Page 43 of Caging Liberty
“The clearing over there.” I point that way. “Where does it lead?”
“Hmm,” Anna hums, this time as a verbal ponder instead of a question. “I don’t know.”
I stare that way and tap on the arms of the chair.
“We could ask Sawyer,” Anna suggests.
I take a steady breath and turn to meet her eyes, the corners of my mouth tilting up slightly. “No, that’s okay. I was just curious.”
She lounges back and takes a sip of her mimosa, going back to the clueless bliss she’s trapped herself in. I hate to think this way, but I don’t trust Anna. I’m taking Naomi’s warning seriously, especially after my encounter with Sawyer. I can’t imagine Anna having a malicious bone in her body, but I still think she’d run to Sawyer if I prodded her too much.
Still, she’s all I have right now.
I nurse my drink as I look around the courtyard. It really is a magnificent property. Born and raised in the city, I’ve never seen so much green in one place. There’s a huge garden down a ways with a sculpture of some saint and an impressive arch at the entrance. There are so many types of flowers with ivy climbing up stone and wooden structures, it’d be the perfect place for privacy.
“Want to take a walk?” I ask Anna.
Her eyes are closed as she basks in the sun, but at my voice, she squints at me. “Where?”
“Maybe in the garden. It’s beautiful.”
“Oh, um, sure.” She puts her glass on the concrete patio and stands, adjusting her skirt in the process. I follow her lead, but neither of us move as the blonde from this morning walks up to us.
“Hey,” she says, smiling. Freckles dotting her nose barely show beneath her skillfully-applied makeup, but they become more visible when her face scrunches and she uses her hand to shade her eyes from the sun. “Where are you guys headed?”
“We’re going on a walk in the garden,” Anna tells her. “Wanna come?”
“I’d love to.” She looks over her shoulder at the two women she’s been sitting with. Both stare at us.
“But actually, Annie, I think Margarette was needing some help in the kitchen. Could you go? I was on kitchen duty last night.”
“Oh.” Anna looks at me, and I shrug. She turns back to the woman. “Yeah, sure.”
“Thanks. See ya.”
Anna gives me one last look before heading inside, tossing a farewell over her shoulder with a wave of her hand.
“Ready?” the blonde asks me, her smile too hard. I glance at her friends, then back to her. She’s been fifteen feet away from me for the last hour, yet all I’ve gotten from her were daggers. I’ve been making a mental list of women I may be able to trust and women I definitely can’t. She’s already been put into the ‘definitely can’t’ column.
Just a few minutes ago, she pulled Mr. A to the side, though. Did he ask her to do something?
“Yeah,” I say, because what else am I supposed to do?
We start toward the garden, and I flinch in surprise when she interlocks her arm with mine like we’re in the third grade. She turns to change our direction, looking over her shoulder like she wants to make sure no one is noticing us. I look too and am not at all surprised to see her friends still staring.
I try to pull my arm from hers, but she locks me in tighter and guides us toward the side of the manor. “Let’s walk down the beach instead.”
When we turn a corner around the manor and are out of her friends’ sights, she lets go of my arm.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
She flips her hair off her shoulder and tosses a glance my way. “Saving your ass.”
My eyebrows raise, but I school my expression after the slip. She couldn’t possibly know what I was about to do … could she?
“What do you mean?”
“The garden has cameras,” she says, sounding mildly annoyed. “They would’ve heard everything you had to say.”