So Far From Yesterday

"Damn Anna, now he's facing us and he has a gun."

"Sorry honey. She started to back up farther when the guy shot at them. Sam and Anna ducked and then looked up in time to see a police car coming from the other side of the dark car. Anna looked over at Sam who was low in his seat and she asked him, "You okay?"

"Yeah, you?"

"He missed us." There were no more shots fired and the two of them stayed in their car until they saw the guy thrown to the ground and handcuffed.

Sam was first out of the car and then Anna joined him as he said, "Holy shit, I know that guy. That's Leon Duval. I fired his ass two years...no longer ago than that. Yes, damn it, that would be about the time Carson was arrested for murder." Sam threw his arms around Anna, kissed her and said, "Damn, it all fits."

"It does?" Duval was now bent over the fender of his car and was being patted down as two other officers looked at the two damaged cars and then walked toward Sam and Anna.

"Officer," Sam said, "Can you get a message to Detective Fontana? All of this relates to a case he's working on." As one officer keyed his radio, the other asked them if they were okay. After that it was questions and answers. Then Sam led the way to his house and they all went inside where it was warm and more comfortable.

Detective Fontana arrived about twenty minutes later and talked to the police for a few minutes, and then the two officers left and the detective joined Sam and Anna. Sam smiled at Detective Fontana and said, "It all makes sense now doesn't it."

"Tell me what you think Sam."

"It started when I fired Leon Duval almost three years ago. I fired him for threatening two other employees. Apparently that put his rage in motion again. Now the next part I have to guess a little. Sierra, the victim was stabbed to death right?"

"Correct."

"Carson knew her and was occasionally dating her, so there was the connection between the two of them. By pure chance, one day Duval saw Carson and thought it was me okay? Then he followed the couple until he was able to catch her alone and he killed her. He's in a perfect position to be a witness, because he knew exactly what happened. All he had to do was put Carson in his place and describe the details. Of course enough time passed before his good conscience kicked in so he had time to clean up, and of course you or whoever would know that Carson would have time to clean up. Boom there goes any blood evidence that you might hope to find. She's dead, Duval saw it, and said he said he could tell she knew her killer, pretending not to know me. Of course there would be no connection between Duval and Carson. And I'll bet Carson's name or phone number or something was found in her house because they were dating."

Sam leaned back and had just a slight smile as he continued. "It went off beautifully for Duval, or so he thought. He didn't care about Sierra, who he didn't even know, and Carson, who he thought was me, was now in jail. Sweet revenge and it worked. That is until I stumbled into the picture. As soon as he heard about his mistake he had to be sweating, plus he would be furious because I'd escaped free and clear. His mission to punish me was a failure. He had to come back and take care of me. To get his revenge for firing him from a good paying job. Now he had a mess because he'd testified that I had killed Sierra and that whole story was now in jeopardy, because his testimony was now suspect at the very least. Plus like I said, he still has to punish me. So there you have it Detective."

"Well you know there will be a lot of questions, but I have to say, the essence of what you say fits like a glove, but why didn't you realize you knew Duval before?"

"Nobody ever mentioned his name. He was always the guy, or the witness. He was never referred to as Leon Duval. I'm not even sure his name would have registered with me right away, but it probably would have. The funny thing is, the one part that started this whole mess is still unsolved. How is it possible for me to look like a carbon copy of Carson?"

"That's why you hired Ray Medina though right?"

"That's true, and that's still in the game."

"Anna," Fontana said, "I have a question for you. Where did you ever learn to drive like that?"

She smiled and said, "I don't know where that came from. I just knew that we couldn't let him escape again. Had he gotten away, Sam would still be in fear of his life and I would have been a basket case." Then she smiled at Sam and said, "Besides, I know he loves me so I knew he'd buy me a new car."

Detective Fontana smiled and asked Sam, "Got anything to say to that Sam?"

"Detective, there are times when it's just best to smile and agree, and this is one of those times." Then he smiled at her and added, "When she's right, she's right."

The End.

Epilogue

With the help of Detective Fontana, Sam and Anna were allowed to see Carson in a small room at the prison that attorneys usually used when talking to their clients. It was then that Anna met Carson and couldn't stop staring, and they told him that the case against him was falling apart. Detective Fontana even told Carson that there was a very good chance that he could be a free man one day soon. With no bars or glass to separate them, Carson and Sam embraced each other for the first time. Then Carson gave Anna a hug and shook the detective's hand. He was blinking back the tears, and he was smiling.

"Carson," Sam said, "We're still working on how it's possible that you and I can look alike."

"Thanks Sam. I'm really curious about that, but that's small compared to what is happening right now."

"I know." When Carson went back to his cell he was feeling like a new man. When they left, Anna cried for Carson but she was also smiling for him.

They were on their way home when Ray Medina called. "Sam, don't get your hopes up, but I've found some of your distant relatives and I'm getting some interesting information. With a little luck I should be able to put something together. There's no way in hell you two aren't twin brothers, so all I have to do is figure out what happened when you two were babies that got you separated. Also I'm setting up a DNA test for both of you, so in a few weeks we'll have irrefutable proof. We all knew that you and Carson are twins. There was and is no other explanation for it, but circumstances kept confusing us and distracting us. I don't think it's too soon or too optimistic to say congratulations for finding out that you have a twin brother.