doing in the paper? Then he read the caption through bleary eyes and realized it was a computer image, not a photo. It was someone the police were looking for --a sketch made from an eyewitness's description of a murder suspect. What the hell?

  Reading further, Paul discovered a body had been found upriver. The unidentified dead man was white, about thirty-five, six feet tall, a hundred and ninety pounds, brown eyes and hair, and had no ID, scars or tattoos. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he reached up to rub them. Jeez, the description of the dead guy sounds even more like me. This is weird.

  A creepy feeling slid up his back and he wondered if others in the room would notice how much he looked like the guy in the paper. He didn't like this at all. The waitress set his plate of toast in front of him and refilled his coffee cup. Now he imagined she was looking at him strangely. Or was he the one who was acting strange?

  He pulled his cap down farther over his eyes and stared at the picture as he downed the toast without tasting it. The more he looked at the paper, the more sure he became that the sketch was a picture of him. The cops thought he was a murderer! Who in the hell was he supposed to have killed? And who was this woman who had described him? Did he know her? He gulped the rest of his coffee and pushed his cup away.