Chapter 25

Casandra and Martin walked into her hotel room. She shut the door as he walked over to the window and stared out at the lights below.

Casandra walked up behind him. "I'm so sorry about Vicky."

Martin swallowed the lump his throat and continued to watch the lights. "Me too. I should have protected her better."

"Martin, you can't blame yourself. You had no way of knowing you'd be ambushed like that."

He shook his head, sighed and walked away from the window. "You mind if I take a shower?" he asked.

"No. Go ahead. I'll order us something to eat while you're in there." Casandra replied.

Martin walked toward the bathroom and as he removed his jacket a piece of paper fell out of his pocket and landed on the floor.

As he closed the door to the bathroom, Casandra noticed the piece of paper and picked it up. "Hey, you dropped something." she said, but he couldn't hear her because the shower was already running.

Casandra walked over to the bed, sat down and looked down at the note she had picked up. She couldn't believe what she was reading: 'Martin, it's only a matter of time now. I'm closer to getting what I want. H.K.'

Why was H.K. sending notes to Martin? More importantly why hadn't Martin told her about the note? It was something she was going to find out when Martin got out of his shower.

Andy and John took Kallenbach to an interrogation room. They sat him down at the table and sat across from him.

"Look, I'm telling you guys, I don't know anything about any murders."

"Is that so?" Andy asked. "How do you think we found out about you?"

"I don't know, man. But wherever you got your information it's wrong."

Jim walked into the room carrying a folder. He placed the folder on the table in front of Andy and then leaned against the table that was against the back wall.

Andy opened the folder and took out some photos. He placed them on the table in front of Kallenbach. "You've never seen these women before?"

Kallenbach looked down at the photos and cringed when he saw the dead women. He pushed the photos back towards Andy. "I didn't do that. I've never seen those women before in my life."

"Right. Just like you haven't been sending notes to one of our fellow detectives." John said.

Kallenbach looked at John like he was crazy. "I didn't write any notes and I sure as hell didn't send any to no cop."

"Notes we found your fingerprints on, Henry."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You did not find my prints on any notes sent to a cop."

Jim stood up from the table and walked over to Kallenbach. "Yeah, Henry, we did. That's how we knew where to find you. You have quite the rap sheet."

"That was the past man. I haven't been in trouble since I got out last year."

"Sure. If you don't count those women you murdered." Andy stated.

"I didn't kill no women! I didn't do this! And there's no way in hell I'm letting you pin this on me!"

"Then explain how your prints got on these notes." John said.

"Maybe they were planted. All's I know is that I didn't put them there."

Jim looked at Andy and John. "Can I talk to you guys outside?" The three detectives left the interrogation room. "Keep an eye on him, Mitch."

"You got it." Mitch replied and walked into the room.

Jim looked at Andy and John. "I don't think this guy did it."

"I'm getting that same vibe." John agreed. "We've gone at him from all angles and he's not folding. Either he's a good actor or he's really innocent."

"My vote goes to the latter but we need to keep him here until we can prove it." Andy said.

"I agree." Jim said. "But maybe H.K. is trying to frame this guy. Maybe Henry's prints were planted because the real H.K. knew about his record and knew he'd come up in the system and we'd focus on him."

Andy nodded. "Yeah. But we can't take any chances. We keep him here until we prove he's H.K. or the real H.K. makes a mistake."

Since Khandi and Cosmo had taken themselves off the case they had decided to just take some time off all together. They both just needed to take a step back from everything and spend time with their kids.

They walked into the house and Khandi made her way into the living room. Jim had gotten Sofia and Vartann to stay at the house to make sure that Stacey and the kids were safe and both detectives were sitting in the living room when Khandi walked in.

Sofia was sitting on the floor playing with Little Jimmy, that is until he saw his mom. "Mommy!" he yelled and ran to her.

"Hey, baby." Khandi said and scooped him up.

"Where were you, Mommy?" he asked.

"Mommy had to work late at the office."

"I don't like it."

"Me neither." Khandi replied and kissed him on his forehead.

Cosmo walked into the living room and plopped down on the couch and Noah ran over to him. "Daddy!"

"Hey, buddy." Cosmo replied and pulled Noah onto his lap. "Have you been a good boy for Mommy?"

"I always a good boy, Daddy." Noah replied, grinning.

Cosmo chuckled and pulled Noah into a hug. In some ways Khandi and Cosmo taking themselves off the case was a plus because they got to be home with the kids.

Khandi put Little Jimmy down and looked at Sofia and Vartann. "I don't think you guys need to stick around. Me and Cosmo will be here."

"I thought you were all working on finding this serial killer." Sofia said.

"Not anymore." Cosmo replied. "We took ouselves off the case."

"Why?" Vartann asked.

"Personal reasons." Khandi replied. "Besides, Jim has it handled."

Stacey walked in from the kitchen and was surprised to see Khandi and Cosmo home. "Well, howdy, strangers. To what do we owe this honor of you gracing us with your presence?"

Khandi smirked at her sister and shook her head. "To us just wanting to be home. Can we leave it at that for now?"

"Sure." Stacey said simply. "Will we be seeing the other ghostly members of the family anytime soon?"

"Who knows." Cosmo said. "And right now I don't really care."

Stacey looked across the room at her husband. "Should I ask what that's about?"

"Not now, Stace." Khandi answered. "I'll fill you in later, okay?"

"Okay."

"Well, I guess we should go then." Sofia stated.

Little Jimmy looked up at Sofia. "I don't want you to go, Sofie." he said.

Sofia bent down and ruffled Little Jimmy's hair. "Don't worry, sweetie, I'll come back see you real soon okay?"

"Promise?"

"I promise." Sofia smiled and Little Jimmy smiled back at her.

"What's this about?" Khandi asked Stacey as she watched the scene before.

"I think Little Jimmy has his first crush. He's been clinging to her ever since she got here last night." Stacey replied and Khandi chuckled. "What so funny?"

"Just imagining the proud look on Jim's face when I tell him his son's got a crush on Sofia."

Stacey joined in the chuckling as Sofia and Vartann made their way out to the door. Khandi followed them. "Thanks guys. I really appreciate you staying here and looking out for Stacey and the kids."

"It was no trouble at all." Sofia said and she and Vartann made their way out the door.

"You need us to stay again just call." Vartann added.

"Thanks Tony."

"Bye Sofie!" Little Jimmy called out as he stood beside his mom.

"Bye, bye Jimmy." Sofie called back and waved to him.

"Okay buddy come on back inside." Khandi said. Little Jimmy followed his mom back into the house. "You like Sofia, don't you little man?"

Little Jimmy shook his head emphatically. "Yeah. She's nice and pretty."

Khandi chuckled in amusement at her son. "Okay, come on, let's go get ready for bed."

Casandra was still sitting on the bed with note in her hand when Martin came out of the bathroom drying his hair with a towel.

Casandra looked up when she heard the door open. "Why didn't you tell me about this note?" she asked angrily.

"What note?" he asked confused.

"This note!" she yelled and shoved it toward him. "How could you keep this from me, Martin? Your own sister! Your own fucking twin for that matter! You know what this bastard has done to my life and you don't tell me that he's sending you notes."

Martin looked down at the note that he was now holding. He couldn't believe that a note from H.K. was addressed to him. "Where did you get this?"

"It fell out of your pocket when you took your jacket off. How could you..."

"Cassy, this is the first time I've seen this."

Casandra looked into Martin's eyes and knew he was telling the truth. "But it was in your pocket."

Suddenly a very dark look overtook Martin's features and he felt like breaking something. "That son of a bitch!" he yelled and kicked the waste basket across the room. "That lousy son of a bitch killed Vicky!"

Casandra grabbed Martin and pulled him into a hug as he broke down in tears. Casandra was the only person in his life that he had ever or would ever cry in front of. Being that they were twins, they had a special bond with each other, that even though they had been apart, was still strong.

Casandra held her brother and cried with him as he cried for his wife. Sadly, she knew exactly what he was going through. And now it would seem that H.K. had taken another member of her family. This was a major reason why she was pushing her family here away from herself because she didn't want to lose them at the hands of this monster.

As the reunited twins were crying on the floor over the loss of someone they had both loved, a knock came on the door. Casandra looked toward the sound and slowly picked herself up off the floor.

She wiped her face and walked over to the door. She opened it and saw Sam standing on the other side. "Can I come in?" he asked.

Casandra hesitated for a moment but then allowed Sam to enter the room. "What do you want, Sam?"

He took in her appearance and knew she had been crying. "What's going on here?" Sam asked and glanced over at Martin.

Casandra picked the note up from the floor and handed it to Sam. He read it and looked at Martin. "Who's Martin?"

"I am." Martin replied and stood up.

"Okay, now you want to fill me in on how you two know each other and why this asshole is sending you notes."

Casandra sighed and sat down on the bed. "Sam..." she said and hesitated. "Martin's my brother."

"Your brother?"

"My twin brother to be exact."

Sam looked between the a little dumbfounded. But suddenly the look that Martin gave him at the halfway house made more sense. Now he understood why at that moment he had reminded him of Casandra.

"Wow, why didn't you ever tell me you had a brother?"

"Martin doesn't want Khandi and Stacey to know about him so I couldn't risk telling you and them finding out."

"What does Khandi and Stacey have to do with you having a brother?"

"We're twins, Sam, which means..."

"I'm their brother too." Martin finished.

Casandra was shocked that Martin had actually admitted to that fact to Sam. For the longest time he didn't want to accept the fact that his father had another family. Even though that other family had come before he and Casandra had.

Sam couldn't believe what he was hearing. Not only did his wife have a twin brother but Khandi and Stacey had a brother they knew nothing about.

Sam shook his head and looked at Martin. "Okay, so why is this H.K. prick sending you notes?"

"I didn't know anything about it until Cassy showed it to me. She said it fell out my jacket pocket."

"Sammy, Martin's here because he just lost his wife, Vicky. And I'm starting to believe that H.K. killed her." Casandra said as her cell phone rang. She answered it without looking at the ID. "Riggs."

Sam shook his head at her slip and using her maiden name but decided to let it go for the moment. He was just glad that she let him into the room and was actually talking to him again.

"Hello, Casandra." the voice on the other end said. "It's so good to finally hear your voice."

Casandra's face went deathly pale and Martin knew something was up. "How did you get my number?" she asked and looked over at Martin.

"Please, my love, don't concern yourself with that. I just wanted you to know that we'll be seeing each other very soon."

"When?" she asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

"I'll leave instructions at the front desk of your hotel for you. I'll be expecting to see you in the morning. Please don't stand me up."

"Where do I..." she started to say but the line went dead.

"Who was that?" Sam asked.

Martin stared at his sister and from the look in her eyes could tell that she had just been in contact with H.K.

"Just a crank phone call." she replied. "Nothing to worry about."

"It didn't sound like a crank call."

"Sam, it was nothing. You should go home, I'll see you there in the morning."

"Casandra..."

"Please, Sam, just go. I promise, I'll be home in the morning."

Sam didn't want to push his luck with her and decided to leave. "Alright. I'll see you tomorrow." he said and left the room.

Casandra turned back to Martin. "That was H.K. on the phone."

"I figured it was. What did he say?"

"He wants to see me in the morning."

TBC...