Updated Mar 22, 2026 • ~8 min read
Chapter 14: The Warning
SLOANE
Saturday morning, Marcus calls.
“I found Everett’s ex-girlfriend. The one from right before his deployment.”
“And?”
“Her name’s Cassidy Grant. She’s willing to meet with you.”
“Really?”
“She said she’s been waiting for this call for three years. Her words.”
“When can I meet her?”
“Today if you’re free. She lives about an hour away.”
Jade drives me.
Cole follows in his own car.
We meet Cassidy at a Starbucks in Riverside.
She’s late twenties. Pretty. Anxious energy.
Keeps looking over her shoulder like someone’s watching.
I recognize that feeling.
“Sloane?” she asks when we approach.
“Yeah. This is my friend Jade.”
“Thanks for meeting me. I wasn’t sure I should, but Marcus said you’re going through it with Everett.”
“And Ethan. They’re working together.”
Her face goes pale.
“Both of them?”
“You didn’t know?”
“I suspected. But I could never prove it.”
We sit.
She orders a coffee with shaking hands.
“Tell me everything,” I say.
Cassidy’s story is worse than I imagined.
“I met Everett three and a half years ago. At a bar. He was charming. Funny. Attentive. We dated for six months.”
“And?”
“And he was perfect. Too perfect. Like he was performing being a boyfriend rather than actually being one.”
I nod. I know that feeling.
“Then he got deployed. Said he’d be gone for two years. Asked me to wait for him.”
“Did you?”
“For a while. But then things got weird. He’d call me at strange times. Video chat would glitch. Sometimes he looked different on camera—lighting, he said. But I wasn’t sure.”
“Different how?”
“Softer. Less intense. Like a different person.”
“Ethan,” I breathe.
“That’s what I think now. But then, I just thought he was changing. Deployment changes people, right?”
“What happened when he came back?”
Her hands shake harder.
“He didn’t come back. Not for another year. But someone who looked exactly like him started showing up at my work.”
My stomach drops.
“Ethan.”
“I didn’t know about the twin then. Everett never mentioned he had a brother. So I thought it was him. Thought he’d come back early and was surprising me.”
“And?”
“And it was weird. He acted like he knew me but didn’t know me. Knew where I worked but not my favorite coffee order. Knew my name but not my friends’. I thought he had amnesia or something.”
“Did you confront him?”
“I tried. He said I was confused. That deployment stress made him forgetful. That I should be patient.”
Gaslighting. Again.
“Then what?”
“Then the REAL Everett came home. And I saw both of them together for the first time. At a restaurant. I was there with friends. And I saw Everett walk in—the intense one, the one I dated—with another man who looked exactly like him.”
“Did you talk to him?”
“I tried. He saw me. Made eye contact. Then turned and left. Didn’t say a word.”
“And the twin?”
“Came over to my table. Introduced himself as Ethan. Said he was Everett’s brother. Asked how I was doing like he didn’t know me.”
“Even though he’d been pretending to BE Everett.”
“Exactly.”
“What did you do?”
“I lost it. Started crying. Asking why they’d do this. Ethan acted confused. Said he’d never met me before that moment. Everett came back. Backed him up. Made me look insane in front of my friends.”
“That’s horrible.”
“It gets worse. They convinced everyone I was having a breakdown. That I was stalking Ethan because I was obsessed with Everett. That I couldn’t handle the deployment stress.”
“You weren’t—”
“I know I wasn’t! But they were so convincing. So coordinated. My friends believed them. My family believed them. Even I started to doubt myself.”
“What happened after that?”
“I moved. Changed my number. Cut off everyone from that period of my life. Started fresh.”
“And you never reported it?”
“To who? The police? ‘Hi, my boyfriend has a twin and they switched places and I can’t prove which one I dated?’ They’d laugh me out of the station.”
I reach across the table.
Take her hand.
“I believe you.”
She starts crying.
“Thank you. You have no idea how long I’ve needed someone to say that.”
We talk for another hour.
Comparing notes.
The gaslighting tactics are identical.
Making us doubt our memory.
Using our fears against us.
Isolating us from support systems.
“Do you think they planned it?” I ask. “From the beginning?”
“With me? Yes. I think Everett dated me knowing he’d deploy. Knowing Ethan could step in and fuck with my head. I think it was always a game to them.”
“And with me?”
“Probably. Everett told me about you, you know.”
My blood runs cold.
“What?”
“Before he deployed. He showed me a photo. Said he met this gorgeous woman at a bar. Kissed her. Planned to date her when he got back. But his brother got there first.”
“Oh my god.”
“I think he was already planning to use Ethan to get to you. To confuse you. To make you question everything. Just like he did to me.”
I feel sick.
“This was always the plan.”
“Yes. And I’m so sorry. I should’ve warned you. Should’ve found you and told you. But I was too scared.”
“It’s not your fault—”
“Isn’t it? If I’d spoken up, maybe you wouldn’t be going through this.”
“Or maybe they would’ve gaslighted both of us. Made us both look crazy.”
She nods.
Wipes her tears.
“What are you going to do now?”
“I have DNA results coming Monday. I’m taking them to court. Filing charges. Getting a permanent restraining order. And I’m going to make sure everyone knows what they did.”
“Do you need me to testify?”
“Would you?”
She hesitates.
Then nods.
“Yes. If it helps stop them. If it means they can’t do this to anyone else. Yes.”
We exchange numbers.
Promise to stay in touch.
As we’re leaving, she grabs my arm.
“Sloane. Be careful. They’re dangerous.”
“I know—”
“No, I mean really dangerous. When I tried to leave Everett, he threatened me.”
“Threatened how?”
“Said if I told anyone what happened, he’d make sure no one believed me. He’d tell everyone I was obsessed. Unstable. He’d ruin my life.”
“Did he follow through?”
“He didn’t have to. I disappeared first. But I’ve always wondered what he would’ve done if I’d stayed and fought.”
“Well, I’m staying. And I’m fighting.”
“Then watch your back. Because they don’t like losing. And they’ll do whatever it takes to win.”
On the drive home, Jade is quiet.
Finally: “That was intense.”
“I know.”
“Do you think she’s right? That they’re dangerous?”
“I think they’re desperate. And desperate people do dangerous things.”
“Should we increase security?”
“I don’t know how much more secure I can be. I have Cole. I have a restraining order. I’m staying with you. What else can I do?”
“Maybe you should stay somewhere else. Somewhere they don’t know about.”
“Where? A hotel?”
“My parents’ cabin. Two hours away. Off the grid. They’d never find you there.”
I consider it.
It’s tempting.
But also feels like running.
“I can’t. The hearing is Monday. I need to be here.”
“After Monday then.”
“Maybe. Let’s see what the DNA results say first.”
That night, I can’t sleep.
Keep thinking about Cassidy.
About how scared she looked.
About how she disappeared rather than fight.
I don’t want to disappear.
But I also don’t want to end up hurt.
Or worse.
Sunday morning, I wake up to pounding on the door.
Jade answers.
I hear raised voices.
Jump out of bed.
Run to the living room.
It’s Heath.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“Protecting you. I heard about the stalking. The package. All of it. I’m staying until this is over.”
“Heath, you don’t have to—”
“Yes, I do. You’re my sister. And those assholes are terrorizing you. So I’m staying.”
Jade looks at me.
I nod.
“Okay. Thank you.”
He pulls me into a hug.
“We’re going to get through this. Together.”
The rest of Sunday passes in anxious waiting.
Tomorrow is the hearing.
Tomorrow I’ll know which twin raped me.
Tomorrow I’ll get answers.
But Cassidy’s warning echoes in my mind.
“Be careful. They’re dangerous.”
I’m being as careful as I can be.
But is it enough?
That night, I get one more text.
Unknown number.
“See you in court tomorrow. Hope you’re ready for the truth. – E”
I show Heath and Jade.
“Which E?” Heath asks.
“Does it even matter anymore?”
I block the number.
Try to sleep.
Fail.
Tomorrow will change everything.
For better or worse.
I just hope I survive it.
END OF CHAPTER 14
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