Confessions

The entire courtroom broke out in a cacaphony of voices and shouts. Howie couldn't stop staring at her. She was obviously telling the truth because he was there when the EMTS pronounced Debbie dead. But she looked exactly like Debbie. Twins. He suddered and broke out into a sweat. He wanted to talk to her, but his lawyers shook their heads. "Let us do the talking," they advised him and approached the judge's bench.

Ramon surveryed the scene before him. Darlene caught his eye and smiled innocently. There was no way this man was going to keep her from telling the truth now. She risked her life by coming here, but she knew he couldn't do anything to her in a room full of people, not to mention cops.

"Miss Lopez," one of Howie's lawyers addressed her, "is there anything you would like to tell us?"

"I have a lot to tell you," she replied. "Howie's innocent. He killed Debbie in self defense. I was with my uncle Ramon and saw everything. Ramon,-" she was looking at him as she spoke and caught the glint of metal.

She froze in fear and Howie followed her eyes. "HE'S GOT A GUN!" Howie screamed and without thinking, he ran forward and knocked Darlene out of the way at the same time as Ramon fired the gun. The bullet pierced the judge's table and seemed to go right through his left leg. The commotion that ensued was like something out of a movie. Two bailiffs grabbed Ramon as he tried to escape. Everyone was talking at once. Everyone that is, except for Howie and Darlene. They stared at each other wordlessly.

A week later they were back in court with the same judge. Luckily the bullet had merely grazed his skin. In light of Darlene's testimony in the judge's chambers and sufficient evidence, all charges against Howard D. Dorough were dropped and he was a free man.

Howie walked out into the late August sunshine and inhaled deeply. "Man, I never thought I'd get to do this again." He smiled at his friends and family.

His mother hugged him tightly. "I prayed every night that my son would come home to me. I talked to Caroline and told her to look over you and protect you. She came to me one night and told me that she would watch over her little brother. Believe in angels, Howard, because they're all around us."

Howie cried as he hugged his parents. "I do believe." He looked at his friends. "I owe you guys an apology, especially you AJ. I should've never doubted you. "

AJ waved away his apology. "Forget it. I'm just happy you're back with us. I love you man."

"I love all of you," Howie exclaimed, and the five brothers hugged, something they hadn't done as a group in a long time.

*******************

Two weeks later

Howie was back home with his parents. Things were back to normal or as normal as could be considering everything he'd gone through since January. For a week after he came home, he couldn't stop thinking about Debbie and everything they had shared together. He missed what they had shared, how special and loved she had made him feel most of the time. He felt like the world's biggest loser for falling for her lies and deceit. He talked extensively with Pollyanna and AJ about his feelings and although they both made him feel better, he couldn't stop feeling sorry for himself. The peal of the doorbell jarred him out of his self pity. He went to answer the door and froze when he saw who was standing on the other side of the door. "May I come in?" Darlene asked him timidly.

He shrugged. "I guess." He opened the door and let her in. "What are you doing here?"

She expected him to be angry, but instead he seemed withdrawn. "We need to talk."

Howie studied her for a moment and she thought he was going to ask her to leave, but he indicated for her to follow him into the living room. "What's on your mind?" he asked her, taking a seat across from her.

"I wanted to thank you for saving my life. I meant what I said in the judge's chamber. Ramon would have killed your family. -- he would have done it, Howie. That man was psychotic."

"Must run in the family," Howie muttered.

Darlene nodded. "He wasn't blood and I'm not crazy, if that's what you're getting at. I've never so much as killed a bug in my life."

"I never said you were. I was referring to Debbie." Howie suddenly sat up straight and stared at Darlene pensively. "Tell me about Debbie, about your lives."

She looked surprised at his request. "Before I start, I want you to know that I loved my sister despite what she did. I didn't know until about five years ago that Debbie had been raped repeatedly for years by our stepfather. He never laid a hand on me. I cried for her when she told me. What kind of monster rapes an eight year old child? One night after a party, our house burned down. Debbie pulled me out and Ramon was there and he took us in. I didn't know Deb was responsible for the fire until Ramon told me one day. I didn't believe him so I asked Debbie and she told me that he had burned the house down. I was still in California attending school a year ago when Ramon told me he wanted us to move to Florida. Debbie had been living there for a couple of years. I didn't know it yet, but Ramon was evil. He played Debbie and I against each other. He told me if I didn't do as he asked, he would kill her. Not long after we moved out here, he killed a college student." She stopped and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. "I was with him and he made me watch. He killed her in cold blood. I'll never forget that night as long as I live. That's when I knew he was capable of killing me or Debbie so I made it my mission to try and protect my sister. He started telling me horrible things about her, about murders she'd committed in California and Miami. I didn't want to believe him. Then one day Debbie told me that she was changing her identity to Cassandra Woodland. She wouldn't tell me why, but I did some investigating on my own and found the Woodland family had been killed, including one Cassandra Woodland. I was torn between calling the police and keeping my mouth shut. I loved my sister and thought I could help her. I tried, Howie, I tried so hard, but she wouldn't admit to her insanity. I know I went about it all wrong and now I see that my love for my sister almost got your friends killed and you almost died, too. I'm sorry. I know it's not enough, but-"

Howie got up and sat down beside her. "Don't beat yourself up. You're not to blame for her crimes. I probably would've done the same thing for my sisters."

A strange expression crossed her face. "There's something else you need to know." He waited for her to go on. She ran a hand through her hair. "Well...ummm....Debbie told me she was seeing you. I over heard her telling Ramon that you were next. I wanted to protect you so I went along with her and Ramon. Ramon wanted me to kill Amanda and Pollyanna." Howie blanched at the mention of his sister. "But I couldn't do it obviously," she added hurriedly. "I lied to him, but he knew I couldn't kill anyone so he had Debbie do everything although she never did go through with whatever plan they had for your sister."

"Thank God." Howie said quietly.

"That's when Debbie asked me to help her with you. She couldn't be with you and committ the crimes at the same time. So....she asked me to keep you occupied." Her face went slightly pink.

Howie's eyes widened. "What? When?"

She couldn't meet his eyes and fidgeted with the corner of her blouse. "Actually, I met AJ before I met you. In a mall. I tried to warn him without saying too much. I think he was already suspicious. Then Debbie asked me to start spending the night at your house."

"OH MY GOD! You mean, you and me......" Howie couldn't finish. This explained a lot though. All those times "Cassandra" acted different. "I was sleeping with the both of you?"

Darlene nodded. "Remember all those times you said that I was different? I was softer, more romantic, more affectionate. All those times that you told me you loved me? The time we talked about marriage and babies and you asked me why I did a 180 on that subject?" Howie nodded. Now he knew why he had felt uneasy during that conversation. "That was all me, Howie," she continued. "Debbie would get really angry at me and warn me to stop acting so nice because you were getting suspicious. I never told her what we discussed in depth, but she wasn't pleased that you seemed to like me more than her. I didn't want to do it, but Ramon threatened me. I figured I could protect you at the same time. What I didn't count on was that I would fall in love with you."

Howie didn't know what to say. She said everything he wanted to hear yet he wished she had never said it. "I don't expect you to say anything," she said, reading his mind. "I just needed to get this off my chest. I'm leaving for California in a few days. I need to rebuild my life. Thank you for giving me some love even though you didn't know it was me." She stood up and walked to the front door.

"Wait!" Howie ran after her and grabbed her arm. "Please don't go."

She looked at him, a slight tinge of hope in her violet eyes. He noticed how soft her eyes were. So unlike "Cassandra's" eyes which normally glittered and flashed, these were the eyes of the Cassandra he had loved. The eyes he had looked into so often and not known it was someone else. The eyes he loved. The woman he loved.