Chapter 43

The wooden door burst open to the brilliance of white light, momentarily blinding both Rebecca and Thomas.

“Hands in the air!”

John? Rebecca could not believe her ears. A huge wave of relief washed over her trembling body. Surely she wasn’t dreaming?

Her eyes had yet to adjust to the sudden light from the room above, all she could make out was a few silhouettes descending the staircase and it looked like they were carrying guns.

Rebecca’s relief was short-lived for Thomas was not giving up. In one swift motion, he grabbed her by the neck and spun her around, using her as a shield of some sort.

“Come any closer and I’ll kill her!” he screamed, his arm tightening around her neck cutting her source of air supply.

Great, not again. His grip was hard, and she had trouble breathing but she was sure he did not have any weapon that would be able to outfight a gun. Nevertheless, his grip tightened dangerously around her neck to a point where her face turned purplish-blue.

“With what?” another voice. Rebecca’s vision was getting blurry again, the lack of oxygen was not helping either and her attempts to push his hands away were futile.

Then there was the sound of rushed footsteps and as her vision started to tunnel into darkness, she could feel a scuffle between Thomas and a few other men. Someone pulled her away from Thomas’ grasp and she fell into that person’s arm. It mattered not who it was, what was important was she could finally breathe. It didn’t even matter that her body was failing and succumbing to the beatings from earlier on.

“Becca!” a muffled voice called out. Was that John? Strange, she couldn’t hear very well.

“Rebecca!” That sounded like William. Except he sounded like he was calling her from far, far away. She realized she couldn’t move either.

Then everything went pitch black.

***

Thomas Silverman sat alone in the darkened interrogation room with a table lamp being his sole source of light. His hands were cuffed but otherwise, he was free to move around the room. He leaned forward the table and ‘click!’, he switched off the table lamp and everything went pitch black. Click! He switched it on again. Click! Click! Click! Click! He kept playing with it until the door opened and John Grant came in, carrying a stack of files under his arm.

Wordlessly, John switched on the lights to the room and took the table lamp away from him. With the light in the room shining brightly, Thomas looked to one side of the wall where a huge, tinted window hung. Half his face was swollen from the head-bashing that Rebecca had given him earlier, and there was a cut on his lip too from where she had bitten him. That girl was feisty. He hadn’t expected her to be as tenacious as she was. William had chosen well.

“Thomas Silverman, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. If you decide to answer questions, you have the right to stop at any time.”

Thomas turned his gaze to John and leaned back against the wooden chair, not saying anything.

John put his hands together and returned the gaze, sighing, “Your mother is in critical condition in the hospital. The doctors do not know if she can make it through the night. And your brother William refuses to bail you out. Do you understand me?”

Thomas pursed his lips and nodded his head. He asked in mocked naivety, “Will I get a life sentence?”

“Yes. You have two murder charges, one for Irana Long and the other for Sofia Grass. One instigated murder for Jolene Knowles and two attempted murder charges for Rebecca Grey and your mother. You’ll be rotting in jail.”

Thomas nodded as if listening to a lecture.

“Do you have anything you’d like to say?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

“I’d like to speak to my brother.”

John closed the file that he had opened and walked out of the room. Minutes later, he came back in with William by his side. John placed a voice recorder on the table and signaled for the men to start talking. He looked at the twins, each at the opposite end of the table. They looked like a spitting image of each other and yet, they were the total opposite.

William broke the silence first. He shook his head looking straight at his twin in the eye, “Why did you do it?”

Thomas did not answer him directly, there was a distant look in his eyes as he began to speak, “You know, I liked Irana, I really did. I could have loved her too. She knew who I was, so I didn’t have to pretend. And at first, she was okay with us keeping the relationship a secret. But then she got pregnant. That bitch didn’t take her pills like I told her to. I told her to wait until the Silverware was launched and that mother had promised me a spot in the company. But she went all crazy and threatened to tell the world about us. I couldn't disobey mother, could I? I had to silence her and Jolene, oh Jolene, she gave me the most wonderful idea!”

Thomas chuckled at his twisted memories, “I think Jolene finally caught on though. I bumped into her a few times and she always thought I was you. I even gave her roses when you were not around. We never spoke, you know, my voice is different from yours, but I’d always leave short messages for her on the desk with the roses.”

William frowned, “What messages?” Jolene never mentioned any secret messages to him.

A twisted smile formed on Thomas's face, “Oh…riddles here and there. Did she cause a scene when she found out?”

John ignored his question, “Tell us about Sofia Grass.”

Thomas rubbed his cuffed hands together, seemingly excited about sharing the details of his victims, “She was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. As I said, mother told me my time had not come yet. So, I had to silence her too. She didn’t put up much of a fight, It was easy to take her down.”

William seethed with anger, “What about Rebecca?”

At this, a hint of bitterness entered Thomas’ voice, “I’ve always been jealous of you. You had everything while I was locked up. But still, I listened to mother and waited like a fool.”

He leaned forward, his eyes bloodshot, “And then you had to tell me that I would have no share of the Silverware. You had everything and you didn’t even want to give me a slice. So, I decided to take something from you. Is she dying?” he asked with a smile.

John had to hold himself back from punching Thomas in the face.

William shook his head, “I can’t hand over the company to a murderer.”

Suddenly Thomas burst into laughter, “I spent my entire life being locked up, and now I’m going to spend the rest of my life locked up again!” He kept laughing as the two men stared at him.

Looking at Thomas Silverman, John suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for him. In a twisted way, he had been the product of his mother’s abuse. All his life, he had known nothing but fear and imprisonment. And just when he was promised freedom, everything came crashing down again.

William looked on, staying silent. A part of him felt rage, rage because his twin had done such despicable things, And yet another part of him was ashamed. Ashamed that he had not stepped in to help his brother when he had the chance. Ashamed that he had indirectly paved the way to his brother’s insanity. Had he been the one who had cried as a child, and not Thomas, then they would probably be on opposite ends of the table now.

William looked at his laughing twin, “I’m sorry Thomas. I’m sorry I wasn't there for you.”

Perhaps those were the words that Thomas Silverman had been craving to hear all these years, for at that moment, he stopped laughing and a tear formed at the corner of his eye. He blinked it away and forced a bitter laugh, “Well, it’s too late for that now isn’t it? In the end, I’m still the caged one while you get to fly free.”

William had no answer to this.