Page 54 of Rascal

“Nope.”

“Nothing was personal,” he continued.

Resigned, I sighed and held his gaze. “Detective Hawthorne, I don’t care whether it was or wasn’t. I give a shit that I was harassed constantly without evidence.”

“But were you? Even you couldn’t tell you and Jane apart,” he challenged.

I clasped my hands together. “There was enough doubt for me to be released from prison, free of charges. Instead of considering that, you jumped on the bandwagon.”

“Actually, Lio didn’t.” Phil Gold sat down and nodded.

“No?”

“No. We were investigating your case; we both thought you were innocent, although we think you’ve a twin sister somehow,” Gold replied.

“That was ruled out,” I said, frowning.

“It was. As your father was with your mother during the entire birth, it’s not likely a baby was stolen either.”

“Because there wasn’t. I just got confirmation, and I know who Jane is,” King said, putting a crammed tray on the table.

“Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” I retorted, taking my food.

“Remember in high school, a girl called Kira Barnes?”

I bit into the hot dog and frowned. The name rang a bell, but school was ten years ago.

“Kira looked like your twin but was brunette and had blue eyes,” King prompted.

“Oh, yes, Kira played band.”

“Yup, and wherever you and Rascal went, Kira would turn up. Then she got creepy and began dressing the same as you, and styling her hair identically?” King prodded.

“Are you saying Jane is Kira Barnes?” I gasped.

“What happened in the final few months of high school?”

“She was sick? No, that’s not right…Kira had a nose job done.”

“Bingo, we have a winner,” King said.

“You’re telling me this woman had plastic surgery to look like Hallie?” Phil Gold demanded.

“Yes, Hallie, what happened during our first year in college?” King asked.

“People kept accusing me of being…no! Back then, Kira had already stolen my looks?”

“Near enough. I checked the records. Kira Barnes registered at the same college as us. She was there a year before leaving. I’ve been tracking Kira, and she headed abroad. Kira travelled to South Korea and dropped a wad there. When she came back, Kira’s picture was never taken again.

“Bitch inherited money from her parents who died when she was small, and she’s been living on that. Nobody has seen Kira for ten years, Hallie,” King stated.

“What has she been doing?” I demanded, horrified.

“Stalking you and Rascal. I think Kira interacted with Rascal before the attack, and he believed it was you. Didn’t you complain several times Rascal accused you of forgetting things? What if you hadn’t, and it was Kira he’d been speaking to? The night Kira stabbed Rascal, he’d asked you to marry him. That sent Kira over the edge. She attacked Rascal to stop you. When you were imprisoned, Kira thought she’d have a shot but quickly realised she didn’t because you looked so alike.”

Hawthorne spoke up. “So, Kira created this fantasy in which she and Rascal lived happily, and that was safe for her. Until you got freed. Then you threatened everything she’d established, and Kira was forced to act again.”

King nodded in agreement. “That’s what I believe happened. I’ve got my assistant compiling the data and records, which they’ll send to the station. But Kira’s beyond unstable. Nobody has their face altered to look like someone else. The basic bone structure was present, but there were differences. Now… nope. They’re going to be identical.”