Adrianne Byrd - Deadly Double

Josie moved away from the closet and walked over to her old vanity. Melancholy, she picked up a few crystal bottles and sprayed their fragrances into the air. However, her mood worsened, and she fell the steady pulse of a new migraine.

Heaving an exhausted breath, she headed to the adjoining bathroom to see if she still had a bottle of Excedrin in the medicine cabinet.

#

William whizzed through his patent schedule. If it was all possible, he wanted to get out of there early, but Hines wasn’t kidding when he said that he was dealing with a diminishing and nervous staff. Everywhere he turned he was interrupting someone with the latest gossip about what had happened with Dr. Bancroft and Dr. Turner. The most popular story he’d heard was that their missing patient, Michelle Andrews, was knocking off the doctors to extract revenge on how she was treated while she was at Keystone.

After two hours of tolerating the low whispers, William’s nerves had sharpened to a fine point. To get through his day, he kept reminding himself that this would be over soon and everyone would know the truth. Of course, he wasn’t entirely sure what that meant for him. Would he lose his job, or worse, his license?

“Oh, Dr. Hayes.”

William turned and saw Dr. Coleman racing toward him. “Can’t talk now, Rae. I’ll catch up with you later.” He stepped onto the elevator and was grateful when the doors closed before Rae reached them.

Hishoulders slumped with relief. If Dr. Coleman had managed to corner him, heaven only knows when he would be able to escape. The elevator slowed to a stop; but when the doors slid open, William came face to face with Michelle Andrews.

Chapter 32

Ming entered Marcus Hines’s office and extended a hand. “I can’t tell you how much we appreciate your assistance in this matter.”

Hines cleared his throat and smiled sheepishly at her as he accepted her hand. “I’m happy to do whatever I can to help the authorities.” She smiled and turned toward the other four officers who’d posed as attorneys. “Do we have what we need?” One cop was still bent over and dusting for prints from Michelle’s empty water glass. “Just about through.” Hines shook his head. “I still can’t believe it. Michelle Andrews masquerading as her twin sister.” “Technically, it’s still a theory,” Ming said. “That’s what the fingerprints are for.” “But if she’s Michelle, where is the real Josephine?”

Ming held little doubt that Josephine Ferrell had met the same fate as the others who stood in the way. “We’re still looking,” she said. “We’re still looking.”

# “Oh, it’s you again.” Michelle smiled as she stepped into the elevator. “Going down?” A faint smile curved William’s lips. “As a matter of fact, I am.”

“Perfect.” She glanced at the panel and punched for the lobby. When her eyes darted back over to William, she turned flirtatious and sauntered toward him. “What is your name again?”

“William,” he answered. “Dr. William Hayes.”

She winked. “You know, I’ve always had a thing for doctors.”

“Really?” How ironic.

“Uh, huh.” She backed him into a corner and was bold enough to run a finger down the center of his chest. “You know, I’ll be leaving town soon and I’d hate to miss the opportunity to play doctor with such a handsome one like you.”

It was odd for him to watch a replica of the face he’d loved so dearly be possessed with such a crazed malevolence. “I’ll have to pass.” Michelle’s brows rose as the elevator slowed. “Don’t worry. No strings attached. I promise.” He forced on a smile. “As tempting as your offer may be, I’m afraid you’re not my type.” Michelle’s hands fell to her sides as annoyance flashed in her eyes. “Your loss.”

The doors slid open, and Dr. Coleman stopped in the doorway. Her gaze zeroed in on the cozy scene in the corner, and her mouth gaped open in shock.

Michelle winked, turned, and glided past the stunned doctor.

William drew a shaky breath, but he wasn’t foolish enough to stick around to hear a lecture from the queen of gab. He stepped forward to exit the elevator, but was completely thrown off guard when Rae pushed him back into the corner, pressed a floor, and then turned on him. “Have you lost your mind? Do you know who that woman is? “Rae, I don’t want to discuss this.” That woman might be suing us soon, or have you forgotten about that?”

Annoyance crept along his spine, but he was careful not to let the emotion show. “Rae, thanks for the advice, but nothing happened.”

Once again, the elevator slowed to a stop, and William was spared more of his nosey colleagues’ comments when a group of formidable men and an uncharacteristically tall Asian woman stepped inside. Rae maneuvered her way out of the cramped quarters and waved at William to follow. “I’m going down,” he informed her. She opened her mouth to protest, but the doors slid closed.

William sighed and slacked his shoulders in relief. “Close call,” he mumbled, and then darted a gaze to the other five persons occupying the small box. The only one who met his gaze was the attractive woman, but her expressionless features quickly turned toward the door when the elevator returned to the lobby.

The lady and the four suits filed out and gave William the impression they were the Secret Service running late to protect the president.

“Humph. I wonder what all that was about.”

#

Josie searched high and low through her old medicine cabinet for a bottle of Excedrin, but finally found it in the back of a cosmetic drawer. What time was it, she wondered, and how long would she have to wait until Michelle returned?

She walked back into the bedroom and, once again, stepped over a stack of boxes in the center of the floor. From the corner of her eyes, she recognized a pink storage container beneath one of the boxes. Turning toward it, Josie felt a warmth spread throughout her body.

She knelt and removed everything on top of the container and then popped it open. Piles of letters and pictures assaulted her memory and wrenched out her heart. “Summer of ’88,” she read the storage label.

Josie had forgotten she’d stored these things at her father’s home. She reached inside and withdrew a poem that William had left on her pillow one morning. “The taste of you.”

A smile fluttered across her lips while the poem evoked the same emotions as it had sixteen years earlier. She reached for another envelope, but this time a small stack of pictures spilled out onto the floor.

She picked up a photo and blushed at the memory of her slinking across a grand piano in a red-sequined dress.

“We really had a lot of fun together,” she whispered. “We were perfect together.” Her vision blurred beneath a thin sheen of tears.

Josie laid the picture against her chest and thought back to the first time she’d ever made love...

“There’s no need for you to be shy,” William whispered against her ear. “You’re beautiful.”

After weeks of dating, it was the first time that Josie had mustered up the nerve to invite him into her bedroom. It was the first time she’d invited any man in there, and now that they were there, she couldn’t stop trembling.

“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” he said.

“No.” She placed his hand across her heart so he could feel how hard it was beating. “I want to do this. I want to make love to you.” As always, she melted at the sight of his dimpled-cheeks and the gleam of his bright smile.

“I want to make love to you, too,” he said. He looked into her eyes and tilted her face so her mouth could receive him.

It was the sweetest kiss ever and it melted all thoughts of Etienne from her mind.