Kitabı oku: «Undercover Twin»

ONE

Audrey Clark adjusted her cross-body bag as she stepped out, under the cover of stars. The atmosphere matched her mood, dark and uncomfortable.

“You sure you want to be dropped off here, sweetie?”

A valid question as the university campus was empty in June, before the beginning of summer school. Audrey looked back at the gray sedan still parked at the curb and nodded at the grandmotherly driver. “I’ve been here once before, thank you.” The driver’s response was a heavy foot to the gas pedal.

Audrey had missed registration for the Postdoctoral Symposium, thanks to a delayed flight, even though the Stanford organizer she spoke with on the phone insisted Audrey had already picked up her credentials and itinerary. As if Audrey only imagined being stuck on a plane. Ridiculous.

But she was here now, and if she hurried, she’d catch the end of the reception, grab her registration packet and take the group shuttle to the hotel. Her missing luggage should arrive by morning.

The path lights lining the sidewalk bolstered her courage. She’d forget the miserable day and proclaim a do-over. Starting now. The reception should be in the building ahead, but the moonlight made everything appear different than she remembered. To her left, the roofs resembled interlocking building bricks. She followed the student path and spotted a sign listing five departments and their corresponding numbers, confirming she was headed in the right direction.

The mirrored windows of the Learning and Knowledge Center came into view, past a dozen empty benches underneath a grove of trees and the long shadows they created. Audrey fisted the tactical flashlight inside her open bag and strode forward. A campus security officer once told her it was the most effective thing to carry at night without a concealed weapon permit, as a flashlight beam could both blind an attacker and draw attention to a struggle. Plus, the metal handle could pack a wallop. Not that she’d ever needed to use it.

A man rounded the corner and approached. Middle-aged and wearing a jacket despite the unseasonable heat, his gaze swung from side to side. Was he looking for someone or was he scared? She stepped to the right side of the sidewalk and averted eye contact.

“Here? I thought we were meeting at Beckman Center.” His voice was soft with a touch of Southern dialect. Maybe he was on the phone, using an earpiece she couldn’t see. He looked over his shoulder once more before making eye contact, clearly waiting for Audrey to answer.

She pulled out the flashlight, her finger hovering over the button that would turn the light from dim to blinding. “You must be mistaken. I’m not—”

“Take it. We don’t have much time.” His left hand fisted at his waist. “I’ve been trying to lose someone all day.”

He shoved his hand into the front pocket of her purse.

“Hey!” She struck his shoulder with the flashlight, the beam of light sweeping across the sidewalk and landing on his face—

Gunshots peppered the ground around her. A scream escaped, and she hunched over, covering her head. The man fell against her, and they toppled to the ground, the flashlight bouncing and rolling away.

The impact rattled her spine, and the side of the bench’s leg dug into the top of her head. Her ribs ached from the man’s weight, making only shallow breaths possible. She twisted her shoulders inward, providing just enough space to fully gasp as her legs and feet fought for momentum to shove the man off her, but it was pointless. He weighed at least two hundred pounds, and he made no effort to try to move. Maybe he’d fainted. She strained against him. “Please...get off.”

He budged slightly, but only his head moved as he lifted his chin and flopped against her shoulder. “Your covers.” The man’s voice shook. “Not first one. Several.” His rasp grew louder between sentences. “You need—” He groaned, seemingly unable to speak further.

Moisture, warm and sticky, seeped through Audrey’s blouse. Blood. She started to shake, her muscles vibrating involuntarily. “I think... I think you’ve been shot.” Her heart pounded so fast she fought against nausea.

A few more gunshots resounded, loud enough they must still be close, followed by tinkling glass in the distance. So a gunman was still out there, but it almost sounded as if someone was shooting back. Please let it be the police. She strained to slide her hand into her purse. She could feel her phone’s corner digging into her hip. A few more inches and she could grab it, but Audrey couldn’t get her fingers past the man’s draped leg. “If you could just move a little—roll over—I could get my phone out of my purse. For help.” Except, if he rolled away, she might be exposed to the bullets.

“Don’t trust...”

Hot air hit her neck with his words. He grew heavier, though she hadn’t thought that possible. His breathing stopped, and his chest no longer rose and fell. “No, no, no. Keep talking. It doesn’t even have to make sense. Just stay with me. If you could just move, we can put pressure on the wound.” Despite her encouragement, his forehead turned cold and clammy against her collarbone. “Sir!”

He was dead.

She closed her eyes against the hot tears forming. Strong hands reached underneath her arms and pulled her out from under the man’s body. Knees tapped along her back as someone dragged her backward, her heels sliding over the gravel and then grass. A final heave and she was propped upright, her hands reaching for a tree for balance. Fingers tugged on her arm, turning her around.

“You’re covered in blood. Were you shot, too?” Her rescuer’s hands moved to her shoulders and gave a small shake. “Were you?”

The dark silhouette drilled her with questions, but words wouldn’t form in Audrey’s mouth. She couldn’t focus on questions or answers. A man had died on her a mere second ago. An inch in either direction, Audrey would’ve been the lifeless one.

The lights over the pathway no longer shined. Had they been blasted out? Another bullet sounded as landscape rock flew up and stung her ankles.

The man dropped to a knee, pulled a gun from his side and took a shot around the tree. He ducked back, grabbed Audrey’s wrist and led her into a run in the opposite direction, between bushes and weaving through trees. Her legs barely cooperated. Maybe he was with the police or maybe not. She didn’t care anymore as long as he was leading her far away from the bullets.

They ran past an alley where the lights still worked. She stumbled over a curb and the stranger’s arms caught her and a beam illuminated the most structured jawline she’d ever seen, surrounded by light stubble that wouldn’t quite qualify as a beard. Wavy brown hair with touches of golden highlights framed his tan, heart-shaped face. Kind blue eyes narrowed as he pulled her upright again. “Are you sure you weren’t shot? Sometimes the adrenaline can hide it for a bit.”

Audrey looked down at her navy blouse, now covered with a plate-size wet spot over her abdomen. Her stomach flipped at the thought of wearing a dead man’s blood.

“That’s it,” he said. “You’re done.”

Something pressed behind her knees, and her legs flew out from under her. She screamed as a strong arm caught her head. It took her a second to realize the stranger had picked her up.

He took off on a run again.

She slapped his chest. Okay, now she did need to know who this guy thought he was. “Who—”

“We can’t stand around! What happened?” His fingers clutched her shoulder and knees as if emphasizing his demand. “Why would you abandon the plan and meet out in the open? What possible—You know what? You can tell me later. I parked around the corner. Let’s get to the van and get you checked out at the hospital.”

A van? She blinked rapidly, willing her brain to start firing on all cylinders again. “No. Let me down. Call the police.”

He slowed his pace and, though she was still in his arms, he looked into her eyes this time. His eyebrows rose.

“Lee! What happ—Who is she?” A female voice that seemed oddly familiar spoke from the darkness.

The man, who Audrey assumed was Lee, spun toward the woman’s voice. His jaw dropped, and for a heartbeat Audrey feared he would drop her. “Kendra?”

Audrey fought to twist her head, cradled against Lee’s arm. As soon as she met the woman’s eyes she fought to stand. Lee dropped her legs first so she could face her mirror image. Though their hairstyles didn’t match, the woman facing her had exactly the same features.

They were identical.

Even in the dim light, Audrey marveled at the same square-shaped face, light green eyes, rounded eyebrows and wide mouth. The only thing different was that this version of her sported straight hair and a sleek black wardrobe straight out of a fashion magazine.

“I guess I don’t need to ask why the meet went off plan.” Lee kept a hand on Audrey’s back as if scared she was about to faint. “We’re going to have a lot of questions for you.”

She turned to face him. “Me? You have questions for me? You can’t be serious. I’m here for a conference and instead—” The conference name tag on her clone demanded attention. “You’re wearing my badge. Audrey Clark is my name. You’re wearing my face.” The photo on the badge was Audrey’s photo, the one she’d sent in for registration. Her heart pumped so hard she started to shiver. No wonder the organizers thought she’d already registered. She took a small step back. “You’ve stolen my identity.”

“I didn’t steal anything.” The woman almost shouted it.

That was exactly what she’d want everyone to think. And Audrey had let this man—this Lee—lead her toward a van in the alley. To take her to who knew where to do who knows what... She would not end up like the other man, cold and lifeless, without a fight.

Audrey took several more steps backward, eyes trained on the two of them, as she slipped her hand into her purse. Oh, yeah. The tactical flashlight was no longer there. Her phone would have to do. Her thumb tried to find the home button by feel.

Lee held his hands up as if in surrender. “We’re not stealing anyone’s identity. We’re federal agents. You walked in and ruined our operation tonight.”

If that was the case, why was one of the supposed agents wearing her name with her photo on it? “Are you trying to tell me this is all a coincidence?” The statistical probability that would happen would be astronomical.

“I don’t believe in coincidences.” Kendra pointed to Audrey’s stomach. “Were you hit?” When Audrey didn’t answer fast enough, she turned to Lee. “Was she hit? I took out the shooter.”

Audrey put her hand over her chest. “Why do both of you even have to ask? I think I would know if I’d been shot.” Maybe it was a stalling tactic while they regrouped to attack her.

Kendra’s high heels clicked as she ran to peek around the corner of the brick alley. “The adrenaline can mask it for a little—”

“Yeah, I told her.” Lee kept his hand on the handle of the gun on his holster. “Look, we see blood. It’s a natural question.” He turned toward the other woman. “I think the blood is Adam’s. He was gone by the time I reached them.”

Kendra returned, but she kept her hand on her gun and her eyes trained on Audrey. She groaned and dropped her shoulders. “He was a good man, not to mention our best chance. I think the shooter came alone, but we shouldn’t wait around. A team is on the way to sweep the grounds before the conference attendees are released.” She put a hand over her chest and sucked in a sharp breath.

Audrey had made the same gesture, the same sound even, a second earlier. Chills rushed up her spine.

“Let’s get to the most immediate question.” Lee’s head swiveled back and forth between them before resting on Kendra. “Is it possible you two are related? Weren’t you adopted?”

“Yeah, but—”

Audrey found herself nodding. “Born October—”

“Seventh,” Kendra finished.

Wait. They’d both been adopted? So it was theoretically possible she had a twin. A real life, flesh-and-blood relative? She studied Kendra again, this time with new eyes. She had a sister?

It was like discovering that all of Audrey’s wildest dreams could’ve already been true if she’d just exercised more, shopped better or taken the right vitamins. The evidence stood right in front of her. Audrey could have obtained great skin, shiny hair, gleaming teeth, a smaller waist and, not only been able to run in high-heeled boots, but also look self-assured while taking down bad guys and making the world a better place.

That federal agent could’ve been her.

Audrey bit her lip and focused on the sensation so she could stay in the present moment. “You really think we could be—”

“—twins.”

They both said the word at the same time. Their voices reverberated in the same pitch, the same inflection, as if slamming the truth into her brain through both ears.

Lee shook his head. “Whoa.”

Kendra’s eyes rolled back, her eyelids flickering, and crumpled to the ground. Her head hit the edge where grass met pavement. Audrey and Lee both vaulted to her side.

“Did she faint?” Audrey grabbed her wrist to feel for a pulse. A drop of blood rolled across her fingers.

Lee exhaled. “She’s been shot.”

No. Her throat burned. She couldn’t find out she had a twin sister only to lose her a second later.

* * *

One for the books. The thought kept running through Lee’s brain as he maneuvered full-speed to the closest hospital with Kendra and her possible twin behind him in the back of the gutted van. There was no entry in the field manual for finding out your partner had a twin, something the Bureau should’ve already known.

Meanwhile, Audrey chattered a mile a minute. She rattled off questions faster than his brain could compute, but he ignored them for the moment out of necessity. There would be time to figure things out after they got Kendra into the hands of medical professionals. “Just keep pressure on the wound.”

“Which one?”

It hadn’t taken them long to find a bullet had impaled the back of Kendra’s shoulder and remained in there somewhere. The back of her black shirt had been drenched in blood, but the impact her head took when hitting the sidewalk’s edge couldn’t be dismissed. He imagined Kendra knew she’d been shot before demanding to know if Audrey had taken a bullet. It figured Kendra wouldn’t admit she needed help. She always acted as if she didn’t even have a partner, determined to be a one-woman, superundercover FBI agent.

Lee pulled off his jacket with one hand while on a straight stretch of street and threw it behind him. “Put pressure on both, if you can. Use this for the head wound. I think that’s probably more important.”

Lee pulled up to the Emergency entrance and glanced in the rearview mirror. Audrey’s reflection startled him. Identical features, yes, but the expression in her eyes, flashing emotion, proved she was different than Kendra. “Audrey, I need you to run in and tell them your sister has been shot. No more, no less. I need to find her identification.”

Mercifully, Audrey didn’t ask any questions as she pulled the door handle open and darted out the side door. He turned off the van and removed the keys. He found the hidden latch underneath the console and opened it to reveal a lock. In the space of ten seconds, he removed and chose the most unused credentials for Kendra. Until he knew what they were dealing with, remaining in deep cover seemed the safest course of action, for all parties involved.

He climbed into the back of the van and stored her gun in the storage compartment underneath the passenger seat. “Sorry, Kendra. If you can hear me, I’m just getting your phone. Help is on the way.” He slipped her phone from her pocket as the automatic sliding doors to the hospital slid open once more.

Two women and one man, all in gray medical scrubs, darted past Audrey’s pointing finger to the van. Two others pushed a gurney behind them. At the last second, Lee removed the conference badge—the one with Audrey’s name displayed—from Kendra’s neck, stuffed it into his pocket and stepped out of the van.

Lee rattled off the two wound locations before the staff could ask. The attendants nodded as they counted and moved her in unison onto the bed. And then Lee looked at Kendra, really looked, for the first time since she’d initially hit the ground. He’d never seen his partner look so peaceful, yet so broken.

They wheeled her away and he was left underneath the harsh glare of the fluorescent lights mounted on the overhang, staring at Kendra’s twin, the air still, with only the sound of beeping trucks and traffic speeding nearby.

“Are...are you okay?” Audrey said as her face lost its color.

Lee tilted his head and studied her. Kendra only paled when she was deathly afraid. “I think I should be asking you that question.”

She blinked rapidly, turning slightly away from him. “When I woke up this morning I was ready for the beginning of an amazing life change. I said goodbye to my alma mater and headed to a conference at Stanford as a post-doctorate from Duke. Next week I’m supposed to enjoy my very first vacation in seven years, and then lead my very own lab at Caltech in the fall. Do you have any idea how many Nobel laureates are on staff? It’s beyond what I ever imagined.” She sniffed and shook her head. “And then I meet her, and none of that seems very important anymore.”

If Kendra had ever spouted such disjointed information, he’d have physically carried her into a counselor’s office. He had no way of knowing if it was normal discourse for Audrey, though. Since he had no idea how to respond, he remained silent.

She gestured toward the closed door and let out a shaky sigh. “I’ve got a sister, and I might never even get to know her.”

“Hey.” Lee put an arm around her shoulder to give an encouraging squeeze, but Audrey spun into his chest, her hands against her eyes. Lee wasn’t sure what to do. He put a hand on her back, tense enough to be obvious she was trying to pull herself together. Kendra would’ve never let herself be so vulnerable. In all the years they’d worked together, she’d never shared so much as a feeling about the weather. “On second thought, are you sure you’re twins?” He forced a small laugh.

“Sorry. I’m not usually like this. You have no idea how exhausted I am, and then a man died—” She reared back, a touch of mascara underneath both eyes. “She probably never cries. Am I right? Great. I’m the weaker twin. I’ve heard that’s what can happen when—”

“That’s not what I meant.”

The doors opened again and an attendant stood on the indoor motion sensor pad, waving them forward. Audrey pulled her shoulders back, nodded and followed the woman with the laptop on a pushcart until they reached a small sitting room. If they hadn’t been interrupted, Lee would’ve told Audrey that vulnerability was a unique strength, but perhaps it was best to shift back into work mode. Lee answered the hospital registration questions as fast as he could, using the cover for Kendra he’d selected.

The attendant tapped her diamond-encrusted pink nails over the keyboard. “And you are the patient’s sister and...” She lifted her head and looked at Lee.

“Husband.”

Audrey’s eyes widened, and her mouth fell open. She looked down at his hand and zeroed in on the silver silicone wedding ring on his left hand. “You’re married?” She all but shouted the words.

Two men waiting in the chairs outside the open room looked up, curious. Lee offered a tense smile and soft laugh. If she blew their covers over such a small detail, keeping Audrey Clark safe wasn’t going to be an easy task.