Don't Look Behind You (Don't Look Series Book 1) by Emily Kazmierski (summer reads .txt) 📗

Outside the Courthouse

Reporters talk into their phones, into cameras, or type notes on devices as quickly as they can. Each one races to get their story into their station so they can be the first to break the news about the start of the most widely talked about and publicized trial the state of California has seen in years.

“Families of twins can sleep more soundly tonight knowing that the man who terrorized them this summer is gone. His brother, a teacher who aided him in luring his final victims to a country farmhouse, will likely be jailed for quite some time, if the testimony by survivors Audrey and Taryn Thomas is any indication of his extensive crimes.

Investigation into the Baugh brothers’ past indicates abuse perpetrated by their parents, who pitted them against each other and punished the brothers who did not measure up by depriving them of meals, beds to sleep in, and on occasion, proper shelter.

Mr. John Baugh, the oldest brother and former high school teacher, is being brought up on charges of kidnapping. The youngest brother, Albert, otherwise known as the Gemini Killer, was killed by law enforcement in the rescue of the Thomas twins. The authorities have been unable to contact the killer’s twin brother, Robert. Yesterday the sheriff issued a statement saying that no evidence of his participation in the crimes has been found, suggesting that he was not involved in the string of murders that brought fear to our state. Authorities speculate that he has gone into hiding to avoid the censure of the public wrath against his brothers. They ask that he come forward if he has any information regarding the crimes of his siblings. For channel four news, this is Chelsea Ichaso.”

At the edge of the crowd, a man holding a sign with the words, “They got the wrong man,” lowers it with care. Turning away from the throng, he sets the sign against the side of an adjacent building.

His heart thuds as he rounds a corner, and his hand falls to the lump in his inner jacket pocket. The hard curve of the hunting knife’s hilt is reassuring. If there had been trouble, he would have handled it.

Getting into his brother’s blue car—he’d ditched the dice—he drives north out of town.

Robert would always be grateful for his younger twin brother, Albert, who’s obsession with that teen girl saved his neck. Albert’s decision to reveal himself to her on that grocery store camera took the heat off him. It was convenient that the police killed him before Albert could tell them he wasn’t responsible for the killings.

All of his life, Robert had hated having a twin. Had hated feeling like he was simply a spare.

Finally, he realized Albert had been the spare. He’d been sacrificed so that Robert could continue his work. There were many more parents of twins who deserved punishment, and he would ensure that they got it.

One by one, they would feel the severing plunge of his knife.

And someday, once Robert judged that retribution had been paid, he would return to finish what he’d started with the Thomas twins.

***

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Also by Emily Kazmierski

Embassy Academy Trilogy

Deadly First Day

Lethal Queen Bee

Killer Final Exams

Ivory Tower Spies Series

For Your Ears Only

The Walk-in Agent (a Julep Short Story)

The Eyes of Spies

Spy Your Heart Out

Spy Got Your Tongue

Over My Dead Body

Other Novels

Malignant

All-American Liars

Life Among the Ashes

About the Author

Emily lives in sunny Southern California with her husband and daughters. When she's not writing, she enjoys cuddling with her two dachshunds Nestlé and Kiefer, making homemade ice cream, watching television, and enjoying the sunshine with her daughters and their flock of backyard chickens.

To learn more about Emily, visit her website: www.emilykazmierski.com