Hidden Nature Pg. 3

Chapter II

"Who are you kidding?" Ralph's partner Tom Walker had long suspected that there was something more than mutual friendship between him and Karen.

"Okay, she is very attractive but it's my duty to protect her, not make love to her. Besides, she could be married. How do we know?"

"Let's just say you're a better man than I am, pal."

"Oh, I'm positive of that!"

Tom bellowed out a loud chuckle.

Ralph and Tom had always been in competition over one girl or another. They both saw his fiancée Anna at the same time at a local bar and bet on who could get her number. Although Tom was a blond, with azure blue eyes that most women cooed over, in the end it was Ralph's charm that had won her over.

Anna wasn’t the only woman Tom didn't have a chance to 'steal' from Ralph. From the first day they met, Tom could see that there was a mutual connection between Karen and Ralph. Like they'd known each other all of their lives.

"Tom, I was thinking last night that someone should have recognized her by now. Pictures have been running nationwide, and the press relentlessly reported on the story for almost four months. I don't think she's an American. "

"What do ya mean, she's not American? She speaks English like the rest of us, and she definitely doesn't have a British accent."

"Well, maybe she moved to Canada. Or what if she's Canadian?"

"Ahhh…good thinking. I'll get right on it this afternoon. Oh, by the way, the chief wants you in his office. Something about a twin brother of yours. I didn't know you had a brother?" He added as he turned the corner towards his own desk.

Ralph's eyes darkened. "I don't."

When he opened the door to the chief's office, his charming twin was sitting near his boss's desk chatting about the ball game last weekend. From day one, Ryan had always been the more difficult twin. He took twenty minutes longer to be born after him. He cried nonstop for days on end, while Ralph was quiet and agreeable. Throughout their childhood, Ralph was the good kid. Always the responsible, studious one. But his brother got all the attention. He was his mother's favorite. He could never do wrong. Ironically, that was precisely why he was the conniving criminal he was today.

"Hey big brother! Your boss here says that you absentmindedly forgot to mention you had an identical twin brother. I almost got you fired, bro."

Chief Richardson chuckled. "I got on him about coming to work in khaki's and a POLO shirt and he laughed so hard that I fired you! I guess under the circumstances, I'll hire you back."

Ralph pasted a fake brotherly smile on his face and grudgingly returned a hug from his younger brother.

"So, what brings you here, Ryan? Ran out of gambling money this time? Or do you need money to pay for an underaged girl's abortion?"

"Heh, heh. He always was a little uptight, chief. And a helluva comedian too!!"

"So what do you want?"

"I came to pick up my wife, Jasmine. Toronto PD have been looking for her for months, and they recently gave up the search until you, big brother, plastered her picture in all the Canadian newspapers."

"Jasmine??" The name slid off his tongue like something strange and distasteful. As he said the name, he knew before anyone said it, that Jasmine was his Karen. His face paled, and he felt his stomach ball up into knots in protest.

The chief leaned over towards Ralph.

"Lieutenant Cooke, the Jasmine he's referring to is our Jane Doe. Karen."

Lowering himself slowly, he let the idea sink in, before he let himself speak. Shock, confusion and finally anger flashed like shadows on his face as the full meaning hit him hard as a boulder.

"But I never put her picture in Canadian newspapers. Tom and I just now discussed the possibility before I walked into this office!"

The Chief glanced at Ralph in pity. "I’ve been doing a little investigating of my own since we found Karen. I have connections in Toronto that advised me to publish her picture in Canada since it was so close to Maine."

"I never knew you were married", said Ralph with an incredulous glare.

"Just barely. That bitch has been a pain since day one. Heh heh, she definitely wasn't worth it."

The twisted knot in his gut mutiplied into several more, and before he knew it his fist flew in his brother's direction. Ryan landed backwards onto the floor.

Everything he'd ever wanted was taken from him. Most of it, by his younger twin. The thought of that slime being married to Karen was enough to make him want to hurl.

"Lieutenant Cooke!!" The chief motioned a police officer to come in and restrain him, but he kept lunging at his twin.

"You can't have her! I won't let you take her. She would never marry someone like you!"

"Lieutenant Cooke, I will not tolerate this type of behavior in my department! Now, I understand you've been under a lot of stress this past year, but I should have made you take a month off after your wife died so I'm partially to blame. You've formed an attachment to Karen based on your wife's death. I should never have let you take that case. I order you to take that month off now, or your license will be suspended."

"But chief…"

"Do you understand me?!"

"Yes sir. Get up little brother", he said through tight lips, "we have a lot of talking to do."