Anabel Unraveled (5 page)

Typing in the passcode, I unlocked the door and led Jared in to the sitting room. I sat down on the nearest chair, took off my sunglasses, and stared hard at him. “So. What do you want to know about me?”

I’ve always had a way of filling people with unease, a skill which I attribute to years of living in relative isolation. For his part, Jared seemed uncomfortable as he lowered himself onto the chair. “Anabel,” he began.

“Jared,” I replied.

“I shouldn’t have grabbed you like that back there, I’m sorry.” But the way he said it, he didn’t seem sorry.

“It’s okay. I’m a big girl. I can handle it.” I hoped to sound coy, but it rang false in my ears, and it caused him to look even more uncomfortable.

There was silence, and then, “You’re just a kid.”

I looked at him for a moment. “I’m assuming that you came to that clever deduction on your own.” I took off my hat. “I thought that there was something that I could help you with.”

He attempted a grin. “You must know why I am here.”

“I would guess that it’s because I woke up my brother in the middle of the night to whine about how rough my life is and how Daddy never lets me go out with the boys,” I lamented. “What time was it over there when I called Sam? 2 a.m.?”

Jared snorted, and I continued. “I’m surprised that my father let me go show you around. But I have some theories on why he did it.”

“Oh really?” Jared looked entertained. “What are those?”

I leaned forward and lowered my voice conspiratorially. “Well, Jonathan hates me, so it can’t be because he wants me to have any fun. So, Option Number One is that he’s doing something terrible in the facility, and he doesn’t want you to find out, so he sent me to distract you while he covers up whatever it is. However, he’s just not like that. He’s pretty straight when it comes to how he runs his ship, which leads me to Option Number Two.” I sat back and continued, “He wants me to distract you from looking into everything that happened with Miss Marilyn, and why he won’t let me leave.”

Jared looked puzzled. “What did that have to do with anything?”

“Miss Marilyn was my babysitter / teacher, although Jonathan liked to call her my ‘governess.’ Anyway, she wanted me to go to college in the States, which made perfect sense to everyone involved—except for Jonathan. I took the appropriate standardized tests, I applied to several schools, and then my dear father decided he didn’t want Marilyn here anymore, and so he fired her. She was the closest thing that I had to a friend here, and she really loved me. She had sacrificed any sort of a normal life to take care of me, something that I appreciate much more now that she is gone. After Jonathan got rid of her, he pulled me into his office and explained that he didn’t want me leaving because I wouldn’t do well in an ‘alien environment,’ as he called it. He said that I didn’t have the social skills necessary to survive in a co-ed school, and I would probably wind up raped and murdered in a gutter,” I finished with gusto. “My father has a peculiar obsession with my sexual morality. This is why he got rid of Kevin. He said that he wouldn’t allow his daughter to ‘fornicate’ with a convict, even though what we were doing was the furthest possible thing from fornication. Unless that word means something different in that ‘alien environment’ that I’ve never been exposed to.”

Jared started laughing. “You’re pretty funny.”

“It keeps me sane,” I replied.

“So there was nothing going on with you and this Kevin guy? I don’t mean to pry, but Sam did mention he didn’t have the whole back story.” He leaned forward, and I couldn’t help but notice how nice his smile was.

I shook my head. “No. I mean, he was interested in me, I guess, but I really just viewed him as my friend. I cared about him very much, but like all people I care about, Jonathan took him away. As a consequence,” I continued, “if you decide that you want to be friends with me, I suggest you tell me so I can pretend to be uninterested so my dear father doesn’t decide to ship you off to a maximum security prison.”

Jared shuddered. “Is that what happened to Kevin?”

I nodded.

He leaned back in his chair. “So what are you saying? Do you want to be my friend?”

I laughed. “Well, I don’t have a lot of options, and you’ll at least amuse me until you leave.” I stretched my legs out onto the ottoman. “How long are you planning to stay?”

“Until the job is done,” he declared.

It occurred to me that my hair must look incredibly disheveled. I grabbed my bag and began fishing through it for a comb. “What is it that you do for Sam, anyway?”

“I’m a lawyer,” he began, easing back into his chair, “but really what I do is damage control for Sam. I handle the press a lot of the time, or I go and investigate situations before they become too questionable—that sort of thing.”

My fingers clasped around the comb, and I drew it out and went to work. “Doesn’t his press secretary do that?”

“Yes, but my job is to take on jobs that the press secretary shouldn’t be seen at.”

I smiled. “Like me?” I paused and met his eyes. I was getting that weird feeling again, and I tried to push it out of my head. “Don’t answer that. I know that I’m a deep, dark secret. Would you like something to drink?” I stood up and brushed my skirt out. “Usually there’s something down here, Jonathan makes sure to keep it stocked in case we have visitors.” I moved toward the kitchen. “So are you and Sam friends?”

“I consider him my best friend,” he admitted, sounding rather genuine.

“Tell me about his wife. I’ve only spoken to her on the phone a couple of times, and she doesn’t really seem all that friendly.”

“She isn’t,” he replied. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not discuss her.”

Startled, I stammered, “Okay.” I was rummaging through the fridge when I heard Jared mutter something.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that,” I turned so I could look at his face.

“You can’t expect me to do this.”

“Come again?”

“Look, Anabel, you’re nice and all, but I can’t do this cat and mouse thing with you.”

“Excuse me?”

“Whatever the game you’re trying to play with me is, I suggest you knock it off.”

I stared at him, defiant. “What do you want, Jared? You know, I’m getting ready to call my brother and ask him why on earth he sent you here.” I lowered my voice. “I Googled you, you know.”

He looked amused, which annoyed me. “You did? And what exactly did you find?”

“I read about how you’re the defense attorney from hell, how nobody wants to go up against you—and you’ve kept a lot of vile people on the streets instead of behind bars where they belong.”

“So what?” he asked.

“So,” I continued, my temper rising, “I think you’re slime, and I don’t know why my brother would associate with you, anyway.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Okay.”

“Now that we’re straight,” I said coldly, “I’m still unclear as to what you want from me. Care to share?”

He laughed. “I’m here to make sure nothing bad happens to you, Anabel. Your brother doesn’t like how possessive Jonathan’s gotten over you, and he wanted me to assess the situation. If necessary, we’ll pull you out of here. If you make me mad, I’ll recommend you stay.”

I glared at him. “You would really do that out of spite?”

“Those are the breaks, babe.” He stood up. “I have seen plenty of spoiled brat children much like you who expect the world to be handed to them. Just because you’re Sam Sallinger’s sister, don’t think that everyone is going to bow down and worship you.”

Is that so? “I think we’re done here.”

“Retract your claws, Princess,” he replied. “I see no reason why you and I can’t get along.”

“Why is that?”

“You’re not a bad looking girl. At least my trip won’t be a total waste.”

Chapter 4—Jared

Anabel was interrupted by her brother’s scoffing. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said, glaring at me. “If I had any idea that you would have been trying to flirt with my barely legal sister that early in the game, I would’ve yanked you out of there and you would have been careerless faster than—”

Anabel cleared her throat. “Enough, Sam. What’s done is done.”

I had actually gotten to the courthouse early that morning so I could wait and watch Anabel get here. I hadn’t seen her in almost five months, and I wondered how she was holding up, if she was spending her days pulling out her hair (a nasty habit she had), if she was getting on with Alexis (who I was sure hated her), and how someone like her, who had lived in such utter seclusion, was adjusting to life in these United States . . .

If nothing else, it should be noted that I do care about her. I adore her, truth be told.

I did something most regrettable to her, and I doubt that she will ever forgive me. Again, I don’t blame her, especially with how terrible I was to her on the first day of these hearings.

She’s talking again, relaying our flirtation in the beach house. She calmed down, got me some ginger ale, and we chatted some more. And then I started to back off. I shouldn’t have lost my cool earlier, but there was something about her that aroused my temper. In her artless manner she began to open up to me and verify the things that Sam suspected. She was miserable and lonely. She had absolutely nothing to do during the day. Jonathan ignored her, and Anabel was suffering from his neglect. I noticed the desperation that filled her voice, which she tried to cover up with jokes. More and more, I vowed to get her out of this situation. She was endearing, and you couldn’t not care about her—I was trying really hard not to do so, but she was tearing away at my resolve.

“Can I ask you something?”

“You already did,” she replied. “But you can ask me another question if you so desire.” Her eyes brightened.

“How are you and Sam related? Because I know Jonathan’s not his father, he’s much too young.”

“Ahhhh,” she said, “you want to know that story—but wait.” She looked at me, eyes beginning to fill with distrust. “I thought you already knew about all that.”

“I’ve heard bits and pieces,” I replied. “But I’ll level with you, Anabel. Sam has always been known to me as Kristin Sallinger’s son. It’s embarrassing to not know the particulars of your closest friend’s life.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Fair enough,” she acknowledged with a smirk. “At least you’re honest. Okay, so Sam and I share the same mother, the actress Cassidy Carmichael.”

That’s why she looked so familiar. Anabel and Cassidy shared the same eyes and the same hair color. Unlike Cassidy, however, Anabel was much taller, her figure much slighter—Cassidy had been rather voluptuous in her day. “But Sam’s a Sallinger, not a Carmichael—are they the same family?”

She stared at me again.

“Please? I can’t go back to your father so ill-prepared. What if he realizes, as you so cleverly have, that I am a fraud?”

She laughed then. “Flattery will get you everywhere, Mr. Sorensen. Well, Cassidy became pregnant with Sam at a young age—I think she was only fifteen. However, she was a cousin of Kristin Sallinger, and Kristin had found out that she couldn’t have any children.” The Sallingers were a wealthy oil family, and had risen to power in politics. “So, Kristin, who was happily married, agreed to adopt the baby and allow Cassidy visitation. From what I understand she loved Sam very much, and when she became famous and wealthy as an actress she tried to get him back—only to have Kristin guilt trip her, and then she realized it would fare better for Sam if he was a Sallinger, and an heir to the fortune and good name.”

“You’re nineteen. How old is Sam, again? Forty-two or forty-three?”

“He’s forty-three, now,” she replied, “the youngest president in office.” She looked away. “So Cassidy got married to Jonathan when she was in her early thirties. She had me a few years later, and Jonathan’s a bit younger than she was.”

“They seem like such an unlikely pair,” I commented, rubbing my forehead. “In all of Cassidy’s movies she’s so vibrant and funny; Jonathan just walks around like an old man.”

Anabel nodded. “Well, he’s been under a great deal of stress. He’s only been like this in the past few months. I guess though, she was attracted to him because he provided stability. You know, a government worker with a level head. Especially since she never saw Sam’s father again. From what I understand, mostly from what Sam has told me, she and my father were very happy together—at first. Of course, after she had me she got bored—he bullied her into quitting her acting career and being a stay-at-home mother, which was very hard for her. It’s hard to go from being constantly in the spotlight to living in some place named Mclean, which I guess is outside of the District of Columbia?” I nodded, and she continued, “So this is the part where the story gets sad. One night, Jonathan came home and found her in bed with another man . . . so he took me and left. I was maybe two, at that point. Anyway, the Caereon position was open, and Jonathan just wanted to get as far away from my mom as he could, so we have been here ever since.” She tucked her legs under herself, and sighed wistfully. “I never saw my mom growing up, and of course you know that she passed away about two years ago.”

“I read the headlines—I couldn’t believe it,” I commented, trying to not give anything that I knew about that affair away. “They didn’t disclose too much about the particulars. Do you know what happened to that doctor?”

She shook her head. “No, my dad kept me out of most of that. I’m just sorry that I never really got the chance to meet or talk to her.” She stood up. “Let’s go back, I’m not really in the mood to be out here anymore.” She grabbed her hat and led the way back toward the fortress.

Chapter 5—Anabel

Ms. Fischer looked at us over her glasses. “Yes, the doctor, the one who got the pardon . . .”

Jared hesitated. “Well, while she didn’t know it then, it was, of course, Kevin Miller.”

“Excuse me, Ms. Fischer? I’m not a moron. I knew it was Kevin,” I glared at Jared. “I just did not trust Mr. Sorensen at that time, and now I know I was right to trust my instincts.”