Burned

“Can you put out a bulletin for the rental car? I’m going to get a flight over there now.”

“And then what?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Regan, I just talked to a buddy of mine who has a private plane. He said he was heading out to the airport. Let me give him a call and see if he can take us over to the Big Island. Hold on a second.” Regan waited tensely until Mike came back on. “I’ll pick you up in fifteen minutes outside the hotel. This is probably crazy.”

“It’s not,” Regan said firmly. She hung up the phone and looked at Will. “I need to get into the twins’ room.”

“Regan, I don’t know if I can-”

“Will, I absolutely need to-”

“Let’s go,” he said for the second time that morning. They dashed out of his office.

In the twins’ room there seemed to be two of everything: two pairs of matching fuzzy slippers, two identical bathrobes, two pink suitcases. Regan went over to the desk and pulled the drawer open. Inside she found a thick file. She pulled out its contents. “Architectural drawings for a house,” she breathed. Regan read the words written across the top of the first sketch-“Gert and Ev’s Kona dream house.” “They’re using Sal Hawkins’s money to build a house.” She stuffed the file in her bag.

“I don’t know whether you should take those,” Will warned.

“I’m taking them. The twins won’t be back until tomorrow.” She looked through the rest of the desk, closet, and bureau drawers but found nothing.

They raced back downstairs where Mike Darnell was already waiting.

Gert and Ev had rented a car at the airport. To their distress, the line had been long and the car hadn’t been gassed up. By the time they filled the tank and pulled out of the gas station, they were both feeling impatient and edgy. They were now speeding up to their dream house.

“Boy, is this a change of plans,” Gert commented.

“Things are getting too tense,” Ev answered. “There was something about the way that girl was poking around on the floor today, helping you pick up all your junk.”

“I gave her my scary look,” Gert answered. “But she did see that Kona postcard.”

“I saw her take note of that. I just want to get that couple out of our house before anyone finds them there. And their stupid car. The sooner we get rid of them, the better.” She stepped on the gas.

“So we’re not going to throw them in the water tonight?”

“We’ll see. We’ll strangle them now, stuff their bodies in the trunk, and then see if we can abandon the car somewhere.”

“I’d rather let it go over a cliff.”

“Me, too. But it’s several more hours until dark. I don’t want to wait that long.” She turned off the main highway onto a two-lane road that wound up a mountain. They were only a few miles from the house.

“We’re almost there, sister.”

“We certainly are.”

“When we land, they’ll have a list of all the real estate agents for us,” Mike told Regan. “Although who knows when the twins bought the land. They may not have had any dealings with anyone for a while.”

“And I’m sure the house is being built privately and they’re using false names,” Regan added. “But those two are easily identifiable. How many female identical twins in their sixties are on the Big Island building their dream house?” She looked down at the sketches for the exterior of the house, the expansive kitchen with a view of the ocean in the distance, the matching master bedroom suites. She tried to slip the drawings back in the folder, but something was in the way. Another piece of paper. Regan pulled it out and unfolded it. It was a sketch for a barbed wire fence.

“Will, Regan needs to speak to you now!” Janet called to him. He was out by the front desk talking to Jazzy and Claude. “It’s urgent!”

Jazzy and Claude hurried off. Will got on the phone, listened, dropped it, and ran after Claude. “What’s your address on the Big Island?”

A police car was waiting for Regan and Mike at the Kona airport. They hopped in, Officer Lance Curtis turned on the siren, and they took off. Let them be there, Regan prayed. Please. She knew with certainty that Jason and Carla were in grave danger. Just let them be alive.

Jason and Carla heard the upstairs door open. Carla’s eyes were wide with terror. They’re back, she thought. It’s over. She bent her head and started to pray again. Jason had already done so.

The basement door opened. “Here we are,” Ev called. “Back to take care of the bad girl and bad boy.” The sisters lumbered down the steps.

The police car sped up the long, curving private road to Claude’s house. It was heavily wooded, unpaved, and bumpy. At the top Regan, Mike, and Lance jumped out of the car. They ran around the back of Claude’s house and immediately spotted the barbed wire fence along the left side of the property.

“The twins’ house must be in that direction,” Regan shouted.

“It’ll take a few minutes to go back down the hill and around. The entrance to their driveway must be from the other side of these woods.” Officer Curtis ran to the trunk and pulled a wire cutter out of the police car. A few minutes later Regan, Mike, and the officer were racing up a hill and through the woods.

When they reached the top of the mountain, they could see the house. It was in the middle of a large piece of land. In the driveway there was a white car with traces of yellow paint on the side.

“That’s Carla and Jason’s car. They must be in there!” Regan cried.

“Do you have anything to say to Gert and Ev before you die?” Ev asked, sounding half crazed. She was standing behind Jason, and Gert was behind Carla. They were ready to close their hands around their necks and squeeze the life out of them.

Carla and Jason had been silently crying. As soon as the twins pulled the gags out of their mouths, sobs permeated the room.

“Please!” Carla begged.

“Sorry,” Ev answered. “You did a very bad thing. We don’t want you to spoil our fun. Because we deserve to have some fun.”

“We sure do,” Gert agreed, her voice agitated. “We put up with a lot our whole lives. Always taking care of other people in that rainy town. Never thinking of what was good for the twins. Well, we finally woke up. Our lives had been wasting away. When we got the opportunity to take care of ourselves, we grabbed it! And we’re not going to let people like you ruin it for us!”

“No we’re not!” Ev echoed forcefully. “We should have taken control of our lives years ago!” Flexing her hands, she turned and looked at Gert. “Are you ready, sister?”

“More than ready!”

They started to close their hands around the couple’s necks when they heard glass breaking upstairs. A moment later the basement door flew open. But it didn’t stop the twins. It only made them more crazed. All the rage that had built up inside them was directed at destroying these two young lives.

“Hurry, sister!” Ev commanded as she squeezed hard around Jason’s neck.

“I’m doing it!” Gert answered. Her thick calloused hands had easily surrounded Carla’s slender, silky neck.

Choking and gagging, Carla and Jason could feel themselves blacking out.

Regan, Mike, and Lance galloped down the steps.

“Let go!” Regan screamed as she tackled Gert whose body felt like a brick wall. Mike helped pry her fingers from Carla’s neck as Officer Curtis slugged a resolute Ev and knocked her over. The sisters tumbled onto the floor as Jason and Carla gasped for breath. Lance Curtis pulled out his gun and pointed it at the twins’ heads while Mike and Regan untied the ropes that bound Carla and Jason.

Carla wrapped her arms around Regan and wouldn’t let go as racking sobs filled the room. “Thank you,” she whispered, her voice quivering. Jason moved toward them, and Regan started to get out of the way.