Gabe and I sat smiling at each other over the table while Sally Ann and Adrian playfully bickered about his favorite show. It wasn’t that Gabe and I liked the same shows because that was the furthest thing from the truth, but we compromised or watched television in different rooms. To be honest, we didn’t watch a lot of TV when he first moved in because we were too busy entertaining ourselves in a more mutually pleasing way.
After the cute little tiff was over, Sally Ann returned her attention to me while our guys resumed their case-talking positions.
“Josh, I’ve meant to ask you something, but I wasn’t sure I should,” Sally Ann said. Her worried tone and the way she wrung her hands had me curious.
“Sally Ann, you can ask me anything.”
“Will you teach me to pole dance after I recover from having my baby?” She grimaced once the words left her mouth.
“Why do you look so nervous about asking me that?” I asked her.
“Well, you’ve never told me about your pole dancing studio, which means I either heard it from Gabe or Adrian. Logic points to Adrian, and I don’t want you to think that Gabe is telling him intimate details of your life together.”
She had a point, and I could understand her hesitation. I had to admit I was curious about how the conversation came up, but I was certain that Gabe wasn’t telling Adrian details of how I worked the pole. Six months earlier, I wouldn’t have felt the same way; I would’ve jumped to all kinds of conclusions. “I don’t think you said anything bad or inappropriate about me and I would love to teach you how to pole dance. It’s amazing exercise for strengthening your core muscle groups.”
Sally Ann leaned over and hugged me. “You’re amazing, Josh. I’m so lucky to call you my friend.” She pulled back and looked at me appraisingly. “Do you want to see more nursery ideas or is that boring you to death?”
“It’s not boring at all,” I assured her. “I’d love to paint a picture for her nursery once you decided on a theme.”
“You paint too?” she asked.
“It’s just a hobby,” I replied. “I’m not sure I’m all that great at it, but I will make it with love for baby Adrianna.”
Sally Ann tilted her head, and she got a faraway look in her eyes. “Why had I never thought of that name?” she pondered out loud. “It’s a combination of both our names. It’s perfect!”
“Sunshine,” Gabe said. The shock in his voice pulled me away from my conversation with Sally Ann. I looked over at him, and he asked, “Are we,” he gestured back and forth between him and Adrian, “tripping or did Nate Turner just walk into the restaurant?”
“What? Nate’s dead.” I turned my head in the direction that Gabe and Adrian were looking and said, “I’d say there was something psychedelic in those stuffed mushroom appetizers, but you didn’t eat them.”
“You see him too?” Gabe asked like he truly saw a ghost.
“Hell yes, I do,” I replied in awe.
We watched as the ghost of Nate Turner stopped, smiled, and spoke to a waiter in the dining room. That was odd because I’d never seen Nate Turner smile, although I didn’t know him well and I refused to think about how well Gabe did. He also came off as someone who thought that speaking to a waiter was beneath him. The new Nate Turner, though, clapped the waiter on the shoulder before he joined a group of people at a table.
“I don’t fucking believe it,” Adrian said. “I saw his photos from the morgue. You ID’d his body at the scene.”
“I gave a visual ID that the dead man in the car was the man I knew as Nate Turner. I know for a fact they made a fingerprint and dental record comparison to validate my identification,” Gabe said. “Who the fuck is that guy?”
“We’re about to find out,” Adrian said. He raised his hand and waved the waiter over who’d been talking to the doppelganger.
“Yes, sir?” the waiter asked.
“What’s the name of the gentleman you were just talking to?” Adrian asked, nodding his head in the direction of the table our mysterious man just joined.
The waiter hesitated as if he wasn’t sure he should say. “His name is Jonathon Silver, sir.”
“Thank you,” Adrian said pleasantly. “He looks so familiar, but that’s not a name I recognize.”
“He’s relatively new in town,” the waiter replied. “Is there anything else? Would you like more bread for your table?”
“No, we’re fine, but thank you,” Gabe told him. I could tell that he was eager for the guy to move on so he and Adrian could discuss the new development. I counted to four after the waiter moved on before Gabe said, “Has to be a twin brother.”
“No other explanation,” Adrian agreed, “but why in the hell had no one told the cops about his existence? Not Nate’s attorney, not his silent business partner, and not his staff. No one mentioned this guy at any time.”
“The only thing the Cincinnati police told me was that he had adoptive parents. There was no mention of a brother—identical twin or otherwise,” Gabe told Adrian. “They must’ve been raised by different families.”
“Which means that the CPD probably didn’t know either. What are you going to do about this discovery?” Adrian asked Gabe. Adrian didn’t include himself in the equation because Gabe was the one leading the joint task force investigating Nate’s homicide while Adrian wrapped up any investigation that involved Billy Sampson since Gabe was obviously biased against him.
