Split Decisions: A Southern Romantic-Suspense Novel - Charlotte - Book Two

by Carmen DeSousa

  Corey was still discussing Ben, how he thought he was guilty of something, but he never suspected that he’d been capable of this. Jordan truly hoped that his assessment that he was incapable of hurting either woman would hold true.

  Corey went on to explain how he’d met Ben years ago and how Ben hadn’t even wanted him to talk with Caycee about the case he’d been working. He’d finally convinced him that it was necessary and that’s when he’d fallen for Caycee, he admitted sheepishly.

  Jordan parallel parked along the street a few spaces in front of Sheila and quickly trotted along the sidewalk to her building. Both Corey and Jordan followed Sheila to the elevator, ignoring the glares of the other tenants and doorman.

  “So,” Sheila announced as they stepped out of the elevator onto her floor, “you both want to come in and look over my material?” Jordan hadn’t missed the double entendre in her words.

  Corey sighed. He hadn’t missed it either. She’d made her wants known at the restaurant, but it disgusted Jordan. Didn’t she realize the lives of two women were at stake? Even if she didn’t care for one of them, Jaynee hadn’t done anything wrong and didn’t deserve what had happened to her.

  “Yes, Sheila, we would love to have a look at your books,” Corey said more pleasantly than Jordan thought possible. It was clear that Jordan couldn’t be objective, compromised as he was. He imagined that if he were still a detective and the situation didn’t involve his wife, he too could be a lot more diplomatic. But right now, all he wanted to do was find Jaynee.

  Sheila brought up several credit card and debit accounts on her computer. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There were many charges to sift through, though. The woman, and Ben for that matter, seemed to do nothing but go out to eat and shop.

  Once again, Jordan was grateful for his wife. He pushed Jaynee to spend money on herself. Other than her coffee and muffin addiction, the woman went to the hair salon every few months, pedicure every couple of months, and clothes shopping maybe twice a year, and even then, she preferred the local super store to the finer shops in South Park. She insisted that why would she pay thirty dollars for a t-shirt to advertise a store when she could get just as nice of a t-shirt for ten bucks.

  With Jaynee, the idea of an enjoyable evening was ordering her favorite pizza and renting a movie. But she’d been sad lately, and Jordan wondered if maybe he’d just imagined that she liked those things. He would find her, and he would make everything right again.

  He would never blow off his feelings when he thought she was unhappy again. He would follow through immediately as he’d planned a few days ago with Caycee. Only it was too late, he should have done it a month ago when he first recognized her melancholy.

  “Wait!” Corey exclaimed. “Go back a page…what’s that?” He underlined the entry on the computer screen with his finger. “Whatever the place is, it’s under a personal name not a business. That usually means it’s a small company, something probably not even incorporated, a gas station or a small convenience store. Call your bank and tell them you’re not familiar with the charge. They’ll give you more information…a phone number or address to start.”

  Sheila grumbled, “I’m tired, guys. If you don’t need anything else, you should leave.”

  “I want you to make the call, please,” Corey demanded, his voice no longer smooth and friendly. Jordan remained indifferent when her eyes beseeched him for help. He knew not to utter a word in an interrogation; only one person talked at a time.

  “Tonight? They won’t be open.”

  “They’re open. I use the same bank. You can call them 24-7.”

  “Fine,” she said on a sigh.

  Sheila called, and her bank was in fact able to give her a phone number and all the other information they already had, but they had no address or city listed. She handed them the number she’d written and stood.

  “Just a second, Sheila, we’re almost done,” Corey announced. His cheerful demeanor back for her sake, Jordan assumed. Corey hit the speaker button on the phone resting on the desk and dialed the number, letting it ring until it stopped and a recorded voice from the phone company advised them that the party they were trying to reach was not available. No kidding.

  Corey scratched his head, out of options and frustrated, it seemed, and Jordan wracked his brain as well.

  “I could go back to the department, but it might raise some questions,” Corey said quietly, as if to himself.

  “Wait a minute, Corey, let me try something.” Jordan leaned over the chair, running his fingers smoothly across the keyboard.

  It took only a second for the common website to pop-up, whitepages.com. Jordan clicked on reverse search. Corey saw what he was doing and rattled off the number. It came up unlisted, whoever owned the business had put everything in his personal name. But the information listed a city.

  Sheila, who’d been looking over their shoulder, said, “Oh, I’ve been there.”

  Jordan and Corey turned to her at once.

  “My son attended summer camp there. Ben and I dropped him off with some youth group. It was about ten miles out of town. The camp is open for the summer, but it closes after the kids go back to school.”

  In unison, both men jumped. “That’s it,” Jordan exclaimed.

  “Sheila, you’re brilliant! I don’t know how we’ll ever thank you,” Corey admitted.

  “Sheila, do you happen to remember the name of the camp?” Jordan asked.

  “No, but once you get to the center of town—it’s just a little town—head straight west on the main road; the signs will direct you in from there. I remember that’s how we found it.” She inhaled a deep breath, glancing back and forth between the two men. “I’m angry with my husband, but I don’t want anything to happen to him. You won’t hurt him, will you?”

  It was Jordan’s turn to be thoughtful. He’d been in this situation in the past, and he knew no matter what, he could never take someone’s life unless he was defending another. As furious as he had been at his brother-in-law for attacking Jaynee, he’d seen him in prison and even helped him out financially when he got out. He’d set him up in another state of course, far away from temptation.

  “Of course, Sheila,” Jordan said. “We’re here to protect and serve. We will protect those who need protecting and never take the law into our own hands. He will be dealt with accordingly, by the law.”

  Corey gave him a solemn look, taken aback by him asserting himself as a cop, but he nodded to Sheila as well, and they left the apartment, eager to find both women.

  Once out of the apartment and waiting for the elevator, Corey eyed Jordan again, a question in his eyes. Jordan answered his question. “Once a cop, always a cop, and I’ve been there. I’ve been within inches of someone who tried to murder my wife. I know my weaknesses, but I also know my strengths. I will do everything in my power to protect her, and I will pull the trigger if I have to, but not out of malice.” He paused, knowing he shouldn’t say his next words, but somehow he knew Corey would understand. “But God help him if he hurts my wife.”

  Corey pursed his lips, nodding in agreement. “You have a gun, I take it?”

  Jordan lifted his eyebrow. “Are you gonna take me in if I do?”

  “No, I’m just making sure. I was going to suggest we stop by my place if you didn’t.”

  They piled inside Jordan’s rental vehicle, and Jordan programmed the name of the city into the Garmin. “Let’s hope she was telling the truth and not trying to throw us off,” Jordan said.

  “Oh, she was telling the truth,” Corey assured him. “I’ve talked with her enough to get a feel for her.” Corey latched his seatbelt in place, then turned to look at him.

  Jordan felt the weight of his gaze and glanced at him. “What?”

  “We have a little time to kill and something’s been bothering me. Though, I think I’ve already figured it out. I just don’t want to offend you.”

  “And what’s that,” Jordan asked gruffly. He’d
just started to like Corey.

  “What was Caycee doing with you and Jaynee doing at Caycee’s? I can’t imagine your sister-in-law just decided to stay with you and let Jaynee stay at her place.” Corey paused, but then quickly continued, answering his own question. “They swapped, didn’t they?”

  Jordan blew out a burst of air, shaking his head. “Yeah.” He bit his lip, actually happy to get this off his chest. He would never be able to admit this to Bobby; he’d never hear the end of it, nor did he think he would want him to know what Jaynee had done. Heat flashed through him. Anger he’d pushed to the back of his mind surfaced uncontrollably. He wanted Jaynee home, he wanted her safe, but he was livid, and when she returned home with him, they were going to have a long talk.

  “Wow! So, uh….that must have been awkward,” Corey said, resisting the urge to laugh, it seemed.

  “You have no idea. I never even knew she had a sister. I was simply watching the news and a report about Caycee’s abduction comes on.”

  “Jordan… Caycee’s disappearance…it was removed from missing persons.”

  “Why? Why would they do that when she was still missing?”

  “Because she got on a plane,” Corey admitted dryly.

  “Oh?”

  “You don’t sound surprised? Why is that? Two women with the same name and social-security number, living separate lives, and you say you never even knew about her. Did Jaynee know about her?”

  Jordan wasn’t sure where to begin or if he should even try. Obviously, there was no way to explain the supernatural occurrence that had stricken Caycee Jaynee. He shook his head in response.

  “Fraud has the case now,” Corey continued. “When they investigated, they came up with two different lives. They figured she was trying to plan her abduction, to do away with one of her lives or that it was a case of stolen identity. I, of course, saw the pictures of Caycee and Jaynee side by side and knew immediately that they were twins. But, why do they have the exact same name and social-security number? How was it possible that no one has ever put this together before, how would they not know?”

  Jordan came up with the fastest explanation he could think of, the first thing he’d thought of as a more rational reason the other day when Caycee had relayed the story. “I think… Of course, this is only a theory. I think they were a multiple birth, but the mother hadn’t known. Her husband was out of town when she went into labor. I think maybe someone took the twin, then deleted one of the records, so there would be no record that the two of them existed. The delivery doctor wouldn’t have followed up, and if the mother hadn’t known she had twins, no one would know.” It worked, Jordan thought.

  Corey was pensive, evidently trying to make the scenario work in his mind. He certainly would never figure out the real situation. No one would ever come up with the idea of a woman separating in two. Not only two personalities, but also two entire individuals. It gave an entire new meaning to split personality. Jordan laughed once to himself at the impossible situation that had consumed them.

  He saw Corey’s query out of the corner of his eye, but waved his hand as if it wasn’t important.

  It didn’t take long to arrive at the center of the small town; they had surpassed the speed limit the entire way. Jordan was unconcerned with getting a ticket, and Corey assured him that he had his badge and they wouldn’t.

  They located the gas station at the hub of town, where more than likely Ben had stopped to get gas and snacks, as it was the same name as the one on his checking account. They headed straight west as directed by Sheila.

  Jordan panned out his GPS to show the local topography, confirming that the road did in fact dead-end at a lake. Sheila had told the truth. The GPS indicated it was about eleven more miles. Jordan stepped on the gas, heading in the correct direction. His blood raced through his veins, eager to get to his wife and Caycee, praying silently they were both safe.

  Chapter Thirty

  (Caycee and Jaynee)

  It had been hours since Ben had left. Caycee figured he’d remained for a while, listening to their muted conversation, wary that she hadn’t been forthright with him.

  She’d cared for Ben once, but had never loved him in a forever way. She’d been grateful when she found out his wife was pregnant, eager to send him away. She’d fretted about their affair. She’d felt horrible, exactly the way Jaynee had reacted, but she’d been so lonely at the time.

  She’d more than compensated Ben and Sheila; she could have—probably should have—left him years ago. He wasn’t even a good manager; she could have done so much more with her career. But secretly, she’d never really wanted more, and that was why she’d never left. She earned good money, more than she could ever spend in three lifetimes. She’d always been a simple girl. All she’d ever wanted was to love and for someone to love her completely in return. She’d never wanted to settle.

  Caycee remembered the way the man at the restaurant had regarded her tonight, as though he’d known her. He’d frantically called out her name. She’d been afraid at first, thinking he was in on the abduction with Sheila, but now that she thought back, there’d been something else in his tone…and his eyes. Jordan had gazed at her like that when he thought she was Jaynee. He looked so familiar, but she couldn’t place him.

  She’d only seen him for a few seconds, but remembered the way he sat, his perfect stature, his short-cropped hair, similar to Jordan’s. When he’d seen her, he’d responded immediately, fluidly descending the stairs. He’d been quick on his feet, as Jordan had been the night of the attack against her all those years ago. He hadn’t thought before reacting, he just reacted…like a cop. Then it hit her, the mysterious man was a cop.

  The cop in L.A., the good-looking one, the detective who’d caught the guy stalking her. He’d asked her out…Corey something. She’d just broken up with Ben, and she’d sworn to him that it wasn’t another man, that she wanted him to go back to his wife.

  She’d wanted to track down Corey afterward, but Ben had all his information. She’d even driven by the police department several times attempting to locate him.

  The only time she’d ever seen Corey again was in her favorite coffee shop. She’d tried to catch his eye, but he’d paid her no notice. She wasn’t used to not getting attention; men had always approached her. She wouldn’t even begin to know how to make an advance. She’d tried to elicit a response several times, but had finally realized he was no longer interested.

  But Corey was here and had recognized her so quickly. Why? It had been sixteen years, how would he have recognized her...unless he’d been looking for her. And why had he been sitting with Sheila? Was it possible he lived in New York, and they assigned her case to him again? Was it fate?

  Were Jordan and Corey looking for Jaynee and her right now? Jordan would have seen him, heard him calling her name, especially if Corey had continued outside looking for her. Jordan would have found Sheila too, found out that she hadn’t been involved after all. They would all be looking for Jaynee and her. They would find them, she was certain of it.

  The one thing she needed to do was stall Ben when he returned. Maybe she could talk him into dropping Jaynee off at a local store or restaurant. It was clear they were out in the country from the lack of light and noise that always permeated her world. The absence of sound was almost deafening. She hadn’t realized how much she’d grown accustomed to the constant noise around her. Even the few days in Stanfield hadn’t been as quiet. During the day, tractors from a nearby farm and the whir of the appliances had filled the house. At night, the TV, and then in bed, the fan. Obviously, Jaynee and Jordan couldn’t sleep in complete silence either.

  ***

  It was late when Ben snuck back into his high-rise apartment.

  Sheila could have it all. He wanted nothing but Caycee; she was all he’d ever wanted, and now she wanted him too.

  He needed to get his stash. He’d been saving money for years, waiting for this moment. He’d siphoned as much money
as he could out of Caycee’s and Sheila’s accounts over the years, so he would have cash in the event he needed to slip away quickly. He’d planned his and Caycee’s deaths for years. He wanted to disappear, start a new life. He knew Sheila would never allow it without taking everything he’d worked for, and if Caycee didn’t accept him, he would have nothing.

  But she’d accepted him. She would leave with him, and they would use his cash to get away, confirm that no one was after them before dipping into her funds.

  It had been sixteen years, but now life would be perfect. They would make up for lost time; he would make love to her every day if she allowed him. They would start a new life, get married, even have children if she wanted. They weren’t too old. Caycee obviously wanted a family, the reason she’d gone to North Carolina and her sister was here in New York.

  She’d been curious after he’d come to her, suggesting that they could be together. Caycee wanted him as much as he wanted her; he could see it in her eyes tonight.

  He would have taken her either way. She was his. From the first moment he’d seen her at that ridiculous dinner show, he’d craved her. He’d made her famous; she owed him everything. He’d stood beside Caycee every night on her first tour, but then she’d return to her room alone. She hadn’t been interested in him…even after all he’d done for her.

  One night, he’d given her a little push. Caycee had always sipped one glass of wine before she went to bed. He started bringing her a glass after her show, and she would accept it. It went on for weeks, until he couldn’t take it any longer.

  He’d slipped a little of his wife’s Rohypnol into her wine. Sheila had used it for insomnia. Even though it wasn’t legal, she’d been able to forge a prescription and order it from South America. He could always count on Sheila for her prescription drug use; she used some meds to wake up and others to fall asleep.