Chapter 9 - The Twin Illusion
Adrian dropped the burner phone into the puddle, his mind racing faster than his pounding heart.
If the voice on the phone killed Claire seven years ago, who was the woman in the house?
He ran to the secure elevator and punched in his master override code, descending to his private vault.
The steel doors parted, revealing a sterile, white room filled with safety deposit boxes.
He ignored the millions of dollars in cash and went straight to a small lockbox in the back corner.
He retrieved a thick, dust-covered medical file containing the original autopsy report from Claire’s fatal crash.
Adrian spread the documents across a metal table, desperate for a clue he might have missed in his grief.
He found the dental records and DNA analysis conducted by the corrupt medical examiner he had paid off years ago.
He pulled out his phone and dialed the examiner, a man named Dr. Aris, pulling him out of bed.
“Aris, look at your old files for Claire Vale,” Adrian ordered, pacing the room like a caged animal.
“Mr. Vale, it’s three in the morning,” the doctor stammered nervously over the phone.
“I will rip your throat out if you don't pull the file right now,” Adrian roared.
He heard the sound of shuffling papers on the other end of the line.
“Tell me about her bone structure, specifically her collarbone,” Adrian demanded, remembering how the woman in the hallway had touched her neck.
“Well, the victim in the crash had a healed fracture on her left clavicle,” Aris read aloud.
Adrian stopped pacing.
The real Claire had broken her collarbone falling off a horse when she was a teenager.
The woman he saw today had a perfectly smooth, unblemished neckline when she pulled her dress tight.
“Aris, did Claire have a sibling?” Adrian asked, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
“The DNA showed a genetic anomaly,” Aris confessed quietly. “The victim was an identical twin.”
Adrian realized the woman running the syndicate was a sister Claire had hidden from him her entire life.
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Before Aris could say another word, Adrian heard a wet, choking sound through the speaker.
Aris gagged violently, whispering, “She’s in my house,” before a heavy thud signaled his death.
