Dead Ringer & Classified Christmas

by B. J Daniels

  “I’m a little nervous,” he admitted in answer to the lawyer’s question. He was about to come face-to-face with Travers McGraw and his three sons. He’d heard enough about them to be anxious. Plus, the attorney had already warned him.

  “They aren’t going to believe you, but don’t let that rattle you,” Waters said. “They’ve had a lot of people pretend to be the missing twins, so naturally they’re going to be suspicious. But having the stuffed horse will help. Then there is the DNA test. You’re ready for that, right?”

  Right. That alone scared the daylights out of him, but he simply nodded to the attorney’s question.

  He watched the ranch house come into view. He couldn’t imagine growing up on a place like this. Couldn’t imagine having that much land or that much money. Nor could he deny the appeal of being a McGraw with all the privileges that came with it.

  He knew he was getting ahead of himself. There were a lot of hoops he had to jump through before they would accept that he was Oakley, the missing twin. But at least he could admire the house until then. It was huge with several wings that trailed off from the two-story center.

  He’d heard stories about lavish parties where senators and even the governor had attended. That was before the twins were kidnapped, though, before the first Mrs. McGraw went to the loony bin and the second one went to jail.

  But the house and grounds were still beautiful, and the horses... A half dozen raced through a nearby pasture as beautiful as any horseflesh he’d ever seen. Horses were in his blood, he thought with a silent laugh. And as Waters turned into the long lane leading to the house, he thought maybe horses were in his future.

  “There is nothing to be afraid of,” the attorney said. “Just tell them what you told me.”

  “I will.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. Just stick to the story. The attorney had believed him. So Travers McGraw should, too, right? The stuffed horse had opened the door. The DNA test would cinch it.

  As Waters brought the SUV to a stop in front of the house, Vance picked up the paper bag next to him and held it like a suit of armor to his chest.

  “Try to relax,” the attorney said. “You look like you’re going to jump out of your skin.”

  He took a deep breath and thought of his run-ins with the law as a horse thief. He’d talked his way out of those. He could handle this.

  Think about the payoff, he reminded himself. This place could be his one day.

  * * *

  “DAD, I DON’T want you getting upset,” Boone McGraw said as they waited in Travers’s office. “You know what the doctor said.”

  “I had a heart attack,” his father said impatiently. “Given the state of my health and why it was so bad, I’m fine now. Even the doctor is amazed how quickly I’ve bounced back.”

  Ledger stood by the office fireplace, as anxious as the rest of his family. They all knew that their father had bounced back because even before this phone call, Travers McGraw was determined the twins were alive and that he would see them again.

  And now, after releasing more information to the press, maybe one of the twins had come forward. Ledger couldn’t help being skeptical. They’d been here before. Except this time, this one had Oakley’s stuffed horse, which had been in his crib the night he was kidnapped. Would his father finally be able to find some peace?

  Or, after twenty-five years, had too much time passed? Oakley would be a grown man, no longer that cute six-month-old baby who’d been stolen. He would have lived a good portion of his life as someone else, with other parents. He would have his own life and the McGraws would all be strangers to him.

  Ledger feared this wasn’t going to be the homecoming his father was hoping for as he heard a vehicle pull up out front. He looked from his father to his brother and then went to answer the door. Better him than Boone, who already looked as if he could chew nails. It was going to take a lot to convince Boone that whoever was headed for the door was the lost twin.

  Unable to wait for a knock, Ledger opened the door. Attorney Jim Waters and the young man, who might or might not be his brother, were at the bottom of the porch steps. His gaze went right to the young man, who looked dressed in all new clothing from the button-down shirt to the jeans and Western boots. He was tall, broad shouldered and slim hipped like all the McGraw men.

  At the sound of the front door opening, Vance Elliot looked up, his thick dark hair falling over his forehead. Ledger saw the blue eyes and felt a shiver.

  This might really be his brother.

  “Vance Elliot, this is Ledger McGraw,” Waters said by introduction.

  “Please, come in,” he said, unable to take his eyes off the young man. “My father and brother are in his office.”

  * * *

  LEDGER LED THE two men into his father’s office and closed the door. The new cook, a woman by the name of Louise, he’d made a point of learning, was in the kitchen making dinner. Cull and Nikki should be back soon. Unless they decided to stay in Whitehorse and go out to dinner. He still couldn’t believe how hard his brother had fallen for the true-crime writer.

  “Please sit down,” Travers said, getting to his feet to shake hands with Vance. He waited until everyone was sitting before he asked, “So you think you might be my son Oakley. Why don’t you start by telling us something about you?”

  Vance shifted in his chair. He held a large paper bag on his lap, the top turned under. Ledger assumed the stuffed toy horse was inside. He would have thought his father would want to see it right away.

  “I don’t know exactly where to begin. I was raised in Bear Creek, south of Billings, on a small farm. My parents told me when I was about five that I was adopted.”

  “Did you have other siblings?” Travers asked.

  Vance shook his head. “Just me.” He shrugged. “I had a fine childhood. We didn’t have much but it was enough. I went to college in Billings for a while before getting a job on a ranch outside of Belfry. That’s about it.”

  “And how did you become aware that you might be one of the missing McGraw twins?” his father asked.

  “I heard about it on television. When they mentioned the small stuffed horse and showed a photo of what it might look like, I couldn’t believe it. I’d had one just like it as far back as I could remember.”

  “Is that what’s in the bag?” Boone asked.

  Vance nodded and stood to place the bag on the desk in front of Travers. He took a step back, bumped into the chair and sat again.

  The room had gone deathly quiet. Ledger could hear nothing but his own heart pounding as his father pulled the bag closer, unfolded the top and looked inside.

  A small gasp escaped his father’s lips as he pulled the toy stuffed horse from the bag. Ledger saw the worn blue ribbon around the horse’s neck and swung his gaze to Vance. If he was telling the truth, then this man was Oakley, all grown up.

  * * *

  WATERS COULDN’T HELP the self-satisfied feeling he had when he saw Travers McGraw’s expression. He’d felt the same way when he’d seen the toy stuffed horse. It was Oakley’s; there was no doubt about that.

  Of course, this wouldn’t be a done deal until after the DNA tests were run, but he was in the homestretch.

  “Would the two of you like to stay for dinner?” Travers asked, putting the toy back into the sack and rising to his feet. “I’d like to hear more about your childhood, Vance.” It was clear he was fighting calling the young man by that name.

  He’d also seen Travers’s face when the two of them had walked into the office. The horse rancher had looked shocked by how much the young man resembled Travers’s own sons.

  Waters looked to Vance before he said, “We’d love to stay for dinner. If you’re sure it isn’t an inconvenience.” He thought of the years he’d sat at the big dining room table and eaten under this roof.
If this went the way he expected it to, he’d be a regular guest again.

  “Wonderful,” Travers said as he came around his desk. Putting an arm around Vance, he steered him toward the dining room at the back of the house. “Where are you staying?”

  Vance cleared his voice. “I spent last night at a motel in town.”

  “You can stay here on the ranch if you’d like,” Travers said. “I don’t want to pressure you. Give it some thought. We can discuss it after dinner.”

  Waters smiled to himself. This couldn’t have gone any better. Vance was in—at least until the DNA test. But if he passed that...

  His cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He checked caller ID. Patricia, the soon-to-be former wife of Travers McGraw. He was sure his boss would ask him to handle the divorce. It would be his pleasure.

  Chapter Four

  ABBY WAS DRESSED and sitting in the wheelchair waiting when her husband came into her hospital room the next afternoon. She felt fine, except for a headache and no memory of what had happened to her. But hospital policy required her to be “driven” down to the exit by wheelchair after her doctor came in.

  Wade stopped in the doorway. She gave him a smile to reassure him that she was all right. He’d been so worried. She’d never seen him like that before.

  He tried to smile back, but his expression crumbled. He burst into tears, dropping to his knees in front of her wheelchair.

  “Oh, babe, I’m so sorry.”

  “Wade, this wasn’t your fault. You have to quit blaming yourself,” Abby said, wishing it was true, as he squeezed her hand with what felt like desperation.

  “I just don’t know what I would do if I lost you,” he was saying. “When I thought you were dead... Abby, I love you so much. Sometimes I do stupid things. I lose my temper or—”

  “Well, fortunately, you didn’t lose her,” his father said from behind him in the doorway. Neither of them had heard Huck, so she didn’t know how long he’d been standing there.

  Her husband surreptitiously wiped at his tears but didn’t get up. Nor did he let go of the one hand he held of hers too tightly.

  “In fact, son, she looks like she feels much better,” Huck said as he entered the hospital room. “But you should have gotten those jars from the garage when she asked you to. I’m sure you won’t make that mistake again.”

  Wade squeezed her hand even tighter. “No, I won’t,” he said, his voice sounding strained. “I swear.”

  “Then let’s get this woman home. Can’t let crime run rampant because of peach jam,” Huck said with a laugh.

  Wade got up slowly as if he had a terrible weight on his shoulders. Abby watched him use the wheelchair arms to support himself as he lumbered to his feet.

  She’d blamed his job at the sheriff’s office for the change in her husband, but as she felt the tension between Wade and his father, she wondered how much of the change in him was Huck’s doing. Her father-in-law often talked about making his son a man. It was no secret that he thought Wade wasn’t “tough” enough.

  The doctor came in then to talk to her about her recovery. He still questioned whether she should be going home. She could tell that he was worried about her—and suspicious of her accident.

  But Abby found herself paying more attention to what was going on out in the hallway. Huck had drawn Wade out into the hall. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but just from her husband’s hunched shoulders, she knew that Huck was berating him. Talk about the kettle calling the skillet black, she thought.

  * * *

  “STOP YOUR DAMNED BLUBBERING,” Huck said, taking Wade’s arm and halfway dragging him down the corridor. “You didn’t do anything wrong, remember? So quit apologizing.”

  “Easy for you to say,” Wade said under his breath.

  “You need to be more careful. If the doctor had overheard you...” His father shook his head as if Wade was more stupid than he’d even originally thought. “On top of that, the nurse said that Ledger McGraw stopped by to see your wife after you left,” Huck said.

  Wade swore and kicked at a chair in the hallway. It skittered across the floor, before Huck caught it and brought it to a stop with a look that told him to cool it. Wade wanted to put his fist through the wall. “He just won’t stay away from my wife.”

  “So what are you going to do about it?” Huck asked, sounding as angry as Wade felt.

  “I’m going to find the son of a bitch and kill him.” He smacked the wall hard with his open palm. The pain helped a little.

  “This is your problem—you go off half-cocked and just screw things up,” his father said. “Listen to me. You want to get rid of him? I’ll help you, but we won’t be doing it when you’re out of control. We’ll plan it. As a matter of fact, I have a way we can be rid of Ledger McGraw and the rest of them, as well.”

  Wade stared at his father. “What are you saying?” He narrowed his eyes. “This is about the long-standing grudge you hold against Travers McGraw.”

  “What if it is? I don’t just whine and cry. I take care of business.”

  He shook his head at his father. “I know you said you used to date Marianne before she married Travers, but—”

  “But nothing.” Huck wiped a hand over his face, anger making his eyes look hard as obsidian. “She was mine and then he had to go and marry her, and look how that turned out.”

  “You might be crazier than she is,” Wade muttered under his breath, only to have his father cuff him in the back of the head as they headed back to Abby’s room.

  * * *

  ABBY LISTENED TO the rain on the roof for a moment before she realized that she was alone. She rolled over to find the bed empty. More and more Wade was having trouble sleeping at night.

  He’d said little after bringing her home from the hospital. Once at the house, he’d insisted she go to bed. He’d brought her a bowl of heated canned soup. She’d smelled beer on his breath, but had said nothing.

  “I’ll let you get some rest,” he’d said after taking her soup tray away.

  Sometime during the night she’d felt him crawl into bed next to her. She’d smelled his beery breath and rolled over only to wake later to find his side of the bed empty.

  Now she found him sitting outside on the covered porch. He teetered on the edge of the chair, elbows on his knees, head down as if struggling with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

  Abby approached him slowly, half-afraid that she might startle him. His volatile mood swings had her walking on eggshells around him. The floorboards creaked under her feet.

  Wade rose and swung around, making her flinch. “What are you doing?” he demanded gruffly.

  “I woke up and you weren’t in bed. Is everything all right?”

  “I just needed a little fresh air. You don’t have to be sneaking up on me.”

  Abby desperately wanted to reach out to him, to comfort him, to plead with him to tell her what was making him so miserably unhappy. She blamed herself. They’d been good together once. Hadn’t they?

  But clearly he was in no mood for the third degree. Also she’d learned to keep her distance when he was drinking. But she knew he was hurting. Because of her fall? Or because of something else?

  It was raining harder now. She hugged herself, the damp seeping through her thin nightgown. There’d been a time when he would have noticed just how thin the fabric was, how it clung to her rounded breasts and hips. Back then he would have pulled her to him, his breath warm against her neck. That husky sound in his voice as he told her how much he wanted her, needed her. How he couldn’t live without her.

  Wade didn’t give her another look as he sat down again, turning his back to her. “You should go to bed.”

  She felt tears burn her eyes. Wade kept pushing her away, then losing his temper because he t
hought some other man might want her.

  “I saw Ledger McGraw looking at you when you came out of the grocery store,” Wade would say. “I’m going to kill that son of a—”

  “You can’t kill every man who looks at me,” she would say.

  “You like it when he looks at you.”

  She would say nothing, hoping to avoid a fight, but Wade would never let it go.

  “He wants you. He isn’t going to give up until he tears us apart. Not that he would ever marry you. He had that chance already, remember? Remember how he lied to you, cheated on you—”

  There was nothing she could say to calm him down. She knew because she’d tried. “Wade, don’t be ridiculous.”

  “Right, I’m ridiculous. I’m no McGraw, am I?”

  “I married you.”

  “Only because you couldn’t have Ledger.”

  She would try to hug him and he would shove her away, balling his hands into fists. “You never got over him. That’s what’s wrong with our marriage. You’re still yearning for him. I can see it in your eyes.”

  He would shove her or grab her, wrenching her arm. It would always end with him hurting her and then being sorry. He would berate himself, loathing that he was now like his father. He would promise never to do it again, beg her forgiveness. Plead with her not to leave him.

  And each time, she would forgive him, blaming herself for setting him off. Then they would make love and it would be good between them for a while.

  At least, that was the way it used to be. Lately, it took nothing to set Wade off. And there was no pleading for forgiveness or any making up afterward.

  “It isn’t like anyone else wanted to marry you,” her mother told her when she’d seen Abby wince from one of Wade’s beatings. Her mother loved to rub salt in the wounds. “It’s plain to see that you aren’t making him happy. You’d better do whatever it takes or he’s going to dump you for a woman who will. Then where are you going to be? Divorced. Left like a bus at the Greyhound bus station. No man will want you then.”