Anabel Unraveled (23 page)

“Do you have the address?” Matt stepped a little closer to me.

“Yes.”

“We’ll be fine then. Anabel, you will be riding with me over there. Sam has already given me a lot of your clothing so you should be set for at least a few days.”

I shot Sam a questioning glance, and he nodded. “I knew you weren’t going to come back.”

I hugged him. Then he stood up. “Well, I need to head out. Annie, you’re in good hands.” He walked out, his Secret Service detail following him.

I looked at Matt and smiled. “So it’s just you and me, then?”

“Am I no longer invited?”

Oh, right. I had forgotten about Jared.

“Jared, this is Matt, my new bodyguard. Matt, this is Jared, who—”

“I know who he is,” Matt cut me off.

I was surprised. “Do you two know each other?”

“We’ve met,” stated Matt, before Jared could open his mouth. He turned back to me. “So, you and I will go to Mclean, I want to scope out the area. Sorensen,” he turned to Jared, “I think it would be best if you met us there in an hour or so.”

That was an order. I looked at Jared, who appeared to be struggling with an inner conflict. Finally he nodded. He wrote down the address, kissed me on the cheek, and walked out of the room.

I turned to Matt, my eyebrows raised. “What was that all about?”

“Nothing I want to go into,” he replied. He held out his hand. “Shall we?”

I accepted and he helped me up. “You realize you are going to tell me what is going on between the two of you.”

“That will not be happening, Anabel.”

I smirked. “We’ll see.”

Chapter 24—Jared

I ran down the hallway, and caught Sam just as he was getting into his town car. “Matt Moore? That’s a low blow, even for you.”

What seemed like a thousand reporters heard me say this, and they immediately turned their cameras towards us. Sam barked, “In the car. Now.”

I hopped in next to him, and he was glaring at me. “You have no right,” he began.

“He hates me more than you do.”

“With good reason.” Sam was cool. “I realize you think this is some sort of personal attack, and I can understand that. But there is no one else in the world that I would trust with the overseeing of my sister than Matt, and you know he did a great job with my kids.”

“I would watch out for her,” I argued.

“Yes, but she changes her mind on an hourly basis as to whether or not she wants to see you,” Sam seemed to be enjoying himself. “Look, she needs more stability than you can provide. She’s also not going to take your mood swings either. I saw how you were when you heard about her money.” He looked at me hard. “I know you don’t like it, you’ve never liked people with more money than you. She’s had enough stress, and the pregnancy has really done a number on her, with the bleeding, and—”

“What bleeding?” I asked.

Sam groaned. “She didn’t tell you. Great. Long story short, right about when she hit nine weeks was when we found out she was pregnant, and then when she hit ten weeks she had what’s called sub-chorionic bleeding.” I stared at him, so he continued. “Sometimes when the placenta implants into the uterus it forms a little pool of blood. Most of the time the body just absorbs it, but Annie had some spotting, and she flipped her lid.” He sighed. “I’m serious, Jared. She was in hysterics. I shudder to think about what would have happened if she had lost the baby. Thank God Kevin came when he did, and told her what it was.”

“But nothing’s wrong, right?”

“No,” he sighed. “Her body absorbed the hematoma, and she hasn’t had problems of that nature since. She has had multiple urinary infections, however, which stresses her out because she’s worried about antibiotics hurting the baby. This is why she needs someone who will be a steady influence. And I can’t count on you, based on your past behavior, even if I wanted to. If I give her Matt, he’ll watch her and not put up with her absurdity.”

“If you give her Matt,” I scoffed. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing, Sam.”

“You know how I feel about what you did to her.”

“You used to be my best friend,” I pointed out.

“And where did that get me?”

“I love her,” I said.

He looked like he would punch me. “Never say that again,” he ordered. “I don’t believe you. I don’t even think she believes you.”

“Look, I told you I never wanted this to happen. Even Anabel admitted as much today. I would never have touched her if I hadn’t been impaired.”

Sam sighed. “I warned you about Jonathan. You saw firsthand what he was doing to her.”

“I can’t argue with you anymore,” I groaned. “But I’m not going to let you deliver her into Moore’s waiting hands. He’ll use her to get back at me, and do you really want to do that to your own sister?”

“He likes saving things,” Sam pointed out. “And you prevented him from saving his sister.”

“It wasn’t like that! You know it!” The image of Natasha Moore from that morning in the park flashed through my mind again. It was a face I saw a lot, as she still haunted my dreams.

“You should have left her alone.”

“She was the one who made a point to make sure I noticed her. She was always around the corner, or waiting for me outside your office. She made a concerted effort to make sure I paid attention to her.”

“So did Anabel.” Sam sounded strained.

“I know you don’t believe me, but I do care about Anabel. It was different before. Natasha knew what she was getting into with me.” I looked ahead. “Look, since you invited me on your ride here, can you drop me off in Northwest? I’m going to see Meghan.”

“So you’re saying you were upfront with Natasha? She knew that you never cared for her?” Sam leaned forward. “That’s a change for you.”

“I told her I was still hung up on Jessica. How could she not believe me?” Before Natasha Moore, I had dated an actress. “I did care about her. I just never thought we’d be anything more than what we were. She had a different opinion.”

“Well, we’ve got a car ride, Jared. Tell me what really happened.”

I looked at him sharply. “You told me you didn’t want to know before.”

“Well, now I do. So go ahead.”

In fact, Natasha and Anabel shared a lot of similarities. They were both young (although Natasha was twenty-one), very bright, and nothing like the sort of women I usually dated. Natasha had been working as a White House Intern when I met her. She was a pretty little thing, very athletic and petite, so I had noticed her, but hadn’t thought much of it. She hung around the oval office a fair amount, and one day I ran into her carrying a bunch of papers and accidentally knocked them from her hand.

“Wow, I’m sorry.” I bent over to pick them up.

Kneeling, she giggled. “Oh well. I was just standing here, attempting to look like I was doing something.” She leaned in close and whispered, “I’m hung over and my boss just handed me this stack of papers—and I have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing with them!”

“Your honesty is refreshing. Jared Sorensen.”

“Natasha Moore.” She flashed very white teeth at me. “So how are you going to make this up to me, Jared?”

“Excuse me?” I was late for a meeting with the vice president, and this intern was harassing me?

“Well, you did make a mess of my paperwork,” she pointed out.

“So now I owe you something?”

“Why yes, Mr. Sorensen,” she purred, standing up and reaching to straighten my tie. “You do.”

I took the bait. “I could buy you a drink?”

“That’s more like it,” she said with a smile. She turned on her heel, and walked away. Then she called over her shoulder, “Meet me back here when you’re done for the day.”

As with most women I dated, drinks turned into sex, and Nat and I were inseparable. She was fun and vivacious, and extremely smart—but for me, it was just supposed to be fun. I had just gotten out of a semi-serious relationship; I wasn’t looking for anything but a good time. And I told her that.

Still, I don’t think she believed me. She would joke about me leaving her for the next supermodel that came to town, but as time went by, the jokes became accusations. While I never cheated on her, I never went out of my way to assuage any fears in her mind. It was twisted, what I did to her, and I regret it more than I can say. But the fact was, I didn’t want a needy woman, and that’s exactly what she was. It had gotten old, and while I didn’t see any reason to break up with her, my interest was definitely waning the last night we were together.

She and I were on a run in Rock Creek Park. I always enjoyed the park; the deer were prominent, and that early autumn evening felt crisp and cool as we jogged. One thing we had in common was exercise, and Natasha was fanatical about it.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something,” Nat mentioned, her sleek ponytail bouncing as we made our way down the path.

“What’s up?” I was enjoying nature so much that I missed the note of foreboding in her voice.

“The lease on my apartment runs out soon.” She took care to keep her voice light.

“Oh? Can you not renew?” I squinted into the fading sunlight. “Or do you want some help looking for a new place?”

“Well, I thought I would move in with you,” she said bluntly.

I stopped dead in my tracks and stared at her.

“Well, I mean, I’m over there all the time anyway, and it would help me financially . . .” she trailed off, and looked into my eyes. Her face spelled out her disappointment. “You don’t like the idea.”

“Nat, I don’t think we’re ready for this.”

“Why? I’m your girlfriend, after all.” She stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at me.

“Yeah, you’re my girlfriend. There’s nothing beyond that.”

Natasha’s face blanched. “So what? I’ve been wasting my time with you?” Her voice raised an octave.

“Nat, baby,” I appealed, “it’s been a lot of fun. I wouldn’t call it a waste of time. But you and me . . . I don’t see us going anywhere beyond where we already are.”

She didn’t cry. I’ll give her that. Her face contorted with rage, and she hurled a great deal of nastiness at me, and finished with, “My brother was right about you!” and then took off in the opposite direction. I called out to her, but she kept running . . . and running . . . and then, she was gone. Frustrated, I turned and ran in the opposite direction back to my place, figuring I would call her in the morning and try and smooth things over.

However, I never saw Natasha after that. She was murdered in the park that night by a man named Carlos Ruiz Mercado.

I had been a suspect, but I was cleared when they caught Mercado. Still, it had damaged my reputation, and that was when Sam had started to distance himself from me. He had my back, but I knew our relationship wasn’t quite the same. Also, I had more than one ugly encounter with Matt—Nat’s brother—who wholeheartedly believes that his sister’s death is my fault.

This is why I did not want to leave him alone with the woman carrying my child.

Chapter 25—Anabel

“Sooo,” I drew it out, “why don’t you like Jared?”

“I think a better question is why do you?” Matt stared straight ahead. He had maybe said two words to me since we got into his truck, and I could hardly stand it. I was excited about his presence, but it also left me a bit confused. Matt was throwing me for a loop. If I was the star, and Jared was the hero, where did Matt fit into the mix? I decided he was the variable in the story.

So I considered. “I wouldn’t say that I like Jared.” I looked over at Matt. “He’s not really a likeable guy.”

“You got that right,” he muttered. “Look, Anabel, there are some ground rules, okay? I don’t want you to have the wrong perception of things.”

“Okay,” I grinned.

“Rule number one, stop asking me annoying questions.”

“Ouch,” I said, affronted. “What else?”

“Rule number two, you’re not going to get anywhere with that little act you’ve got going on. None of this damsel in distress crap. Just because those big blue eyes work on everyone else does not mean they will work on me.”

I pretended to be hurt. “I’m sure I do not know what you are talking about, Mr. Moore.”

“Matt.” He stared at the road. “Rule three, call me Matt.”

“Matt,” I made myself the picture of sweetness, “why are you being so harsh with me? Don’t you know? Everyone else treats me like I’ll shatter into a million tiny pieces at any given moment.”

“You’re not breakable,” he answered. “You proved that in those hearings.”

“Ah yes, the hearings. So how long have you been following me around?”

“A while.” His eyes were on the road.

I shifted in my seat. “So when you told me you worked for my brother—”

He was nodding. “I’m an independent contractor. Your brother and I go way back, and he expressed an interest in hiring me for your protection. So, we made an arrangement that suits the both of us.”

“Do you think I need to be protected?” I asked.

He shot me a sidelong glance. “Anabel, I’m one of the few people who actually knows what you went through after Jonathan was murdered. I’ve watched the security tapes. I do believe that you are at risk.”

I slumped in my seat. “Um, I need to pee.”

“You went right before we left.”

“The baby likes to make a game of kicking my bladder all day.”

He chuckled a bit. “We’re almost there. Can you hold it five minutes?”

“I suppose,” I replied. We lapsed into silence again. My natural instinct was to like him, which, I reflected, was how it went with me. I mean, after all, my relationship with Jared proved that I was a poor judge of character. But Matt seemed different . . . but also discomfiting. I especially hated that he had known that I was pregnant, and whatever it was that was going on with him and Jared also made me wary.

“So do I have to deal with Sorensen later?”

“I did invite him,” I admitted. “I thought maybe we could get together. For dinner. To which I guess you will be coming.” Since when was my speaking ability so impaired?

“Okay, if we go up to Tysons Corner there are a lot of restaurants.” He paused. “I can probably help you pick something.”