Anabel Unraveled Read Online Free PDF Page B

affirmative, I said, “Just remember that Jonathan also said he was trying to protect me.”
    He colored, and we finished our car ride in silence.
    When we got into the hearing room, I took my seat at the front and waited impatiently for the members of Congress to arrive. When they did, and Ms. Fischer had called us to order, I raised my hand.
    “Miss Martin?” she acknowledged.
    “Ma’am, I really would like to take charge in handling any of your questions about my relationship with Mr. Sorensen. I feel that he is imagining things that I may have said, and he is extremely misguided in purporting that I had any supposed regard for him.”
    “Objection, your honor,” Jared interrupted. “She was completely in love with me.”
    I let out a dramatic sigh. “Yes, Jared, of course I was. By the way, this isn’t a courtroom.” The room filled with laughter, and Jared looked almost embarrassed. I stood up. “Ms. Fischer, here’s what really happened.”
    “So, Jared and I met up the next morning at seven. I had spent the night unable to sleep, visions of Kevin haunting me. I hoped nothing terrible had befallen him, but the fact was, I had watched a lot of specials on maximum security prisons. I had overheard Charlie mention to Evelyn that Kevin was sent to ADX Florence, and a quick perusal on the internet made me horrified. I knew what happened there, and the anxiety caused me to toss and turn for hours.
    “What did I think of Jared? Well, I wasn’t impressed at our initial encounter, but Sam had sent him, and I trusted my brother’s judgment. I know that I haven’t exactly been a huge presence in my brother’s life, but we had become close—despite the thousands of miles that separated us. After the death of our mother, Sam had gone out of his way to make sure that I was tolerably happy on the island, and I appreciated it a great deal. After all, I’m a lot younger than he is, and Sam had never let me down before. Therefore, I had every reason to believe that Sorensen’s presence on the island was a sign that things were going to improve for me. I did not think that things could get any worse.
    “Anyway, so Jared and I met up in the front hall, and we went outside. It was a bright, sunny day, and we walked along the outer wall of the storage facility. It’s beautiful there, you can really see the ocean, and a lot of conversation is drowned out by the crashing of waves against the shore. To be honest, I had wanted that—I was starting to realize that I was uncomfortable talking to Jared. I couldn’t explain why to myself, exactly. I think part of it was he was so unlike everyone else around me. We walked for about an hour and a half, neither of us saying much. He turned to face me at several points, but I avoided his eyes. It was starting to get hot, and a few beads of sweat exploded onto his forehead. I had taken care to wear plenty of sunscreen and a hat, and wasn’t all that bothered, but I felt a twinge and thought I shouldn’t make him suffer.
    “Do you want to go back?” I yelled.
    He shook his head. “Why? Would you talk to me then?”
    I stared at him. “It’s too loud to talk out here!”
    “Then why did you bring me?”
    I shrugged. “You wanted to see the place?”
    He then grabbed my arm and leaned into my ear. “I wanted to get to know you, Anabel.”
    You see, this put me in an awkward position. I had been, up to that moment, extremely sheltered in terms of my sexuality. Miss Marilyn had taught me the facts of life, but, living on an island like that, well . . . there wasn’t much opportunity for me to . . . explore it, per se. I had never been attracted to any of the convicts on the island. I mean, the closest thing would have been Kevin, and I thought of him much like I did my own brother. Which was why, when Jared drew me close to him, I felt something that I had only felt when lusting after movie stars. His husky voice set my hair standing on end, and his breath tickled at my