Page 5 of Someone to Call My Own
I chuckled as I wrapped the towel around my waist and knotted it while both men lowered their weapons. “Does my nudity offend your sensibilities, Detective Dorchester?” I asked him.
“How do you know my name?” Dorchester asked me. “Better yet, why don’t you explain to us how we don’t know about you? I find it odd that you’ve made no attempt to get involved and assist us with the investigation to find your brother’s killer. Does that sound odd to you, Gabe?” Dorchester asked his partner.
“I’d move heaven and earth if it were my brother,” Detective Wyatt replied. There was a reverent tone in his voice that had me wondering if this case touched a personal note for reasons I didn’t yet know. That didn’t mean I was going to let him railroad me for something I didn’t do. I wasn’t your everyday schmuck who didn’t know better.
“And you think that makes me look guilty?” I asked. “Put yourself in my shoes and see how you’d feel. My brother, identical twin to be exact, is killed after reaching out to the good detective here,” I gestured to Detective Wyatt, “two times and the Cincinnati Police Department once. Can you maybe see how I don’t have any faith in you to catch whoever harassed and killed Nate?”
Detective Wyatt took a deep breath. “Put yourself in our shoes, Mr. Silver,” he said, mimicking the words I had used. “We had a man who claimed he was threatened but wouldn’t cooperate when we tried to help him through legal channels. What exactly could we have done differently?”
“More than what you did.” I started to shake with anger. “I know all about the new task force, which is too little too late in my opinion, and those who are on it. I’m staying vigilant even when those who should are not.”
I sounded like some sitcom vigilante, but I did have the means and know-how to track down and punish the man responsible for Nate’s death. I was a heartbeat away from carrying out my threat. The only thing that stood in my way was my desire to be a better man, one that would make my brother proud.
“Mr. Silver, you weren’t so vigilant when you left the back door unlocked,” Detective Wyatt said accusingly.
“Ah, that’s how you got in,” I said. “I guess I need to have a longer chat with Alexander—well, perhaps an actual chat that includes words and not body language next time. Don’t be too mad at him, Detectives, because I promise he wasn’t capable of much thought when he left.”
I whipped the towel off my waist and dropped it to the floor before reaching for my clothes on the desk chair. “If you want to talk to me, then you can do it in the presence of my attorney. It’s the same one Nate used, so your task force should be familiar with him.” I took my time pulling my underwear up my legs.
“Rick Spizer?” Detective Dorchester asked calmly. He either wasn’t offended by a nude man or he liked them really well. I couldn’t get a read on him.
“The one and only.”
“That’s great news,” Detective Wyatt said. “We have an appointment with him at noon so why don’t you join him at the precinct? This is your moment to step up and prove that you want to help catch the man who killed your brother, as you claim.”
I didn’t like his condescending attitude or the implication that I don’t want to find Nate’s killer. “You won’t bait me, Detective. I don’t owe you a fucking thing,” I replied hotly, “but I will be there at noon.”
“Thank you,” he said.
“I’m not doing it for you; I’m doing it for Nate.”
“We’ll see you at noon,” the detective said. “Be sure to bring your alibi information with you for the night that your brother died.”
I didn’t like him having the last word, so I waited until they were almost to the door before I asked, “Detective Wyatt, am I identical to my brother ineveryway?” The detective stiffened slightly but didn’t stop or respond to my question. I was trained to read body language, pick up the most minute gestures, and see someone’s unspoken emotions. I laughed long and hard at the discomfort he couldn’t hide.That’s right, Detective. I know all about your past with my brother.
“They don’t have shit on you because you didn’t kill your brother,” Rick Spizer, my attorney, said when we stood outside the Cincinnati police precinct. “You have nothing to be worried about, Jonathon.”
“I’m not worried, Rick.” Even if I were, they’d never know it. Fuck, I could pass a polygraph if needed.
The attorney patted me on the back. “Let’s get this over with then. I’m sure you didn’t get much sleep.”
He didn’t know the half of it, but I didn’t enlighten him. Once inside, Rick and I were separated. The detectives interviewed my attorney first, and I wasn’t sure if they hoped to sweat me out or they hoped to glean info from Rick since he knew Nate longer than I did. That realization never failed to stab me in the heart. Rick’s interview went faster than I anticipated, so it wasn’t long before all three men entered the interview room where they’d stashed me.
“Thank you for coming in today,” Detective Wyatt professionally said. “Can you please state your full name for the recording and relationship to the victim, Nathaniel Turner.”
I flinched when I heard my brother’s name in the same sentence with the word victim, which proved to me that training could be forgotten when a person reached their breaking point. “Jonathon David Silver and Nathaniel Turner is…wasmy brother.” My words faltered and every ounce of bravado I felt that morning faded.
“Can you tell us who might’ve wanted to kill your brother?” Detective Wyatt asked.
“No,” I replied softly. “Nate told me about the threats, of course, but said he didn’t know why he was receiving them.”
“Did you believe him?” Dorchester asked me.
I released a long frustrated sigh. “Honestly? No. Nate was a very private man and getting to know him had been hard. He was shocked to learn he had a twin brother and that he didn’t really know the parents who raised him, so you can imagine that he had some serious trust issues.”
“What do you mean that he didn’t know his adoptive parents very well?”
“They never told Nate about me, so he began wondering what other secrets they hid from him,” I replied. My mother refused to share the details of our conception or the reason she gave one of us up for adoption, but I had a feeling there were sinister reasons involved. I never shared my opinion with Nate because he loved his adoptive family. Still, he began questioning their character on his own.