If Looks Could Kill

Of course not. Those twins are dead. They’ve been dead for thirty years.

You didn’t see them dead, did you? You didn’t actually kill them yourself.

No, but—

You trusted someone else to dispose of them. You should have done the job yourself. That way you could have been certain.

They’re dead. They have to be dead.

And if they’re not? What if Jazzy and Reve Sorrell turn out to be those twins?

Then I’ll have no choice but to kill them. No one can ever find out the truth.

Chapter 3

The DNA samples had been taken quickly and easily—just a swab in the mouth. Such a simple thing that would determine if she and Reve Sorrell were indeed sisters. If it turned out to be true—that they were twins—the fact would irrevocably change their lives. Everything she had believed since she was a child would prove to be lies. How could she deal with knowing her aunt Sally had been deliberately lying to her all her life? How was that possible? She knew, deep inside her, that Aunt Sally loved her with all her heart. The two of them shared a mother/daughter bond stronger than most.

Don’t get ahead of yourself. Wait for the results. And even if you two are twins, maybe Aunt Sally will have an explanation as to why she never told you about having a sister.

But could there be a good reason for throwing away a baby, for tossing her into a Dumpster and leaving her for dead?

The few times since she’d met Reve that she’d brought up the subject to Aunt Sally, her aunt had sworn to her that Corrine Talbot had given birth to only one child, one baby girl, and that baby was Jazzy.

“I’m told we should have the results within a week,” Galvin MacNair said as he walked with them into the waiting room. He smiled warmly at Jazzy and then at Reve. “Your paying for a private lab to do the test will speed things up immeasurably.”

“What good is money if you can’t use it?” Reve said, but she didn’t smile.

Jazzy had been raised dirt poor, watching Aunt Sally scratch and scrape for every dime, so she’d grown up thinking all of life’s problems could be solved with money. She had longed to be rich. Rich like the Uptons and the MacKinnons, Cherokee County’s two families worth multi-millions. There had been a time when her dream had been to marry Jamie Upton, the heir to a vast fortune, but that dream had never come true. Thank God!

Jamie’s wealth had not made him happy, and it certainly hadn’t helped make him a better man than those without so much money. He’d been a heartless bastard. And now here she was practically engaged to his cousin, the new heir to the Upton fortune. But Caleb McCord was as different from Jamie as night from day. He hadn’t been raised in the lap of luxury, hadn’t even known about his mother’s wealthy family when he’d grown up on the streets of Memphis. But now he’d been crowned the heir apparent by his grand- parents—by Big Jim and Miss Reba. As much as she wanted to believe that Caleb’s new station in life wouldn’t change him, she lived in fear that it would.

Jazzy glanced at Reve and wondered if she was happy with all her millions. She sure didn’t act like a happy person. To her way of thinking, her might-be twin was an uptight, bossy snob. How was it possible that two people who shared the same genes were nothing alike?

But looking at Reve, Jazzy once again got that guttightening reaction. The woman was her spitting image. Except for a few minor differences. Reve was slightly taller, maybe fifteen or twenty pounds heavier and she didn’t wear green-colored contacts over her brown eyes or dye her auburn hair a bright red.

“You’ll call us the minute you receive the results,” Reve said, her words a commanding statement, not a question.

“I certainly will,” Dr. MacNair assured her.

“Thank you.” Reve shook hands with Galvin, then turned to leave.

“Thanks,” Jazzy added and rushed to catch up with her sister.

Damn, don’t do this. She’d already begun thinking of Reve Sorrell as her sister. And it was apparent to anyone with the least bit of perception that the last thing Ms. Sorrell wanted was to find out she was biologically linked to a person like Jazzy Talbot.

“Hold up, will you?” Jazzy grabbed Reve’s arm just as she headed out the door of the Cherokee Pointe Clinic.

Reve skewered her with a narrowed gaze. “What?”

“Are you staying in town until we get the results or—”

“I’m staying.”

Jazzy released her hold on Reve’s arm. “Where?”

“I reserved one of your cabins.”

Jazzy shrugged. “I see. You could have stayed with me.” “I didn’t want to inconvenience you.” Reve wasn’t a very good liar. Just a hint of color darkened her cheeks. Jazzy knew right away that her look-alike hadn’t even entertained the idea of staying with her.

“If you need anything while you’re here—”

“I think we need to become better acquainted,” Reve said. “Perhaps we should have lunch together today and figure out the best way to approach this problem.”

Jazzy swung open the door and held it. “You first.”

Just as Reve exited the clinic and set foot on the sidewalk, Jazzy directly behind her, she came face to face with the one person in Cherokee Pointe she’d told Jazzy she hoped she would never see again.

Jacob Butler, all six-feet, five-inches of him, blocked Reve’s path. The man’s size alone was intimidating, but adding to his tough-guy image were the hard, chiseled features, the pensive green eyes and the long black hair. His appearance screamed dangerous savage.

“Morning, Jacob.” Jazzy tried to control the grin spreading across her face. She glanced from Reve to Jacob. She wasn’t sure whose expression conveyed more shocked dismay. These two had despised each other on sight when they’d met back last spring. “You remember Reve Sorrell, don’t you?”

Jacob tipped his Stetson. “Ma’am.”

Reve’s spine stiffened. “Sheriff.”

When Jacob tried to walk past them, Jazzy jumped in front of him. “What’s your hurry?”

“I need to talk to Dr. MacNair. I’ve got an appointment.”

“Are you sick?”

“You sure are nosey,” Jacob said.

“You know me—always concerned about my fellow man.”

Jacob’s lips twitched in a hint of a smile. Ever since they’d been kids, she’d been able to make Jacob smile, even when Genny couldn’t. And he loved Genny more than anybody on earth, her being his cousin who’d been raised like a sister to him.

“I’m setting up a time for flu shots for all my employees,” Jacob explained. “It’s getting to be that time of year. With the small force I have at the sheriff’s department, I can’t afford to have anybody laid up with the flu for a week.”

“I hear your staff is going to be decreasing by one pretty soon,” Jazzy said. “Just as soon as Tewanda gets her law degree and passes the bar.”

Jacob nodded. “Yeah, and we’re all right proud of her, but we’re sure going to miss her. She’s been a topnotch deputy.”

“Hey, if you’re not doing anything special for lunch today, why don’t you come over to Jasmine’s and join Reve and me.” She swallowed a chuckle and clamped her teeth together to keep from laughing out loud. “We’re going to get acquainted. You know . . . just in case we turn out to be sisters. You could fill her in on what I was like as a kid. And you could give her some insight into me as a woman.” She turned to Reve. “You know Jacob and I even dated for a while, and I’m here to tell you that this man”—Jazzy wound her arm around Jacob’s arm—“is one great kisser.”

Reve gasped. Jazzy laughed. Jacob seared Jazzy with his tight gaze.

“Ah, lighten up, you two,” Jazzy told them. “Relax. I’m just having some fun with y’all.”