Goldilocks Forever

Chapter 41

Santa Monica, California

May 2006

"Casey." She spoke her name into the night without realizing it.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she held her breath. All she could see, could take in, was the tile. That same mosaic tile. Now she saw it at a different angle and light, but there was no mistaking it.

Casey is here. She has to be.

In a determined haze, Anna strode up the driveway. Next to the garage lead a set of stairs leading into the backyard. She saw the tile and the rock and even the same plants. She recalled the stinging pain from the fall and the disorienting spin of the tumble down the steps.

So close. She was so close. How could it be that she was only a few blocks down the street? Had she been there the entire time?

Her heart beat faster. Anna walked down the garden steps and into a patio area. A hot tub bubbled in the corner and cast the scent of chlorine. Adrenaline pricked under her skin as she slid her body against the wall and peaked around the corner. Two walls of glass faced the patio and allowed Anna a surreptitious glance into the house. She saw an open kitchen and a living area with a TV spanning almost the width and height of the entire wall. An equally expansive aquarium shone a waving blue light into the room.

Anna pressed her back to the back of the house and listened. Nature's insectan hum, the bubbling hot tub, and then, deeper in the layer of sounds, music. A pop music beat wafted from a different part of the house.

She summoned her courage and stepped onto the patio. A spill of light fell into the kitchen from a hallway off to the side. Beyond the living area was another hallway, dark and abandoned. Anna approached the sliding glass doors and put her hand on the bar to slide one open. The glass moved with a seamless hush to let her pass. She stepped into the living room.

Bookshelves lined the wall perpendicular to the TV. The books appeared to be ornamental, not at all like the well-loved tomes in Sabian's office. These were new, stripped of their dust jackets, purely for ornamental purposes. Vases and other artsy knick knacks sat atop them. One shelf was empty except for one small photo framed in silver.

The photo and lack of other surrounding ornaments drew Anna in. She peered closer and saw herself in a flash of recognition. The knowledge growing inside her cast firm roots. Casey was here. Her smiling face was next to her own eight-year-old self's face locked in the photograph.

Casey's presence was now like a particle in the air she breathed. Anna felt her. She walked down the dark hall, away from the music, which she could now hear was coming from a room upstairs. The thickly padded carpeting extinguished any sounds her footsteps made. She came to a door at the end of the hallway. A thin strip of light shone from under the door. She opened it.

A small set of carpeted stairs led to a sunken rec room paneled in dark wood. Out of her vision, a man spoke. She stood on the stairs and listened.

"Yes." His voice was deep and gravely, even sexy. "No, we'll be here for several more weeks, but I want everything done by the time I get back." He spoke authoritatively, like he was used to being in charge and having his orders carried out in exact detail.

As he spoke, Anna took one step at a time until she stood at the foot of the stairs. She remained out of sight of the man on the phone.

"Get it done," he said. "Don't fuckin' make me tell you again."

The hairs on Anna's arms stood. She squelched back some of her fear and stepped forward. The man didn't notice her. He sat at a bar, rolling the bottom of a whiskey glass in circles, watching the clear brown liquid inside it loll against the sides of the glass.