Identical Stranger

by Alice Sharpe

  Jack looked around for Sophie and found her kneeling by the supine cat. He sprinted over to join her.

  “I killed Sabrina’s cat!” she said as she lifted the little animal from the pavement and clutched it to her chest.

  He looked down at the cat, who was already beginning to squirm in her grasp. “No, she’s not dead. See, she’s breathing.” The cat continued to struggle against Sophie’s hands as Jack helped her stand.

  “Did he shoot her?” Sophie demanded.

  “There’s no blood, at least not hers,” Jack said as he lifted the angry tabby out of Sophie’s grasp to save her from further scratches.

  “We have to take her to Dr. London.”

  “Who?”

  “Sabrina’s veterinarian. He’s on Hyde Street. I saw an invoice for him in Sabrina’s papers.”

  “The cat seems fine,” Jack protested. “How about you?”

  “I’m okay.”

  “Did you get a look at him?” Jack asked but he knew the answer, for he had also seen the guy through the windshield and knew he’d hidden his face.

  “He had one of the ski mask things on,” she said. This conversation was held as they hurried back toward Jack’s car. Sophie got into the passenger seat and held out her hands to accept the increasingly irate cat, who now growled and hissed her displeasure. Jack wished he had a box in which to contain the eight pounds of striped fury, but he didn’t and it was obvious Sophie was determined to see this through.

  “I have to lock their door,” he shouted as he ran back around the house and did just that. They arrived at the vet’s a little bloodied but in one piece.

  * * *

  THE RECEPTIONIST ASSUMED Sophie was Sabrina. “Love your hair,” she said. “Man, Gabby is going nuts. Let me get you a cat carrier.”

  Sophie explained about the fall and asked that the small animal be examined and boarded but added that she couldn’t stay.

  “Late for work, huh? No problem. We’ll examine her and call for your consent if we need to treat—”

  “No, I’ll be out, you know, fighting fires, and I may not hear my phone. Just do whatever it takes to make her okay and keep her here until I come for her.” As the cat had started howling, this whole conversation had a surreal quality that remained as the receptionist agreed to Sophie’s requests and disappeared down the hall with the yowling tabby.

  “You’re going to have to stop allowing everyone to believe you’re Sabrina,” Jack cautioned her as they drove to the police station. “When the cops start questioning people they’ll all report they saw her today. We need everyone to understand that she’s missing.”

  “I didn’t think of it that way,” Sophie said. “Okay, I’m now Sophie Sparrow again, unlikely look-alike.”

  He smiled at her.

  At the police station, they spoke to a Detective Reece, a very tall man with a thick thatch of gray hair and a sweet smile that seemed as if it would be better suited for work in the clergy than on the streets. Sophie reported what had transpired outside Sabrina and Buzz’s house. “The guy wore a ski mask and gloves. He pointed a gun at me and I threw the poor cat at him. He fired and I ran. He crashed into a dumpster thing and made a huge mess.”

  “After that, he proceeded to hit a very solid post,” Jack said. “I saw the glitter of glass or plastic in the street. He also fired a shot, as Sophie said. The bullet’s undoubtedly there somewhere.”

  “He probably broke a headlight,” Detective Reece said. “I’ll get someone out there right away to fetch the pieces and find the bullet. License plate?”

  “Obscured,” Jack said, “both front and back.”

  “Anything else?”

  Sophie took a deep breath. “I think the cat is going to be okay.”

  Jack smiled to himself as the detective’s eyebrows rose on his forehead.

  In the end, there was no way to know if it was the same man who had tried to run Sophie over in the hotel garage or if he was responsible for the origami, let alone Sabrina’s absence. They were told the lab work on the food samples hadn’t come back yet, that there were no prints on the origami fox found on the breakfast tray and that Sabrina’s car was still missing. But Detective Reece, as opposed to Sergeant Jones down in Seaport, seemed to take the situation more seriously and Sophie felt as though he would actually see things through.

  They left after answering a host of related questions and drove immediately to the fire station, where they were told they could find Sue Landers in the kitchen but that Kyle Woods was off for a few days.

  The kitchen was large and well equipped, and at the center of it, a woman stood peering into an open refrigerator. A pile of ingredients sat on the counter next to her. At the sound of her name, she straightened up and turned. They were treated to a blazing-white smile and curious hazel eyes surrounded by an unruly mass of red hair and a galaxy of freckles. She stared openmouthed at Sophie before saying, “Sabrina never told me she had a twin.”

  “That’s kind of up in the air,” Sophie said evasively.

  “You could have fooled me. Just your hair and the mole on your cheek are different. You aren’t Sabrina playing a trick on me, are you?”

  “No, definitely not.”

  “The resemblance is amazing.”

  Jack got her back on track by showing her the picture of the guy in the hooded sweatshirt and she shook her head as she closed the fridge. “He doesn’t look familiar,” she said.

  “So you never saw him hanging around the station waiting for Sabrina?”

  “Are you saying this is another friend of hers?”

  “Another?” Jack asked.

  She shook her head as she opened a cupboard and rifled through the contents. “Never mind. This dude’s a friend, though?”

  “No,” Jack said. “Listen, I’ll level with you. The police will be around asking questions sooner or later because Sabrina seems to have disappeared.” He explained about being Buzz’s friend and that Sabrina had called him to help her but vanished before he could do more than take a few random photos.

  “It’s hard to tell with Sabrina,” Sue said carefully as she closed the cupboard. “She can run hot and cold. I don’t mean that in a bad way. She’s just, well, independent. If she was having a problem of some sort she’d probably tell Kyle about it before she’d tell me.”

  “Kyle Woods?” Jack said.

  “Yeah. But he’s up in Canada visiting his grandfather for a few days.”

  “So, Sabrina, you and Kyle are close friends?”

  “Sort of,” she said. “Kyle is married but his wife walked out on him right before the holidays. Since then, he and Sabrina have been hanging out. Well, you know, he’s suddenly alone and so is she thanks to Buzz’s job.” She peered at Sophie again. “You say Sabrina is missing?”

  “Yes. She asked Jack for help and then she left the hotel in her car and no one has seen or heard from her since.”

  “I wouldn’t worry,” Sue said casually.

  “Why not?” Jack asked.

  “She may have gotten a wild hair and just taken off. Or she may have met someone she knew. You said the police are looking for her?”

  “They will be. I’m sure they’ll ask you questions.”

  Sue shook her head as she glanced back at the fridge. “She has this whole week off. I’m not going to start worrying about her until she doesn’t show up for her next shift. Listen, it’s my turn to cook and that means enchiladas. I can’t find the tortillas. If Rowdy forgot to buy them, I’m going to have to kill him. You guys need anything else?”

  “Is there anyone else here who she might have confided in?”

  Sue seemed to consider the question before responding. “I don’t think so. Kyle will be back by the end of the week. Chances are if she had plans, she told him.” She patted her pocket and took out a card. “Feel free to call me if
you think I can help. But like I said, Sabrina is a take-no-prisoners type of gal. Try not to worry too much.”

  They talked to the supervisor and anyone else they could corner, but no one recognized the guy in the photo and no one had heard from Sabrina or expected to.

  “Did you get the feeling Sue thinks something is going on between Kyle Woods and Sabrina?” Sophie asked after they got back in his car.

  “Yeah, I did. Well, he’s off for a few days, she’s off—I don’t know. I don’t want to think it, but you have to keep an open mind. What she does is her business—and Buzz’s. I just want her safe.”

  “Would you be this easygoing if you suspected your spouse was fooling around?” she asked him as she put on her seat belt.

  He turned his head to smile at her as he started the engine. “Hell no.”

  Sophie stared back at the station house with a million random thoughts flying through her head. Jack let the car idle as he touched her arm. “What is it?” he asked. “What’s on your mind?”

  “I was just thinking about Sabrina. About her house and her job and her habits... She’s a brave woman, isn’t she?”

  “Well, yes, I suppose she is.”

  “But she’s also a good friend to people. Sue made her sound a little cold and calculating but that’s not the woman I saw in her emails. People obviously relied on her in different ways. She drove for Meals on Wheels, she visited a friend’s grandmother in a dementia care facility, she helped a friend called Bunny when her marriage broke up... She’s a kind person.”

  He smiled. “It sounds as if you’re comparing yourself to her.”

  “We’re nothing alike,” Sophie said.

  “Other than your appearances, there’s the fact that you both love or loved a man named Daniel.”

  “Love? Maybe she does, but my Danny was never a lover.”

  “Then what was he, Sophie? What is he?”

  She met his gaze. “I’m not sure.”

  He took a deep breath but went back to his original point. “You both have tabby cats, you both vacation at the same seaside town and even stay at the same hotel, albeit at different times of the year.”

  “Coincidences,” Sophie said.

  “Perhaps. But you’re also both kind and civic minded, and don’t shake your head at me. I bet you do a lot more for the kids you teach than show up in the classroom, don’t you?”

  “Yeah. You know. But I get back so much more than I give.”

  “That sounds like the essence of compassion to me,” he said. “Besides, you’re both very beautiful on the outside, too.”

  She laughed to cover a sudden onslaught of shyness. “I never felt beautiful before meeting you,” she said and looked away at once, wishing she could take back her words. They were true, but they also revealed the very vulnerable core at the center of her being.

  “I’m not a fool,” she added at once so he wouldn’t have to figure out how to respond to the neediness of her last comment. “Sabrina and I look too much alike for it to be a fluke. All my life I’ve been searching for someone—I thought it was a forever guy, you know, true love and all that. But now I think I was searching for Sabrina. And since I can’t compare notes with her, I have to talk to my mother, I have to know exactly what she’s been keeping from me and why.”

  “When are you going to talk to her?”

  “Tonight. It’s time for me to go home and face my family.”

  “Including Danny?”

  “Yes. I have a huge diamond to return.”

  “I’m going with you,” Jack said, and for some reason she wasn’t surprised.

  “Okay.”

  “No argument?”

  “Until they catch the idiot in the white car, you are more than welcome to watch my back. I guess I have to ask if going to Portland isn’t a waste of your time. Your priority is Sabrina.”

  “My priority is getting her back in her house in time to welcome Buzz home with a giant kiss. You’re like a magnet for this white-car guy and at this point he’s my sole lead.”

  “Okay, but I need to go back and get my car. I have a job to return to on Tuesday.”

  “It’ll be harder to throw the guy in the car off the trail if we’re driving two cars,” he warned her. “He’s got to be somewhere close. He always is.”

  She shuddered as a dozen spidery chills radiated outward from her spinal column. “I have to admit all this is getting to me. I’m normally a fly-under-the-radar type of gal, not the kind anyone tries to kill.”

  “I don’t think anyone wants to actually kill you, as in the Sophia Sparrow you,” Jack said.

  “That’s the only me I am. And how do we know what this lunatic is thinking? Maybe he’s declared war on all dark-haired girls who own tabby cats.”

  He laughed softly in his throat.

  “I’ll just say it,” she added, her voice deadly serious. “Sabrina may be courageous, but I’m not Sabrina. I’m a card-carrying chicken.”

  “Once again you sell yourself short,” Jack said. “Okay, we’ll go get your car. I’m going to twist and turn all over this city to try to throw him off, so try to keep up.”

  “Just watch me,” she said and took a deep breath.

  “That’s exactly what I intend to do,” he responded.

  Chapter Six

  By the time they reached the outskirts of Portland, Jack was hungry enough to eat just about anything, including fast food. He passed Sophie’s car and signaled as he pulled into a restaurant parking lot, relieved when she followed suit.

  They went inside and ordered, then sat at a window table and unwrapped burgers and fries. It was useless trying to maintain a conversation with Sophie; the closer she got to home, the more preoccupied she became. At one point she dug in her purse and brought out an enormous diamond ring that she turned this way and that as she studied it. He had no idea what she was thinking. He began to wonder if it was such a good idea to go with her into what promised to be a powder keg, but when he suggested she drop him off at a hotel and continue on without him, she shook her head.

  “Oh, no you don’t,” she said, stuffing the ring in her pants pocket. “I’m not going in there alone. Besides, what about the phony Gerald Duff?”

  “Good point. Okay, I’ll stay outside. That way you’ll have your privacy and I can keep an eye on the street.”

  “Cluck, cluck, cluck. Jack, don’t wimp out on me,” she scolded.

  “I just don’t want to make things harder for you.”

  She stuffed her uneaten food in the bag. “I’m finished. Let’s go.”

  He looked longingly at the half of burger he was about to abandon and grabbed a handful of fries as they left.

  Sophie’s childhood home turned out to be a modest dwelling on a quiet street. Even in the dark with light rain falling, he could see the place reflected its owner’s warmth. The shutters were painted bright yellow, the house itself a dove gray, and tubs that probably spent the spring and summer spilling over with flowers sat on either side of the front door.

  She parked right in front and immediately got out. He did the same, habitually scanning the road for any sign of a white sedan—now with a broken headlight and dented bumper—before following her up a cement path.

  The front door of the house opened while they were still a few feet away. A tall woman stood glowering at them. “I expected you hours ago,” she said. “Hurry, there’s just time for you to freshen up.”

  As they walked into the light from the porch fixture, the woman—she had to be Sophie’s formidable mother—clutched her throat. “What happened to your hair?” she gasped.

  “I dyed it,” Sophie said.

  “Go wash it.”

  “Why?” Sophie asked as they both paused on the small porch. The mother still barricaded the door and so far she hadn’t paid Jack the least bit of attention
.

  “Because it looks stupid. Danny will—”

  “Danny? You called him? He’s coming here? Now?”

  “He’ll be here any minute. Now go wash that stuff out of your hair.” She finally met Jack’s gaze and added, “Who are you?”

  “This is my friend Jack Travers,” Sophie said. “Jack, my mother, Margaret Sparrow. Mom, it’s wet and cold out here. How about you let us in?”

  “‘Us’?” she repeated, but stepped aside for them to enter. The room Jack found himself in was small, overly warm and dominated by a reclining chair and a television set.

  Margaret Sparrow slid Jack a sidelong look. “What is he doing here?” she asked Sophie.

  “Like I said, he’s a friend. Mom, I need to talk to you about something serious.”

  “First fetch me a glass of water,” Margaret said. “All this stress has taken its toll. Honestly, Sophie, you’ve been very inconsiderate to everyone.”

  “I’ll get the water,” Jack volunteered. Sophie gestured toward an arch to his left.

  Margaret’s voice followed Jack into the small kitchen.

  “The only thing you need to worry about right now,” she said, “is making sure you don’t blow it again with Danny. Get rid of this other man.”

  “Mother...”

  “Help me sit down. My sciatica is worse than ever.”

  Jack returned with the water right as Sophie assisted her mother into the recliner. He handed the glass to Sophie, as Margaret was busy sorting through a dozen prescription bottles until she found the one she wanted.

  Once the medicine was taken, Sophie tried again. “I need to ask you about a woman named Sabrina Long Cromwell.”

  “Never heard of her,” Margaret said. She glanced at the wall clock and added, “There’s no time to fix your hair, although, Lordy, what were you thinking? And where’d you get that sweater? It hides your figure. Go change.”

  “Mom,” Sophie said again. “Forget Danny. Did you know there’s a woman who lives two hours away from here who looks exactly like me? How is that possible?”