Page 43 of Rascal

“I still don’t trust him,” I stated.

“That’s fine. But if you call him, he’ll come with sirens blaring,” Jonas added.

“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen!”

“Yup. But with your tendency to find trouble, it will.”

Well, damn, I couldn’t argue with that!

“It’s that house there,” I said, pointing as we cruised down a street.

Jonas had insisted on driving, which left me free to navigate. My gut was in knots being back home, and I felt sick.

Jonas parked up, and we got out. A woman’s head popped up from next door, gardening shears in her hands.

Jonas nodded at her as she studied us. She recoiled when she saw me and looked confused. We both picked up on her reaction for the wrong reasons.

“I’m innocent and was cleared,” I declared.

“How did you get changed so quickly?” she demanded.

“What?” I replied.

Jonas caught on quicker than me. “Have you seen her before?” he asked, cocking his thumb at me.

“She left Sandie’s house ten minutes ago. I heard banging and arguing, and she ran up the road,” the woman explained. Jonas and I exchanged glances.

“Stay here!” he ordered and raced up the path.

Screw that. I took off after him, but when he tried the lock, the door didn’t open.

“This is Lieutenant Richards from the police department. Miss West, are you in there?” He banged several more times and then stepped back. I stepped aside as he delivered three hard kicks, and the door burst open. With his gun out, Lieutenant Richards moved into the house with me behind him.

“Shit,” he hissed as we saw the body of a woman on the floor. He began clearing the rooms as I rushed forward and checked her for a pulse. There was one, and it was weak.

“Got a pulse,” I yelled.

“Call it in!” Lieutenant Richards said, coming back into the room. He knelt beside Sandie as her eyes fluttered open. They landed on me, and fear etched into her face.

“It wasn’t me. It was my twin sister,” I babbled to ease her fright. “We caught her.”

Sandie sighed, squeezed my hand, and took her last breath.

A tear trickled down my cheek.

“How the hell did Jane find out?” I demanded. “She’s always one step ahead of us.”

“I don’t know. You need to wait outside.”

“Okay.” I could hear sirens in the distance. As I got to my feet, I spotted something shining. “Jonas, over there,” I said

He turned around and pulled a glove from his pocket. He reached down and picked the object up.

“It’s an earring.”

“Oh, God. That’s one of mine!” I exclaimed. “Jane dropped it to set me up. Except the last time I saw it, it was at my parents’. My mother took everything that belonged to me, you know, as compensation.”

“Jane’s been there,” Jonas stated.