A wealthy business owner teams up with a bumbling investigator to uncover the reason his girlfriend died four years earlier. Will he get the answers he seeks? Or will his obsessive pursuit of the truth lead to his own demise?
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"Let me go!" the woman shouted before slamming her forehead into Cole's.
He jerked back in pain, letting go of her wrists. She rolled away and light filled the room seconds later. Cole winced as he rubbed his forehead, his eyes on the woman who had somehow gotten back her frying pan.
She held the makeshift weapon in front of her as if it were a sword. "Why did you break into my apartment?"
"Lisa?" Cole repeated, not believing the woman in front of him wasn't his first love.
"Lisa's dead. You know this. Now, tell me why you broke into my apartment."
Cole was still on the floor. He lowered his hand and gaped at her. "You're alive."
"Was it because you spotted me? Is that why you're here?"
Cole shook his head in confusion. "Spotted you? Lisa, what are you talking about?"
"You found out I was the private eye your weirdo girlfriend hired," the woman explained.
Cole shook his head. "Lisa, I—"
"Stop calling me Lisa. I'm not her. My name is Mina. Mina Cruz. Lisa was my cousin. Let me guess, my perfect cousin never told you about her doppelganger relative?"
Lisa's cousin? Private eye? Girlfriend? Cole closed his eyes and exhaled slowly.
"Breaking and entering is illegal," Mina said. "After watching you for weeks, I have to say this is probably the most exciting thing you've done. I had to make things up when I reported to your girlfriend. I should probably warn you I told her you liked to dress up in women's underwear every Thursday night."
"What?" Cole's face scrunched up in confusion.
"Trust me, it's to your benefit. It confused the hell out of her but at least it made you interesting. All you do is work. You should spend more time with your girlfriend. Treat her to a meal or a movie. She's obsessed with you. I've never seen a shrine like the one she has of you in her guest room."
"Shrine?"
Mina rolled her eyes. She was dressed in loose brown pants, a gray sweatshirt with the word Paris emblazoned on it, and khaki raincoat. Her hair was pulled back in a braid but wisps of dark hair framed her face. "You haven't seen it? She literally has a cutout of you surrounded by pictures and candles. I've never seen anything like it. I thought it was weird but I don't get paid to judge my clients. Besides, your girlfriend pays me well."
"I don't have a girlfriend." Cole looked up at her before placing his palms on the floor and pushing himself to a standing position. "The woman you reported to—was it Vivienne Crawler?"
"I can't tell you on account of confidentiality and all that jazz," the woman said, shrugging. "But for the right price, I could possibly nod or shake my head."
