“That’s not true,” asserted Mason. “You don’t have a narcissistic bone in your body. You two might share identical DNA, but somehow it operates differently in you. You are nowhere near the person your sister sounds like.”
“But I am!” Ava cried. “I want it all! I want my life to be a fucking piece of cake. I wish I could curl up in bed all day feeling high as a kite and let the world go on around me. Do you know how great that sounds? I wish I had a Mercedes like my neighbor. I feel a stab of envy every time he drives by. I understand how she feels!”
“So do you walk into his house and steal his keys?” Mason snapped. “Hell, no! That’s what’s different about you. That’s what separates you from your twin. You have morals and standards. Everybody wishes they could escape from their shitty life sometimes, but they don’t do it. They get up and go to work and act like decent human beings.”
“But some days I feel so close to that line,” Ava said. “What happens on the day I finally trip and take the plunge?”
“You’re being too hard on yourself. Think about a little kid. What kid doesn’t want to grab that candy bar from the grocery shelf when their mom isn’t looking? Some of them actually do it. But you know what? They learn it’s wrong. They learn to control their impulses. But a few people never learn. They’re the reason we have a job. It sounds like your twin is still a little kid who can’t control her impulses.”
Ava was quiet for a moment. “Jayne used to steal from stores. She’d make me feel guilty because I wouldn’t do the same. I even lied to cover for her.”
“Hell, I stole some shit when I was a kid. My dad beat me over the head, and I never did it again. A lot of kids are tempted. It’s a normal life lesson to learn. The problem happens when someone doesn’t learn. Something in their brain keeps them from understanding right from wrong.”
“I enabled her,” Ava said. “I should have let her get punished. I covered for her all the time. When she didn’t do her homework or when she snuck out with boys. I shouldn’t have done all that. Maybe she’d be a different person.”
“You can’t tell me your sister is in the hospital because you covered for her behavior in high school.” Mason stopped at a traffic light and looked at Ava. “She stole and wrecked your car. There’s no excuse, and I’m not going to let you make one for her. None of what happened today or anytime in her life is your fault. She’s done this to herself.” He stepped on the accelerator, watching Ava out of the corner of his eye. “You have every right to be pissed as hell.”
“Oh, I am. That’s why you’re driving. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I can barely see straight.”
“Good. Hang on to that feeling when you confront her.”
“I don’t know what to say to her. I don’t know how badly hurt she is.”
“It doesn’t matter how hurt she is. Get mad at her for hurting herself! She could have killed someone. Her injuries shouldn’t affect what you have to tell her.”
“Argh!” Ava thumped a fist on the car door. “She’s so infuriating. It’s always been like this, and that’s why I stay away from her.”
“So why did you move to Portland? You said she was here first.”
“I thought it would be different. I thought she’d finally grown up. We’d been in different states for several years and our mother had passed, so I thought it was time to be sisters again. I wasn’t here for a week before I realized I was wrong. I’ve tried to talk to her about how she acts. She says I’m full of it.”
“Truth always sounds like lies to a sinner.”
“That’s exactly how she responds. Like I’m lying to her and making things up. I can’t believe I’ve allowed her to do this to me again.”
Mason snorted. “Agent McLane, you’ll be lucky if this is the worst thing you ever have happen to you.” He pulled into a parking space at Emanuel Hospital. Ava leaped out of the vehicle and strode toward the Emergency Room entrance. Mason jogged to catch up with her, and then hung back as she checked in with the desk.
His phone rang. Jake.
“Hey, son. What’s up?”
“Is it okay if I go over to McKenzie’s for a little bit? She couldn’t make it to the vigil and wants to hear about it.”
Mason scowled. “Did you ask your mom?”
“Yeah.”
He waited. “And?”
“She said no.”
“So why are you asking me?” Mason shook his head. Had Jake already forgotten that he might have been face-to-face with Henley’s abductor?
“I haven’t gotten to see her hardly at all. And it’s almost Christmas.”
“Jake. Do you remember your conversation with the FBI today? No one is going anywhere without an agent or a cop with them. Agent McLane is busy this evening, and I don’t think it’s wise to ask one of the Clackamas County deputies to go with you so you can visit with some girl. Got it?”
“She’s not just some girl. I like her—a lot—and this is totally unfair.”
Mason was speechless. But only for two seconds. “What the hell is unfair? That you’re not allowed to wander the streets while there’s a kidnapper possibly targeting your family? That part is unfair?” Anger infused his voice. What was the kid thinking?
Jake wasn’t thinking. His hormones were.
“Whatever.”
“Listen. I get that you like this girl. But that needs to be put on hold. Go play your Xbox or watch a movie. You are not to leave that house tonight. Your mom told you not to, and I’m standing with her. Get over it.”
Jake mumbled something that sounded like good-bye and clicked off.
Mason blew out a breath, sliding his phone back into his pocket. Boys. Jake was thinking with another part of his anatomy, and his parents’ refusals were making him grumpy. And stupid.
Mason glanced around at the waiting room and was surprised at the size of the crowd for eight o’clock at night. It was packed. A TV droned on, set to CNN. A second TV showed kids’ cartoons, but the sound was off. The four kids watching didn’t seem to mind that they couldn’t hear the show.
Ava gestured for him to follow her and a woman in scrubs. They moved down a hall that widened into a larger room with a dozen curtained-off beds. Feet were visible under the curtains around the beds. Some in scrubs and hospital clogs or white sneakers. Visitors obvious in their jeans and street shoes.
“They’re waiting for a bed in the hospital,” Ava said to him in a low voice. “The cops left because they’re keeping her overnight for observation for a bad concussion. Tomorrow, she has to report downtown to be processed for her arrest.” Her voice shook as she ended her sentence.
The nurse stopped at a curtained bed. “Jayne? You’ve got some visitors.” She smiled brightly at Ava and Mason as she whipped back the curtain.
So that’s Jayne McLane. The woman with closed eyes lying in the bed didn’t look anything like Ava. Her hair was a bright blonde, and she seemed paler and bonier. She had a dozen lacerations down the left side of her face and a large bandage on her forehead. Her left wrist and hand were bandaged. Her eyes opened, and the resemblance punched Mason in the stomach. Ava’s eyes stared out of the other woman’s face.
“Ava!” Jayne sniffed and rubbed her nose with her forearm, avoiding her bandages. “I was so scared. I can’t believe this happened!”
Ava stood at the foot of the bed, staring at her sister, her face unreadable.
Jayne held out her good hand for her sister to take. Ava didn’t move. Jayne glanced at Mason and back to her stiff sister, her gaze confused. She let her arm drop.
“How badly are you hurt?” Ava asked.
“Well,” Jayne gestured at her head. “I think you can see most of it. I sprained my hand on the steering wheel, and they say I have a bad concussion. I don’t hurt too bad right now.”
Her glassy eyes told Mason she was enjoying some potent painkillers.
“Were you drunk?” Ava asked.
Jayne looked away. “Not really. I’m sure my test will come back—”
“How much did you drink?” Ava’s words sliced through the air.
“I don’t know!” Jayne yelled back. “I can’t remember.” She gritted her teeth as she stared at her twin.
Mason took a half step backward. The tension around the bed was stifling. If Jayne was expecting some sympathy from her twin, it wasn’t coming.
“You stole my keys out of my purse this morning.”
Jayne jerked her head like she’d been slapped. “No, I didn’t.”
“Then how did you wreck my car?”
Jayne burst into tears. “Jesus Christ, Ava! You don’t have to yell at me. I’m hurt! I have a concussion and have to stay in the hospital.”
“You. Stole. My. Car.”
Jayne sniffed. “You have no sympathy for me at all. How can you be such a bitch at a time like this? I mean, the car is insured, right?”
Mason blinked. Ava hadn’t been exaggerating.
“You stole my car. You drove it drunk. You wrecked it, and you hit another car. You’re lucky you didn’t kill someone! You’re probably going to jail for drunk driving. And if I feel like it, you’ll be charged with stealing my Honda, too!” Ava clenched her hands into fists, and Mason rocked onto his toes in case he had to stop her from taking a swing at her sister.