Lucky Thirteen (16 page)

Larkin opened her mouth to protest, but Ray put his index finger against his lips in sharp command. Her eyes widened at his audacity to order her to do anything.
The detective told Patrick, “We’ll be close on your heels. Take care of this.”

The FBI agent left with the evidence. Once the door closed,
Ray looked around at the others. “I have a plan, but it involves a great deal of deception and could prove to be very dangerous.”

20

Laying a Trap

“W
ha
t
do you have in mind, Ray? Are you considering using me as bait?” Larkin asked, planting herself in her usual spot near the headboard of the old bed.

“Well, sort of,” he admitted
.

“Should I be prepared to be led away like a lamb to the slaughter?” A hint of fear and annoyance tinged
her voice.

“You won’t be alone
. I’ll be with you.” The detective looked toward his twin. “My plan really has more to do with my brother and me trading places.”

“What?” gasped Raif
, his already fair face blanching. His sapphire blue eyes exuded both anger and apprehension.

“I told you my plan involved deception
.” Sitting patiently at the foot of the bed and looking at the cheap blanket, he smoothed a wrinkle. “How good a liar are you, Raif?” The detective made eye contact with his brother.

Wrapping his arms
tightly about himself, Raif answered, “Well, I really don’t know. I’ve never made a habit of lying.”

“I’ll have to do more lying than you
. You’ll simply need to follow Chris’s lead.”

“Oh, my God!”
Chris hollered. “Are you serious, Ray?”

“Do I look as if I’m joking?”
the detective responded, lines etching his brow.

Chris paced in agitation
waving her index finger in a tick-tock motion. “Let me get this straight.” She paused. “You want
Raif
”—she pointed at the cop’s twin—“to pretend to be
you
”—the point turned to her partner—“while you stay here and pretend to be
him
.” A perfectly French manicured index finger jabbed into Ray’s chest. “So
you
can be here when this Latrice person finally comes onto the property?”

“
You know it.” He looked at the fingernail poking into his chest. “Do you mind?”

“You’ve lost it.” The FBI agent snapped her hands to her hips
, arms akimbo, muscles taut.

“
I want to catch the nutcase in the act.”

“We have enough to bring her in for questioning now!” Chris shrieked.

Ray sighed. “But not enough to nail her. And I’m sure she’d try to pin it all on Raif.”

Ray turned
to Larkin. “I swear I won’t let her hurt you, but if you don’t agree to this charade, I can’t pull it off.”

“I know you won’t let anything happen to me, Ray
.” Larkin looked at the other twin. “I worry more about your being able to fool Latrice. I’ll go along with your plan
if
you can fool me into believing you’re Raif.”

“You’re on!” he chuckled
. “This should be interesting. Raif, let’s get started.”

With arms crossed, Raif said, “Well, the first thing we need to do is to get you very scruffy looking
.” He held up an index finger and waved it back and forth. “No shaving. As a matter of fact, before you meet Latrice, you might get a makeup artist to make you even rattier. I think for all our sakes we’ll let you walk through a stink bomb rather than not bathe. Of course, she did tell me to take a bath, but I’m nuts. Remember, Latrice thinks I’m off my meds and gone completely off the deep end.” He flipped his hands into the air and grinned. “I’ll have to get you to hear voices.”

“I’m sure I’ll be hearing yours
. As a matter of fact, I’ll need to meet this woman before Halloween. I’ll probably wear a hidden ear piece so I can hear your instructions.”

“This is crazy, Ray
.” Chris voiced her objections again. “It’s too dangerous. The boys upstairs will never agree.”

Ray mumbled, “They don’t have to know.”

“
Not just crazy—
stupid
!” The FBI agent paced back and forth across the room, stopping in front of Raif. She glared at Ray’s mirror image. “I thought
you
might be more sensible.”

Raif smiled. “I’m not worried about Ray’s being able to fool Latrice
. I’m concerned about being him.”

“That’s easy
. Act like a stubborn jackass.” She glowered at her partner. “What’s the Cajun word you use—
fooyay
? This is foolish!” she finished with a crescendo.

Raif sighed
. “I tried so hard to lose the Cajun accent. Now I have to get it back.”

“I don’t sound Cajun,” the detective argued.

Everyone else in the room laughed as he took umbrage.

“
Fooyay
!” joked Raif.

“Yes, foolish action,” agreed Ray’s temporary partner.
“I’ll say it again—foolish, foolish, foolish.”

Larkin nodded.
“Yes, you
do
sound a little Cajun. In a charming way.”

The FBI agent put both hands to her head
. “It’s not funny.” The woman continued to argue. “Ray, this creature is capable of killing you. I mean, she’s physically capable of overpowering a man your size. She’s done it to several victims. What did you learn about her? She’s a former Marine. She’s trained to kill. If she suspects anything, this could blow up in your face. Not to mention get you fired.”

“Not if you have my back
. Chris, trust me. This is our best chance to put the nail in her coffin.”

Larkin shivered at the use of that particular idiom.

“You okay?” Chris asked.

“Yeah. Just use a different phrase. There’s been enough death.”

“Sorry,” Ray mumbled before presenting more arguments for his case. “We’ve run her fingerprints. She’s smart. The only place we’ve found her prints is on the outside doorknob. She owns the place, so we would expect that. We have to wait on the DNA from the blood samples. By the time the results get back, it could be too late. She has coerced and manipulated men in a weakened state to help her and then killed them, just like a black widow.”

Raif grunted under his breath, “I thought black widows killed the male after mating
. Latrice might be a virgin herself. I can’t imagine a normal man being attracted to her.”

Everybody looked astonished at Raif’s comment.

“What?” Raif asked, standing up straight and spreading his arms out wide, palms facing his brother. “You haven’t seen her. She’s five-ten, a hundred sixty pounds, hair shorter than yours, very masculine features, and very muscular. This woman has biceps almost as big as mine. She’s scary, Ray. I’m saying this to you while I’m totally in control of my faculties.”

Ray nodded
. “I believe you. That’s why you’re going home with me for a couple of days. Chris will stay with Larkin. She’ll shoot first and ask questions later if anything unusual happens.”

Chris looked around at the other three. “You’re all nuts.
” The agent stomped to the small refrigerator, grabbed a bottle of water, and chugged half of it. “Damn you! Count me in.”

Pleased with himself, Ray grinned with smugness. “
When you and I return, brother, and I pass Miss Sloan’s test, we’ll set the snare, lay the trap, and catch this poisonous snake.”

The two Raifords left Chris and Larkin well supplied for a couple of days. Baker and the FBI agents were left with the impression that Ray and Chris were hiding Raif and Larkin in a secure location. Ray felt it would be prudent for the fewest people possible to know about the change of identities until the last minute.

♣♣♣

However, Ray made one phone call to his boss. “Chief, I need a little trust for the next several days,” he said.

“What the hell are you up to?”

“I don’t want to tell you so that you can claim complete ignorance if it fails.”

“Are you going to get both
of us fired?”

“I don’t think so. Just back me up when the time comes.”

“Ray, I swear.” Chief Gerard took a deep breath. “Does this have anything to do with the man that came in who looks like you?”

“You heard about that, huh?”

“Yeah. Baker mentioned it to me.”

“Yeah. It has
everything
to do with him and the missing woman. Please have some faith in me.”

“Okay. I don’t feel easy with whatever secrecy you’re planning, but I’ll trust you—for now. But I swear if anyone else dies, I’ll fry your ass.”

“As you should.”

21

Getting to Know You

A
s
Chris and Larkin waited for the twins to make their transformation, they became well acquainted. Chris put herself in charge of their physical needs. Larkin took control of their social interaction. After two days, they felt a sisterly connection. Chris got out Styrofoam cups and plugged in the coffee pot the second morning. She asked, “Larkin, are you sure you wanna go through with Ray’s lame-brained plan?”

“Want to
? No. But I think it might be the only way to pin down Latrice. And Ray will be wired and there’ll be agents, including you, stationed strategically to be in the door within seconds on Ray’s code word.”

“I’m worried about Raif, too,”
Chris confessed. “He’s really a good guy. I don’t want him to get hurt anymore.”

“Chris, what’s going on?”

“Nothing. I just have a soft spot for him. Working with Ray and getting to know both of them makes me want to know what happened to my daughter after she was adopted. She’ll be turning sixteen next month.”

“So, track her down
. Abuse your authority a little.”

“That’s what Ray would say
. Finding out he has a twin has made him more thoughtful. Don’t misunderstand.” She held her hands in the air in a stop motion. “My partner’s great! That’s just it—he’s my partner. He’s as hardheaded and headstrong as I am. We would kill each other. Raif seems sweeter and needier.”

Larkin interrupted, “And a part of you wants to take care of him
. I understand. I’ve seen how vulnerable Raif can be. I just think you’ve missed that part of Ray. He tries so hard to hide his insecurity. I sense he needs somebody to look after him, too. The difference is he won’t admit it. Well,
maybe
when he finds the right woman, he’ll admit he needs her.”

“Ray’s very proud, or at least self-reliant
. He’s afraid of failure. He’s the type that says, ‘If you want it done right, do it yourself.’” Chris mimicked Ray.

Larkin laughed.
“Yeah, I get that impression, but he sure seems to rely on you.”

“That amazes me, but we’ve truly become partners
. I’ll find it hard to leave when this is over.”

“Don’t go.”

“What reason would I have to stay? This is my job.”

“If God wants you to stay here, He’ll find a way.”

“Larkin, you astound me.” Chris poured two cups of coffee and handed one to her new friend. “Considering everything you’ve been through, how do you remain so strong and positive?”

For a moment Larkin
looked at the cross at the top of the wall as if seeking inspiration. “I have a true abiding faith,” she responded.

“I wish I could feel that way.”

“You can. You must simply trust in God.”

“I believe, but I was brought up in the Eastern Orthodox Church
. It’s very works-oriented. Strict obedience is the key.” Old hurts resonated in her voice. “I’m sure after my rather immoral past, I’m bound for Hell.”

“Works come as a result of faith, Chris
. Faith first; works come later. And you can never be perfect, but you can be forgiven.”

“I’ve done some pretty
…um…shall I say
loose
things?” She stirred sugar into her coffee and took a sip. “I haven’t been celibate like you by any means.”

“Have you ever asked God to forgive you
?” The early morning sun flickered through the cross in the window and made a reflection on Larkin’s hair like a halo.

“Yes, and I’ve reformed over the last few years
. I’ve become much more selective. I keep hoping for someone to actually love me.” The agent sighed. “I wish it
was
that simple.”

“It is,”
Larkin said with conviction. “And with the love of the Heavenly Father, other kinds of love seem to come easier.” She paused with a slightly dubious look on her face, dipped brows and a half frown. “Well, I think romantic love might come easier. I’d like someone to love me, too.”

Chris laughed a little. “Like Brad? I
didn’t like that jerk.”

Larkin shrugged. “He didn’t like the fact that I wanted to wait for marriage to have sex.”

“I’m really glad I met you. ‘The love of the Heavenly Father,’” Chris repeated what Larkin had said. “Nobody has ever made this much sense to me.”

“Raif said the same thing
. Like I told him: I’m just the messenger. Listen to the message.”

“Ray needs to hear the message.”

Larkin giggled and put her coffee cup down. She made the sign of the cross and looked heavenward. “If he pulls off his little switch-a-roo, he will. Be assured, my friend.”

Chris
sat on the bed beside Larkin. “Mind if I ask you something else?”

“Of course not.”

“Do you believe in the supernatural?”

Larkin
thought before she spoke. “Yes. Why?”

Chris heaved
a sigh. “I dreamed Raif asked me to help him find his heart before I ever met him.”

The two women locked eyes without speaking as Larkin co
nsidered all the dreams she’d had, especially since being abducted. She clutched Chris’s hand. “Let me tell you about the dreams I’ve been having…”

♣♣♣

Meanwhile, both Ray and Raif were becoming rather scruffy as each tried to master the other’s mannerism
s and speech patterns. They found they did many things the same way. They liked many of the same foods. They chose the same cologne. However, there were differences. Raif tended to be more easygoing but more formal in his speech and interpersonal interactions. He liked his life orderly, with little complication, but he was flexible and adapted. Ray had a quicker temper and was impatient. Ray was also brutally candid. He had been known to hurt feelings. Both were analytical as their choices of professions showed.

Their lives had been similar, yet different
. Both had been adopted by families who loved them dearly. Both had affectionately called their sisters “Ronnie.” And both had had their hearts broken by a woman who could not handle a difficult situation, but when that topic came up, both balked and shared very little.

Ray said, “I don’t like to talk about Mia.”

Raif nodded. “I understand. Talking about Abbey hurts too much. We’ll get there one day.”

“Yeah, j
ust not now,” Ray agreed. “Hey, did you know you’re older by thirteen minutes. You were adopted a few days before me. I was still in incubation.”

“Good to know I’m the big brother.” He grinned.
“I was brought up on a farm. My family often struggled financially, yet their love never faltered.” Raif told his brother, “Because of a severe case of mumps, Louis Gautier was sterile. When I was six, the Gautiers adopted a little girl that they named Rhonda. My dad, sister, and pet dog died tragically seven years later in a car accident. Mom worked hard to get me through high school, and I won a scholarship to Tulane University to continue my education and became an architect as Dad had encouraged.”

Ray
asked, “Did the two of you actually frame a house when you were about ten?”

Raif laughed
, eyes crinkling at the corners. “Yeah. I designed it with a ruler and a protractor. It was a simple ranch style. That’s when Dad told me to be an architect. How’d you know?”

“I dreamed about it.”

“I dreamed about you my whole life.”

“I know. I did, too.”

Ray already knew all that had transpired with Abigail Bertram even if Raif didn’t talk much about it and how Raif had come to live in Eau Bouease. Raif spoke fondly of his childhood. Though not wealthy, he had been happy, and his short time with Louis Gautier had been a firm foundation of unconditional love. Maria, his mother, only strengthened that love as the years went by. Ray was satisfied his brother had been as well loved as he had.

While Raif’s family struggled with some financial hardship, Ray’s was well-to-do. Ray’s parents had had a daughter they named Veronica
. Ray explained how he was adopted. “Due to complications during childbirth, my mom couldn’t have any more children. When Veronica was four, the Reynoldses adopted
moi
.” He grinned and placed a hand on his chest. “I grew up a bit spoiled. Life was pleasant until Veronica disappeared and was murdered when I was thirteen. That incident made me determined to become a detective to protect others from my sister’s fate.”

Ray sighed.
“I’ve done a miserable job so far, haven’t I?”

“No,” argued Raif. “You’ve done all that you knew to do. Now, God, at
His appointed time, has sent you the means to stop this evil.”

“Is part of your illness to sound like a religious fanatic?”
He arched an eyebrow.

“No!” Raif laughed
. “But I
have
discovered real faith. Larkin explains it so simply. After you spend a few days with her, you’ll be a changed man, too.”

A burn filled Ray’s face.
“I already feel changed because of her. I think she’s an angel.”

“She definitely has
heavenly guidance, brother. Be careful, or she’ll totally bewitch you.”

“Has she beguiled you, Raif?”

“Yes, indeed, but I’m not attracted to her in a physical sense. She reminds me too much of a little redheaded girl that was my sister. Now, Chris!” He stretched his eyes wide. “That’s a woman!”

“Oh, ho!”
cheered Ray with a clap of his hands.

“Don’t you think Chris is beautiful, Ray?”

“Yes, Chris is very attractive, but I could never think of her like
that
. She’s my partner.”

“Only temporarily.”

“Then, she’ll be over a thousand miles away.” The detective shook his head. “No, Chris and I would never work.”

“Good.”

“Raif, she’ll be leaving when this case is over.”

“Who says I have to stay here?”

“I…I thought…You’re my brother, my family. My mom wants you to be part of
our
family. What about Walter Bertram? I thought…Oh, never mind.” Ray waved his hand as if trying to erase something. “Let’s get down to business. We both need a little more facial hair if we’re to fool first the angelic being and then Satan’s spawn.” He touched his right cheek. “I have this little scar to cover up. After we convince Larkin, you can go clean cut while I continue to look like a reject from the sixties.”

“Ray?”

“It’s fine, Raif. I’ve always been self-sufficient. I’ve never admitted this to anyone else, and I probably never will again, but I need you in my life. Losing you now would devastate me.”

“I’m not leaving
. Even if I did, I’d only be a phone call away. You’re a part of me, a part that has been missing for a long time. Now that I’ve found you, I’d hate to leave you. But you’re right; we have something more important than our feelings to deal with right now. We have a killer to catch and God’s messenger to save.”

The two brothers embraced and Ray said huskily, “Where’s that makeup artist?”

♣♣♣

Well,” quipped Chris as they heard footsteps. “Let the games begin.”

Forty-eight hours after Ray and Raif left Larkin and Chris, the two men returned
. When they entered the wine cellar, identical twins in every detail stood before a pair of astonished women.

“Larkin, who’s who?” Chris asked.

“At a cursory glance, I can’t tell. Let me pose a few questions Raif would know from having been with me for more than two weeks. What’s my favorite breakfast food?”

The men answered simultaneously
. “Rice Krispies with fresh fruit.”

“What’s my favorite fruit?”

Again the answer came in unison. “Blueberries.”

“Oh, this will never work
. Chris, ask something that only Ray would know.”

“You know, Larkin, they’ve discussed possible scenarios
. I’ll try this one though.” She took a deep breath. “What’s my biggest regret?”

Larkin gasped
. She hurt for her friend and her heart sent up a prayer.
How will Chris handle this?
It’s so personal.

Ray looked sidelong at his brother as he felt a pang of betrayal, but for a higher cause.

Raif made eye contact with Chris and gave her a look of sympathy as he replied, “That you gave your daughter up for adoption.”

Chris looked at Larkin and shrugged
. “Either that’s Ray, or Ray divulged my deepest, darkest secret to a stranger in order to stop a killer. Either could be true. If he didn’t tell Raif, well, everybody knows now. But Ray would do whatever it takes to stop this maniac. So, my assessment as a trained FBI agent is that
Raif
just answered my question.”

Both men said, “Chris.”