The Forgotten: Ch. 3
Katelyn--
Katelyn sat in her private jail cell, wondering how this could have happened to her. Her marriage hadn’t been perfect. The news of her husband’s affair with his co-star hadn’t come as a shock to her at all.
Taylor was infamous for taking his job a little too seriously. His last role as a hopeless drunk had nearly cost him his liver.
Growing intense romantic feelings for his current character’s love interest had been expected long before it all happened. That was how she had married him, after all.
She understood the cost of loving him.
However, her indifference to the news of her husband’s affair did very little to help her. To the authorities, it made her look even guiltier. Especially since she elected to stay in jail, despite her attorney’s objections and promises to get her out on bail.
“The prosecutor was gunning for remand, but I talked the judge into setting bail at 1.6 million. He owed me a favor,” her attorney had said. “I can have bail posted by the end of the day.”
“No, that’s okay. I should stay here,” she said.
“Katelyn, I understand you just lost your husband, and I can't imagine what you must be dealing with, but the evidence stacked against you is quite substantial. I’ll do my best to get you out of here, but keeping you out of here is another matter. This is a very public murder, and since it’s election year, every cop alive is going to be eager to convict you. Taylor was having an affair, he was shot with his own gun minutes before your flight left for New York City… Yes, it was only a few minutes, but it’s easy to overlook these things with every judge and prosecutor facing reelection. Not to mention your flight was originally scheduled to leave much later, and the last minute early rescheduling does very little to help your case. Katelyn, I highly recommend you take advantage of your freedom while you can.”
Even so, Katelyn had simply smiled and insisted on staying in her personal cage. Her lawyer could think what he wanted. She knew she was safer here than she would be on the outside.
After all, whoever killed Taylor was still out there. What if the killer came for her next?
“You have a visitor, Princess,” the guard said as he unlocked her cage.
Katelyn nodded calmly, but her heart began to pound against the walls of her chest with each step she took toward the interview room. She had the urge to tell the guard she wasn’t feeling well, to lock her back up in her cage where she would hide underneath the covers of her rickety bed until everything could be okay again.
She couldn’t handle anymore intrusive, accusatory questions from the detectives. Nor could she stand to listen to her lawyer’s hopeless strategies to prove her innocence.
However, when the door opened and the familiar form of her sister sat at the metal table instead, she relaxed. Carrie was here. She was safe.
For now.
“Wow, Carrie. I want to know your secret. You haven’t aged at all!” Katelyn said.
Carrie flinched, and then rolled her eyes. It was true, though. At thirty-six, Carrie still resembled her teenage form almost perfectly, barely having aged at all in the past twenty years.
The golden flecks in her hazel eyes hid a bit more anguish than they used to, and her voluptuous curves were no longer hiding behind a thick, dark hoodie and baggy sweat-pants, but she was still the same Carrie.
According to Wikipedia, Katelyn was the younger one (her birthdate was listed as four years younger than it actually was), but nobody would have guessed it seeing them together now.
“I’ll try to see that as a compliment,” Carrie responded as she leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest.
“I’m glad you came,” Katelyn said as she sat down across from her sister. “I know it’s probably hard to forgive me.”
Carrie waved her hand in front of her face dismissively.
“You were sixteen. I can hardly blame you for chasing dreams of fame and glory.”
Katelyn snorted. “Fame and glory?”
“You need a lawyer, Katelyn.”
“I have a lawyer.”
“Then why are you still in here? You’re not secretly broke, are you?”
Katelyn shrugged. “I didn’t want to be alone.”
“So you’re not broke?”
“No. My lawyer can arrange to post bail immediately.”
“Well, I’m here. So call your lawyer and get out of here. Cause when I agreed to come stay with you, I assumed we’d be staying in your fancy Hollywood mansion. Not this dump.”
Katelyn chuckled. “I’ve missed you, Carrie. I’ll arrange to get out of here as quickly as possible. In the meantime, I can have Roger take you to the house to get settled in. Unless you’d prefer a hotel?”
“Who’s Roger?”
“He’s our Attendant. Taylor and I…we worked a lot. Roger takes care of the house while we’re gone, and when we’re there he, well, he takes care of us.”
“Attendant. Is that like a fancy word for a butler?”
A giggle. “Yeah, I suppose. Anyway, you’ll love him, I promise. He’s the best.”
“I don’t know, Katy. How do you know he isn’t the culprit? Isn’t the butler always the secret bad guy?”
“Roger? No way. Besides, he has an alibi.”
“How do you know?”
“The detective told me. He said I’m the only suspect who doesn’t have a solid alibi.”
“The cross-country flight wasn’t enough?”
“Apparently not.” She sighed. “You can trust Roger, I promise. He’s harmless.”
“Okay. I believe you. But if turns out you’re setting me up to get killed, I swear I will haunt you for the rest of your life.”
Katelyn rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
She stood up and knocked on the door. The guard opened it, and Katelyn placed her hands behind her back to be cuffed.
“I’ll need to make a couple phone calls before I return to my cell, please,” she told the guard.
He grunted in response. Katelyn gave Carrie a pleasant grin. “I’ll give Roger your number so you can tell him where to pick you up. Expect a call within the hour.”
Carrie gave Katelyn a mocking salute, and then the guard was yanking her out the door and down the hall. She wished she had planned ahead, but she didn’t think Carrie would actually come. Why would she?
After everything, Katelyn wouldn’t have blamed her if she’d decided to leave Katelyn alone in her jail cell, watching her fate from the comfort of her living room like most of the country would be doing. She was glad Carrie had decided otherwise.
Now, she would get out of here, and make up for the past twenty years of absence.
She hoped.
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