Free Dead Ringer by Mary Burton

.
    Kendall
moistened her lips and smiled.
    The
unidentified woman wouldn't remain nameless and unknown. She would see to it.
    Three...two...one.
    "Good
evening. This is Kendall Shaw reporting for Channel Ten News, Richmond...."

    Several
hours had passed before Jacob and Zack returned to Jackie White's house.
    Jacob
slipped on rubber gloves before shoving the key in the lock. "I didn't see a
security company sign out front."
    Zack
donned gloves. "We'll know for sure in a minute."
    Jacob
twisted the lock open and pushed in the door. No alarm chime sounded. Jacob
flipped a switch by the front door. An overhead light clicked on.
    The
room wasn't large and could easily have been cramped but Ms. White had
furnished the room modestly with an overstuffed yellow loveseat and a small
paisley chair. Three pillows neatly lined the couch. A small corner hutch
housed a TV. The room was perfectly neat with not a magazine out of place.
There was a fine coating of dust on the coffee table, but Jacob suspected it
wouldn't have been there if Jackie were alive.
    "The
place is as neat as a model home," Zack said.
    Jacob
glanced at the coffee table. Five Hollywood entertainment-style magazines were
stacked in a neat pile. Nothing in the room was overly expensive but it was all
kept in pristine condition. "She ran a tight ship."
    They
moved into the kitchen and flipped on the lights. The refrigerator was off
white and neatly scrubbed, unlike the cluttered appliance in Betty Smith's
kitchen. The counters were clean, the dishes washed and put away; even the
stove looked as if it had just been cleaned. The cabinets were full of organic
products.
    "I'd
say she was obsessed with cleanliness and her health," Zack sad.
    "Yeah." He moved to a small nook that had a box marked
"mail." "So how does she end up by the river, strangled?"
    He
pulled out the mail and searched through the stack. Electric,
cable, credit card. All were up to date. And the name Ruth did not
appear on any of the bills. So far it appeared she'd lived her life clean and
simple and yet someone had brutally killed her.
    "Time
to pay Mr. White a visit," Zack said.
    Jacob's
jaw tightened and released. "Yeah."
    The
case had all the hallmarks of a domestic murder. A pending
divorce. A recent fight. The
method of murder. And yet Jacob's mind kept going back to the charm. Ruth .
Jacob wouldn't be satisfied until he found out who Ruth was.

    " Stop! "
    It
was just past two A.M . when
Kendall sat up in bed. Her heart hammered in her chest and a
sheen of sweat coated her body. For a moment her eyes searched the dark room
and she struggled to figure out where she was. Slowly the familiar registered
with her. This was her room, her bed.
    She
dragged a shaking hand through her hair and glanced at the digital clock by her
bed. Two twenty-one. She'd been asleep just over an hour when the nightmare had
woken her.
    "Damn."
    This
dream was clearer and sharper than the others.
    The
terrified screams of a faceless woman echoed in her ears. The unknown woman
begged for mercy and spoke of love as she wept.
    The
woman felt the presence of Evil pacing around her like
a caged animal. Unbearable fear and sadness washed over Kendall, tightening her
chest, making her barely able to breathe. She touched her fingertips to her
face and realized that she had been crying in her sleep.
    "This
is nuts." Her voice sounded hoarse.
    Kendall
swung her legs over the side of the bed. She switched on the bedside light.
"It's a dream. It's a damn dream."
    But
it had been so clear, and the feelings had been so real. She swallowed and
stood. The wooden floor felt cold against her bare feet. She glanced longingly
back at her bed but knew her body and mind were too keyed up to sleep.
    Kendall
pushed her feet into her slippers. "This is stupid. There is enough in the
daily news to keep me up but I have to dream up phantoms."
    She
padded down the hallway past her roommate's closed door, careful to be quiet.
She moved down the staircase,