"That's the third murder this week," Mark commented thoughtfully. "Do you have any leads? Suspects?" He looked at his son over the table on the porch that overlooked the ocean.

"Nothing yet. This guy has to be a genius." Steve sighed and shut his eyes. He'd been working long hours since the murders began and could really use some sleep.

"Have you found any connection between the victims?"

"They're all twelve year old girls. The first two were blond, but the third was a redhead.

"School maybe?"

Steve shook his head. "They all go to different schools. We have nothing."

"We need a motive, too."

"I know, Dad. Steve's eyes slowly closed and he leaned back in his chair.

"You know, Steve, maybe..." Mark looked over at his son. "Steve?" Steve's breathing was deep and even. He had fallen asleep.

Mark smiled. His son worked so hard. He covered him with his jacket and left for work.

"Ow! That hurts!" Jesse whined.

"Ssshhh. You're such a baby," Susan said. "It's a papercut." She finished putting the Band-Aid on his finger and pushed him away playfully. "Now go. You've got rounds."

Jesse began to limp out the door of the emergency room supply closet.

Susan arched an eyebrow. "Is limping really necessary?" Jesse left. Susan rolled her eyes and followed.

Amanda yawned and tried to focus her eyes on the autopsy report. Between this and the other two victim's reports Mark asked her to look over, she was working overtime.

Mark came in and smiled at her warmly. "Anything new?"

"Not really. You were right. The victims were murdered in a different place and the bodies were dumped elsewhere. But there is this..." Amanda stood up and showed Mark her notes. She pointed to something she underlined.

"You found sawdust in the stab wounds?"

"Perhaps they were murdered in a saw mill or a wood shop."

"That could be a possibility. I better let Steve know." Mark headed towards the door, but stopped and turned around. "Thanks, Amanda. I owe you one."

"I'll hold you to that."

"Dad, can I talk to you for a minute?" Steve pulled his dad aside just as he was leaving Amanda's path lab. He looked serious.

"What is it, son?"

"We have a picture of our killer. Another body was found behind a fast food place and the surveillance camera in the bank across the street caught him." Steve nervously pulled a photo out of his pocket.

"Have you identified him yet?" Steve nodded. "Who is it then?"

Steve handed his father the photograph and cringed as his dad's face went pale.

"I don't... It can't... Are you positive?" Mark stammered, handing the photograph back to his son.

"It's Jesse all right."

"Rocky road is way better than vanilla swirl," Jesse argued.

"No way. Vanilla swirl triumphs over all," Amanda said defensively.

Mark came in the path lab. "Jesse, you have to get out of here. Now!"

"Mark, I don't-"

"Look, I'll explain later. Steve's on his way." Mark looked out the door to see his son down the hallway." His eyes darted around the room for possible hiding places.

"Mark, what are you-"

"Jesse, lay down on the table. Jesse gave his friend a puzzled look, but trusted him enough to comply. Mark hastily threw a sheet over him as Steve came in the door.

"Hey, son. What brings you here?" Mark asked, trying to act casual.

"Have you seen Jesse? Susan said he came in here a few minutes ago."

"Haven't seen him," Amanda spoke up. "Why?"

"I have to arrest him."

The sheet over Jesse moved a little and Mark pretended to be fixing it.

"What?! Why?" Amanda demanded. Steve handed her the photograph.

"That was taken of by a bank surveillance camera near where another body was dumped last night. A McDonald's or something," he explained.

"You think Jesse's the serial killer? Come on, Steve. Jesse can be annoying, but he's perfectly harmless."

"Of course I know Jesse didn't do it. But I have orders..." Steve trailed off. "Let me know if you guys see him." He left.

Jesse sat up straight. "I didn't kill anyone."

"We all know that. But what were you doing behind the fast food place last night?" Mark asked. There had to be a perfectly logical reason.

"I wasn't there. I had Susan over to my apartment for dinner last night."

"For dinner? I'll bet," Amanda said, hiding a smile. Jesse grew red.

"Jesse, get your stuff and go home. Stay out of Steve's sight until we can figure this whole thing out," Mark said.

Jesse crept into the locker room and took a quick look around to see if Steve was looking for him in there. Not a soul.

He opened his locker to see a Post-it note at the bottom. Curious, he crouched down to read it.

Things are looking up, it read. Puzzled, he began to stand up. A piece of cloth was pressed over his nose and mouth. His first reaction was to struggle, but his vision was already darkening before it fully registered what hit him.

The first thing Jesse saw when he opened his eyes was a twelve year old girl. She was sitting in the corner of what seemed to be a wood shop, with her head in her hands.

A throbbing pain in Jesse's arm forced him to sit up and assess the injury. A hairline fracture at best, he thought.

He looked back up at the girl.

"Please don't hurt me," she begged softly, looking at him with sad green eyes.

"I won't hurt you," he replied, scooting over to her.

"But you... You..." she stuttered. She appeared to be truly frightened of him.

Jesse sat down next to her and noticed that the cut on her right temple was bleeding freely.

"Let me help you," he said, taking a Band-Aid out of his pocket along with a Kleenex. After using the Kleenex to clean to wound to some degree, he applied the Band-Aid.

"You said you were going to kill me," she said fearfully.

"You aren't going to believe this, but I think I have a double on the loose that's been killing people.

She searched his face, looking for any telltale signs or lying. She found none. "I don't know whether or not to believe you, but I sure hope you're telling the truth."

"No answer," Mark said, hanging up the phone.

"Maybe he's afraid it's Steve," Amanda suggested.

"But he's got Caller ID. He knows it's my number."

"Can I use your phone Mark? I need to call Colin and ask him to keep CJ for another night."

"Go ahead." Mark yawned and rubbed his eyes. He hadn't heard from Jesse since he left the path lab and it was nearly eleven. Steve emerged from the kitchen with three cups of coffee.

"Thanks, Steve. Mark and Amanda each took a cup.

"Was he home?" Steve asked. Mark shook his head.

"There's no way Jesse could have killed those girls," Mark said. "He must... have double or something because he had Susan over for dinner last night."

"Why didn't you tell me that in the first place? I'll call Susan, get her statement, and Jesse'll be cleared."

"She left on vacation right after her shift ended."

"Dead end," Steve muttered. The phone rang.

"Lisa's a nice name," Jesse commented.

"Nice, but boring, you mean," Lisa corrected.

So how'd you get here, anyway?"

"My parents and older brother died in a car accident a few weeks ago. Since then, I've gone from foster home to foster home. I finally got the nerve to run away. Then, you, I mean your double, kidnapped me halfway down the street. He said he was going to kill me like all the others." A tear rolled down her cheek.

She continued. "He was rambling about his girlfriend taking the baby twelve years ago and he was going to kill her if he had to kill every twelve year old girl in LA." More tears came. Jesse put an arm around her and pulled her close.

"I won't let him hurt you. I promise," Jesse swore, as Lisa continued to cry into his shoulder.

"No sign of him," Steve said into the radio and put it back on the receiver.

Since Captain Newman called him at his father's house, he and Detective Tanis Archer had been all over LA looking for Jesse.

"Is that him?" Archer asked, pointing a finger at a figure hurrying out of a store and around a corner. They were on the outskirts of the city, where there were wider open spaces and there was less light.

"Maybe," Steve murmured thoughtfully, turning the car. The figure turned around and glanced back at them. He took off.

"It's him," Steve affirmed. Making sure his gun was where it always was, Steve stepped out cautiously. He just hoped he didn't have to use it.

His temporary partner stepped out and soon they were side by side in front of the car.

"Jesse!" Steve shouted. "Stop where you are." The man pulled a gun and turned around and shot at them. Steve dove into Tanis, knocking her out of the bullet's path. Unfortunately, it hit him.

"Steve?" Tanis murmured, picking herself up. She went to his side, fingers automatically feeling for a pulse. Faint, but there. She lowered his ear to his mouth to check for signs of breathing. "God," she prayed, "Don't let Steve die."

"Radio in. Follow Jesse." Steve's strained voice pleaded. He opened his eyes and looked up at her.

"I'm not going anywhere. You just lay still, okay?"

"Car twelve, do you copy?" Jakowski demanded into the radio. Receiving no answer, he slammed it onto the receiver. "Dammit." He hadn't heard a word from Sloan and Archer for almost fifteen minutes.

"Jakowski? You there? We need an ambulance to 12th and Main. Steve's down." Archer's panicked voice cackled over the radio.

"You got it."

When the ambulance arrived, Tanis Archer was keeping her friend and colleague alive with CPR. Steve was loaded onto an ambulance and sent to Community General.

Archer chewed her nails and wondered what to do next. Steve still would have wanted her to clear his friend's name. She hopped in his car and took off in the direction Jesse had gone. He couldn't have gotten too far if he stayed close to the road.

Jesse was bordering on sleep and Lisa was already out when the door opened.

"How are my prisoners?" the intruder asked. Lisa woke with a start and Jesse stood up and in front of her protectively.

"You won't get away with this," Jesse threatened through clenched teeth. His double glared back at him.

"Oh, but I already have. "I've got it all worked out, see?" He imitated Jesse. "I saw my double on the way home and I followed him. When I got there, he had already killed the poor girl. There was a struggle for the gun and it accidentally went off." He returned to his evil self. "You see, Travis. I'll be you and Jerry Timms will be dead."

"I'm an ER doctor. The minute you go back to work, they'll know it."

"You don't think I'm stupid, do you? Ever since I discovered I had a twin, I've been taking night school. You're talking to Dr. Jerry Timms. Besides, if they start to get suspicious, I might become traumatized by the whole thing and move away to rid myself of there guilt and pain," he replied, once more mocking Jesse.

Keep him talking, Jesse thought. "There's no-"

"Enough yapping. Who should I kill first?" Jerry asked, pulling his gun out. "According to my order of events, it'll have to be the girl. Otherwise, Amanda might notice when she does the autopsy." Everything fell into place in Jesse's mind. This man, his double, had been stalking him. He knew every aspect of his life.

"Surprised? I know all about you and your friends. Even Steve. The cop I shot not a half hour ago."

Just then, the door burst open. "Drop your weapon!" Tanis Archer had her gun trained on the two Jesses. Her eyebrows narrowed in confusion.

Jerry jumped on Jesse and a fight ensued. The gun went off. When they stood up, Tanis couldn't tell who was who. The little girl however, was laying on the floor, a pool of blood spreading around her shoulder.

"I don't know. I can't tell the difference," Steve sighed. He had just regained consciousness when the two Jesses were brought into his hospital room, while the fingerprints were being checked. There were two guards outside the door, so there was no way the fake Jesse could escape.

Steve, Tanis, Mark, and Amanda were exhausted of questions. They used every medical scenario to try to get one of them to mess up, but to no avail. Steve had an idea.

"What's my middle name?" he asked Jesse #1.

"I don't know," he stammered.

"Michael!" Jesse #2 triumphantly announced. Tanis moved to arrest the first one.

"Wait." Steve stopped her. "That's the real Jesse," he said, pointing to Jesse #1. "I never told the real Jesse my middle name. The fake would know only because of the information he gathered on all of us."

Jerry made a break for the door, but was stopped and properly escorted out.

"Thanks, Steve," Jesse, said, relieved.

"No problem."

"Can I go see Lisa now?" Jesse asked. Mark nodded.

"You have a visitor," the nurse smiled warmly at Lisa. Lisa sat up quickly.

"Jesse?" Jesse came in the room and sat in a chair next to her bed.

"How do you feel?"

"It aches a little. And my jump shot will never be the same," she joked.

"It's good to see you smile." Lisa nodded and Jesse took her hand.

"Lisa, I'm sorry. I promised-" She cut him off.

"Never explain, never complain, and never apologize," she said.

Jesse narrowed his eyebrows, trying to remember where he heard that last.

****Steve and Lisa both made full recoveries. Jesse and Susan were married a year later. As a result of the latter, Lisa has a new pair of foster parents.****

Stay tuned for a sequel, which should be coming soon. Titled Final Curtain, Lisa, living with the now married Jesse and Susan, gets the lead in the school play. When things start to go wrong, it's up to Mark Sloan & Company to find out who's trying to sabotage the play, before it's curtains for Lisa.

Cheesy, I know. But I couldn't resist myself.

Written by Jana Tropper at Moo11225@aol.com