Chapter Eleven.
Rascal
I’d dithered between asking and not asking. But the arrests were on my mind, and I needed to try. Hallie’s eyes narrowed.
“Is that what this is about? Making nice to get those six thugs off?”
“Hallie, they’re not thugs. They possibly overstepped...”
“Oh, they might have? There’s no doubt about overstepping. Shane, I could barely move, was unable to defend myself, and that asshole VP grabbed me from bed and threw me about like a rag doll. Before proceeding to choke me out. Yeah, I’ve a problem with that, even if you don’t.” I retorted.
“Hellfire thought I was in danger.”
“You are, just not from me! No, I’m not pulling the complaints. How many innocent victims have those assholes frightened?”
“None.”
“Bull, you don’t know that. And I won’t crawl away quietly. That gang assaulted me, simple as fuck,” Hallie hissed.
“Club, not gang,” I ground out. “Hallie, you’ve no idea of Hellfire’s full story.” Hallie stared, and there was something nasty behind her eyes, but I couldn’t decipher what.
“Go on then, tell me,” she ordered. Hallie’s tone was ugly, and King had turned to ice. But I grabbed the chance and began explaining how Fanatic got injured, the war, and what had been happening since. Hallie listened, but I seemed to be losing her.
“Please, Hallie, can’t you see the club was only protecting me?” I said, winding down.
“Know what I heard?” King said, and my heart seized.
“What?” I ground out.
“Hellfire had bad shit happen, which in your eyes excuses their behaviour,” King stated.
“King, I was explaining why they overreacted.” I held his gaze, and King shook his head.
“Does that excuse work for me too? If I freak out and shove a gun into an old lady’s head because of my trauma. Is that okay?”
“Why would you do that?” I gaped at her.
“Because I’ve PTSD and the bitch got too close to me.
Or how about I pistol-whip a brother, thinking he’s about to sexually assault me like the male guards did?
Or I might boot an old lady in the stomach when she’s pregnant because—you know—trauma.
Will you stand there, explain my story and say I’ve got a reason? ”
“You’re twisting this,” I stated.
“No, I’m not. Get out, or I’ll have King throw you out.
And King might hurt you because he’s been through a lot.
They’re grown men who made the choice as a gang to frighten an injured female when she was alone.
Then they added more bruises. Your VP is a woman-beater.
Plain and simple.” Hallie glowered. She motioned between us.
“Whatever you think this was, it ain’t. Now fuck off, Rascal, and stay the hell away. ”
With that, Hallie got up and left. I stood to go after her, but King blocked me.
“Leave,” he ordered, and there was no movement in his tone. King was ready to throw down.
“I’ll be back.”
“Don’t bother, Rascal. You’re exactly the piece of shit I thought you were,” King stated and then walked me down the hallway. He locked the door and turned off the lights, his message clear. I leaned my head against it, knowing I had just hugely messed up—Hallie had called me Rascal.
Hallie
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” I turned to face King. He climbed into bed and dragged me into his arms.
“You were falling for Shane again.”
“And that’s wrong. Damn, I should have learned by now. Rascal can’t be trusted. Had he been sucking up to me to get those men off? Who knows, and who cares? I’m done with Rascal.”
“You’re hurt,” King growled angrily.
“No. Funny enough, I’m not. I’m disappointed. Rascal will never put me first. Truth is, I won’t come second to anything again.”
“Why should you? There’s an event on in town tomorrow. Let’s blow this joint and have some fun.”
“Sounds good, King,” I replied. I leant my head on his chest and nestled into his arms. Why couldn’t I have fallen in love with him and vice versa? It would have been so much easier. But life was never that simple.
“What do you want to eat?” King demanded as we checked out the food vans.
So far, we’d been spoken to three times by various police officers.
It was amusing but was also beginning to grate.
In the end, Hawthorne had arrived and was following us around as a sort of bodyguard.
He was back at work this coming Monday, so he had plenty of time to make sure I wasn’t harassed further.
“Hot dog?” I asked, and King nodded.
“Fries?”
“Of course!” I laughed. “I’ll grab a table.”
“Okay. Guess I’d best ask the cop,” King grumbled, and I chuckled.
“I’d make Hawthorne go hungry; you’re a better man than me.”
“Considering you don’t have the right parts, that’s not a hardship,” King quipped, and I shook my head and grabbed a spot. Moments later Hawthorne came and sat opposite.
“I don’t like you, don’t talk to me,” I stated, and he laughed dryly.
“Can’t get much plainer than that.”
“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. ”
“Holy crap. Is Kira stalking Rascal or me?”
“Both of you. She’ll monitor Rascal because of her obsession. Kira needs to replace you, I reckon. The bitch won’t stop coming because you’re a serious threat to her and the fantasy life she’s built,” King said.
“I agree. This woman is psychologically disturbed. With you locked away, I bet Kira fooled herself into believing she was the one Rascal wanted. Now you’re free, you’re destroying that.
And when someone like Kira gets upset, people pay,” Hawthorne said.
“You need to find Rascal and get him under lock and key. She’ll harm Rascal to draw Hallie out.
Hallie, let’s get you somewhere secure.”
“I’m finishing my meal!” I declared.
“Eat on the damn way to your SUV,” Hawthorne snapped, standing up. “A public place like this is perfect for Kira to strike in.”
“I…”
“No!” Hawthorne stated firmly. “We’re making sure you’re safe.”
I snatched my fries and hot dog up mulishly and glowered.
“Move,” Hawthorne ordered, and I stomped off.
Rascal
I didn’t expect to see Hallie here, but I wouldn’t blow the chance.
“Hey,” I said, approaching her. Hallie smiled, and I blinked. Had her anger blown over already?
“Where’s King?” I asked, concerned.
“Somewhere.” Hallie shrugged my concern off. I reached out and grabbed her elbow.
“Look, I know you believe you’re tough, but Hallie, you shouldn’t be alone. What if Jane is watching you and waiting for a chance to grab you?”
“Jane? Stalker girl? Aw, you do care,” Hallie smiled, and her eyes became misty. “I was starting to think you didn’t.”