Kim threw a ball for Jax to fetch. She stood up and walked over to Kris. “I thought she was with you. Your car was missing and both of you were gone. What’s going on? Is Jenna missing?”
Allie ran inside almost bumping into Kris just inside the doorway. “Where is she?”
“She’s not here,” Kris said. “Kim said she doesn’t know where Jenna is either.” Kris shot Allie a look of disbelief.
“Where have you been Kim? We know you didn’t go back to work last night,” Allie asked.
Kim held up her hand to hush them as she dialed Jenna’s phone to play up her concerned sister role. After a moment she shook her head and put her phone back in her pocket. “I rushed home yesterday and Jenna questioned me about an accusation you made against me, Kris. I told her it wasn’t true. She said she believed me and that she would talk to you about it. She told me to go and wait for her at the hotel by the hospital and that she would meet me there after you went to bed, so that’s what I did.”
Kris knew Kim was lying. “Jenna was with me all night and we did talk. We talked about you, and she realized you’re a liar.”
Kim crossed her arms and stood in front of Kris. “I don’t believe you. You’re jealous of our relationship. Jenna is my sister and nothing can keep us apart this time, not even you. You are replaceable, I’m not.”
Allie stepped between the two of them before Kris could punch Kim. Kris was a calm person under normal circumstances, but once she got that look in her eyes, as she did now, all bets were off. “Everybody needs to calm down before someone gets hurt.” She knew Kim was evil, but she still refused to believe Kim would hurt Jenna. “It has only been two hours since Jenna left. Maybe she just needed some time to think things through by herself. The poor girl has been through a lot lately.”
Kim smirked at Kris. “You’re right, Allie. Jenna used to run off when we were little. She would worry our parents to death.”
Kris still wasn’t convinced. After last night Jenna would’ve never left her alone with Kim, and Jenna wouldn’t ignore her phone calls. Kris couldn’t control her outrage any longer. The smirk on Kim’s face sent her over the edge. She lunged at Kim determined to get the truth from her about what she had done to Jenna. A tiny glint of light flashed making her stop in her tracks before she made contact with Kim.
Kim had reached into her purse and pulled out a handgun. “Take another step and I’ll shoot you. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if you make me.”
“What are you doing?” Kris demanded.
Allie shrieked. She raised her hands in the air and stood still. It was an automatic response.
Kim had a look of evil in her eyes. “I’m so tired of everyone being so concerned about poor Jenna. They kidnapped me. I was the one no one bothered to look for. They all just went on with their lives and forgot I ever existed.”
“That is not true. Jenna never gave up hope. Why do you think she accepted you back without hesitation?” Kris said.
Kim snickered. “I assume because she felt guilty. She continued her perfect life while they held me captive. They molested me. They forced me to use drugs. They took away my innocence. I was just a little girl when they took me.” Her smile faded. Her eyes were empty and emotionless. “I escaped after the fire that killed them. The fire that I started after they passed out from alcohol and drugs. Jenna became a doctor. I became a murderer on the run. I was so damaged from all the years of abuse that I had forgotten all about my perfect twin sister until I saw her on TV being hailed a hero. She was living the life I never had a chance to live.”
Allie spoke up, “It wasn’t Jenna’s fault. She would’ve done anything for you.” She inched towards Kim.
Kim pointed the gun at Allie. “Sit down on the couch now! Don’t say another word. This isn’t any of your business.” Then, she pointed the gun back at Kris with her hands shaking. “You, go sit down on the opposite end of the couch.”
Kim settled down into the chair opposite the two of them. “I wanted to know what it felt like to be the good twin. I saw the way you looked at her like she was gold. I wanted to take what was hers even if it was just for a little while. When I came home early last week and you thought I was Jenna, you were the one that called me into your bedroom. You were the one who came onto me. You straddled me and pinned me down to the bed. I was going to tell you it was me, but then I heard the disappointment in your voice when you talked about me coming back.”
For the first time, Kim showed a hint of emotion as she wiped away one small tear. “I kept my mouth shut and thought I’d have some fun with you. I didn’t plan on anything happening, but the way you touched me and kissed me…you wanted me. No one has ever wanted me. I felt what Jenna felt. I felt loved and sexy and wanted. One thing led to another and, well you know the rest.”
Kris put her hand to her mouth. She felt nauseous and weak.
“Don’t pretend it isn’t true,” Kim said. “You can’t fake the experience we had. I know you enjoyed it. You didn’t say a word to me or Jenna until last night. I think you didn’t trust yourself around me any more and that’s why you told Jenna.”
“Stop it,” Kris screamed. “You don’t know me. I wasn’t touching or kissing you that night, I was touching and kissing Jenna. Everything I did and felt was because I thought I was with Jenna. What you did disgusts me.”
Kim’s eyes narrowed and her face turned red. “If Jenna wasn’t around, you would forget her like everyone forgot about me. I could take her place and you would learn to love me. If I got rid of Jenna, you would be with me again.”
Kris stood up. “I will never love you. You are not Jenna. You are so full of hate you could never be anything like Jenna.”
“I guess we’ll find out soon. Sit down,” Kim ordered.
Kris ignored her. “If you hurt her, I swear I will.…”
The sound of the gun firing caused Kris to jump. Allie screamed. Kris saw specks of blood on her clothes and the floor in front of her. She snapped her head to the side to see Allie bleeding from her shoulder.
Kim kept her finger on the trigger and aimed the gun at Allie’s head. “Now, sit down or I’ll make the next one count.”
Kris fell back down to the couch beside Allie. She pressed her hand against Allie’s shoulder to slow the bleeding. “Are you fucking crazy?” Kris shouted.
Before Kim had a chance to respond, there was a knock on the door. Jax barked making Kim jump. He had been cowering behind her.
“Help,” Kris screamed as she kicked the coffee table into Kim’s legs.
Kim grabbed her shins. “Dammit.” She didn’t realize Kris was lunging towards her.
Allie was weak. She stood up to help Kris, but collapsed on the floor.
Kris grabbed the gun and tried to pry it from Kim’s tight grip. Her hands were sweaty and kept slipping off of the polished metal of the gun.
They heard glass break. Kim looked up to see someone coming through the window. It was one of the neighbors, Stan. Kim managed to get the gun under control long enough to aim and pull the trigger. Stan fell to the floor. Jax was distraught by the loud noises and seeing Kris fighting on the floor with Kim. He lunged and bit Kim’s arm. He dug his teeth in and wouldn’t let go. It was enough to weaken Kim’s grip on the gun, and Kris managed to get both hands on it. Kim still refused to let go, and they struggled with Kris on top of Kim and Jax digging into Kim’s arm.
There was another loud shot and Kris heard ringing in her ears. She couldn’t hear anything else, only the constant ringing. It seemed like everything was moving in slow motion. She looked down at the blood on her hands. Allie was on the floor in front of the couch bleeding and Stan was by the window bleeding on the floor. She wasn’t sure where Stan was wounded. Jax had ran to hide after the gun fired. Kris still felt Kim fighting underneath her, but she couldn’t hear her. Kris looked down surprised to see the gun in her hands. She dropped it to the floor.
The blood seeped through the fabric of Kim’s shirt fanning
out over her stomach. She had an evil laugh that continued even though the color left her face.
Kris tried to stand up, but she stumbled backwards tripping over the coffee table. She reached into her back pocket for her cell phone but it slipped out of her bloody fingers. She rolled to the side to reach for it.
There was another shot that pierced the ringing in Kris's ears. The ringing stopped, but now everything was completely silent. She rolled onto her back and saw Allie kneeling beside her screaming with her hands over her face, but she couldn’t hear the screams. Kris managed to sit up and saw Kim with her hand on the gun still pointing it at her. Kim was smiling at her holding her other hand over her stomach. Blood covered the floor between the two of them. Kris felt a stabbing pain in her chest. It was getting harder for her to breathe. She looked down and realized there was a pool of blood beneath her. She felt Allie pressing something into her back. This is how it’s going to end for me, she thought. She looked over at Kim again, but Kim was lying motionless on the floor.
***
Jenna heard tires screeching outside in the parking lot. It sounded like several cars had hit their brakes at the same time. In a matter of seconds she heard footsteps pounding up the metal steps to the third floor where she was.
“This is the police.” Jenna tried to scream out to them, but the tape covering her mouth muffled the sound. “Please step away from the door. We’re coming in.” She jumped as they broke through the hotel door. She was lying on the floor whimpering. She felt several hands around her helping her back upright.
Someone removed the blindfold and she squinted while her eyes adjusted. Someone else pulled the tape from her mouth trying not to cause her any more pain. She gasped for air. The cop who had removed her blindfold worked on freeing her wrists and upper torso that had been tied to the arms of the chair.
“Thank you,” she managed to say finally. She rubbed at her wrists. Kim had used zip ties on them, which dug into her skin as she tried to free herself. She looked down to see the same cop using a knife to cut the ropes around her ankles.
A detective dressed in dark slacks with the sleeves of his white dress shirt rolled up entered the room. He surveyed the room jotting down notes. His eyes fell upon Jenna. “Dr. Jenna Harper?” he asked.
Jenna nodded. “Yes.”
“I’m Detective Cavanaugh. I need to get your statement first, and then we’ll take you to the hospital to get checked out.”
“Where’s Kim?” Jenna asked.
“Don’t worry, Dr. Harper, you’re safe now. Let me ask you a few questions and get your statement, and then you can ask me anything you want.”
Jenna pressed on. “Where’s Kris?”
“I need you to calm down. My priority right now is you and making sure that your abductor was acting alone. We have to make sure there isn’t any one else we need to be looking for.”
Jenna glared at Detective Cavanaugh. He stared back at her without averting his eyes or blinking. She knew he wasn’t going to answer her questions unless she answered his first. She leaned against the chair for support.
“Dr. Harper, have a seat and tell me what happened in your words.”
Jenna braced her wrists against the top of the chair to steady her shaking legs. “I’ve been tied to a chair for hours, detective, I think I’ll stand for a little while.” She took a calming breath despite her racing heart. “I was out for my usual morning run this morning. My sister, Kim, pulled up beside me in her car and told me to get in. I told her no, but then she said she would wait for me at my house with Kris. I didn’t want her anywhere near Kris, so I got in her car.”
The detective scratched his head above his ear and trained his eyes on Jenna again. “Who is Kris?”
“Kris Fletcher is my girlfriend.”
“Why were you worried about your sister being near Ms. Fletcher? Did they have a fight prior to this morning?”
Jenna shifted her stance and looked around the room at the other cops who were gathering evidence and taking pictures. She didn’t feel comfortable discussing what had happened between her sister and her girlfriend in front of an audience.
Detective Cavanaugh took a step towards Jenna and waved his hand. “Dr. Harper, what happened between your sister and Ms. Fletcher?”
Jenna looked down at the floor trying to block out the others in the room. “My sister pretended to be me so that she could get into my girlfriend’s bed. As I’m sure you know by now, we’re identical twins.”
The detective raised his eyebrows and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “Your sister slept with your girlfriend?”
Jenna could feel all the other cops’ eyes on her. That wasn’t something you hear every day. “No. She tried, but Kris figured it out before it escalated too far. Anyway, Kris told me about it last night and I confronted Kim about it. She denied anything happened.”
“But, you believed Ms. Fletcher instead?”
Jenna covered her face. She wanted to wake up from this horrible nightmare. “I didn’t know who to believe at first. I was in shock, but then Kris described Kim’s birthmark. I never told Kris what it was and she wouldn’t have been able to describe it without some type of intimate contact with Kim. I knew that’s what Kim wanted to discuss this morning.”
The detective flipped the page in his notebook. He made a note and then underlined it twice. “Okay, so you got in the car. What happened then?”
“She drove straight here. She told me to come up to her room.” Jenna allowed herself to take in the entire view of the room for the first time. She noticed several beer cans on the tiny table near the window. There were several pill bottles strewn around the bed. “As soon as I was inside, she shut the door and locked it. When I heard the lock, I turned around to find her pointing a gun at me. I asked her what was she doing and she told me to sit down in the chair. I sat down, but I tried to reason with her. She already had a piece of tape on the dresser, which she put over my mouth. She handed me the rope and made me tie myself to the legs of the chair. She said if I didn’t do what she said she would kill Kris. The look she had in her eyes, I had never seen that look before. I felt like she meant it. If she was crazy enough to do this to me, it terrified me to think of what she might do to Kris. I tied the knots around my legs snug, but with a loose knot in case I had the chance to break free.
“She handed me the blindfold and made me put it on. Then, she threatened Kris's life again before tying my upper body to the back of the chair. She tied my wrists to the chair next using zip ties. I sat still trying to hear what she was doing. Every little noise caused me to jump. She tightened the loose knot around my legs making sure there was no way for me to get free. She turned the television on. Before leaving she whispered in my ear that she would be back soon after she had a talk with Kris to straighten things out. I heard the hotel door unlock and then lock behind her when she left. I listened to make sure I heard her go down the steps.”
Jenna placed her hand to her chest trying to calm her racing heart. “After a few minutes, I tried to break free. No matter how much wiggling or maneuvering, I couldn’t loosen any of the restraints. I turned the chair over onto its side hoping it might break from the impact. That’s all I can tell you. I was on the floor a few hours before you found me.”
Detective Cavanaugh closed his notebook and slid it into his shirt pocket. “Thank you for filling in the details, Dr. Harper. I may have more questions for you later.”
“Please, call me Jenna. Now, tell me where Kris is. Did something happen to her? Did you find Kim?”
The detective diverted his gaze away from Jenna. He motioned for one of the other cops to come over. Detective Cavanaugh turned his back and whispered something to the cop. The cop nodded his head and went outside with his phone in his hand.
Detective Cavanaugh turned to face Jenna again. He ran his hand through his receding hairline and sighed. His expression said it all. It was one Jenna was familiar with. She felt like she was going to be sick.
Her heart pounded in her ears. She shook her head in disbelief. This wasn’t happening. She wanted to put her hands over her ears and run out shouting so she wouldn’t hear what he had to say. She wiped her sweaty palms on her shirt. “Which one?” she asked.
“I’m sorry, what?”
She didn’t know how much longer she could hold out before losing it. Her eyes burned from the tears she held back. She held out a hand to keep him from speaking. She wasn’t ready. How could she ever prepare herself to hear the answer? Either the love of her life was gone or her sister was gone. She felt tunnel vision coming on and she blinked hard to restore her sight.
Detective Cavanaugh leaned over and grabbed one of the other chairs at the table. He carried it over to her and helped her ease down. He left his hand on her shoulder and gave it a weak squeeze. It was one of those ‘sorry for your loss’ squeezes Jenna had given to family members when delivering bad news.
Jenna was about to repeat the question when the cop came back in and Detective Cavanaugh met him inside the doorway. The cop whispered something to the detective and then vanished outside again.
“Which one didn’t make it?” she asked again.
Detective Cavanaugh cleared his throat and pulled at his tie. “I’m sorry, Jenna. Your sister…she…she’s gone.”
Jenna wrapped her arms around her stomach and bent forward. Her tears broke free and she sobbed uncontrollably. She heard someone walk towards her, and out of the corner of her eye she saw a tissue box being offered to her. She grabbed a handful of tissues and buried her face into them. She was full of mixed emotions. She had just reunited with Kim, and now she was gone. Yes, Kim had tied her up and threatened her and Kris, but part of her felt like she could get Kim help. Maybe she could’ve gotten her life back on track, but now she would never know. The woman who kidnapped her today wasn’t the Kim she thought she knew, but she was still her sister. She also felt relief that the detective hadn’t said it was Kris.
She realized he hadn’t said anything about Kris. Her mind raced and her heart flip flopped in her chest. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing Kris too. Kris was innocent in all of this. She didn’t sign up for this when they started dating. Jenna wiped the tears away from her eyes and focused on the detective again. “Where is Kris?”
Jenna's Closure (Dr. Jenna Harper Series Book 2) Page 14
