“You won’t do that,” Jeremiah said. “If you didn’t do it before, when I had a knife to your throat, I don’t think you’ll do it now. Think about this. What are you going to tell them when they ask for a description? We’re not here to hurt anyone. Parker’s not in any danger. But you and I need to talk. It’s time I filled you in on everything that’s going on. It’s time you knew the truth.”

Natalie shot a warning look at Jeremiah, which angered him.

“What else are we supposed to do, Natalie?” he asked. “We’re sort of backed in a corner here and time is running out. The project doesn’t matter anymore. Fuck that. Besides, he has a right to know.”

“A right to know what?” the clone asked, looking from one of them to the other. His hands still gripped Parker’s shoulders. He let go, turned to Jeremiah and lowered his voice. “Who the hell are you?”

“That,” Jeremiah said, “should be as plain as the nose on our identical face. Come with me.”

Five minutes later, back in the hallway, Jeremiah’s clone was shaking his head.

“You’re insane,” he said. “Human cloning?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Illegal, immoral, all of that. But scientifically possible, and that’s what this is. Look at me! Look at my face. What do you think this is? What else can this possibly be?”

Jeremiah locked eyes with his double and watched as some sort of understanding eventually fell over its face. The clone’s eyes began to twitch, and he pulled at the hair on the top of his head, in exactly the same way that Jeremiah had always reacted to bad news.

“You know it’s the truth,” Jeremiah pushed. “You’ve known it since the minute you saw me. Now you just need to admit it. And time is running out. I’m afraid we can’t have your existential crisis right now.”

“You expect me to believe this?” the clone said. “How do I know that you’re not the clone? Maybe you’re the clone and you’re trying to steal my life, my son!”

“I’m not stealing anything. I’m trying to take back my own son, my real son. And believe me, I don’t want your life. You can keep that.”

“But Parker is my son,” the clone said. “I remember the day he was born. I remember every first day of school, every argument, every time he ever cried. I remember everything. He’s my son.”

“And Parker’s clone will remember all of it, too. Those memories won’t go away. You lose nothing. In some weird way, that clone is your real son,” Jeremiah said. “I just want to make this right again. For both of us. For all of us. We don’t have time to debate this. We have to do it now.”

Natalie’s voice pierced the silence between the men.

“We need to hurry this up, Jeremiah. We need the other clone.”

“Get him. He’s in my car, down the street.” He tossed her his keys as she brushed past them and started down the stairs. “Be careful,” he added. “Don’t give him any information. Just bring him in.”