Chapter 13 - The Twin Nobody Mentioned
Thomas Miller had spent most of his adult life in prison.
That was why Jason never told me.
At least that was the explanation he gave.
Identical twins.
Separated by twenty-three minutes.
Jason became the dependable son.
Thomas became the family disaster.
Burglary at nineteen.
Fraud at twenty-four.
Parole violations.
Then a six-year sentence for financial identity theft.
He had been released fourteen months earlier.
Two weeks before Jason and Amber began their affair.
Coincidence had stopped being believable.
“Why was he at my wedding?”
Jason looked sick.
“I didn't invite him.”
“Mom saw him.”
“He came because my mother told him.”
Linda.
Again.
She had spent years secretly sending Thomas money.
He returned after prison claiming he had changed.
Linda wanted the brothers reconciled.
Jason refused.
“Why?”
“Because Thomas worked for Mercer before I did.”
There it was.
Mercer had known both brothers since Claire.
After the accident, Jason tried to distance himself.
Thomas didn't.
He liked the money.
Liked the scams.
Liked being able to imitate his brother when useful.
“How many times has he pretended to be you?”
Jason looked away.
My stomach turned.
“How many?”
“A few.”
“What does ‘a few’ mean?”
Thomas had used Jason's identity to open accounts.
Sign documents.
Meet lenders.
Even attend one property inspection.
Suddenly some of the fraud became harder to assign.
Jason was guilty.
But perhaps not of every signature.
That was Mercer's advantage.
Two identical men.
One identity.
Endless confusion.
“Did Thomas forge my POA?”
“I don't know.”
“The home-equity loan?”
“I don't know.”
“Did he ever come into my house before the wedding?”
Jason hesitated.
“Once.”
My chair scraped backward.
“When?”
“About three weeks ago.”
I remembered that afternoon.
Jason came home unusually quiet.
He kissed my cheek.
Then showered immediately.
At dinner, he barely spoke.
I thought wedding stress had exhausted him.
“Was that Thomas?”
“For about forty minutes.”
I stared at him.
“You let your identical twin enter my home pretending to be my fiancé?”
“I was meeting Mercer.”
“And where was Thomas supposed to be?”
“Waiting.”
“But he came inside.”
“Yes.”
I wanted to throw something.
“Did he touch me?”
Jason's eyes widened.
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Rachel—”
“How do you know?”
“He told me you weren't home.”
I had been at the florist.
Relief came with nausea.
This family had treated my home, identity, and marriage like costumes.
Investigators tracked Thomas through a prepaid phone.
The signal disappeared near Oklahoma.
Mercer was likely with him.
Then we found something useful.
Thomas had a daughter.
Seventeen-year-old Lily.
He had not seen her in four years.
Her mother, Dana, wanted nothing to do with him.
But Thomas had called Lily three days earlier.
Police obtained the call with Dana’s cooperation.
Thomas sounded frightened.
He told his daughter he was leaving the country.
Then he said:
“I should've listened to Jason.”
That mattered.
Thomas and Mercer were no longer aligned.
The call continued.
“If anything happens, tell Uncle Jason the lake house was never empty.”
Jason went pale when he heard it.
“What lake house?”
He knew.
Claire’s family once owned a small fishing cabin near Possum Kingdom Lake.
After Claire died, her father sold it.
Or supposedly sold it.
Records showed a shell company bought it.
Mercer’s company.
The lake house had belonged to Mercer for fourteen years.
Police moved fast.
No one told me to come.
For once, I didn't argue.
This wasn't a movie.
I stayed with my family.
Four hours later, Naomi called.
“They found Thomas.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Mercer?”
“Gone.”
Thomas had been tied to a chair inside the cabin.
Beaten.
But alive.
He agreed to talk immediately.
Mercer had forced him to access my house and submit the forged land contract.
When Thomas refused to continue, Mercer restrained him.
“Where did Mercer go?”
“Thomas doesn't know.”
Then Naomi went quiet.
“What?”
“They found a basement.”
My stomach tightened.
“What was in it?”
“Records.”
“How many?”
“Rachel…”
She exhaled.
“Dozens of women.”
Photographs.
Financial profiles.
Marriage records.
Loan documents.
Mercer had been running versions of this scheme for more than twenty years.
Then police found one folder different from the others.
No woman's name.
Just:
MILLER FAMILY.
Inside was a birth certificate.
May you like
Jason and Thomas weren't Linda's biological children.
Mercer was listed as their father.
