[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
Chapter Twenty Four – Once Upon a Twin – or What Went Down on the Beach (As told by Angel)

As the door closed behind me, I felt a chill creep down my spine. It was a good thing that I had dabbled in acting; I didn’t want anyone to know how truly scared I was. My hands clung to the stroller and I began to walk down the beach. The hoodie was hindering my perception. I felt as if at any moment I was going to be yanked backwards. The suspense was worse than any horror movie I had ever seen.

I tried to walk at an even pace, one that wouldn’t give away or jumpy I truly was. I gazed down the stretch of beach; my eyes zeroed in on the large trash drum where Nick said he would hide. The vision of the gun tucked into his jeans made me blanch.

In order to play up the moment as much as possible, I leaned over the stroller and checked on “Brooklyn.” Small black beady eyes peered out from under the blanket before I tucked it back up.

The beach was deserted. Nick had always relished the thought of a private strip of beach; it seemed like that was coming back to bite him in the butt. His other neighbors were spread far apart and if they were enjoying a day outside they were most likely lounging on the large yacht floating out in the ocean.

Even though Nick had prepared me for the attack, I still let out a surprised yell when I heard the heavy footsteps behind me. I took off at a run, pushing the stroller along as fast as possible. My goal was to get as near the drum as possible. As I neared it, I turned my head to look behind me. Nick had described Hunter and I knew without a doubt it was him. Liv’s ex had at least a hundred pounds on me and I had a pretty good lead. I passed the drum, feeling as if at least one thing had gone right so far.

As I passed the drum, I whirled around, my chest heaving from adrenaline. Hunter was steps away from the drum when Nick jumped out, the gun aimed. He fired off a shot.

It missed Hunter by miles, but it had served its purpose. Hunter’s focus shifted to Nick. With an angry yell, he charged at Nick. Nick didn’t have time to sidestep him; I actually heard the impact. Little clouds of sand flew up as Nick landed hard on his back. If he was hurt; he was oblivious to the pain. Nick’s strength gave him a momentary advantage and he managed to wrestle out from under Hunter’s bulk and stand. Hunter wasted no time; one moment he was on the ground and the next I saw him head butt Nick square in the stomach. They crashed into the water, fists flying.

I was so preoccupied by watching the struggle play out that I didn’t see Aaron. One minute I was alone with the stroller on the beach and the next moment there he was beside me. I let out a gasp as his hands grabbed my waist, pulling me off the beach walk into the more unstable sand.

We had often wrestled when we were younger. I had always won. Aaron was stronger than me, but he had one fatal flaw in his execution. With a simple twist of my head and hips I broke free of his lock. He was unprepared for the move. He reached out and grabbed the first thing he came into contact with.

Unfortunately that thing was my hoodie.

The hood flew away from my face. I turned around, trying to ignore the tightening of the hood strings around my neck. My eyes met Aaron’s. His eyes widened in shock. With his free hand he pulled the stroller to him. He yanked the blanket away and saw the teddy bear. A thousand unspoken things flashed across his face; his eyes sparked with fear.

“Aaron what are you doing?” I whispered. He let go of my hood. His eyes darted left and right. I could still hear Nick and Hunter splashing around in combat.

“Angel how could you?” he answered, his voice cracking.

“How could I? You’re trying to kidnap your own brother’s fiancée and daughter! And what for? Drugs?”

“You wouldn’t understand,” he said bitterly. He yanked at his hair in frustration.

I studied his face. A long jagged scar ran along his hair line. His cheeks were hollow; his eyes had a deadened remote look.

“How did you become…this?” I said. “Aaron, I want to understand.”

“It all got too big too fast,” he mumbled. “I just liked the rush of getting high. I loved the girls, the attention. It just got so I needed more. I always need more.”

He shook his head as if inner demons were screaming at him.

“I’m too deep into it to get out now. It would have been okay if it wasn’t for Cozumel. Nick got himself involved. He deserves to be punished just as much as I do.”

“Aaron, please,” I begged him. “As your sister, you just need to turn yourself in. You’ve hurt so many people. Do you realize that your wife is missing?”

“She’s not missing. She’s dead.”

“Dead?” My mouth felt like cotton.

“Aaron, what about the model in Canada?”

“How do you know about that?”

“I was there.”

He ran a hand down his face. “Fucking, shit.”

“Aaron these are human lives we’re talking about.”

“She was a crack head with a hot body. She went to the highest bidder. Just like Maile.”

I felt like I was going to vomit. I knew I was staring at my twin brother; but at the moment he seemed like an absolute stranger.

“Well, I guess we fucked up your plan. What are you going to do take me?”

He looked surprised. “What?”

“You can’t leave empty-handed. C’mon,” I goaded, stepping closer to him. “If you’re such a badass why not sell or kill off your sister? You don’t give a shit about your brother, why should you give a shit about me?”

I don’t know where I got my courage. For one ridiculous moment I felt like BJ; my emotions were overruling my common sense. I knew I couldn’t fix him and that made me beyond angry. I was out of control. My hands pushed hard into his chest. He stumbled back; a mask of rage shadowed his face.

“Angel, you don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” he said. The last inch of space between us disappeared. I stood my ground. The salt of my tears burned my eyes.

“I know one thing,” I said. “I can’t believe I shared a womb with you. I wish you were dead.”

By this time I had killed a good deal of time but I still didn’t hear any police sirens and the beach was still deserted. Aaron looked at me and for one split second I saw the baby face of my cohort in crime. Then the coldness crept back in. He grabbed my arms and shook me like a ragdoll. As I struggled against him, I saw a knife strapped to his waist and a gun against his leg. For one split second, I truly did think he was going to kill me. Then all of a sudden I was airborne, falling hard on the sand. Aaron streaked across the beach. I was sure he was going to disappear into thin air again when about ten men and women dressed in black came from all directions. Aaron ran right into the path of four FBI agents. Another two were heading towards the water, guns drawn.

I sat on the sand in shock as Hunter was yanked back up onto the beach; Nick waded in the surf and sank onto the sand momentarily. He took several minutes to catch his breath and then looked around. He caught my eye.

He gave me a thumbs up, but it disappeared as we heard the sound of a gunshot from the house. Nick’s hands sank into the sand as he scrambled up. He tore off his shirt to relieve himself of some of the weight of waterlogged clothes and took off towards the house.

I couldn’t seem to find the energy to move. I watched as Hunter was handcuffed and lead down the beach. Aaron was face down on the sand being patted down. I saw an officer pulling out his knife and gun and several large bags.

“Are you okay ma’am?”

I looked up into a kind weathered face. He took out his badge and showed it to me.

“Agent Tanner, FBI. Are you okay?”

I nodded. “I’m…I’m okay.”

I burst into tears.

I had just lost my brother all over again.

--------------------------------------------

By the time I was lead to the house, the place was swarming with people. The gunshot that Nick and I had heard had come from an FBI agent. The officer Nick had gone to with information on Aaron had actually been working with him. Even with us trying to protect her, Liv had actually been in more danger than Nick and I. She sat on the couch in Nick’s embrace. She had a glazed look on her face.

“Is she okay?” I asked Nick. My voice sounded emotionless. I felt absolutely drained. He looked up and nodded. He tossed me a key.

“Brooke’s in the recording studio. Can you check on her?”

I nodded and headed through the house. The hallway to the recording studio was the only quiet place in the entire house. I unlocked the door and instantly heard the loud frightened cries. I scooped Brooklyn out of the bassinet and brought her close to me.

There’s something about the smell of baby powder and the look of pure innocence on an infant’s face that’s therapeutic. I sat in the control room and prepared a bottle of formula. Her cries disappeared as I stuck the bottle in her mouth and watched as Brooke’s eyes drooped in contentment. Her little hand rested over mine.

My head was spinning. I had known that Aaron wasn’t dead. But it hadn’t been enough. At the root of my distress was the fact that the entire Carter family had let Aaron destroy himself. Out of everyone, I felt like I carried the most blame. I should have called him more often; I shouldn’t have brushed off his requests for a visit or two. We had shared everything from birthdays to lost teeth to driver’s licenses. If I could do it all over again, what would I have changed? What would have happened if he had felt he had a place to turn?

Shoulda, woulda, coulda…

Another tear cascaded down my cheek. I knew what I had done was right. There was no other way to end the hell Nick had been living through.

So why didn’t that make me feel any better?