Mirror Image

Ten

"Lacey are you going home or to your Mom's office?" Terry asked as they made their way down the hall toward their homeroom.

"Mom's office. There's no practice tonight. Coach said it wasn't fair, we weren't given notice. Too many of the team members have no way home afterward. We'll stay late on Wednesday for try outs and get some extra practice in then."

"Is your Dad coming to get you?"

"Yup, I'll see you tomorrow morning. Maybe we can get Percy to pay attention to something other than Zena."

"He's pretty stuck on her. Surprising. He never hit on you." Terry's tone was thoughtful.

"We might look alike, but we're not the same person," Lacey protested. She put all of her books in her locker, leaving only her laptop in her backpack.

"I know, I know. But still."

What's this? I swear he's jealous. Weird.

"There's Zena. It looks like she has a ride too." Lacey pointed at the girl who turned her world upside down as they went out the front doors.

"Run up. You have to meet her Dad, and they have to meet your parents. Your Dad is so good at figuring out this sort of stuff." Terry gave her a push in the right direction.

"Bye, text you later." Lacey jogged off. Terry and Percy would be okay to get home. They both rode motorcycles.

"Hey, Dad." Lacey yanked the front door open. "Park the car. I need you to meet someone." She slammed the door shut again and hurried back down the line of parents waiting for kids, cars idling as they kept cool air inside.

"Zena," she yelled. "Get your Dad to park and come meet me and my Dad. We need to start figuring out why we never knew about each other."

"I'm just telling him about you. I showed him the pic we took in the locker room. He's not sure he believes his eyes," Zena said as she came to a stop beside her.

Mr. Henderson left his car idling after he got out. Lacey stood beside Zena as he came around to the curb. He was shaking his head like he was trying to rearrange the pixels on a tablet.

"Believe it. We could be identical twins," Lacey told him.

"Yeah Dad, this is Lacey Pemberton. Her Dad is parked up at the front there," Zena said as she pointed forward.

The car parked behind them honked, and Mr. Henderson casually waved it around. "I didn't believe it. I guess you two have some pretty pressing questions."

"Doh! Of course, we do." Zena said.

"My Dad's a lawyer. And I'm pretty sure my parents can figure this one out, and they have any paperwork. The biggest question? Were we adopted?" Lacey asked as they walked up to where James Pemberton stood leaning against the front fender of his SUV.

Zena's Dad sighed. "There's no avoiding this conversation anymore."

"No, you're right, I'm James Pemberton. Lacey's Dad. My wife is at the office, and I came to get my daughter because of pictures several of our clients have sent us. It seems our girls are the talk of the town."

The look that passed between the two men had Lacey arching her own eyebrow.

What's going on?

"I'm Matt Henderson. Zena's Dad. Glad to see you in person finally. What do you say we follow you over to your office and hash this out?" He stuck his right hand out and James reached out to shake. His eyes included the two girls glaring at them. "I don't blame you two for being angry. There are good reasons for keeping this from you."

"It had better be good." Zena hissed. "If we're twins, it's a crime to separate us."

"Let's take this to our office. We have some of the answers there." James opened the front passenger door for his daughter.

Lacey hopped in and slammed the door. She hoped her father knew he was a dead man. She agreed with Zena. It was unforgiveable to separate identical twins. Looking in the side mirror she watched her doppelganger shake her father's arm off her shoulders and walk away, heading for their car. Matt Henderson looked like his world had exploded as he followed her.

"We can explain this Lacey."

Her father waited for Matt's Cadillac to pull up beside them and moved into the lane ahead of them.

Lacey glared at him, giving him the icy silent treatment. She couldn't remember a time when she was this mad. Who were her real parents? And who the hell thought it would be a good idea to put twins in two different families?

Lacey's cell phone beeped, and she shifted so her father couldn't see the screen. For the first time in her life, she didn't trust him to know what she was looking at.

What is the address of your parent's office?

Why?

Dad says we need to go home for some paperwork.

Okay.

Lacey typed in the street address. On Main Street less than two blocks from the courthouse on one side and from city hall on the other, the office was in a small brownstone house. The wrought iron fence along the sidewalk, between the flower garden and the path to the stairs leading to the varnished oak door, looked like it belonged in New Orleans. Her father pulled into a spot half a block away. She still hadn't said a word.

"Do you know where Zena and her Dad went?"

"They'll be here in a few minutes. Zena says he has some paperwork he needs to bring." She couldn't keep her words from screaming her anger.

"I'm sorry you had to find out about this in such a shocking way. There's no good way to tell you, and for safety, we couldn't tell you in any case." Her father said the words in the same quiet tones he used with upset clients.

"I'm not one of your bratty teenaged criminals. I have a right to yell and scream. How could you do this to me?" Lacey's voice shook with betrayal.

"To keep you safe."

"Yeah right. This had better be good. Like Zena said, there better be one hell of a story. Besides how safe are we? Zena has a bandage on her arm. She's injured." Lacey's accusation made her father wince.

"Trust me, there is." Her father tried to reassure her.

"I don't know if I can." Tears spilled down her cheeks, and Lacey rubbed them away like an overtired baby.