But It Isn't Right (Duskwood Fanfic)

Ghosts

Two weeks went by. Thanks to Miranda and my grandmother, who loved to bake, we were able to keep Cleo's bakery open. But despite my pleas to Alan, he said that he couldn't tell us anything about the Millers and Cleo. Not even whether they were safe.

I started to wonder how long we could keep this up. Richy and I hadn't done any work since our return. We just hadn't felt up to it, so we were living off of ad revenues and royalties from our existing music, not to mention paying Jessy and Dan's salaries. At some point, we would have to start earning an income.

"Maybe we should sell the RV," I said to Richy one day. "It isn't like we're in the mood to tour, anyway."

"Well, it's just sitting here, and it's been sitting for a while. Maybe that's for the best before it depreciates anymore. I can call the shop about it, I think one of the mechanics had an eye on it for himself before."

"Thanks, Richy. I'm...I'm also wondering if I should sell the house that Jake and I built."

Richy gave me a scrutinizing look. "You haven't even been to see it. Shouldn't you look at it before you decide?"

"I don't really want to," I told him. "I can just have his attorney bring him papers to sign, and I never have to see him or step foot inside of it. It can be part of my clean slate."

"I think you should take some more time to think about this, but I'll support whatever you want to do." Richy kissed me on the forehead and picked up his phone to call the shop.

I was staring off into space when my phone pinged. I looked down to find a text from an unknown number.

Unknown: Li, this is Jake. You are in danger! There is a criminal amongst you.

Li: How the hell did you get a cell phone in prison?

Unknown: The impostor is in prison? Did you discover him without me?

Li: What are you talking about? Why can't you leave me alone? If you don't stop texting me, I'll call the police and have them search your cell until they find this cell phone.

I was about to block him when he called me.

"What do you want?!" I cried, and Richy swiveled to look at me.

"Li, it is me. The man who has been pretending to be me is an impostor. How can I prove it to you?"

My mouth opened. He sounded like the Jake I'd come to know, but different...I searched my memory going back to before I met him. "I'm going to record your voice and check it against my file," I said quickly, hitting record. "Start talking."

"I...I do not know what to say. I am very sorry that I only was able to contact you now. I was ambushed on the way to help you at the cabin and held prisoner until only recently. Once I escaped, your phone number was disconnected and the phone I had been linked to was offline."

I stopped the recording, my hands shaking and tears stinging my eyes. "That should be enough. Hold on while I upload this to my laptop." Richy stood by, confused.

I shared the file with my computer and then put my headphones on so I could concentrate. I played it against the sample I'd taken before. "You never deleted it," I mumbled into the phone.

"There was no need," he told me. "I trust you."

I listened to them back and forth. I checked the pitch and tone against each other. "Tell me something that only the real you would know," I said. "Something an impostor couldn't discover from our texts to each other."

"When I spoke of inviting you to a Chinese restaurant, I was staying at the motel in Alton," he said.

"There's a Chinese place across the street!" I exclaimed. "But that was so long ago...how do you prove that you were there? Maybe you're still the fake guy..." My phone beeped against my ear, and I checked the notification: Jake has shared his location with you. It was for the motel in downtown Alton.