by Julia Derek
* * *
Chapter 39
After quickly confirming with Kate that she had been telling the truth in regards to her twin sister, the detectives radioed other police cars to head to the location in the Bronx where Trevor’s phone was last spotted; if they were lucky and moved real fast, maybe someone would catch him. Then they decided that Detectives Juarez and Cho would head down to the address where Kate McBride lived and hang around there, as it was likely that Trevor would head down there when he realized that Kate had told him the truth. Wil, Larry, and Kate would head toward Trevor’s current location in the Bronx in the meantime.
“It’s moving,” Detective Juarez told Wil suddenly where they stood on the street outside the massive construction site.
“What? His location?” Wil asked.
“Yeah. He must be driving. I’ll tell Nick to call you so he can tell you directly what’s going on with the phone.” Juarez gave the person he spoke to Wil’s cell number, then he joined Detective Cho in their squad car. Wil’s phone rang as the other detectives’ car took off.
“Wilhelmina Cooper,” she answered.
“Hey, it’s Nick with the NYPD tech department. The phone is moving north in the Bronx. Want the location?”
“Yeah, sure,” Wil replied and climbed into the backseat of the car. “I’m not sure he’s with the phone, but we might as well check it out. Maybe he’s not as smart as we think.”
Nick rattled off the coordinates as Larry started the car.
“I need to talk to someone while you give me updates,” Wil said to Nick. “Do you mind if I put you on speaker?”
“No, go ahead. He’s still going north.”
“Thanks.” Wil pressed the Speaker button and turned to Kate in the front passenger seat. “Please tell us more about your twin sister. And why she hasn’t come up until now.”
Kate sighed heavily and ran a hand through her long red bangs. “Trust me, I wish I would have thought of telling you about her a lot sooner. Maybe then you would have figured out why Diego was killed. If I had told you what she told me during our lunch. The only reason I didn’t tell Trevor about it was because the next time I saw him after meeting her, he was all upset about his father having passed. His fiancée was out of the country, so she wasn’t able to console him. Now I’m not so sure there was ever a fiancée, and he must have lied about his father being sick and passing away all along.”
“Yeah, because Trevor’s dad was killed by two Mexicans in a bar fight nearly two decades ago,” Wil inserted. “That was the reason he joined the Aryan Brotherhood. Because he wanted to avenge his father’s death. His initiation into the gang was to kill the men who had killed his father. So you’re saying that he was acting all upset about his father having passed, and that you were the only one he could talk to about it?”
“Yes,” Kate said. “So, naturally, telling him about my twin sister who had all of a sudden shown up in my life wasn’t the first thing on my mind. And then Diego was murdered, and the last thing I was thinking about was my new sister.”
“I can see that,” Wil said. “You mentioned she was involved in someone’s death as a teenager. You believe she’s the reason Trevor’s kid sister is dead? It sounded like you did.”
“Yes. He accused me of having killed his kid sister over and over when he called me, while you guys were in that building looking for him and the kids. That’s how I suddenly put two and two together. All the pieces fell into place. He must think I was my sister, and my sister must be the reason his sister was dead. It made perfect sense. Not only do my sister and I look identical, but we also share the same first name.”
“Right,” Wil said. Nick told them to drive onto the JFK Highway then and keep heading north, as that’s where Trevor was heading. “Did you get that?” Wil asked Larry, who nodded.
“Please tell us exactly what your sister told you during lunch when you met her,” Wil requested of Kate.
“Okay. First we just spoke about our parents. Our natural parents. My sister had done plenty of research about her ancestry after her adoptive parents died in a car explosion when she was only nineteen, leaving her with no immediate relatives except for her grandmother on her adoptive mother’s side.”
“They died in a car explosion ten years ago?” Wil asked. “Was it deemed an accident?”
“Yes. Something was wrong with the engine.”
Wil placed a hand on Kate’s shoulder. “Kate, I’m pretty sure that wasn’t an accident. It was only staged to look like an accident. And the person who staged it I believe was Pete Dalton. I mean Trevor.”
Kate’s hand flew up to her face as she stared at Wil. “Really? That’s horrible.”
“Horrible, but true. He and his mother seem to have been hellbent on avenging the kid sister’s death, whom it sounds like your sister was behind. Please tell us what she said in regards to what she had done, and why she felt so guilty.”
“Kate came from a very privileged family and was spoiled rotten. She was very popular in school, the queen bee if you’d like. She claims she didn’t really bully Kelly Anne—that’s the name of the person who died because of her. Anyway, Kelly Anne apparently caught the attention of my sister’s boyfriend and he dumped Kate because of it. She was furious, so she and her many girlfriends decided that they would scare Kelly Anne, teach her a lesson that it’s not okay to steal other girls’ boyfriends. Unfortunately, as they surrounded the girl in the hallway, Kelly Anne fell down a bunch of stairs and hit her head so badly she died. Kate’s parents paid off the principal, convincing him to tell everyone that it had just been an accident so that Kate wouldn’t have to suffer the consequences of what she had done.”
“Ah,” Wil said and nodded knowingly. “I’m now convinced that Trevor is behind the principal’s death, too. According to local law enforcement down in Oklahoma, the principal, whose name was Rutger Jensen, committed suicide by hanging himself. That’s probably not the case.”
“Really?” Kate looked terrified again. “You think Trevor killed him?”
“Most likely, yes.”
Nick spoke then. “A car has reached our target. They believe the phone is in a bus.”
“Can they stop the bus and see if Trevor and the kids are on the bus as well?” Wil asked Nick.
“That’s what they’re trying to do.”
“I bet ya it’s only the phone in the bus,” Larry grumbled where he sat behind the wheel.
“Yeah, that’s probably right,” Wil agreed and sighed lightly.
“Oh, no,” Kate whined. “So then where are Luis and Anna?”
“With Trevor somewhere,” Wil said flatly, gazing out the window momentarily. “My guess is they’re heading down to where your sister lives.”
Kate covered her face with both hands. “Oh, God, please let her be home, so Trevor sees that I told him the truth. He can’t kill my kids!”
Her phone rang then. Dropping it on the floor it took her by such surprise, Kate leaned forward to pick it up. Fumbling around for several seconds, she finally managed to get it.
“If it’s Trevor, remember to put him on speaker so we can hear him,” Wil hissed, having grabbed Kate’s shoulder.
“Okay,” Kate whispered and answered the phone. “Hello?”
“Hi, Kate,” Trevor’s voice said, filling the car. “I’m glad you told me the truth about your sister. I should have known all along that you weren’t capable of bullying someone to death. You’re much too sweet.”
“Yes, that’s true,” Kate said hurriedly. “I could never do such an awful thing. Are Luis and Anna with you? Are they okay?”
“Yes, they are and they are fine. But they’re beginning to miss their mommy. I do want to return them to you safely now that I know you’re not whom I’m looking for.”
“Yes, please do return them to me.”
“I will return them to you. But I’m sure you see that I can’t do that without you helping me out a little first.”
“What do you
mean?” Kate murmured, turning white like a sheet.
“Well, I’m pretty sure you’re surrounded by cops right now. And that your sister’s house is as well. That means I can’t go and kill her. Get her what she deserves. So you’ll need to do it for me.”
Kate gasped loudly. “What? You want me to kill my sister? How am I supposed to do that?” Her voice was tinny, barely audible.
“I’m not really sure, Kate. But I’m thinking it can’t be that hard. Not with all the cops around you. I’m sure one of them is willing to let you use their gun to shoot your sister. All I know is that, if you want to see your kids again—alive—you’ll have to kill her for me.”
* * *
Chapter 40
Shock was written all over Kate’s face. “You can’t be serious, Trevor! How can you ask such a thing of me? I’m really sorry about what happened to your sister, but it’s not my fault. Not my children’s fault. Diego has already died in vain. Please don’t make more innocent people pay for what my sister did, a person I’ve only met once.”
Wil and Larry could hear how Trevor sucked in a deep breath, then blew it out slowly.
“I guess you’re right about that,” he said carefully. “You’ve already paid a high price for my mistake. I’m very sorry about that. However, that doesn’t change my reality. I want to see your sister dead, and since I’m sure her neighborhood is crawling with cops right now, you will have to kill her for me. There’s simply no way around that one. Besides, it’s not like you’re completely innocent, my darling. You knew she was guilty of a crime, and you didn’t do anything about it. Apparently, it doesn’t matter to you what kind of a person your sister is. But because I’m not a complete monster, I’m going to be kind to you anyway. I’m going to let you have one of your kids back. I’ll leave the kid for you to pick up right now. All you need to do is pick which one you want to save the most. So who will it be, Kate? Luis or Anna? Who do you love the most?”
Kate looked like she was about to faint, her face had drained of so much color.
“You—you must be kidding, Trevor,” she managed to get out, much to Wil’s surprise. “Please let them both go. I’ll make sure that my sister will pay the price for what she did to your sister. Rest assured of that. She won’t go free. As you already know, there are cops around me and they’re aware of what she has done now. They’ll make her pay.”
Trevor let out a scornful laugh. “Am I supposed to believe that will happen, Kate? At the most, she’ll get a few months in prison that she won’t have to serve if that. I doubt they’ll even have a case given how old it is. For all I know, she’ll just walk.”
“Tell him there is no statute of limitations on murder cases,” Wil whispered to Kate, and Kate told him that.
“It doesn’t matter,” Trevor said bitterly. “She’ll find a way out of it the way she did the first time.”
“Please, Trevor…” Kate whined, tears curving down her cheeks now. “Please let my children go. I swear to you that the police will make my sister pay for what she did.”
“There’s only one way to make sure of that, Kate,” Trevor responded, “and that is if you kill your sister yourself. You’ll have one of the cops film you with a smartphone as you shoot her in the head, and then you’ll email me the footage so I can verify that she is in fact dead. I’ve already shown you kindness by offering to let you get one of your kids back. You need to make a decision soon. I won’t be able to talk to you for much longer. By the way, tell the cops they’re just wasting their time trying to locate me by tracking my cell phone. I have several more disposable phones available to use, and I won’t stay on long enough for them to reach me. So which of your children do you want back first, Kate? Who do you love the most?”
“Please don’t make me choose, Trevor… I can’t choose…” Kate was crying so hard her nose had turned red and her complexion blotchy and swollen.
“I have to go now, Kate. I’ll call you in a little while again. Keep your phone nearby. By then I’m expecting you to have made up your mind who you want back first.”
“Trevor! Please don’t go. Trevor. Trevor!”
“He’s disconnected, Kate,” Wil pointed out softly. Into her own phone, she said, “Do you have his current location, Nick?”
“Yeah,” Nick replied. “He’s back in Queens at the moment, near La Guardia Airport.”
“Alert all nearby units and have them go there,” Wil said to him. “If we’re lucky, this time one of them will get to him before he manages to escape again. All of them have his description and photo, same with the kids, so they should be able to recognize them. Unless he’s changed clothes and uses a disguise for his face.” Somehow, Wil had a strong feeling this was exactly what he was doing. Pete Dalton appeared to have planned all of this much too well to be that easily caught.
“It’s already done,” Nick replied.
“Good,” Wil commented tightly. She sighed inwardly. This was so not good. How would they locate Trevor and the kids? He was too smart for them.
“You need to tell Trevor that you’ll kill your sister for him,” Larry said to Kate then, grabbing the crying woman by the arm, his eyes still on the road before him. He had turned the car around and they were driving south, back to Manhattan. “That’s the best way to make him keep the children alive. As soon as he calls again, tell him that we’re on our way to her house on the Lower East Side. But also tell him that you want to hear Anna’s and Luis’s voices. You want to talk to them to be sure they’re all right. It might not seem like it, but you have a better hand than he does. This man has spent most of his adult life focusing on avenging his kid sister, and he’s not gonna stop until he gets what he wants. That is clearly all he cares about. And he knows that the only way he’ll get to your sister now is through you, and that’s why you call the shots. Got it?”
“Really?” Kate murmured, wiping at all the tears with the heels of her hands. “You really think so?”
Wil grabbed the woman’s shoulder. “Larry is right, you do have the upper hand for now. Unless Trevor can figure out how to get to your sister on his own, you have all the cards. Let’s make sure we keep it that way.”
“Okay….” Kate whispered, sitting up a little taller in her seat.
“Let’s head to her sister’s apartment,” Wil said to Larry. “We’re gonna need to have the sister talk some sense into Trevor.”
“Okay,” Larry said. “What’s the exact address, Kate?”
Fumbling with her phone, Kate soon found it and gave the address to Larry.
“Did your sister return from England yet?” Wil asked Kate.
Kate frowned deeply, biting her lip. “Yes, I think so,” she said after a few seconds. “She was only supposed to be gone for four weeks. It’s been more than that since I saw her. Like six weeks, maybe more.”
“Let’s call her and see if she picks up,” Wil said. “The others will reach her any moment now, but let’s check for ourselves. Do you have her cell number or landline?”
“I have both,” Kate mumbled.
“Great,” Wil said. “Give me her cell number and I’ll call her from my phone.”
Kate read out her sister’s cell number and Wil dialed it. After several rings went through, a female voice answered the call. “Hello?”
“Hello, can I speak to Kate McBride?”
“This is she.”
“Ms. McBride, this is Detective Wilhelmina Cooper with the NYPD. Where are you? Your life is in danger.”
“What? Can you please repeat that last part, I couldn’t hear it. I’m out shopping, so it’s a bit hard to hear you.”
Wil cleared her throat and spoke as loudly and clearly as she could, repeating what she had just said. “Go somewhere you can hear me, but stay around people,” she added. “You must stay around people at all times. Where are you?”
“I’m in the mall on 34th Street in Manhattan. What is this regarding?”
“I don’t have time to give you all the details
right now, but your life is in danger. Stay where you are and make sure you’re surrounded by people, okay? Do not talk to any strange men. Someone will likely call you and want to talk to you. Hang up immediately. Don’t answer any texts. We will have police come to you as quickly as we can to protect you.”
“Why is my life in danger? Wait, is this some kind of joke?”
“Ms. McBride, I swear to you, this is not a joke. If you want to live, it’s imperative that you take me seriously. We’ll let you know more as soon as we can reach you. Exactly where in the mall are you? In which store?”
“I—I’m in the Express store. On the second floor.”
“Okay, good. Stay there and don’t go anywhere. Make sure you’re in an area where you are surrounded by lots of people. Cops will get to you shortly. What are you wearing so they’ll spot you?”
“I’m—I’m wearing light blue jeans, black boots, and a white down jacket with a fur hoodie. My hair is light red and in a ponytail.”
“Great, thanks. If you need to, call me at this number. You can see the number I’m calling from on your screen, right?”
There was some crackling on the other end of the line, then, “Yes, I can... Please, why is my life in danger?”
“There’s really no time for me to give you any details right now. The sooner I get off the phone with you, the sooner I can have some men come over to keep you safe, okay?”
“Okay…”
“Police will soon be with you, Ms. McBride. Don’t go anywhere.”
Wil hung up the phone and radioed in a message for the closest available unit to head for Kate McBride and briefly explained why over the air. Cops would reach her very quickly. When she was done, she told Kate and Larry what Kate’s sister had just told her.
“Let’s head to the 34th Street mall,” Wil said when she was done explaining.
Hopefully, Kate’s twin sister would be able to convince Trevor to surrender the kids.
