“Ready?” Drago asked.
“For anything,” Hagen responded with a smile.
As Hagen pulled open the passenger door, he frowned. Drago got in the car, impatient to get on the road. “Hagen? We need to go.”
The young man got in and buckled, but his attention immediately returned to his phone.
“Is something wrong?”
“I’m not sure. Either someone is playing with me, or…” Hagen was lost in thought, his bottom lip being mauled by his top row of teeth. When he looked at Drago, his eyes were bright with excitement. “Or Christmas has come early.” He handed his phone over. Drago read the message, then he read it two more times. He didn’t want to get his hopes up because Hagen was right; this could be a trap. But if it wasn’t? If it wasn’t… Drago handed the phone back. As much as he wanted to hope the sender of the message wasn’t playing with him, he couldn’t let his guard down. He would continue with the plan he had in place, and if the sender did make good on his promise? Drago shook his head, not allowing himself to think that far ahead.
Chapter Twenty-One
Josie admired Sophia. The female was a month away from giving birth and had found out her home had been destroyed, yet she was comforting Trevor and Josie. Trevor, for his part, was more concerned about some journals he had hidden in his home. When he caught Josie frowning, he sat beside her.
“When I was in high school, I met a few other clones. I started making a list. I’m not sure why, but at the time it felt important. When we left for college, my friends agreed to send me the names of any other clones they met. It sort of became an obsession over the years. Like when Tessa went through her ordeal with the Redhead Killer. All those other women who died could have been Tessa’s sister if not twin. While I had them on the autopsy table, I tested their blood.”
“You didn’t tell me this,” Tessa said, coming closer. Trevor had the attention of everyone except Abbi, who was in the bedroom with the kids and Molly.
“You and I weren’t friends yet. At the time, I didn’t know the truth of Gargoyles or who Joseph really was. I added the deceased women to my journals, but it got me thinking, so I did some digging.” Trevor turned, giving Tessa all his attention. “I haven’t shared this with anyone because I don’t know what it means, but there are over twenty clones in and around Georgia who could pass for your sister.”
“Are you saying my father cloned Tessa more than once?” Isabelle asked. The doctor looked like she was going to be sick, whereas Tessa appeared more confused than angry.
“I’m saying someone did. You’d have to ask Jonas if it was him, or if someone else got their hands on Tessa’s DNA somehow.” Trevor turned back to Josie. “I don’t want that information to get in the wrong hands. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a clone, but not everyone wants that part of themselves made public.”
“Why would Jonas do that? Make multiple versions of Tessa, I mean,” Josie asked.
“Because she’s the second coming,” Isabelle muttered. “Always was the favorite.”
“Seriously, Belle? I thought we’d gotten past all that.” Tessa stood and went to follow her cousin who was walking toward the back of the plane. When Tessa grabbed for Isabelle’s hand, the doctor turned on the redhead.
“I had. I have. I… It doesn’t matter. I’m going to check on Connor.”
“Belle. Isabelle—”
“Let her go.” Sophia stepped in front of Tessa. “Let her go, Tess.”
Obviously, the cousins had omitted parts of their past when telling Josie their stories. She felt bad for them, especially Isabelle, because it was clear the doctor felt somewhat inferior in the eyes of her father, at least where Tessa was concerned. Josie knew all about that.
“I’m sorry,” Trevor said to no one in particular.
“Not your fault, Nerd Boy. This is all on Jonas. And you can bet your geek ass I’ll be talking to him about the clones next time I see him.” Tessa grabbed the half-empty bottle of tequila and strode to the front of the plane, taking a seat by herself.
“Trevor, have you looked at any of the other clones to see if there were similarities between them?” Katherine asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you and I were cloned for a purpose. But those redheads… were they cloned for a purpose as well? Are there others out there who match your DNA? Or mine? What if whoever made us did the same thing? Saved some of our DNA to make others who look just like us?”
“No, I haven’t because in cataloguing all the ones I know about, I never saw photos of anyone who looked like me. And I haven’t come across any more of our kind lately.”
“Have you figured out who the doctor was? Who was behind the procedures? I mean Jonas isn’t the only doctor out there doing the cloning, so what if there’s another doctor making multiples?”
Trevor grinned. “I see that reporter brain of yours hasn’t been lost behind a camera lens. But no. I honestly haven’t given it much thought lately, what with school and all.”
“Did Jonas work alone?” Josie asked. When Trevor and Katherine looked at each other then back at her,
