“No!” Sophia tried to scream, but her command was only the barest of whispers. Please, no! Not James.

“Stop. Julia! I know about you. About Sophia. About the baby.”

“No baby,” Sophia insisted, forcing out the words, her voice gurgling strangely. “Never . . . never a baby. Fake pregnancy . . . test.”

“She’s lying!” James stepped into the tiny house. “To save the child.”

Julia said, “More like her own skin.”

“But she’s bleeding out.” He pulled a phone from his pocket and started to dial; all the while, Julia, her hands trembling, aimed the pistol straight at his heart. No! She couldn’t kill James!

Sophia blinked and tried to stay conscious. If she didn’t, Julia would murder James, then turn the gun on her dying sister.

“Where’s Megan?” James demanded, “What happened to her?”

“You didn’t see her?” Julia taunted.

“Oh, God, is that who you were shooting at?” His voice was tinged with horror and disgust.

Julia snorted. “Megan’s already dead, James.”

“Then—?”

“Rebecca, of course.”

“Rebecca?” He sounded stunned. Horrified. Oh, Lord, Sophia heard it in his voice, that he still cared for Megan’s sister, that he probably had always cared for her, even loved her . . . “You sick—”

Sophia’s heart cracked.

“Put down the phone,” Julia ordered, backing up a step.

“It’s over,” he said, and there was a new, brutal quality to his words.

“No . . . not yet.” Julia took one more step backward, and Sophia, despite everything, could almost hear the gears turning in her twin’s mind. “We can work something out,” Julia was saying, her voice softer. “Really, James, I just want a little bit.”

“A little bit?”

“Yeah. You know. Just some of the money I should have inherited.”

“What? How can you think of that now? For the love of God, Rebecca—Jesus, Rebecca’s dead, and your sister’s dying!” James said. “Put down the damned gun!”

Sophia heard a tinny voice squawking, and James cut it off, talking sharply into his phone. “This is James Cahill. I need to report—”

Julia said, “No! Stop it! I’m serious, James, and—” Julia was still inching backward, the heel of her boot brushing Sophia’s side so that she was standing directly above her twin.

So close, Sophia thought.

Precious sister.

Just near enough.

“I’m warning you,” Julia said to James.

Now!

With all of her strength, Sophia flung her torso up, flailing out with her arms, her fingers striking Julia’s knee but sliding.

“What the—?”

Gritting her teeth, Sophia forced her fingers to clamp over Julia’s ankle.

“Quit that!” Julia began to kick.

Still clinging to the boot, Sophia threw back her body, pulling Julia down as James leapt forward.

Blam!

The gun went off!

An earsplitting bang echoed through the small cabin.