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Approximately two or three days have passed since the climatic events of the episode "The Lynn Sisters," bringing us to the final part of that episode which you will see interwoven into the final scene of this chapter. Also, nearly a month has passed since Molly left for New York at the end of my last story. SOT's second episode "Fighting Back" will begin nearly a week after the day presented in this first chapter and the events in the majority of this story. I'm so excited to be diving back into the world of SOT a bit more! I hope you're ready for the journey ahead. I don't think you'll be disappointed at what the future holds.

As always, thank you for reading and reviewing! You guys are appreciated. This story will mark story number 20 in my series. I can't believe I've come this far! And I can't wait to see what the next 20 stories have in store!


DOPPELGANGER

Chapter One


About forty miles separated Katheryn and Alex from Dallas when they finally decided to stop for a well-needed rest. Besides, the gas tank on Katheryn's Stingray was nearing empty and so were the women's stomachs, indicating it was well-nigh noon. They both could agree they had a great time over in Austin, visiting with a family Alex and Walker had helped several years ago. Katheryn could easily say that her favorite part had been the horse rides in the sunset on the family's ranch. Now all her mind could think about was getting back home to secure her place at C.D.'s counter for the welcome home dinner Carlos and Walker had promised them upon their return. That is, if they made it home before midnight. That was the deal. Or they wouldn't buy. But both women knew it was just a ploy to get them home faster. They'd still probably pay. And Katheryn would insist they would to make up for the fact that she had missed Tommy's state karate tournament win. Of all the things in the world to miss, she was mad that had to be it. She still felt a bit fiery mad when Carlos had called to tell her about it all. Most of all, she hoped Trent was okay. A month had passed already. He still didn't quite seem like himself according to Carlos' last call.

Katheryn slowed to a stop and pulled into that little country gas station, the shiny wheels of her Stingray crunching the gravel as a few sets of curious eyes watched them from an empty barrel just outside of the entrance. Putting the car into park next to the gas pump, Katheryn and Alex proceeded from the vehicle and slipped their handbags a bit closer to themselves. Trustworthy was not how they felt about the eyes that were currently watching their every move. Katheryn almost was convinced that Carlos had been right to tell her not to stop at many rural places out this way. Well, they were here now. At least she had her unseen weapon to help her unlike many other women.

"I'll pay for the gas."

Katheryn turned up a smile to Alex as they slipped beneath the shade of the covered entrance just before they reached the door. "No. You don't have to. It's my car. I'll pay."

"No, I insist." Alex pushed open the store's door, glancing briefly at the scraggly bearded men who finally let their eyes return to watching cars pass by on the road every thirty seconds. "You didn't have to come on this trip but you did. And you missed one heck of a tournament no thanks to me. So the least I could do is take one small expense off of your hands."

"Did someone say expense?" A young man in his early twenties with too large of a grin and very wide eyes stared at the twosome. "Because we got all the best prices here on everything you need."

Katheryn's breathy chuckle preceded her as she stepped up to the counter. "I'm in need of a full tank of gas."

"And I'll be paying." Alex flashed a grin.

"Alrighty then!" The young man punched a few of the keys on the antiquated cash register. "How much?"

"Mmm…sixteen gallons ought to do."

"Alrighty," the young man echoed with a slight giggle. "That'll be thirty-five dollars."

"You can't be serious," Katheryn blurted out. "How much do you charge out here?"

"Oh, just two dollars and nineteen cents, ma'am."

Alex almost choked a bit as she swallowed and looked up into the boy's eyes. "I'm almost afraid to ask how much food costs here."

The boy suddenly grinned, pointing his finger towards the ladies. "I'm glad you asked!" He then picked up tray of muffins from underneath the counter and displayed them for Katheryn and Alex. "My momma makes these fresh every day for me to sell during my shift. Old man Johnson's so nice to let me do it. I've got banana nut, blueberry, and just two zucchini left."

Alex cringed. "Zucchini?!"

"Yes, ma'am!" The boy smiled, almost laughing. "Best zucchini muffins on this side of the Mississippi!"

"Okay," Katheryn rolled her eyes away from the boy to Alex before turning back to the boy. "How much for, um, three? One of each perhaps."

"I'll let you have them for a dollar a piece. I usually sell them for two. But you gals are so pretty and all. Seems a shame to charge you that much."

"Thank you," Alex offered as legitimate of a smile as she could manage before swatting Katheryn's money back to her and placing three dollars on the counter. "And God bless your mother. I know she probably works so hard at making them."

"Well, those boxed mixes never fail her!"

It was almost the last straw for Katheryn, but she managed to hold her emotions in check. "Thank you." She managed a smile and picked up the large muffins. They all seemed to scrunch together as she tried holding them all together and follow Alex to the door.

They were almost safely outside when Alex suddenly stopped, gasped, and took a step back. "Oh, my Lord!"

Katheryn was too busy balancing the muffins to look up. "What? What is it? Can you open the door before I drop these muffins?"

Alex was nearly unable to breath, casting another glance out the door before she gasped again. "Now I've seen it all. But it couldn't be!"

"What?!" Katheryn begged just before she finally looked up to see what had disturbed Alex so much. And that was the exact moment all three muffins fell to the floor with a thud while Katheryn's mouth fell opened wide.

There outside, just beyond Kath's Stingray was a man in jeans and swarthy black leather jacket. He had on these handsome shades that he removed a short second later to reveal that he was nearly the spitting image of Carlos Sandoval himself.

"It couldn't be," Katheryn shook her head. "I thought Carlos said he would be out of town today."

"He did."

"Then..." Katheryn stuttered, turning to Alex in shock. "We've officially seen his twin brother."


"Have a good day, sir." A twenty-something brunette flashed a flirtatious smile over in Sandoval's direction as she set his change on the road-side diner's counter and flitted away with a giggle on her lips and far too much sway in her hips.

Carlos returned her smile with a simple thank you and shake of his head as she sauntered away, leaving him with a chuckle on his lips as he slipped out his billfold from his coat pocket to stow away his change. In doing so, a tiny photo no bigger than his palm slipped out before he was able to catch it and fell to the black and white tiles below. Hurrying to pick up the treasured item, he was startled by the laugh of an elderly gentleman who was passing by him at the same time.

"Pretty thing," he smiled, squinting as he peered over at the photo in Carlos' hand.

Carlos jerked his head up and smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, she is."

"Your wife, sonny?"

"No," Carlos chuckled. "Not yet anyways."

"She looks like a keeper."

"That she is," Carlos agreed with a firm, single nod before he looked at the photo again. He remembered that moment as if it had just happened. Most of all, he remembered how obstinate he had been when Mrs. Malloy had pulled out her camera after Thanksgiving dinner and insisted on taking a few photos of them all. Now that Carlos thought about it, he was rather glad he had a piece of Katheryn to take with him on the road. Although his road trips were few and far between, when they did come along, it was well worth it to have this photo stowed away in his coat pocket.

"Well, you have a good day, son." The elderly gentleman continued on his way, leaving Carlos half recovered from his reverie.

"Same to you," Carlos managed before the man had completely gone away out of earshot.

"There he is!" A voice rose from nearby, drawing every eye in the diner to it. The voice belonged to a rather stocky middle-aged woman who was about five foot four and well in need of a closet makeover. That thought aside, she was busy lugging the local sheriff by the arm almost causing him to trip as they entered the diner.

"Thelma!" The sheriff snatched his arm away from his capturer with an authoritative sigh. "I can walk just fine on my own, honey. Now point out the man again."

Almost whining, the woman cried, "He's that good-looking one at the counter in the leather jacket. Right over there! Dang it, Melvin! Do you need new contacts again? He's the only guy at the counter!"

"Alright! Alright!" The sheriff who couldn't have been much older than Carlos but seemed to have wrinkled lines and bags under his eyes to show aging far above his years slowly approached the detective. As the sheriff slipped in front of a now suspicious Carlos Sandoval, he took one look at him and immediately his eyes were wider than a canyon. "Young man," the sheriff began as he pulled his hand cuffs from his back pocket, "I'm placing you under arrest."

"Excuse me?!" Carlos squinted hard, trying to understand the implications. He then smiled and took a step closer to the door. "I get it. You're playing a joke on the new guy around here. Right?!"

"Nope!" The woman named Thelma snarled as she placed herself between Carlos and the diner exit. She shot a glare over to the sheriff with her fist raised in the air. "Now are you going to take him in or not?!"

"Yes, Thelma! Now, son, if you'll just put your hands behind your back for me…"

"I will not," Carlos argued, his eyes wide and ablaze. "I'd like to know the crime I've committed here if you don't mind."

The sheriff rolled his eyes. "Well, you robbed the bank and made away with all the town's money and just about killed my deputy. Doc says he should make it. But you never know with those kinds of things. Is that reason enough for you?"

"But I couldn't have," Carlos reasoned. "I've only been in your town for a few hours. Besides," Carlos scrambled to some sort of suitable identification. "I'm a private detective. Former cop in fact! If you'll just let me get to my car, you'll see." Suddenly he was thankful Katheryn had suggested they have a few business cards printed up to hand out to folks. Unfortunately, they were still in his car.

"Sorry. Can't do that."

"Why not?!"

"Your car was towed ten minutes ago."

"Excuse me?!"

"You parked in a fire zone."

"There was no indication of that being a fire zone, sheriff!"

"No matter," the sheriff proceeded to cuff Carlos whether or not he resisted. "I've gotta take you in, son. Save your arguments for the judge."


Katheryn let a smile slip away as she slipped inside of C.D.'s bar that evening, watching the Lynn sisters do their thing in the darkened, romantic shadows of the little restaurant. She always liked it when C.D. invited singers to perform at his bar. It was a nice respite from their crazy schedules to be able to listen to a few tunes and sip something refreshing in the company of friends.

She made her away politely through the stilled crowd until she saw Alex sitting on a bar stool at the end of the counter. Walker was next to her and was surrounded by Trivette, Gage, and Sydney on either side. She saw each of them was holding some sort of poster in their hands while Alex held back a laugh.

Katheryn couldn't stand it any longer and approached the group. "What's so funny?!"

Gage leaned into her at a whisper. "Trivette thought he was exclusive with the Lynn sisters." He stifled a laugh. "But turns out they gave autographs to everyone in Company B."

Katheryn made eye contact with Trivette and chuckled. "Aw, don't feel so bad. At least you got a poster. I was kinda late to the game."

"Oh! That reminds me!" Alex turned around and picked up an envelope off of the counter, handing it to Katheryn. "I was so busy when we got back into town this afternoon that I forgot C.D. wanted me to give this to you."

Katheryn eagerly took the little package and opened it, a sly grin spreading across her lips. "I got one too!"

"Well, how about that! I guess you've got C.D. wrapped around your little finger." Sydney grinned and gave Kath a hug. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask you. How's Trent doing?"

Katheryn shrugged. "He's okay. I was at the dojo most of this afternoon helping him with classes while Tommy's on that military base field trip with his school. He's still not himself. But he hasn't let any of the kids see it. You know how he is."

"Yeah," Sydney nodded. "How are you doing?"

Katheryn smiled. She was hesitant to admit she was actually really lonely. Who would have thought the introvert would be against having an empty apartment all to herself? "I miss Molly. I really do. I talked to her on the phone a few days ago. She says she's happy. I hope she's telling us the whole truth though."

"Well," Sydney gave Kath's hand a squeeze. "I wanted to let you know if you'd like to, I've got plenty of room at my place. You're more than welcome to share it with me. I'm not there half the time anyways." She chuckled with a wink.

"Thanks," Kath replied meaningfully as she noticed Sydney's caring heart through her twinkling eyes. "I might just take you up on that offer."

The two women hugged before the Lynn sisters began another song, paying tribute to someone special who had gone from their lives with a rendition of "Just a Closer Walk." As Katheryn settled on a bar stool to listen to those touching words of the song, she couldn't help but think of those missing from her life too. No, they were not gone forever. But still, they were too far away. Carlos was on business out of town, Molly was in New York, and Trent may as well have been thousands of miles away with the way he was acting.

Before the night had ended, Katheryn had accepted Sydney's offer to move in with her as her roommate. After all, the change of scenery might do her some good. She was done being depressed about her best friend's absence. It was time to move on...in more ways than one.