“What did you tell her?” I frowned at him.
“I told her what happened,” he muttered, looking away.
“I don’t even know what happened; would you care to enlighten me?” I snapped.
“This is what I’m talking about,” sighed Meghan. She looked at me, not unkindly. “You two can’t fight like this. I just think it would be a good idea if you got your stories straight.”
“Fine,” I said, still annoyed at Jared. “I just thought you had come to visit, not give me the Spanish Inquisition.” Above his protests, I began.
The next day after we kissed was awkward. Seeing Jared that morning as we waited for my dad and Charlie brought a flush of pleasure to my cheeks. I had taken extra care with my appearance that day. I had gotten up early and showered, and had let my curls air dry so they fell sweetly around my face, and down my back. I had left the white dress behind and had settled for a pink one with cap sleeves that, while it was a little low cut, fell past my knees. Enough so that Jonathan would probably not comment on my attire. Jared had gotten there before any of us, and as I approached him, I felt positively radiant.
“Good morning,” he greeted me, not failing to notice my neckline.
“Did you sleep well?” I asked him with a smile. Now that I think about it, I must admit I’m appalled at the way I was throwing myself at him.
“No, I was awake for a while,” he lamented.
“I had that problem as well,” I admitted, lowering my voice. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
“You don’t want to do this,” he told me, his hands in his pockets, looking every which way but at me.
“Not this again,” I groaned. “Jared, I’m not about to spend today denying that I feel something for you. I’m also not going to allow you to pretend that you don’t feel something for me. I realize that there are millions of complications and at some point you’re going to leave me here, but I want to enjoy our time together. Look, I need you to be my friend. I don’t have any. If you don’t want to kiss me anymore, fine, but at least talk to me,” I implored.
He was beginning to relent. I could sense it. “Okay,” he gave in. “Okay.”
Just then we were interrupted by Charlie. “Good morning. Annie, you look nice today.”
Before I could reply, Jonathan showed up. “You should change, Anabel.”
“I brought a sweater,” I defended, and pulled it around my shoulders.
“I think that’s good enough,” stated Charlie.
My father looked like he was about to say something, but then stopped himself. “Alright, Sorensen,” he said. “Let me take you on the grand tour.”
“So how exactly does the vault work?” Jared asked, falling in step next to my father.
“I can explain,” I piped up from in front of them, sending my father an anxious glance. He nodded, so I continued as we walked down the stairs. At least if I was talking I wouldn’t stand there like an idiot, grinning at Jared. “Well as I’m sure you know, the majority of our nation’s gold bullion used to be stored in Fort Knox. The American people are under the impression that it still is stored there.”
“How much gold is it?” asked Jared, coming to walk by me as we turned a corner.
“About forty-seven-hundred tons,” I told him. “Fort Knox has been around since 1936. It is also used to house precious items, such as the Magna Carta and other key documents. It’s designed much like our storage facility: it has a fortress and then below,” I commented as I pushed the elevator button, “is the vault. Fort Knox’s vault, like ours, is lined with granite and you have to get through several different rooms to get through to where the gold is.”
“We’re going to take a detour to the prison,” announced my father.
“Very well.” I caught Jared’s eye. “Just below the surface level of Caereon is our prison level. It’s divided into solitary confinement and then there are the prisoners who have open cells who get to leer at me when I walk by. Hence the sweater.” Jonathan made a grunting noise, and I failed to look up. I was going to get a talking to, I knew it. We got off and walked to the main entrance. The guard let us in, and we continued our tour. “We only housed a few prisoners in the beginning, but as I’m sure you know, when several of the major high-security places were closed, we were one of the few places where taking in extra prisoners was a possibility. My father was not happy about it, I can assure you.” Jonathan nodded his assent. “Through this door,” I indicated the one on the left, “is solitary. I’m not allowed to go in there.”
“Some of the most dangerous men in the world are through that door,” Charlie interjected. “Even I don’t go in there unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
“There are cameras everywhere you look,” I continued. I moved to Jared’s other side. “I don’t like to let them see me,” I confided.
We walked past about twenty cells. The prisoners all gaped at us but were silent. I turned to Jared. “I’m sure you’ve heard all of the conspiracy theories about Fort Knox.”
He frowned. “I seem to remember hearing that it was empty, and all the gold had been moved to Jerusalem.” He was standing so close to me that a thrill went down my spine.
“Yes!” I said. “The gold actually wasn’t moved here until the Nixon administration. Conspiracy buffs have a field day with it. The only thing they really have to go on is the audit reports, which only account for about 21 percent of the gold. They actually only have 25 percent.”
“And the rest is here?”
“It is,” I affirmed. We walked to another door and my father put his finger on the pad. It opened, and we hurried in to another long corridor. “In spite of its image, Fort Knox has been broken into more times than the government wants to admit. Nobody has ever gotten far enough to find anything, but it became increasingly worrisome during the 70s . . . so President Nixon had our fortress built, and here we are.”
“Is there anything besides gold in this vault?”
“Just the Ark of the Covenant.” I gave him a flirtatious grin. Jared’s face remained impassive. “I’m not allowed in there very often, something to do with my lack of security clearance.” Charlie suppressed a laugh, and I caught his eye and winked. “Mostly it’s just the gold, but again, occasionally we house special items. I believe that information is on what my father would refer to as a need-to-know basis.” I slowed my pace to walk with Jonathan.
He assented. “Absolutely. Sorensen, my daughter has told you much more than I would have, but the information is correct. The main vault is through this way, and I assume,” he said, rather archly, “you would like to see the gold. It is the main attraction on the island.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Daddy, don’t act like you have a sense of humor now! I hardly know what to say.”
“That’s a shocker,” said Jared. I shot him a nasty glance, but my father actually emitted a chuckle. He stepped to do the retina scan, as Charlie turned to Jared. “Don’t fall over,” he warned.
I nodded in agreement. “It is rather breathtaking, and most people at least experience mild heart palpitations.”
Jared smirked. “I think I’ll be okay.”
“Very well then,” said Jonathan, and he turned the door of the vault and opened it. “After you, Sorensen.”
Jared walked through and sucked in his breath. Charlie and I exchanged a meaningful glance. Jonathan merely looked bored.
“Wow,” Jared gaped. “This is incredible.”
Indeed it was. When you first walk into the main vault you’re assaulted on all sides by gold. Right in front of you is the mint gold, the bars that are almost entirely pure gold. They shine the brightest, in my opinion. The stack of bars is as tall as me and several feet wide. All along the right wall are the coin bars—the bars of gold that are made of melted gold coin. Further back, past all the bars, are the repositories that hold the gold coins. Some of them are Sacagawea dollars, while others are just standard gold coins.
Jared stood there, hi
s mouth hanging open. I smiled at him. “I’m sure I would be overwhelmed, too, if I wasn’t used to it.”
He ignored me. “So who has access to the vault?”
“I do,” commented my father. “Charlie also can pass a retina scan, Major Briggs in security does as well, but that’s it.”
Jared nodded. It was really exasperating how he was completely ignoring me while I was basking in his presence. I was infatuated. I had images of me and Jared running down the beach together, of him running his fingers through my mass of tendrils and pulling me close and kissing me, needing me, wanting me. I was delirious in his presence.
Looking back on it, I was being positively ridiculous.
“So you will spend the evening with me, then?” my father was saying, yanking me out of my fantasy.
“That sounds fine, sir. I will join you after dinner,” assented Jared.
Wait. I had expected to be spending the after dinner time with Jared.
Charlie turned to me. “So what are you up to today?”
“Oh,” I flushed. “I just assumed you would be pawning him off on me.” I gestured to Jared.
“We all saw what happened on the piazza, Annie. I imagine Sorensen will be kept as far from you as possible.”
Well then.
Deciding to not put off the inevitable any longer, I turned to my father. “Daddy?”
“Yes?” He looked tired.
“What do you want me to do today?” I shifted my weight uncomfortably. Jared was standing a few feet away, oblivious to the fact that I was pining for him as he took notes.
Jonathan put his arm around me, and I leaned into him. It was a surprisingly tender moment for me and my father, and I simply hugged him for a few moments. Then he suggested I spend some time on the beach. “Bring Sorensen if you like,” he said, nodding at Jared. “You’ve been spending too much time indoors. You have no color in your face.”
“That’s not my fault, it’s genetics,” I grinned. I walked over to Jared. “Do you want to come to the beach with me?”
He glanced at my father, who nodded. “Go with her, we’ll discuss the other matters later.” He glanced at Charlie. “We should get out of here.”
Charlie nodded, and we made our way out. I walked next to Jared, about five feet behind my father and Charlie. “So?” I asked him.
“What?”
“Are you coming with me to the beach or not?” I tried to contain my excitement, but I think my voice gave me away.
He looked straight ahead. “It’s not a good idea. Besides, I have work to do.”
“No, you don’t,” I retorted. “I thought—” but then I stopped, and he glared at me. Jonathan and Charlie weren’t supposed to know that I was the reason Jared was on the island. “Fine,” I said. “I’ll just tell Sam that you are awful.” Then I mentally punished myself for my childishness.
He sighed. “Fine. I’ll meet you in ten minutes.”
I clapped my hands and went to get ready.
Chapter 17—Jared
My sister interrupted Anabel. “So what we’re getting at is you had every intention of seducing my brother.”
Anabel’s eyes widened.
“That’s enough, Meghan,” I snapped.
Anabel looked at me, and then back at my sister, amazed. “Wow, you really don’t like me, do you?”
Meghan adjusted her glasses. “It’s just that I don’t think you’re entirely blameless in this affair.”
“I never pretended to be!” cried Anabel. “That’s the problem with the whole thing. My brother and I have argued this out over and over again. He wants me to press charges against Jared, and I can’t because I would have—I mean, it’s just if he hadn’t, I would have wanted to . . . if things had been different, then I. . .” She paused. “Look, I wasn’t thinking, and I was reckless and irresponsible in the way I was behaving. I admit that. I made many poor decisions, and I’m not proud of it at all, and—ooh,” she said, her hand going to her stomach.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, instantly at her side.
She gave me a small smile. “Emma’s moving! I think. Feel,” she said, grabbing my hand and putting it to her stomach.
My hand rested there and I felt something tapping against the side of her belly. Anabel’s eyes lit up, and she sighed. “I guess she’s done.”
“Amazing,” I told her. I stayed by her, my hand lingering on her stomach.
Meghan cleared her throat. “Okay. So we’ve established that you weren’t thinking.”
“Yes,” Anabel nodded. “To be fair, Jared was rebuffing my advances at every turn. When he and I went to the beach, he wouldn’t speak to me. I thought it was because my legs were so white I was blinding him.”
I sighed. It had been uncomfortable from the moment I saw her that morning. I knew she had dressed up for me, and the dress she had chosen was slightly big on her, so it wasn’t like the neckline left anything to the imagination. However, I couldn’t check her out with her father standing right there, glaring at me every time I even accidentally glanced at Anabel. I will say that she looked beautiful that morning. I knew, though, that if I didn’t pretend to be distant, her father and Charlie would probably lock her up and then it would be even more difficult to get her off of Caereon. The previous night, while I lay unable to sleep, I contemplated just taking her with me when I left. She was unstable, for one thing. Her behavior the day before had shown me just that. Hot one moment, cold the other, and now she was fixated on me, and it made me uncomfortable. I had shown unmistakably poor judgment by kissing her; however, I had not expected this show of idolization.
So when we went to the beach, no, I didn’t talk to her. Her swimsuit was pretty modest, and she had pulled her hair up on top of her head. She and I laid out towels and sat quietly listening to the surf roar. It took her about twenty minutes to apply sunscreen. She was having trouble getting it on her back when I relented and started rubbing it in.
“Thanks, Jared.” She sounded distant.
“Do you really need that much sunblock?”
“Yes,” she grew defensive. “Look at me. Do I look like I get out in the sun very often?” It was true. Her skin was milky white. I smoothed the sunscreen over her back as she continued. “The last time I wasn’t liberal with my sunscreen, I got burned after about thirty minutes and wound up miserable for a week.”
“I don’t burn,” I replied, moving back to the safety of my own towel.
She smiled over her sunglasses. “I envy you. I got my mother’s complexion. It’s the one thing of Jonathan’s I really wanted.” She lay back on her towel. “We can go back to not talking now. I won’t disturb you anymore.”
She was really not making this easy. “You weren’t disturbing me in the first place.”
“Whatever.” Anabel pulled off her sunglasses and closed her eyes. “We are done.”
I should not take the bait, I told myself. I shouldn’t start this with her. She was behaving like a spoiled kid. The best thing to do is just let her be angry with you and get her off of the island and safely with her brother. He can take care of her and—
But then I stopped for a moment. How exactly was Sam going to take care of her? Anabel’s presence in his life would unearth all sorts of questions. She hadn’t been mentioned once during his current campaign. How was he going to explain away a 19-year-old half-sister? I tried to ignore these thoughts. This isn’t your problem, I told myself. I’m sure some sort of spin will be put on it, like she had joined the Peace Corps or had been a missionary or something.
The thought nagging at the back of my mind, however, was that Anabel needed someone to really look after her. Helping her interact with the real world would be no easy task. At most, she had dealt with, what, five people at a time? She would feel so out of place in—well, in DC, for example. I envisioned her on the Metro, or in Tyson’s Corner Shopping Mall surrounded by all sorts of pushy people, shoving her out of their way. I could, however, see her walking around the Mall and vi
siting the Smithsonian. Alone. I glanced at her. She had turned onto her stomach and let her hair loose. As the sunlight glinted off of it, my heart softened toward her. She was just a kid, after all. And she had been cheated out of a loving childhood. Everything I had taken for granted—two parents who had loved me and worked hard to ensure I had the best life possible—had not been her experience at all. When Anabel left Caereon, she would need someone to be there for her all of the time.
It couldn’t be Sam. He had a country to deal with.
But it couldn’t be me, either. I knew the minute we got her off of the island she would tell her brother how horrible I was to her. And she was right. I should have handled the situation differently. It had just been wholly unexpected. When Sam sent me here, it had never occurred to me that Anabel would be anything different than any other job he had me do. I hadn’t expected to care about her.
That was it, I reassured myself. I cared about her. I had a brotherly sort of interest in her. It made sense. Her brother was my closest friend, after all. Kissing her had been a mistake, but I was fixing that. Furthermore, she was an unusual case, and one couldn’t help but feel pity for her. That was it; nothing more.
Satisfied with my conclusion and ignoring the voice in the back of my head which told me that I was deluding myself, I decided to talk to her. “Annie?
“We aren’t pals. It’s Anabel,” she muttered.
“Anabel, I’m sorry. Can we be friends again?”
She propped herself up on her elbows. “I suppose this means that we are just going to forget everything that happened yesterday.”
“I think that would be the best for both of us.”
She nodded, clearly disappointed. “Fine. So since you’re not meeting my dad until after dinner, what would you like to do for the rest of the afternoon?” She started to brush sand off of herself. “I unfortunately cannot stay out in the sun much longer, so if you want to hang out with me, we have to do it indoors. If you would rather spend the time by yourself, I understand that too.”
Anabel Unraveled Page 12
