Look-Alike. Rita Herron

      Look-Alike

      Rita Herron

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      To my own look-alike—the sweet one, Reba.

       May your true love find you and sweep you away!

      CAST OF CHARACTERS

      Sheriff Miles Monahue —He’s been accused of killing his wife, but when her look-alike surfaces with a bizarre story about being held in a psychiatric ward on Nighthawk Island, will he be able to uncover the truth about which twin is his wife, and find The Carver?

      Caitlin Collier —She married Miles, then mysteriously disappeared. Did she betray him or was she the victim of something sinister?

      Nora Collier —Caitlin’s identical twin—is she dead or alive?

      The Carver —He believes that marriage means till death do us part, and he has been chosen to dole out the punishment for betraying those vows—with murder. But who is he really?

      Federal Agent Reilly Brown —He is determined to get to the bottom of Caitlin Collier’s disappearance and find The Carver. Will he pin the crime on Miles?

      Dr. Hubert Hollinsby —A psychiatrist who specializes in twin identity crisis. Did he conduct experiments on Nora and/or Caitlin? How far will he go to protect his secrets?

      Dr. Omar White —He finally convinced CIRP to open another research hospital in Raven’s Peak…and he will do anything to keep it open.

      Dr. Arthur Mullins —This medical examiner solves crimes through forensic evidence—is he hiding something?

      Reverend Perry —His sermons focus on marriage and fidelity—how far will he go to make the people listen?

      Buck Bennigan —This cowboy was the last man to see the Collier twin before she died—did he kill her?

      Jimmy Joe Johnson —The bartender claims he slept with Caitlin—or was it Nora?

      Contents

      Cast of Characters

      Prologue

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter Eleven

      Chapter Twelve

      Chapter Thirteen

      Chapter Fourteen

      Chapter Fifteen

      Chapter Sixteen

      Chapter Seventeen

      Chapter Eighteen

      Chapter Nineteen

      Prologue

      Savannah, Georgia

      “Father, forgive me, for I have sinned.”

      “And how may I help you, my child?” the priest asked.

      “I have taken a woman’s life.” He stretched his fingers in front of him, the bloodstains still darkening his blunt nails, the scent of the woman’s fear still pervading his body.

      Behind the curtain, he heard the priest shift uncomfortably, knew he was probably struggling with the need to see his face, with his sacred vows to keep his silence.

      But finally, true to his calling, or maybe because his curiosity was spiked, he said, “Go on.”

      “She is one of many to come,” he said, a singsongy note entering his voice. “She was a sinner, a home wrecker. She did not honor her marital vows and she had to pay.”

      “Only our God can pass judgment on another,” the Father said. “We are all sinners. It is not for us to dole out punishments.”

      Anger, vile and hot, flashed through him. An image of the woman’s sultry face followed. Her gaudy makeup. Her whorish laugh. Her wedding ring glittering as she slid into another man’s bed. “But there is a secret society of them that has sprung up. They haunt the big cities, the small towns, they are taking over.”

      “You must turn to God for guidance. Seek help from others who understand your sickness—”

      “I am not sick!” He slammed his fist on the wooden surface. “I am a chosen one. I must continue to serve in my own way by ridding the world of evil women.”

      He stared down at his pinky finger, to her wedding ring. She hadn’t deserved to wear it so he had kept it for himself.

      And he would have more, so many more, before his work was finished.

      Chapter One

      Raven’s Peak, North Georgia

       Nine months later

      “I didn’t kill my wife.” Sheriff Miles Monahue leaned back in his desk chair in an effort to rein in his volatile emotions. “Like I told the police when I reported Caitlin missing three weeks ago, I have no idea where she is or what happened to her.”

      FBI agent Reilly Brown’s accusing look spoke volumes. “Take off your sunglasses, Sheriff.” Brown folded his arms on Monahue’s desk and pierced him with a stare as icy as the North Georgia winter wind outside. “I like to look at a man’s eyes when I’m talking to him.”

      Monahue whipped off his Ray-Bans, struggling to bank his temper as he met the agent’s gaze head-on. He’d always had dangerous impulses, but lately he’d barely been able to restrain himself from acting on them. He half attributed his springboard reactions to the stress of his wife’s disappearance.

      But the emptiness had been in his soul a long damn time. And lately, he’d developed severe headaches and a sensitivity to light. The doctor said it was stress, that he needed to lighten up. Release his emotions in a healthy way.

      Hell, the man didn’t know what he was talking about.

      Besides, without the shades, he felt exposed, raw. As if someone might see inside his soul and glimpse the darkness. The bitter boy he’d turned into after he’d witnessed his parents’ murder at age ten. The fact that he’d been a suspect in their deaths.

      Or the soft spot he’d had for Caitlin. His hand automatically strummed over his pocket where he still carried the charm bracelet he’d bought for her the night he’d proposed—two tiny silver hearts melded together, just as he’d thought theirs had.

      What a damn fool he was for believing such nonsense.

      “Do you have new evidence? A lead?” Miles asked. God knows he wanted some news. Some closure.

      “I’m the interrogator here.” Agent Brown’s chair squeaked as he shifted his weight. “You’re the suspect. You answer the questions.”

      Miles gritted his teeth. “Dammit, tell me. Have you found her body?”

      Brown’s eyebrows rose. “Then she is dead?”

      “You’re twisting my words.” Miles bit back a curse. He had no idea if Caitlin were dead or alive. After that last fight, she’d stormed out of their three-week marriage. A few short days after they’d been married, he’d realized his wife wasn’t the woman she presented before the I do’s. Or the passionate, love-struck woman she’d led him to believe.

      She’d