Not the name in the warrant. Not the name I’d had in my mouth all night. Jade.
I faced Crystal again. “Turn your head.”
Jade stepped forward. “Don’t touch her.”
“I’m not touching anyone.”
“Then why do you need her to turn her head?”
“Because your ink drop isn’t in the file.”
Jade froze.
Crystal’s eyes flicked to her sister. Something passed between them, fast and scared.
Then Crystal slowly turned her head.
Her pale hair had already been tucked behind her right ear.
There was no tiny black mark there.
No ink drop. No hidden tattoo. No private dark speck under the hairline where my mouth had been hours ago.
Jade’s hand rose like she meant to cover her own ear, then stopped halfway.
She knew. She knew exactly where I’d seen it and what it meant now.
My chest tightened so hard I almost missed the next breath.
I’d caught the wrong woman.
I’d slept with the wrong woman.
That thought didn’t hold.
I’d slept with the woman who’d lied to me, stolen my truck, and put herself between me and the actual warrant target without a single promise that I’d choose what came next well.
Crystal stood three feet behind her, shaking.
Jade stood in front of her like she’d take the cuffs, the fall, and the whole damned world if it meant Crystal stayed standing.
Every clean professional answer on the job got harder to reach.
I stepped fully into the cabin and let the screen door close behind me. “You’re twins.”
Jade answered flatly. “Yes.”
“Identical.”
“That’s usually how this works.”
“Jade,” Crystal whispered.
Jade’s mouth tightened. “Yes. We’re identical twins.”
“You let me believe you were Crystal.”
“I let you chase me instead of her.”
