Blindsided by Fern Michaels Page B

people couldn’t figure out which twin was the alpha. In their minds, they were equal in all things, so there was no reason to speculate even though, if one wanted to get technical, Celeste was born seven minutes earlier than Eunice.
    If a private behind-the-scenes-poll were to be taken among the citizens of Baywater, the results would be that the Ciprani twins were rich, vain, manipulative, corrupt, selfish, hateful, man-haters, and evil.
    â€œI don’t know if this is important or not, Cee, but yesterday I sent my clerk to Eva’s for lunch. She told me this morning that there was a stranger having lunch at the café and she was asking questions about the town and about us. And she was Googling Baywater. My clerk could see her laptop. Not that she was trying to hide it or anything. She said she looked familiar but couldn’t place her. I had ordered the ravioli, and she had to wait for it, so with nothing else to do, she was doing what she calls people watching. The woman paid in cash when she left and asked for directions to the courthouse. It might not mean anything, and it might mean something.”
    â€œHmm. You’re right, Nessie. I don’t like strangers coming to town and asking questions, especially when they ask questions about us even though we are famous in certain circles. We’ll stay alert, but right now my main concern is this damn wrinkle. That’s important.”
    Nessie laughed. She loved how vain Cee was and how she herself had no need of Botox. She would, however, admit to consulting Ethan for several small injections of Restylane, but she had no need of Botox, and that irritated her sister to no end. It also irritated Cee that she was a diabetic and Nessie wasn’t. Cee had her father’s genes and Nessie her mama’s. It was the only point of contention between the twins.
    When they reached their destination, both women exited the racy sports car and walked across the underground garage to the elevator. Both women did what they always did—reached for the cans of Mace they carried in their purses. Even though the residents of the condominium were wealthy, Social Register types, that didn’t mean some lowlife couldn’t find the way into the parking garage, topnotch security or not.
    Once, and only once, after one too many glasses of wine, Cee had confided in her twin that she knew they were not liked or even respected in Baywater. Even though Cee knew she should not drink wine to excess because of her diabetic condition, she did so when she was very stressed. She’d gone on to say they were hated in the courthouse by their peers. Even the janitors hated them. To which Nessie had responded, What difference does it make as long as those same people fear us? Cee said she couldn’t argue with that and had gone to sleep.
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    It was Cee’s turn to make the weekend drive up to the Chesapeake Bay mansion. While the drive wasn’t that long in miles, it seemed to take an eternity for the twin judges to reach their old home. The moment Cee stopped the car on the circular shale driveway, both women heaved a sigh of relief. They were home.
    â€œI just love this time of year,” Nessie gushed as she climbed out of her sister’s Mercedes, her eyes on the cobbled road that led to a dead end. She heard rather than saw the small rusty-looking car with the bad muffler chugging on by. She shrugged. She opened the back door of the car for her designer briefcase, stuffed to overflowing with files, records, and the newspapers she hadn’t had the time to read. Her pricey handbag, just as full, was almost as big as the briefcase but cost twice as much.
    Cee joined her sister, carrying an identical briefcase and handbag, equally filled. They walked around to the rear door and entered the mansion by way of the kitchen. Nessie ran to the thermostat and turned up the heat. Cee headed for the huge fieldstone fireplace, turned on the gas