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ChapterTwenty-Three
2weeks later
Solo
“I found him, and you won’t believe who it is!” Jabarri announces as my brothers, and I are eating breakfast. He comes charging down the hall into the kitchen. When he slides the picture of my abductor across the table, I look at him in disbelief.
“This has to be a mistake! Are you sure?”
“He is at every instance of the thefts!”
“But why? And where is he now?”
“I don’t know. It’s like he’s disappeared,” Jabarri says, frustrated.
“We let him slip through our fingers,” Atlas states, as frustrated as Jabarri.
“There was no way we could have known. But now that we do...” Josh’s phone ringing interrupts him and he walks away to take the call.
“We have to go to New Orleans,” Josh says without preamble.
“For what?” Atlas asks.
“Apparently there is a real estate construction company owner bidding on contracts by the name of Joseph Gideon.”
“The fuck?” I yell.
“That was Todd Betancourt, letting me know that he had a meeting with the guy thinking it was you and someone else walked in his office. He continued with the meeting as if he had no clue that he wasn’t Joseph and called us as soon as the guy left. We should get over there; it’s just about an hour. If we are lucky, we can catch him in the act,” Josh explains. We load into our SUV’s and head to the big easy.
“Josh, how are you? I see you brought the whole team with you,” Todd says as he shakes hands with us. “Imagine my surprise when a guy who was not you walked in my office pretending to be you. I called you guys as soon as the meeting was over.”
“We appreciate that, Todd. Is this the guy you met with?”
“Yes, although he’s changed his appearance since this picture. He looks a little like Joseph, hair long, even the tattoos. If I didn’t know you guys, I might have believed him. He knew so much about you.”
When Todd says this, I think back on him asking me all those questions that seemed like they didn’t make sense, but now it makes all the sense in the world. We talk a little more with Todd and head outside to the cars. Jabarri boots up his computer and taps into all the available cameras in the area.
“There he is,” he says. Jabarri is able to backtrack him to the apartment he is living in. When we get there, the Super tells us it is being rented by Joseph Gideon; he paid six months upfront, so he didn’t ask many questions or require much in the way of documentation. He also confirmed what Todd said concerning his hair and tattoos. I can’t believe this; he has taken my name and is trying to live my life? The apartment is empty except for a bed, nightstand, tv stand, and a mirror. There is nothing personal in the apartment. The closet holds a couple of suits that looks like a few I have; this must be what he spent his severance on. But there is no sign of him.
We ask the Super to call us if and when he returns and provide him with our number. We get in the SUVs and head back to Mississippi. If he comes back to that apartment, we’ll head back. It seems like we stay one step behind, even though we know who it is. However it’s only a matter of time until we run him to the ground. I wonder what prompted him to do this, to abduct me, and then try to assume my life. It is obvious he is a few sandwiches short of a picnic, if he thought my brothers wouldn’t notice. We are very well known in our line of business, too well-known for him to try to be me without anyone noticing. I was able to get Joyce the answers she has had all her life and I am going to make sure I get my answers too.
Joy
It’s been a couple of weeks since Solo found out who took him, and they still have not been able to catch him. I will be glad when they do and this whole ordeal is over so he can relax. I hate seeing him so worried all the time. No one goes anywhere alone. It was like that before, but it is worse now and Solo picks me up every day from the office and drops me off every morning. I am at the office waiting on him now; T left to go to the hospital once she got a call from a nurse saying Angela was there because she had a minor accident. She didn’t want to leave me, but I know Solo is on his way and everyone else was already gone so I locked up and went to my office to wait for my ride. I might as well get some work done while I wait, but my mind keeps drifting back to last night and this morning. I am glad Brooklyn no longer stays in the guest bedroom anymore. She still comes to check on Solo, but he does not need as much close care as he did before. Things have almost gotten back to normal, everything except catching this guy.
Solo
I get to Joy’s office, and there are no cars in the parking lot, and I get a little worried. The front door is locked, and I have to use my key to get in. I pass through the store and make my way back through the manufacturing plant to the offices. I hear music playing, causing a smile to stretch across my face thinking of her with her little glasses on working and dancing in her chair. I open her door and freeze.
“You’re bold,” I say as I look at the man sitting behind Joyce’s desk.
“I’ve been called worse. Have a seat, Joseph. We have a lot to discuss. Oh, before you do, pass me your gun. We wouldn’t want our conversation to be cut short now, would we?” I reach in my holster and pass it to him. He takes it and uses it to wave to the seat, and I sit in the chair directly across from him. “Nice piece,” he says looking at the gun.
“You’ve led us on a pretty long and drawn-out chase. Your electronic skills rival my brother’s. I am sure you could have just disappeared. So why come back? Why use my name?” I ask, genuinely curious.
“I had no intention of doing any of that. I was just going to pass through until I ran up on the real owner of my former identity. He was bragging about this new job he landed and what a great opportunity it was, and I thought why not? So, I sabotaged his car and when he broke down, I was there to help. Well, help myself to his identity. He wasn’t going to be able to use it anymore, so I stepped in. And guess what? He was right; it was a great opportunity and a great job. You and your brothers really treat your employees well, and I thought I had finally found a me that fits. You have no idea how many identities I have tried on and none really fit until that one. I was happy with it until I got to work with you and see the relationship you have with your brothers, and once again I thought why not? I have never seen a group of brothers as close as you guys are, and I wanted to experience that. I had a few people tell me I look like your twin so I figured all I needed was to get you out of the way and I could step into your life. The house fell on you like I planned, allowing me to take you so I could learn some things about you before I could be you completely. But well, I got a little overzealous with the cutting, so you got hurt more than I anticipated. Plus, your brother showed up unexpectedly, so I went to plan B. Isn’t that what you always tell us? Have a plan B? Well, I did. It was hard work to take over all those cameras, but I did it. It comes easy for our brother Jabarri, but it’s a lot of hard work for me. But I persevered and was able to get you out of the hospital with relative ease. Your brother is a true blood hound and came close a few times to discovering me. BUT YOU!!! Aww man I really underestimated you! You were able to get out of my houseboat and swim to freedom even being as hurt as you were. I was equally pissed off and impressed.”
I sit there looking at this guy like he’s a psychopath because he is. How in the hell did he expect to just be me? Besides the fact he looks nothing like me, and even if he did, he’s damn near a whole foot shorter than me. Did he think my brothers wouldn’t notice? I am at a loss; he is obviously mentally ill so being rational is out of the question, and where the hell is Joyce?
