Doppelganger

www.AntonioGarciaBooks.com

There is about 1 in 135 chance that a pair of complete Doppelgangers exist somewhere in the world, but the likelihood of someone walking around looking identical to you is only 1 in a Trillion.


Ted couldn’t believe his eyes. For a moment he felt like he had looked into a reflection and saw himself, just in different clothes.

Not wanting to lose his chance of learning more, he gathered up his stuff and followed the man who looked just like him.

He followed him enough to see him walk into a tall business building. That was a start.

Quickly realizing he stood out too much, he walked back to his spot on the sidewalk and started to think how he could use this discovery to his advantage.

Later, Ted took a shower at the homeless shelter and put on the nicest clothes he had. Though they still weren’t that nice or clean, they would have to do.

Fortunately for him, he didn’t get any sideways glances from anyone as he followed his double throughout the day.

He kept his distance, only closing when he was afraid of losing him.

Through the window of a restaurant, Teddy watched his double eat lunch with a beautiful blonde.

He focused mainly on his mannerisms, wanting to replicate the very way he walked, gestured, and even smiled.

At some point he’d have to hear what his double’s voice sounded like, but until then, he would get his patterns down.

Teddy had been a con man most of his life. Even though he had been in and out of prison most of the time, he never wanted to do anything else than con people. He loved it.

He couldn’t believe the gift he had been given now. He could use this man’s identity to clear his bank accounts, sell his car, and maybe even live in his place for a while.

Teddy was almost salivating at the prospect.

He had no interest in taking over the man’s life. He didn’t care about making friends or falling in love with anyone in his double’s circle. He only wanted to learn enough to fool them long enough to take all that he could.

For a solid month, Teddy followed his double. Soon he was walking like him, interacting with others like him, and even flashed his smile the same as him.

Confident that it was time, Teddy started following the man after work to see where he lived. It was challenging. Though he drove instead of taking public transportation, Teddy was limited to walking, so every day, he had to pick up from where he had lost sight of his double’s car around each corner.

It started easy enough. Every corner he lost him, he waited until the next day when his double passed him again and visually followed the car for as long as he could, or until he turned another corner.

It only got difficult when the car got on the highway.

Teddy watched as it turned into a dot over the horizon, and then started walking.

Once he reached the landmark he had last seen the car pass, he found a place to sleep nearby.

The next day, he waited until he saw the car passed and then watched once again as long as he could, and then started walking to the next landmark.

It took a full week to finally see the car pull off an exit.

Day by day, he got closer to finding where his double lived, which gave him plenty of time to decide what he wanted to do when he got there.

Then the day came when he finally saw his double pull into his driveway.

The neighborhood was nice. He didn’t stay any longer than he had to get the layout so he could come back and break in later.

He slept in a nearby park where he wouldn’t be seen by a passersby, or the police.

The chill in the air woke him up and he immediately positioned himself where he could see his double leave the neighborhood to go to work.

When his double’s car drove by, he quickly crossed the street and made his way to his house.

He was surprised that even though his double had an elaborate looking security system, it wasn’t armed. He obviously had the money for the nice Mercedes, the gorgeous house, and expensive alarm system, yet when he left, he didn’t even bother to arm it.

He made quick work of the lock and once inside, took his time exploring. He knew it would be hours before his double came home, so there was no rush.

As he walked through the house, he ran his hands over all the expensive stuff his double owned. Never had he touched such smooth and eloquent things.

The thought of just stealing what he found in the house was tempting, but he was too smart for that. There would never be another chance to make out like he was about to, and he wasn’t going to blow it.

By the time his double arrived that evening, Teddy felt right at home.

From the upstairs bedroom windows, he watched as his double parked the car and casually made his way inside.

Teddy stood unhidden in his double’s bedroom since the door was closed.

When his double walked in, the look on his face was priceless, and while he stood there wide-eyed in surprise, Teddy, wearing a smirk, walked up and punched him in the face, knocking him out instantly.


His double blinked away his grogginess the best he could.

When he finally came to, he realized he was tied to a chair.

He struggled, trying to break free, but he was too well secured.

“Well, hello there,” Teddy said when he saw that his double had come to.

He smiled again when his double focused and couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Who are you?” he asked, thoroughly confused.

“How about we start with who you are,” Teddy said. “What’s your name?”

“Sam,” his double replied.

“Well Sam, I’m Teddy,” Teddy said matter-of-factly. “Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to ask you a bunch of questions, and if you answer them all, I’ll let you go.”

Sam was hesitant to play along, but he also didn’t think he had a choice.

“What kind of questions?” Sam asked, trying to buy time so he could think of a way out of this.

“The informative kind,” Teddy clarified.

“Let’s start with something easy,” Teddy started. He pulled out Sam’s wallet and showed one of his bank cards to him. “What’s the pin for this card.”

Teddy already knew that his double probably wouldn’t be over excited to give him the information and he was right.

“Why do you want that?” Sam asked, already knowing the answer.

Without giving an explanation, Teddy just punched Sam in the face again.

“What’s the pin?” he asked more sternly.

Seeing that Sam was still trying to not being cooperative, Teddy punched him hard in the stomach.

While Sam was still catching his breath, Teddy said, “I can do this all night. What’s the pin?”

Knowing he had no choice, Sam gave it to him.

Teddy pulled out and used some duct tape to cover Sam’s mouth.

Ensuring that he could still breath, Teddy punched him again, knocking him out.

He then drove to the nearest ATM and used Sam’s card to check his account balance and pull out as much as the daily allotment would let him.

‘I’ll just come back in the morning,’ he thought as he returned back to the house.

Sam was just where he had left him.

While he waited for Sam to regain consciousness, he started searching all the rooms for a safe. He checked the closet in the bedroom, took down all the paintings in the guest bedroom, and when he couldn’t find one there, he started taking down all the paintings in all the rooms.

He found it behind a small painting in the office.

When Sam came too, Teddy beat the combination out of him.

Finding a large suitcase, he filled it with all the cash and expensive jewelry he grabbed out of the safe.

Not wanting to stop there, he walked around the house and grabbed anything that he could fit in the suitcases and would bring the most value when fenced.

When he returned to the bedroom, Sam was wide awake and trying desperately to get loose.

“I’d give up if I were you,” Teddy said. “If you escape, I’ll have to kill you. As of right now, I plan on letting you live, but if you start to cause me too much trouble, I’ll have to reconsider.”

Sam, wanting to live more than anything, and knowing himself not to be a fighter, decided to submit for the moment, though he also decided that whenever Teddy left the room, he would get as loose as he could, just in case he had to fight to survive.

Teddy was starting to see dollar signs and completely ignored Sam and how well his straps were keeping him in place. After all, he was a serial con man, not a kidnapper.

Slamming the trunk down felt like crossing the finish line of a marathon and he took a moment to enjoy it.

He went back upstairs to take one more look around before driving off into the sunset, even though it was already pitch black.

His heart skipped a beat when he walked into the bedroom to see that it was empty.

Fortunately, he had cut the phone lines and took Sam’s cell phone, so he was sure that the only option Sam had was to make a run for a neighbor’s house.

Kicking into panic mode, he quickly turned to chase after him.
When he turned around, he only had a second to see Sam barreling towards him.

There was no way he was going to avoid being tackled by him, but he was a scrapper and he absorbed the assault, falling onto the bed.

They both wrestled on the bed, each trying to get the better position.

Teddy was surprised at how strong Sam turned out to be, and Sam was surprised at his own ability to fight back. He had never even been in a fight before then but felt that he wasn’t doing too bad.

The sound of them rolling off the bed and hitting the ground surprised them both, but they kept fighting against each other.

Whenever one of them could slip in a strike, they did, but since neither one of them could get in a dominate position, neither one of them hurt the other enough to free themselves from the other.

It wasn’t long before they were both exhausted and struggling to catch their breath without letting the other gain an advantage.

It was only by accident that Sam was rolled off of Teddy and hit his head on the side of one of the end tables.

Teddy felt him go limp and seeing that Sam had been knocked out, took a moment to let his heartrate come down.

Once his panting subsided, he quickly dragged Sam back to the chair and re-seated him.


Sam slowly opened his eyes, only to find himself once again strapped to the chair.

His groan of finding himself tied to the chair once again, caused Teddy to turn with a wide smile on his face.

“Don’t worry,” Teddy started. “I’m still not going to kill you.”

He walked over to Sam and checked all the straps to make sure he was secure.

“I’m sure you’ll get out like you did before,” Teddy said. “The only difference is once you do get out this time, I’ll be long gone.”

“As soon as I get out of this, I’m going to call the police,” Sam said, struggling against his restraints.

With a smile, Sam said, “Oh, I have no doubt.”

With an arrogant bow, Teddy walked out of the bedroom.

He could still hear Sam struggling as he bounced down the stairs.
Sam growled as he heard his car peel out of his driveway.

Teddy would have preferred to have driven off into the sunset, but he figured the sunrise was just as good.