Chapter 7
Nathan watched his own face on the frozen screen.
Except it was not his face.
Not exactly.
The man’s smile was wrong.
Nathan rarely smiled with his mouth closed.
This man did.
A tiny scar crossed his right eyebrow.
Nathan had no scar.
Rachel had never noticed it before because she had never imagined she needed to look for differences between her husband and another man with the same face.
“What is his name?” Nathan asked.
Margaret sat rigidly.
“Evan.”
Nathan laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“I have an identical twin named Evan.”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me.”
Margaret cried silently.
“Did Dad know?”
“Yes.”
“Lucas?”
“No,” Lucas said quickly.
Nathan looked at him.
“I swear.”
Rachel stared at Margaret.
“Does Jenna know?”
“I don’t know.”
“Victoria clearly does.”
“Yes.”
“Where has Evan been?”
Margaret’s hands trembled.
“Everywhere. Nowhere. Victoria moved constantly.”
Nathan looked toward the video.
“Play it.”
Margaret shook her head.
“Nathan—”
“Play it.”
Cole resumed.
Evan looked directly into the camera.
“My brother has spent his entire life benefiting from something that belonged to me.”
Nathan whispered, “I didn’t even know you existed.”
On screen, Evan continued.
“The Carter name. The company. The inheritance. The father.”
Margaret whispered, “Richard was not his father.”
Evan seemed to answer her from the recording.
“Richard Carter may not have been my biological father, but he chose my brother and abandoned me.”
Rachel felt Nathan’s hand tense.
The video continued.
“I don’t blame Nathan for being a child. I blame him for being a man who never questioned why everything came so easily.”
Nathan’s jaw clenched.
Rachel knew how hard Nathan had worked.
Nothing had come easily.
But resentment did not care about facts.
Evan continued.
“Rachel, if you are watching this, you deserve one truth. Your husband started investigating six months ago. He found my name.”
Nathan looked startled.
“I did not.”
Cole paused.
“What?”
Nathan shook his head.
“I never found Evan.”
“So this recording contains a lie,” Cole said.
“Or someone wanted Rachel to believe you knew,” Lucas replied.
Cole resumed.
“He knew I existed,” Evan said. “He simply didn’t tell you.”
Rachel looked at Nathan.
“I believe you.”
His eyes filled with gratitude.
The video continued.
“And there are other things he hasn’t told you.”
A photograph appeared.
Nathan standing outside a motel.
A woman beside him.
Jenna.
Rachel frowned.
Nathan stared.
“That was a project site in Missouri.”
Evan continued.
“Ask him why he spent two nights at a hotel with your sister.”
Nathan sat up despite the pain.
“That’s not what happened.”
Rachel touched his shoulder.
“I know.”
“You do?”
“Yes. You told me that trip was for the courthouse renovation.”
He exhaled.
Evan’s attempt failed.
But Rachel understood the purpose.
Divide them.
Make her question Nathan.
Make Nathan question Lucas.
Make everyone question Margaret.
A family already built on secrets was easy to fracture.
The screen changed again.
Bank documents.
Rachel’s name.
Her electronic signature.
Transfers.
Evan said, “Ask your wife where the money went.”
Rachel felt sick.
Cole paused again.
“They built the frame carefully.”
Nathan nodded.
“They wanted me to sign the company over because I thought Rachel stole from me.”
“Or because you wanted to save her from prison,” Lucas said.
Nathan looked at Rachel.
“I would have.”
“I know.”
He squeezed her hand.
Cole resumed.
Evan leaned toward the camera.
“Family is just leverage with a prettier name.”
Margaret flinched.
Evan smiled.
“If you want to understand what happened to Nathan, ask who benefits when one brother disappears.”
The video ended.
Lucas stood.
“Me.”
Everyone looked at him.
His face had gone pale.
“If Nathan died, his shares transferred.”
Rachel remembered the will.
“To whom?” she asked.
Lucas looked at Nathan.
“Under the old agreement, me.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Rachel’s pulse jumped.
“So they were setting Lucas up too.”
“Maybe,” Cole said.
Lucas laughed bitterly.
“Great.”
Cole remained focused.
“Who knew the shareholder agreement?”
“Family,” Nathan replied.
“Jenna?”
“Yes. She worked in administration.”
“Margaret?”
“Yes.”
“Richard?”
“He wrote parts of it with our attorney.”
“And Evan?”
Nathan shook his head.
“Unless Richard told him.”
Rachel looked at Cole.
“We need to find Richard.”
Cole nodded.
“We’re working on that.”
The next morning, a judge approved the emergency exhumation request.
The cemetery opened Richard Carter’s grave shortly after sunrise.
Rachel was not there.
Margaret refused to go.
Lucas went with Detective Cole.
Nathan remained hospitalized.
Two hours later, Cole called.
Rachel answered beside Nathan’s bed.
“Tell me.”
Cole’s voice was controlled.
“The casket is there.”
Rachel held Nathan’s gaze.
“And?”
“It contains remains.”
Margaret, listening from the corner, started crying.
“So Richard is dead.”
Cole paused.
“We don’t know that.”
Rachel’s stomach sank.
“What do you mean?”
“The remains are badly degraded.”
“Can you test DNA?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“The preliminary comparison may take a day.”
Nathan leaned toward the phone.
“Is there anything unusual?”
Cole hesitated.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“The body appears significantly shorter than Richard Carter’s listed height.”
Margaret stopped crying.
Lucas’s voice came faintly through the call.
“And there’s no surgical plate.”
Rachel frowned.
“What plate?”
Nathan turned toward Margaret.
“Dad broke his left leg when I was twelve.”
Margaret nodded slowly.
“He had a metal plate.”
Cole said, “This body does not.”
Silence.
Nathan whispered, “It’s not him.”
“We need DNA,” Cole warned.
Nathan shook his head.
“It’s not him.”
An hour later, the hospital announced Nurse Amelia Voss had regained consciousness.
Cole rushed there.
Rachel insisted on attending the interview from behind observation glass.
Amelia looked exhausted.
Her wrists were bandaged from IV lines, not injuries.
Her overdose had nearly killed her.
Cole sat across from her.
“You wrote a confession.”
Amelia closed her eyes.
“I didn’t.”
“It was found beside you.”
“I didn’t write it.”
“Who did?”
“I don’t know.”
“You were seen with Dr. Brent and Jenna Morris.”
Amelia began crying.
“I made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“I gave Nathan the first medication.”
“Why?”
“Margaret asked me.”
Rachel’s jaw tightened.
“Did Margaret tell you what to give him?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“Dr. Brent.”
“What were you told?”
“That it was a low-dose sedative.”
“Was it?”
“No.”
Amelia covered her face.
“I realized after he started crashing.”
“What happened during the eleven missing minutes?”
She lowered her hands.
“Brent told everyone to leave.”
“Everyone?”
“Me. Two nurses. A respiratory therapist.”
“Why?”
“He said Nathan had a highly contagious exposure risk.”
Cole stared.
“That makes no medical sense.”
“I know.”
“Did you leave?”
“For maybe three minutes.”
“And when you returned?”
“There was a woman beside Nathan.”
“Margaret?”
Amelia shook her head.
“I thought it was Margaret.”
“What changed your mind?”
Amelia looked terrified.
“She kissed Nathan.”
Rachel’s heart lurched.
Cole frowned.
“Why is that significant?”
“Not like a mother.”
Rachel felt her stomach turn.
“No,” Amelia said quickly. “Not romantic. She kissed his forehead and said something strange.”
“What?”
Amelia swallowed.
“She said, ‘You were always the lucky one.’”
Nathan closed his eyes in the observation room.
Evan.
Or Victoria speaking about Evan.
Cole asked, “Did she administer medication?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Syringe into his IV.”
Rachel felt rage move through her.
“What did you do?”
“I tried to stop her.”
“What happened?”
“Brent grabbed me.”
Amelia started shaking.
“He told me if I spoke, they would blame the first drug on me.”
“And then?”
“Nathan’s heart rate dropped.”
“Did Brent resuscitate him?”
“At first.”
“At first?”
Amelia began crying.
“He stopped.”
Rachel pressed a hand to the glass.
Cole’s voice hardened.
“What do you mean he stopped?”
“Brent said we had already gone too far.”
“What did he do?”
“He turned off part of the monitoring system.”
“The missing eleven minutes.”
Amelia nodded.
“He told me to erase everything.”
“And Nathan?”
“He was still alive.”
Rachel closed her eyes.
Nathan had been alive when they declared him dead.
Amelia whispered, “Barely. His vital signs were almost impossible to detect.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“They threatened my son.”
Cole leaned forward.
“Who?”
Amelia stared toward the one-way glass as if she somehow knew Rachel was there.
“Evan.”
Nathan whispered, “He was there?”
Amelia nodded to a question Cole hadn’t asked yet.
“He came into the service corridor afterward.”
“What did he say?”
“That if Nathan woke up, I would lose everything.”
“Did Evan enter Nathan’s room?”
“No.”
“Did you see Victoria?”
“I don’t know.”
“What does that mean?”
Amelia’s voice dropped.
“They look alike.”
“Margaret and Victoria?”
“No.”
Rachel’s blood went cold.
Cole frowned.
“Who?”
Amelia swallowed.
“Nathan and Evan.”
Of course.
Cole asked, “Did Evan enter the hospital?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before Nathan collapsed.”
Rachel’s hand tightened around Nathan’s.
“Why?”
Amelia stared at the table.
“He wanted to make sure the cameras caught him.”
Cole paused.
“Caught him doing what?”
“Using Nathan’s ID.”
Nathan’s face went blank.
Cole asked, “Why would he want security cameras to record that?”
Amelia looked up.
“So later, if anyone checked, it would look like Nathan had been moving around the hospital himself.”
Rachel stared.
A twin.
A perfect impersonation.
Hospital access.
Financial fraud.
Suddenly every piece became more dangerous.
Cole said, “Where is Evan now?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is Victoria?”
“I don’t know.”
“Richard Carter?”
Amelia’s expression changed.
Rachel saw it immediately.
So did Cole.
“You know that name.”
Amelia began trembling.
“Please.”
“Is Richard alive?”
“I can’t.”
“Amelia.”
She cried.
“He paid for my nursing school.”
Rachel stopped breathing.
“When?” Cole asked.
“Twenty-two years ago.”
“Why?”
“He was helping Victoria.”
“Helping her do what?”
“Raise Evan.”
Nathan turned away from the glass.
The man he called Dad had secretly funded his twin brother.
Cole’s voice sharpened.
“Is Richard Carter alive?”
Amelia slowly nodded.
Margaret made a sound behind Rachel.
A wounded, broken sound.
Cole asked, “Where is he?”
“I don’t know now.”
“But you have seen him since his supposed death?”
“Yes.”
“When was the last time?”
“Six months ago.”
Rachel stared through the glass.
“Where?”
“At Victoria’s house.”
Cole leaned closer.
“Where is Victoria’s house?”
Amelia gave him an address outside the city.
Police were dispatched immediately.
But when they arrived, the house was empty.
The closets were stripped.
The computers were gone.
The garage was empty.
Only one thing remained.
A framed family photograph on the kitchen table.
Cole sent Rachel a picture.
Victoria stood on one side.
Evan stood on the other.
And between them, smiling as if he had never died, stood Richard Carter.
On the back, someone had written a date.
Six months earlier.
May you like
Underneath it were five words.
OUR REAL FAMILY WILL WIN.
