Anabel Unraveled by Amanda Romine Lynch Read Free Book Online

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