Busted by Karin Slaughter

many times, just not in Jared’s wallet. It was from the shoebox Lena kept in the closet. The picture was of her twin sister, Sibyl. Lena was struck by a painful ache of jealousy, and then she felt herself start to laugh. Jared obviously thought the picture was of Lena. He’d never met Sibyl. She’d been dead ten years when Jared came into Lena’s life.
    She put her hand to her mouth as the laugh turned into a sob. When Lena had found out she was pregnant, the first person she’d thought of was Sibyl. There was a brief spark of happiness as Lena had picked up the phone to call her sister.
    And then the loss had sucker punched her in the chest.
    Lena carefully wiped underneath her eyes as she stared at the photo. She could see why Jared had chosen it. Sibyl was sitting on a blanket in the park. Her mouth was open, head tilted back. She was laughing with full abandon – the kind of happiness Lena seldom showed. Their Mexican American grandmother’s genes were on full display. Sibyl’s skin was bronze from the sun. Her curly brown hair was down, the way Lena wore her hair today. Though Sibyl didn’t have the highlights Lena had, and she certainly didn’t have the few strands of gray.
    What would Sibyl look like now? It was a question Lena had asked a lot over the years. She assumed it was something all twins wondered when one passed away. Sibyl had never had Lena’s hard lines and sharp edges. There was always a softness to Sibyl’s face, an openness that invited people in instead of pushing them away. Only a fool would mistake one twin for the other.
    ‘Lee?’
    She looked up at Jared as if it was perfectly normal for her to be sitting in her underwear crying over his wallet. He was standing in the doorway again, feet just shy of entering.
    She asked, ‘Who was that call from? On your cell phone?’
    ‘The number was blocked.’ He looped his thumbs through his tool belt as he leaned against the doorjamb. ‘You all right?’
    ‘I’m … uh…’ Her voice caught. ‘Tired.’
    Lena looked at Sibyl one last time before she closed the wallet. She felt tears streaming down her face. Her jaw tightened as she tried to push her emotions back down. No matter what she did, they kept bubbling up again, tightening her throat, squeezing like a band around her chest.
    ‘Lee?’ He still didn’t come into the room.
    Lena shook her head, willing him to go. She couldn’t look at him, couldn’t let Jared see her like this. She knew that breaking down was exactly what he’d been waiting for. Expecting.
    Wanting .
    But then something snapped inside of her. Another sob came out – deep, mournful. Lena couldn’t fight it anymore, couldn’t keep pushing him away. She didn’t make Jared to come to her. She crossed the room quickly, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, pressing her face to his chest.
    ‘Lena –’
    She kissed him. Her hands went to his face, touched his neck. Jared resisted at first, but he was a twenty-six-year-old man who’d spent the last week sleeping on the couch. It didn’t take much for Lena to get a response. His calloused hands rubbed along her bare back. He pulled her closer, kissed her harder.
    And then his whole body jerked away.
    Blood sprayed into her mouth.
    Lena heard the gunshot seconds later.
    After Jared had been hit. After he collapsed against her.
    He was too heavy. Lena stumbled, falling back onto the floor, Jared sprawled on top of her, pinning her down. She couldn’t move. She tried to push him up, but another shot rang out. His body spasmed, lifting a few inches, then falling against her again.
    Lena heard a high-pitched keening. It was coming from her own mouth. She scrambled out from under Jared, then grabbed him by his shirt to pull him out of the line of fire. She managed to move him a few feet before his tool belt got twisted up in the rug.
    ‘No-no-no,’ Lena stuttered before she clamped her hands over her mouth to stop the noise. She pressed her back to the wall,