by B. J Daniels
“I DON’T HAVE much time,” Kat said as Charlie let her into the apartment ten minutes later. “Cara has a Christmas Eve band performance tonight that I can’t miss.”
“Then let’s not waste time with anything but the truth,” Shep suggested.
Charlie took Kat’s coat and offered her a seat. Kat perched on the edge of the couch, her purse gripped in her lap, her knuckles white.
“Does Lindy have an identical twin sister?” Shep asked.
Kat nodded and looked away.
“Did you know she’s been stalking me?” Charlie asked.
Kat quickly denied it. “I didn’t want to believe she was back. I had so hoped you were mistaken. But I can’t deny any longer even to myself. It’s true. She’s here in Montana.” Her voice wavered. “Lacey is...Lindy’s identical twin.”
“Why didn’t anyone here know about her?” Shep demanded.
“She was raised by her father in Brazil.”
Charlie shot Shep a look. “I don’t understand.”
Kat opened her mouth, and after a moment, the words just seemed to pour out of her as if they’d been trapped inside for too long.
“I met Matt Garcia when I was on spring break in Brazil. He worked down there for a construction company. He was handsome, came from as a wealthy family in Spain and made great money so we were able to do a lot of traveling and eating at fancy restaurants. I loved the lifestyle, but Matt and I had a tumultuous relationship at best. He wanted to get married and raise a family and I didn’t. When I realized I was pregnant, he was delighted. He wanted a child. I...” She looked away. “I didn’t.”
Charlie could see how hard the confession was for her. But that, too, explained a lot, given how lenient she was with Lindy and her lack of mothering skills. Kat had often seemed as if she didn’t want to be bothered by Lindy—or especially by Charlie.
“When I gave birth to twins, Matt knew how I felt. He told me that he was taking custody of them both. He had plenty of money to fight me in the courts if I tried to take them back to the States. I had no money nor did I speak the language as well as Matt. I knew I would lose. I didn’t feel I had a choice. I couldn’t raise the two of them alone. I told him he could have them. I’d given birth to them at home. He’d immediately gotten them passports because he planned to take them back to Spain to show his family.
“He named them Lindy and Lacey. He was really the only one who could tell them apart.” She took a breath and let it out slowly. “I can’t explain why I did it. I knew it was over between us. I packed up to return to the States and at the last minute, I grabbed one of the babies from the crib and Lindy’s passport and flew home to the States.”
“You didn’t know which one you took?” Charlie asked.
“She was wearing a onesie with the name Lindy on it.”
“And he didn’t come after you?” Shep asked.
“I met someone right away, married and changed my name. I thought I’d put the past behind me.”
Charlie knew that feeling.
“You never contacted Matt?” Shep asked.
Kat shook her head. “Not until after Lindy was killed.”
Charlie wondered if Kat hadn’t taken the baby out of spite. But if she was incapable of love, why have another child? “So you didn’t hear from Matt or Lacey over the years?”
“No. I assumed that Matt had no idea what had happened to me. He had one of the babies, so I figured he was satisfied enough since I was unaware of him hiring anyone to come after me. My husband adopted Lindy and we changed her last name.”
“So there is no chance Lindy’s senior year that her sister tracked her down?” Shep asked.
Kat paled visibly.
“Several of her teachers mentioned that Lindy was different from day to day,” he added.
Charlie saw the truth in the woman’s face. “Lacey found her sister, didn’t she?”
Kat lowered her head for a moment before she nodded. “I knew something was wrong with Lindy. She’d always been willful, but that year... I thought that somehow she’d found out about her twin and that’s why she treated me the way she did.”
“You really didn’t know they were both living in the house?” Charlie asked.
Kat let out a sharp hard laugh. “I should have known sooner. Sometimes Lindy was so...hateful. It was as if I didn’t know her. At some point, I realized she was Lacey.”
“But you never let on?” Shep demanded.
Kat shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. “I didn’t dare. I’d never told anyone.” Her gaze shifted to Charlie. “Your father didn’t know. No one did. One day I ventured down to the basement. I found a small room where someone had been living and some of Lindy’s clothing and a dirty plate. I realized what had been going on right under my nose.”
“I’m assuming Lacey disappeared from Brazil during the times she was in Montana with us,” Charlie said. “How was it her father didn’t notice?”
Shep added, “Shouldn’t Lacey have been in school?”
“Lindy had been held back a year. Lacey had already graduated,” Kat said. “She wasn’t living with Matt at the time and she was able to come and go at will.” She met Charlie’s gaze. “I knew they were mistreating you, but I also knew that if I tried to stop them—”
“You were being blackmailed by your own daughters and you still did nothing?” Shep said.
Kat swung an angry glare to him. “You don’t have to remind me how weak I was. How weak I still am when it comes to Lindy and Lacey. I thought that if I could just make it until Lindy graduated...” Her voice broke.
“Why continue to keep this awful secret?” Charlie asked, wishing she could find some sympathy for the woman. “You had to know how hurtful it was to both of your daughters.”
“How could I ever explain why I grabbed only one of them? Why Lindy? I couldn’t even be sure which one I took. Matt might have put the wrong onesie on her during a night feeding...” Her voice trailed off and Charlie felt a jolt so strong that she almost cried out.
“Oh my God, when Lindy was killed, you couldn’t have known which daughter died.” Charlie’s eyes widened. “You still don’t.”
Kat shot to her feet. “It was Lindy, my precious Lindy. I know because Lacey returned to Brazil. Of that, her father was certain.” She broke down. “Do you have any idea how all of this has weighed on me? I should have stayed in Brazil and fought for my children. Or...” She looked away. “There were so many times I wished I’d left them both in Brazil with their father.” She wiped angrily at her tears. “I told Matt I wasn’t cut out for motherhood. Why I impulsively took one...”
Charlie got up and handed her a box of tissues. She tried to feel something for the woman but only felt for Lindy and Lacey and their father.
“Who killed your daughter, Kat?” Shep asked when the woman finally pulled herself together again.
Kat shook her head and sat back down. “At first I thought...” Her gaze drifted to her stepdaughter.
Charlie felt as if Kat had plunged a knife into her heart.
“You know Charlie didn’t do it,” Shep snapped. “You’re afraid Lacey killed her sister, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know who killed my Lindy. I refuse to believe that Lacey would hurt her twin,” Kat cried, shaking her head adamantly. “No. Why would she?” But even as the woman denied it, Charlie could see that it had always been Kat’s greatest fear.
“Maybe out of jealousy?” Shep said. “Don’t you think that’s why she was so cruel to Charlie? Lacey knew that she should have been the other sister living in that house.”
Charlie heard his words, felt them register. The evil sister. The one who was so horrible to her. Had it been Lacey and not Lindy?
“Or maybe Lacey killed her to get back at you,” he said. “After all, you chose her sister over her. That made Lindy your favorite. Not to
mention the fact that you knew Lacey was living in that house and yet you let her remain in the basement, a secret.”
Kat’s eyes filled with fresh tears. “No, I don’t want to believe that.”
“You said you contacted Matt after the murder,” Charlie said. She needed to know the whole story and feared that Kat could make an escape at any moment.
Kat swallowed and nodded, swiping at her tears. “Matt told me that...” She hesitated as if not wanting to say it. “Lacey had a complete breakdown on her return. He said she’d had other problems before that. He hadn’t been able to control her. She would take off and be gone for weeks on end without any explanation.”
“Matt didn’t tell her she had a twin?” Charlie asked.
Kat shook her head. “He was afraid of what she might do. When he found out that she’d been living in our basement for a short while, he was shocked that she had somehow found out about us. Once I told him what I thought had been going on before the murder, he realized it explained the change he’d seen in his daughter. Before that, he thought she was just being a typical teenager.”
“You said she had a breakdown when she returned to Brazil after the murder?” Shep asked.
“Lacey was so hysterical after Lindy’s murder that...he had to have her institutionalized for her own safety. He blamed me of course for all of it. If I’d left Lindy with him...”
“That shouldn’t have come as surprise, given what you did,” Charlie said.
“When did you speak to him?” Shep asked.
“I was still in the hospital after the accident. Don’t you see? I’d lost everything, both daughters, my husband, everything.” She looked up, meeting Charlie’s gaze. “I couldn’t help myself, let alone you.”
Charlie knew that wasn’t the reason Kat hadn’t reached out to her, but she let it go. Kat looked as if she might break down again.
“You said he institutionalized Lacey?” Shep said. “Like in a mental hospital?”
Kat nodded.
“But now she’s out? She has to be out if she’s the one who is terrorizing Charlie again.”
It took Kat a moment to answer. “I heard a few weeks ago that Matt had been killed in an accident on a construction job. Apparently Lacey had been doing better so she was allowed to attend her father’s funeral with an attendant. The attendant was found unconscious with a head injury and Lacey was gone.”
“And we know where she turned up, don’t we?” Charlie shuddered at what the young woman was capable of doing. “Why me? Why wouldn’t she haunt you and your new daughter?”
But she didn’t wait for an answer because it came to her like a bolt of lightning. Her eyes filled with tears as she swung her gaze to Shep. “Because she blames me for her sister’s death. Which means she was there that night.”
“Clearly, all this hatred has little to do with you, Charlie,” Shep said quickly. “It’s misdirected.”
Kat clutched her purse. “I know what you both think of me. But I can’t change the past. If I could...” She rose again. “I have to go.”
“Not yet. What happened to Charlie’s doll? The one her father bought her?” Shep asked.
The woman blinked. “The doll? Oh, that doll. I forgot all about it. It was such a beautiful, valuable doll, I couldn’t leave it in that old house since I knew you wouldn’t be back for it, Charlie.”
“You couldn’t have gotten it to Charlie anytime over the years,” Shep asked.
“If it makes you feel any better,” Kat said, clearly ignoring him, “you aren’t the only one who’s been terrorized by my daughter. When you told me about the doll, I knew Lacey had been in my house. I’d noticed other things that had gone missing. Mostly money, jewelry, favorite things of mine. I thought I’d imagined it at first—just like that lingering scent of Lindy’s favorite perfume.” Kat bit her lip as if to hold back more tears. “It was Lindy’s favorite so of course Lacey would wear it.”
“She destroyed the doll and left it on my doorstep.”
Kat’s expression crumpled for a moment. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know the doll was missing from my room. But you’re not the only one she wants to hurt. It’s why after the band concert tonight I’m taking Cara and leaving town.” She looked pointedly at Charlie. “I would suggest you do the same.”
“I’m not running,” Charlie said as she rose to her feet. “I’ve been running for too long.”
Shep joined her and put his arm around her.
“You do realize, Kat, that the police will now be involved,” Shep said. “They’re going to want to talk to you.”
“I have to think of Cara. I’d hoped to keep all of this from her until she was older. She is so sweet and innocent. I don’t know what effect this will have on her, so I’m not waiting around to see what Lacey will do next. I can’t for Cara’s sake.”
“I think it’s too late for that,” Charlie said. “I’m betting Cara already knows about Lacey. Otherwise, how has Lacey been getting in and out of your house without you noticing?”
“Also there was a second set of fingerprints on Charlie’s doll,” Shep said. “Not Lacey’s which would be so similar to Lindy’s. I’d wager they’re Cara’s.”
Kat’s face froze for a moment. She seemed to stagger and looked down at the floor as if it had opened and she’d gotten a glimpse of hell. She appeared to shrink before their eyes.
As she turned to leave, her face taut with fear, Charlie saw the woman’s world crumbling around her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHARLIE WAS STILL in shock after Kat’s visit. Shep had gotten on the phone to the judge, filling him in. It was clear that WT agreed. It was time to call in the law. The judge must have asked if she was up to being questioned by the police.
She saw Shep look over at her and smile before he said, “She can handle it. She’s a lot stronger than she looks.”
“You really think Lacey killed her twin?” Charlie asked after he finished his call.
“Mulvane said it was a crime of passion. I’m betting Lacey was there that night and knows what happened. If she was involved, it would explain her breakdown.”
“Then she also knows that I locked Lindy out of the house. That could explain why she wanted to make me think I was losing my mind.”
“Kat said Lacey had had problems before,” he said. “If she was mentally unstable, who knows what could have gone down between the twins. You heard what Kat said. I got the impression she’s afraid of her daughter.” He sat down next to her. “The judge is contacting someone he knows in the police department. They are going to want to talk to us, especially you, about all of this.”
She nodded. “Why didn’t I see it? I thought Lindy’s strange mood swings were just her being an unhappy teenager. Now looking back, she was often like two completely different people. If Lacey was the one who was so cruel to me, why didn’t she confront Kat?”
“Maybe Lindy wouldn’t let her,” Shep suggested. “Lindy wasn’t happy with her mother’s marriage, but she was smart enough to know that if Lacey blew the whistle on Kat, things could get a whole lot worse.”
That made sense, Charlie thought. So Lindy would have allowed her sister into her life, letting her play a role to keep her quiet until... Until Lacey got sick of it and wanted more? She worried that they might never know.
But Lacey was still out there. What would she do next?
The person she really couldn’t get her head around was their mother. “How could Kat have done what she did?” she said, curling up in her spot on the couch to face Shep. “How could any mother do that?”
He shook his head. “Not everyone is cut out to be a parent.” His cell phone rang. He answered it. “Yes. No, that would be fine.” He disconnected. “You ready to go down to the police station? This is not the way I imagined us spending Christmas Eve but...”
Charlie nodded. “I
just want this over.”
“It won’t be over until they catch Lacey,” he said, as if he had to remind her.
* * *
HOURS LATER, CHARLIE climbed into bed completely exhausted. She’d been asked a million questions. In the end, she knew that the chance of Lacey being caught was slim. Even if she was, the woman hadn’t done anything really threatening, just as the officer had said. Lacey was wanted in Brazil so she would be extradited if found. But even a stalking charge would be hard to make stick in this country since Charlie had only seen Lacey a few times even with the destroyed doll as evidence. If Charlie saw her again, she was to call.
She felt deflated and was sure Shep felt the same. He’d been angry, hoping the police could do more. As it was, they couldn’t even confirm her and Shep’s stories because they hadn’t been able to reach Kat. Her husband had no idea where she’d gone, but she’d taken their daughter, Cara. History repeating itself, Charlie thought.
She hoped for sleep, but as she lay in bed, all she could think about was Lacey and how she must have felt when she learned about her twin and what her mother had done. She had to be the one who had tormented Charlie in high school. The one who’d played those awful tricks on her. Had Lindy been innocent all along? And yet she was the one to end up murdered behind the house.
She could hear Shep tossing and turning on the couch in the living room. Like her, he was having trouble getting to sleep. She thought about the present under the tree from him.
Tears filled her eyes. What if he was he right? What if she had trusted him after boot camp? Could they have been together all these years? The thought made her chest ache. She would never know what she might have cost them. Was it too late? Could Shep ever trust her again? Why did that mean so much to her?
Finally, too exhausted to keep her eyes open, she drifted off into a troubled sleep filled with monsters all wearing Lindy’s and Lacey’s faces.
* * *
CHRISTMAS MORNING, Shep got up and turned on the Christmas tree lights before seeing to the coffee. It all felt so normal, being here with Charlie, he thought as he went to get her newspaper outside her apartment door.
