Tell Me Your Secrets...

“They don’t have to talk to you, either. But if I go there posing as Cameron, there’s no way they can brush me off. I’ll have a chance to see things and learn things as an insider. And I have a plan all plotted out.”

Pepper shook her head. “This isn’t a story line for your soap opera. You know you have a tendency to leap into things before you look.”

I took another fortifying sip of tea. My parents would have been in full agreement with her. As long as I could remember, I’d been cursed with an Alice In Wonderland–like curiosity. It was probably one of the reasons I became a writer. It wasn’t that great a leap from wondering what’s going to happen next to inventing what’s going to happen next.

“I know I can pull it off. I’ve studied all the photographs you sent me in the file plus a few I’ve dug up on my own. From what I can see, Cameron and I are identical twins.” We both had that Miranda from Sex and the City red hair. Of course, I wore mine in a braid down my back so I wouldn’t have to fuss with it. Cameron, on the other hand, wore hers in one of those chic shoulder-length styles that I’d always admired.

“All I have to do is shorten my hair a bit,” I assured Pepper. This was the part of the plan that was clear in my mind. I’d even made an appointment with a hairdresser.

“You’re going to need more than a haircut to pull this off.”

Exactly. That was why I had come to San Francisco. I was going to need more, and Pepper had the power to provide all of it. I just had to get her on my side. I wasn’t worried, not really. Hadn’t I been cocaptain of the debate team at the small private college Pepper and I had attended? The only problem was that Pepper had been the other cocaptain and her strength had always been rebuttal.

“I’ll need a little help from you, of course. But I know that I can pass for her.”

“For how long?” Pepper asked. “A few photos and the information I gave you won’t be enough. Someone is bound to figure out you’re a phony.”

“I told you I have a plan.”

“You always do.” Pepper’s frown deepened. “But sometimes they don’t work out.”

I could tell she was thinking of the time I had the great idea about slipping away from the dorm and going to a frat party at the neighboring state school. My plan had included donning disguises, climbing out of our dorm window via sheets we had knotted together, and “borrowing” our resident advisor’s car. It would have worked if we hadn’t had a flat tire and the local sheriff hadn’t stopped to help us out.

Pepper squeezed my hand. “Look, I know that this has been a shock to you—first finding out that you’re adopted and then learning that you have an identical twin.”

This was another reason why I’d driven up to San Francisco to talk to Pepper. Yes, I needed her help, but I also needed someone besides my parents to talk to. Mom and Dad were busy. They’d always been busy. Not that they hadn’t loved me and been proud of me. They had. But…

“What can I do to talk you out of this?”

I met her eyes steadily. “You can’t. I don’t believe that Cameron’s disappearance is due to the fact that she needed time away to ‘settle her nerves.’ I have this feeling that something’s wrong and that she needs my help.”

Pepper’s brows shot up. “A feeling? Are you talking about some special twin ESP?”

“Maybe.”

She considered that for a moment and then said, “How does that work when you’ve never known each other, never even met?”

“How should I know? We came from the same egg, share the same genes. I’m figuring we have to be quite a bit alike.” I paused to flip open the file that lay on the table between us. Pepper had been thorough in her research. She’d included pictures and background information on everyone at the McKenzie ranch. I pulled out a photo that had appeared in the local press announcing the engagement of Cameron McKenzie and Sloan Campbell. “Look at them. They look very happy together.”

Pepper rolled her eyes. “They’re posing for the press. They probably said ‘cheese.’”

“Maybe.” But I couldn’t believe that what I saw in the photo was faked. It was the only picture that Pepper had included of my sister’s fiancé, Sloan Campbell, and the same thing was happening to me that had happened every time I looked at it. I couldn’t seem to take my eyes off of his face.

He was dark-haired and tall, nearly a full head and shoulders above Cameron. If she was wearing three-inch heels—and I figured from other photos she was—that meant he was over six feet tall. Even in a tux, it was apparent that his shoulders were broad. There was strength there, and a certain magnetism that would probably be even stronger when it wasn’t being filtered through a camera lens. Hollywood and TV producers called it “star quality,” and Sloan Campbell had it in spades.

Yet, he wasn’t exactly handsome, at least not in a movie star pretty way. In my experience, actors built their muscles and hardened their abs in state-of-the-art health clubs. Sloan Campbell looked as if he kept in shape the old-fashioned way. He might not be movie star handsome, but there was something very compelling about his rugged features, something that made you believe that in a fight, this was the man you’d want on your side.

My instincts also told me that this was a man any red-blooded woman would want in her bed. I blinked as a thought struck me. Was this a man I wanted in my bed? Was that why I was so fascinated by his picture? I could feel heat flood my cheeks. He was my sister’s fiancé. And they looked very happy.

“Earth to Brooke.”

I dragged my eyes away from the newspaper clipping and met Pepper’s again.

“I’m waiting for you to elaborate more on this ‘feeling’ of yours that your sister isn’t a runaway bride.”

“Okay.” I drew in a deep breath. “From your accounts, Cameron loves the ranch and she holds an important job at McKenzie Enterprises. She gets to travel around the country, entertaining old clients and courting new ones. She’s good at what she does, and the business depends on her. The other thing that’s clear in your report is that she loves horses. That’s one thing I share with her, and I don’t think she would run away from her responsibilities. I think she’d handle her cold feet another way. She’d simply break off the engagement.”

“Dammit.” Pepper leaned back in her chair.

It was my turn to stare. “What’s the matter?”

“You’re beginning to make sense.”

Before I could comment, a waitress appeared at our table.

“Can I get you something else?”

“Two glasses of your best Chardonnay,” Pepper said. “I’m going to need more than chocolate to settle my nerves.”

As soon as the waitress moved away, she leaned closer. “I’ve talked about this with Cole, and we tend to agree with you that Cameron wouldn’t have run out on the job or the horses for this amount of time.”

“Then you can understand why I have to go there.”

Pepper grabbed my hand again. “What I see is a reason why you shouldn’t go there. It’s too dangerous. If someone else is responsible for your sister’s disappearance, he or she is not going to be happy if you show up as Cameron. Plus, we still don’t know who sent the anonymous letter—or why.”

“You’re not going to talk me out of this.”

“Yeah,” Pepper said as the waitress set down the glasses of wine. “That’s why I ordered the drinks.”

We reached for the wineglasses together and I raised mine in a toast. “To the best friend ever. Wish me luck?”

She touched her glass to mine and took a long swallow. “I have one more argument.”

As cocaptain of the debate team, she’d always had one more argument.

“How in the world are you going to carry this masquerade off? All you know about your sister is in that file. And what about the fiancé? How do you intend to handle him?”

Very carefully, I thought. I had a good idea that Sloan Campbell would be my biggest challenge once I got to the ranch. Once more, I attempted a confident smile. “I’ve got it covered. I’m going to tell them that five weeks ago I got mugged, and when I woke up in the hospital, I didn’t have any ID and couldn’t remember who I was. That’s why I haven’t come back sooner. And that way I won’t have to remember a thing about Cameron’s past life.”

Pepper sighed, then took a good gulp of her wine. “I should have known you’d come up with something. You always do.”

I met her eyes steadily. “I have to do this. She’s my sister. And I’m going to need your help.”

“You bet your life you are.” Pepper pulled out a notebook and began scribbling. “The mugging is a good idea. You arrived at the hospital with only the clothes on your back. So there was no way to trace you. We’ll need to establish where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing for the last five weeks. You’re a millionairess. Someone in the family is going to check into everything. And when the press gets hold of the story…”