The cold case of jack ge.., p.26
The Cold Case of Jack Gemini, page 26
“When you’re ready, come into the station,” he said. “I’m not gonna rush you; you’ve been through hell recently. In the meantime, I’ll put out an APB for Elizabeth Decker. Queenie.”
I withdrew another cigarette from my jacket and lit up. “The past week, no, this past year, has been nothing but a joke, nothing but lies,” I said. “People lying to me left, right and centre. Breaking my trust. Nothing ever changes, does it?”
“You don’t really believe that.”
I shrugged. “Emmett Greene was the Augustus Smith from my universe; the same Smith I chased into the facility where I had my accident all those years ago. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him. Your world has gained a fake Jack Gemini because of a fake Augustus Smith. Kinda.”
“I think...”
“You know what? He hadn’t changed.” I dragged on the cigarette. “Still the same crazy nutcase... but with money and influence. All thanks to Ms Bex.” I snorted a laugh. “The funny thing is that the real Smith, the Smith from here, he’d at least tried to change, tried to improve himself.”
“That doesn’t excuse his past.”
“No, no it doesn’t. The point is, he tried.”
“And now he’s dead.” He gestured to the disappearing mess before us. “Just like Emmett Greene. Fat lot of good improving himself did.”
“Yeah,” I said. I blew out some smoke. “Regan Bex told me something important, just before he died. I didn’t understand what he meant at the time, but...” Something orange caught my eye, just in my periphery. “Goddammit,” I said. I stood and stared into the alley across the way. The damned thing was taunting me.
“What did he say?”
I ignored him and focused on what I was seeing. Mrs Lafferty’s missing cat. It was there. The damned ginger bastard was nonchalantly sat on the corner looking at me. It licked a paw. Goddammit.
“Jack?” said Suede.
I turned to the cop. “I’ll... I’ll be back, I promise; I still need to give my statement about what happened in the lab, a proper one. And... and the one about Queenie.”
“Jack, you always say that but you never...”
“I will, I will!” The cat hadn’t moved. Neither had I. I stalked forward, ignoring my aching body, and I could hear Suede continue to call my name. I shushed him.
“Jack,” he repeated. “At least tell me what Regan said to you.”
I didn’t take my eyes off my prize. “He told me that there’s no reason a fake cannot surpass the original.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
I didn’t reply, pretended I didn’t hear him and crept down the steps and toward the evil beast. I was close. The creature was almost within my grasp.
“Jack...”
I might not be the real Jack Gemini, at least, not the real Jack of this universe, but I could always do better, surpass what I used to be, surpass what the other Jack Gemini had been. I could be a better person. The best Jack Gemini.
And I was going to catch that goddamned cat if it killed me.
I pounced at my prey.
And missed.
Case Closed.
About the Author
T. A. Jenkins is an author from South Wales. He’s a real author, not a fake or copy. Or at least he hopes he’s not. He’s the writer of the Gemini Case Files series (amongst other things) who spends his spare time hunting the Eye Deer, mystical creatures that he likes to ride through the alleyways and streets of the Writer’s Block. You might also find T. A. Jenkins not procrastinating on Twitter (@norab84).
T. A. Jenkins, The Cold Case of Jack Gemini
