Free Deadly Double by Adrianne Byrd

woman from his past that it took him a while to notice the four men dressed in black suits behind her.
    He should leave, he realized, but couldn’t manage to move. Instead, he wanted her to look at him…to recognize him.
    “Dr. Hayes,” Marcus said.
    William’s gaze shifted toward Marcus. “Yes?”
    “I don’t think you’ve had the pleasure to meet Ms. Ferrell. Ms. Ferrell, Dr. William Hayes. He’s one of our new physicians at Keystone.”
    “Are you one of the jerks responsible for losing my sister?”
    He flinched as his brows furrowed. “No. But you must be the sister Michelle gave a black eye. I see that it’s healed rather nicely.”
    Marcus coughed, but William suspected it was to mask a snicker.
    Slowly Josephine’s lips curled. “Funny.” Her gaze swept over him. “You sure are handsome. I’ll give you that much. Dead ringer for that actor.” She snapped her fingers as if trying to recall. “George something or another.”
    William forced a smile. “George Clooney,” he said. “I get that a lot.”
    “I bet you do.” Her smile brightened as her eyes twinkled.
    He felt nothing as he stared at her. Nothing at all. “I better get going. Someone is waiting for me.”
    “Thank you, Dr. Hayes,” Marcus said, smiling. “Have a nice vacation.”
    William nodded and turned toward the door.
    “Sure hope I see you around,” Josephine called after him. A hint of a Southern accent clung to her words.
    William glanced back and failed to manage a smile. He didn’t know what the hell was going on, but he did know that this woman was not Josie.
     
    #
    “Y-yes. You know my name.” Tears splashed down Josie’s face as she grabbed Ecaterina in a bear hug.
    “Now, now, honey.” Ecaterina awkwardly patted her on the back. “There’s no reason to cry.”
    Josie squeezed tighter and sobbed uncontrollably.
    The older woman consoled her the best she could and even helped Josie back into bed.
    The crying session only worsened Josie’s headache, and she begged Ecaterina for relief. A half hour after she downed two Tylenol capsules, the room finally stopped spinning, but her head still felt as if it was going to explode at any moment. All the same, she wondered what was going on and how she came to be in that house.
    She was disturbed by the lack of control over her body. One minute she was burning up and in the next she was freezing. She needed something, wanted something, but had no idea what.
    Though she was grateful to the kindly, older woman who took care of her, she wasn’t sure whether she could trust her. She didn’t even know if she could trust herself…as silly as that sounded.
    Josie’s gaze slid to a photograph on the nightstand next to the bed, and out of curiosity, she reached for it.
    “They’re a beautiful couple, aren’t they?” Ecaterina said, breezing into the room. “You and your cousin Sheila don’t, uh, share too many features.” She smiled awkwardly. “Are you two first or second cousins?”
    Josie stared at the blond woman in the picture. “Sheila?”
    “Yes. That’s your cousin Sheila.”
    Frowning, Josie concentrated on the stunning and photogenic woman, but only drew a blank. She couldn’t remember ever having a white cousin. “I don’t know.” She exhaled with disappointment. “I don’t remember her.”
    Slowly her gaze traveled to the man in the photograph and something sparked within her. “He looks sort of familiar,” she whispered.
    “Well, I should say so,” Ecaterina chuckled. “He’s married to your cousin.”
    Josie took in the man’s dark hair and blue eyes, but his features weren’t quite right. They seemed wrong somehow. She stared at his eyes. They were the right shade, but they, too, were wrong.
    When she realized she wasn’t making any sense, she lowered the picture and touched the bruise above her eye. It throbbed as she struggled to remember how she had gotten it. The harder she tried, the more frustrated she became.
    “Open up,”