Undercover Twin. Heather Woodhaven

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СКАЧАТЬ badge was Audrey’s photo, the one she’d sent in for registration. Her heart pumped so hard she started to shiver. No wonder the organizers thought she’d already registered. She took a small step back. “You’ve stolen my identity.”

      “I didn’t steal anything.” The woman almost shouted it.

      That was exactly what she’d want everyone to think. And Audrey had let this man—this Lee—lead her toward a van in the alley. To take her to who knew where to do who knows what... She would not end up like the other man, cold and lifeless, without a fight.

      Audrey took several more steps backward, eyes trained on the two of them, as she slipped her hand into her purse. Oh, yeah. The tactical flashlight was no longer there. Her phone would have to do. Her thumb tried to find the home button by feel.

      Lee held his hands up as if in surrender. “We’re not stealing anyone’s identity. We’re federal agents. You walked in and ruined our operation tonight.”

      If that was the case, why was one of the supposed agents wearing her name with her photo on it? “Are you trying to tell me this is all a coincidence?” The statistical probability that would happen would be astronomical.

      “I don’t believe in coincidences.” Kendra pointed to Audrey’s stomach. “Were you hit?” When Audrey didn’t answer fast enough, she turned to Lee. “Was she hit? I took out the shooter.”

      Audrey put her hand over her chest. “Why do both of you even have to ask? I think I would know if I’d been shot.” Maybe it was a stalling tactic while they regrouped to attack her.

      Kendra’s high heels clicked as she ran to peek around the corner of the brick alley. “The adrenaline can mask it for a little—”

      “Yeah, I told her.” Lee kept his hand on the handle of the gun on his holster. “Look, we see blood. It’s a natural question.” He turned toward the other woman. “I think the blood is Adam’s. He was gone by the time I reached them.”

      Kendra returned, but she kept her hand on her gun and her eyes trained on Audrey. She groaned and dropped her shoulders. “He was a good man, not to mention our best chance. I think the shooter came alone, but we shouldn’t wait around. A team is on the way to sweep the grounds before the conference attendees are released.” She put a hand over her chest and sucked in a sharp breath.

      Audrey had made the same gesture, the same sound even, a second earlier. Chills rushed up her spine.

      “Let’s get to the most immediate question.” Lee’s head swiveled back and forth between them before resting on Kendra. “Is it possible you two are related? Weren’t you adopted?”

      “Yeah, but—”

      Audrey found herself nodding. “Born October—”

      “Seventh,” Kendra finished.

      Wait. They’d both been adopted? So it was theoretically possible she had a twin. A real life, flesh-and-blood relative? She studied Kendra again, this time with new eyes. She had a sister?

      It was like discovering that all of Audrey’s wildest dreams could’ve already been true if she’d just exercised more, shopped better or taken the right vitamins. The evidence stood right in front of her. Audrey could have obtained great skin, shiny hair, gleaming teeth, a smaller waist and, not only been able to run in high-heeled boots, but also look self-assured while taking down bad guys and making the world a better place.

      That federal agent could’ve been her.

      Audrey bit her lip and focused on the sensation so she could stay in the present moment. “You really think we could be—”

      “—twins.”

      They both said the word at the same time. Their voices reverberated in the same pitch, the same inflection, as if slamming the truth into her brain through both ears.

      Lee shook his head. “Whoa.”

      Kendra’s eyes rolled back, her eyelids flickering, and crumpled to the ground. Her head hit the edge where grass met pavement. Audrey and Lee both vaulted to her side.

      “Did she faint?” Audrey grabbed her wrist to feel for a pulse. A drop of blood rolled across her fingers.

      Lee exhaled. “She’s been shot.”

      No. Her throat burned. She couldn’t find out she had a twin sister only to lose her a second later.

      * * *

      One for the books. The thought kept running through Lee’s brain as he maneuvered full-speed to the closest hospital with Kendra and her possible twin behind him in the back of the gutted van. There was no entry in the field manual for finding out your partner had a twin, something the Bureau should’ve already known.

      Meanwhile, Audrey chattered a mile a minute. She rattled off questions faster than his brain could compute, but he ignored them for the moment out of necessity. There would be time to figure things out after they got Kendra into the hands of medical professionals. “Just keep pressure on the wound.”

      “Which one?”

      It hadn’t taken them long to find a bullet had impaled the back of Kendra’s shoulder and remained in there somewhere. The back of her black shirt had been drenched in blood, but the impact her head took when hitting the sidewalk’s edge couldn’t be dismissed. He imagined Kendra knew she’d been shot before demanding to know if Audrey had taken a bullet. It figured Kendra wouldn’t admit she needed help. She always acted as if she didn’t even have a partner, determined to be a one-woman, superundercover FBI agent.

      Lee pulled off his jacket with one hand while on a straight stretch of street and threw it behind him. “Put pressure on both, if you can. Use this for the head wound. I think that’s probably more important.”

      Lee pulled up to the Emergency entrance and glanced in the rearview mirror. Audrey’s reflection startled him. Identical features, yes, but the expression in her eyes, flashing emotion, proved she was different than Kendra. “Audrey, I need you to run in and tell them your sister has been shot. No more, no less. I need to find her identification.”

      Mercifully, Audrey didn’t ask any questions as she pulled the door handle open and darted out the side door. He turned off the van and removed the keys. He found the hidden latch underneath the console and opened it to reveal a lock. In the space of ten seconds, he removed and chose the most unused credentials for Kendra. Until he knew what they were dealing with, remaining in deep cover seemed the safest course of action, for all parties involved.

      He climbed into the back of the van and stored her gun in the storage compartment underneath the passenger seat. “Sorry, Kendra. If you can hear me, I’m just getting your phone. Help is on the way.” He slipped her phone from her pocket as the automatic sliding doors to the hospital slid open once more.

      Two women and one man, all in gray medical scrubs, darted past Audrey’s pointing finger to the van. Two others pushed a gurney behind them. At the last second, Lee removed the conference badge—the one with Audrey’s name displayed—from Kendra’s neck, stuffed it into his pocket and stepped out of the van.

      Lee rattled off the two wound locations before the staff could ask. The attendants nodded as they counted and moved СКАЧАТЬ