“Your sister?” Taylor asked incredulously. “You mean, the elusive sister you’re here to see? Why didn’t you tell me that before in my room?” he demanded.
Tracy took in a deep breath. “Because I didn’t know it was her then. I just realized it a few minutes ago, Tay, believe me.” She looked into his eyes but saw nothing in the form of reassurance. She continued nonetheless. “Hallie Sheffield is my sister - or at least, she claimed to be. But I know now that she lied to me. I know it sounds lame, but she’s the reason for both of us lying.
“Hallie’s real name is Ally Field. She’s not my twin sister. She was born a month, a week, and a day after me. She found me and said we were twins. But when I was at her house, I saw some things that didn’t fit. Her mailbox said Field, not Sheffield. It wasn’t long enough to say Sheffield. She didn’t lie to you, Taylor. At least, not about her name. She lied to me about that.
“You lied about your name to her, she lied about her name to me, I lied about my name to you. I know it’s a really dumb excuse, but the lying didn’t start with me.” Tracy closed her eyes as she said the last part, expecting Taylor to snap again. He didn’t.
“Is that all?” he asked quietly.
She shook her head slowly. “One more thing about Hallie - I, I mean Ally,” she said softly, pausing to look from Zac to Isaac and finally back to Taylor. “She’s a full-blown Hanson Hater.” She swallowed hard. “Enough to be the one doing this.”
Something like realization washed over Taylor’s eyes just then. “Enough to be one of the ones doing this,” he said softly. “The other is you, isn’t it?”
Tracy looked away, nodding her head slightly. “Yes,” she whispered.
Zac took in a breath. “Tracy . . . ?” he began quietly.
She opened her eyes and looked at the youngest boy. “It seemed like a . . . I dunno, Zac, like a joke, when she and I talked about it over the Internet. I never - never thought we’d actually go through with it; not even when I was still in Wichita. And then . . . Then I met you guys and . . . I don’t know, really . . . Things changed.” She looked at Taylor as she said the last part. He didn’t look away. “As soon as I got to Hallie - Ally’s - house, I tried my hardest to get out of this plan. But no matter what I tried, she wouldn’t give it up. And that’s why I’m here.”
Isaac eyed her critically. “What? You mean, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em kinda thing?” he asked.
“No,” Tracy said quickly. “I came with her to the house to make sure she didn’t get out of hand, and then I had an idea: I figured that if I were in here, I could watch over you guys. I told . . . I told her that I was gonna come in here - ’cause you guys knew me since I was here earlier. For some reason, she thought it was a good idea, so I didn’t stick around long enough for her to change her mind.” She looked into Taylor’s eyes. “I told you I had to come back.”
Taylor gave a small smile, the corners of his mouth turning upward ever so slightly. It was a tiny gesture, but it meant the world to Tracy. She wanted to throw her arms around him, but she knew better. Instead, she just smiled back.
Zac cleared his throat. “Only one problem,” he said when everybody was looking at him. “Ally - or Hallie or whoever she is - is still out there somewhere.”
Everyone was silent for a minute, the steady sound of rain hitting the roof the only noise. Tracy looked around the room slowly, her eyes finally landing on Taylor.
“I have a plan,” he said quietly.
