Time Will Tell (11 page)

Chapter 24

Anna stared at Austin, who sat in a chair, pretending that he was staring out the window. Every so often, though, she noticed his eyes on her.

Anna wanted to go over to him and tell him everything. She wanted to let him know the truth—to tell him where she had gone and what her answer was. But she knew that now wasn’t the right time. It was a conversation that the two of them needed to have in private, rather than while they were being babysat by Greg Lawrence.

“Try calling Lexi again,” Greg barked at her. “It’s been at least an hour since the last time you tried calling her.”

Anna sighed and hit the redial button. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen when Lexi finally got there, but she knew that she wasn’t excited to find out. All she got from this whole thing was a bad feeling.

After the third ring, there was a clicking sound on the other end of the line, and Lexi’s voice whispered, “Hello?”

“Lexi!” Anna said into the phone, shocked to hear her friend’s voice. “I need you to come here. I need your help with something.”

“I’m a little busy right now, Anna,” Lexi replied in a lowered voice, as though she were afraid that someone would overhear their conversation. “Mary-Kate went crazy and had Gabe kidnap me.”

“What? Mary-Kate kidnapped you?” Anna asked, her eyes darting over in Greg’s direction. A curious look crossed over his face.

“Yeah. Well, technically, she had Gabe kidnap me,” Lexi said, “but it was all her doing from what I understand. In any case, I guess my dad had her mother moved out of her nursing home. I have no idea why, though.”

“Lexi, where are you?” Anna asked, mostly because she was concerned about her friend and what was going on. Even though Greg Lawrence was crazy, from what she understood, Mary-Kate was just as crazy—if not crazier. Mary-Kate had tried hard to end Lexi’s life in the 1800s, but she hadn’t been successful. Anna was worried that she might somehow succeed tonight, though.

“We’re on the way to Chester Ave,” Lexi replied. In a more urgent voice, she said, “Look, Anna, I have to go. I’ll try to get in touch with you soon. I’m sorry I can’t help you out with whatever it is you needed.”

“It’
s okay,” Anna replied, as she ended the call and shoved her phone back inside her pocket. She looked up at Greg Lawrence. “Ben Hunter had your wife moved out of the nursing home. That’s why the nurses said she was sleeping when we stopped by earlier tonight. She wasn’t actually there.”

“How dare they? Those
morons,” Greg said, shaking his head. “Don’t they realize that, as town mayor, I have the power to have them fired? I guess they’ll find that out soon once their asses are out of a job.” He glanced down at Anna. “Where did Lexi say they were going?”

Anna hesitated. She wasn’t sure if she should tell Greg where Lexi had said they were going. She didn’t want him to try to go there and find her, but . . . if she didn’t tell him, he might try to kill Austin. Once that thought crossed her mind, it didn’t take her long to say, “They’re going to Chester Ave.”

“Then, let’s go,” Greg said. As Anna rose to her feet and started for the door, Greg motioned for Austin to follow them.

When Austin came up alongside Anna, he took her hand and gave it a tiny squeeze. She squeezed his hand back, trying to convey the same message that she was pretty sure he had just conveyed to her: everything was going to be okay tonight.

*

As Caroline pulled the car onto Chester Ave and Kevin climbed out of her car, a second car parallel parked in front of them. The bright light from the headlights blinded Kevin, so he didn’t get a chance to see who was inside the car until the doors were flung open and three people climbed out.

Kevin instantly recognized Austin and Anna, who both had worried looks on their faces until they saw Dan.

“Dan! Caroline! Gabe!” Anna said, breathing a sigh of relief. “I’ve missed you all so much. Have you guys heard what happened to Lexi?”

Dan nodded. “Yeah, that’s why we’re here. We think she’s inside this apartment right now.” He motioned to the right side of a townhouse that stood in front of them. When he saw the driver of the car, his breath caught in the back of his throat. “Mayor Lawrence. What are
you
doing here?”

The mayor shot a glare in Dan’s direction. “That’s really none of your business. Lucky for you, there’s so
mething I want here. If you don’t mind, I need to fetch my wife—and Lexi. I don’t really have time to deal with you right now.”

Kevin heard Dan start to say something else, but before he could get a word in edgewise, the mayor had already climbed up the front steps and kicked
his way in the door.

Anna, Austin, and Dan all dashed up the steps, following close behind the mayor. Caroline stayed close behind them, and Kevin followed all of them into the house last.

The house was dark inside, but even through the dim lighting, Kevin noticed the sickly-looking woman who was lying on the couch. Her eyes were shut, like she was sleeping, and a man who Kevin assumed was Lexi’s father sat in a chair alongside her.

“All you need to do is let Lexi, Erica, and Connor go,” Ben Hunter was saying. “If you do that, I’ll let you take your mother back home or wherever you want. I just want my kids back.”

Mary-Kate hesitated. “Why should I do something like that for you? You never did anything for me. I was your child, too. Actually, let me rephrase that. I
am
your child, too, but you never gave two shits about me. It was always about Lexi and Erica and Connor. Why didn’t you care about me?”

Ben gave Mary-Kate a sad smile. “Because I always knew what you were capable of
, Mary-Kate. I knew that somewhere, behind your pretty smile and your good grades, there was a crazy, deranged girl. You were beyond help, Mary-Kate, and it was out of my hands.”

Mary-Kate eyed him f
uriously before looking up at Kevin, who just entered the room. “Gabe, you’re finally out of the bathroom. I want you to do what we talked about.
Now
.”

Kevin narrowed his eyes at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mary-Kate.”

Mary-Kate rolled her eyes at me. “Don’t play dumb with me. You’ve been cooperating with me all day. Let’s not change that now, or I’ll lock you in that room without blood again, the way I did after I found you in that fire.”

Kevin raised his eyebrows. “You found me in the fire? At Huntington?”

“Umm, duh,” Mary-Kate replied, rolling her eyes at him. “Geez, what has gotten into you? Temporary amnesia or something?”

A nauseous feeling formed in the pit of Kevin’s stomach. This meant the one thing that he hoped couldn’t be true. Gabe was still alive.

“What’s wrong, Gabe?” Lexi asked, her forehead wrinkling with confusion.

“Nothing,” Kevin mumbled, shaking his head. “I’ll be right back.” He headed up the stairs, where he assumed the bathroom would be. That must have been where Gabe was at that very moment, since Mary-Kate
had seemed to think that he’d come back from the bathroom.

As he rounded the corner, the door was flung open and Gabe stepped into the hallway. A horrified look crossed his face. “Kevin,” he said. “What are you doing here?”

“I was just wondering the same thing, brother,” Kevin shot back at him. “I guess you didn’t burn to death in that fire, after all.”

“No thanks to you,” Gabe replied, shaking his head. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back downstairs. I have to protect Lexi and her brother and sister.”

Kevin laughed and took a step forward, blocking Gabe’s path. “I don’t think so, Gabe. I want to finish what I started.”

“Kevin, move out of my way,” Gabe insisted, keeping his voice at a cool, even level. “I need to
be down there. It’s important.”

“No, Gabe. I’m going to kill you, just like I planned to from the beginning,” Kevin said, scanning the room for something—anything—that he could use like a stake to stab his brother through the chest. He noticed a broomstick that hung on the wall in decorativ
e display. Deciding that it would do, he reached for it.

“Gabe?” a voice called from behind them.

Kevin glanced over his shoulder to find Caroline staring back at him. Actually, she wasn’t staring back at just him. She was staring back at both him
and
Gabe. A look of horror crossed her face when she seemed to register what she was seeing.

“There are two of you?” Caroline whispered.

Chapter 25

“Yes, there are two of us, Caroline,” Gabe said. “I was the one who you met in the very beginning. I’m the
real
Gabe. This guy is my twin brother, Kevin. He’s the one who you’ve been with ever since that day at Huntington when the fire burned down the school.” He paused before adding, “Kevin tried to kill me in that fire.”

Caroline’s eyes widened. “I haven’t been with you this whole time, Gabe?”

Gabe shook his head. “No. I don’t know what exactly has happened since I’ve been gone, but I do know that you spent all of this time with Kevin and none of it with me. You have to trust me on this.”

“I trust you,” Caroline whispered. She narrowed her eyes at Kevin. “Why did you make me believe you were Gabe?”

“I guess it’s too late for me to try to cover this up anymore,” Kevin replied. “I wanted to take over Gabe’s life. I wanted to get rid of Kevin Marshall and be Gabe. Of course, things don’t always go according to plan.” He turned to Caroline. “It’s not too late for my plan to work, though. Everyone can still believe that I’m the real Gabe Marshall. All it’s going to take is for me to kill you. Both of you.”

Caroline took a step backwards and it looked like she wanted to scream, but before she got the chance, Kevin leapt forward and clamped his hand over her mouth. “Be quiet, bitch!” he hissed at her. “I’ll make this as painless for you as possible, just as long as you cooperate with me.”

Gabe moved forward, trying to figure out what to do. He knew that he had to do something to help Caroline, but he also didn’t want to move too quickly and piss Kevin off. Gabe wanted to catch him by surprise; it would be better if his brother wasn’t prepared for what was going to happen next.

If only Gabe had followed a piece of advice that Anna had once given him—that he should always carry a stake and matches around with him everywhere.

“Ouch! You bit me, you bitch!” Kevin hissed into Caroline’s ear, but he didn’t take his hand off her mouth even once. Hugging her body close to him, he reached for a broomstick on the wall.

Before Kevin had it in his grasp, Gabe reached over and grabbed the broomstick from him. He held it in his hands for a moment, trying to determine the best angle from which to shove it through Kevin’s heart.

Just as Gabe was about to launch it through Kevin’s back, the broomstick was torn out of his hands, and Kevin held it over his head. He released Caroline, who ran down the steps and screamed something, but Gabe wasn’t paying attention to what she was screaming. All he knew was that his brother had the upper hand this time and, unlike the last the time, Gabe could really die if Kevin shoved the broomstick through his chest.

“I’m going to kill Caroline, Gabe,” Kevin said, sneering. “And I’m going to drink from Lexi. Hopefully I’ll be able to stop, or I might end up killing her,
too. What do you think of that.”

Gabe stared at his brother, but he didn’t say a word. As Kevin inched closer to him, Gabe punched him in the stomach.

“That didn’t hurt, you asshole,” Kevin snapped at him, “Not as much as I’m going to hurt you, at least.”

Gabe heard the sound of footsteps come from behind them, and he noticed Lexi and Dan’s faces, along with Austin and Anna’s. They all looked incredibly shocked at what they were witnessing; they were all surprised that Gabe had a twin brother.

“What’s going on?” Lexi asked quietly.

“That’s Kevin, Lexi,” Gabe said, pointing his chin at his brother. “He’s the one who’s been with Caroline lately. He tried to kill me in a fire, but I didn’t die.” Even if something did happen tonight—even if Kevin killed him—at least Lexi and her friends would know the truth.

“It’s a shame. I would have rather seen you die a torturous death, instead of an easy one like right now,” Kevin said, his fist still raised in the air with the broomstick. “I guess beggars can’t be choosers, though. All that matters is that you die at all.”

Gabe watched as Austin moved forward in one swift movement. Austin knocked the broomstick out of Kevin’s hands, just long enough for Gabe to grab it.

Once he held it in his hands, Gabe acted quickly. He wasn’t about to risk missing his chance to kill Kevin this time. He launched the broomstick through his brother’s chest and watched as his eyes rolled back inside his head, before he keeled over with pain and sunk to the floor. It took a few moments, but his twin’s body quickly turned to dust.