Page 49 of Claimed
Chapter Fifteen
Jasper widened his stance. With that one adjustment, his presence not only filled the room but ruled it as well.
“It isn’t a done deal unless I say it is,” he said with the sort of strength and control that made his claim indisputable. Then his death starefell on the reporter. “Clear out your crew, and none of what she told you is true unless I confirm it.”
Bryn shot to her feet, nostrils flaring. “Fuck you, Jasper!” she yelled and aimed a finger at Beth. “There’s my real mom.” She pointed to Katie. “That’s the sister I just met yesterday. And our father was a fucking pedophile. Are you’re really determined to hide that?”
I waitedfor Jasper to blow a gasket and yell at everyone to clear out or else. But he swallowed. He seemed to be staring off into nowhere for a minute till his gaze fell on me. I felt trapped and confused. I wanted to shuffle over to him, take him in my arms, and ask what was going on. Everyone was watching us, though.
“Jasper, it’s too late. That was live,” Bryn repeated.
Again, he swallowed,looking in control but subdued. It felt as if the entire room was trapped in the eye of the storm. The technicians, reporter, boyfriends, and Jasper’s sisters appeared to be waiting for his next move. Finally, I massaged his shoulder. He dropped his gaze to my hand.
“Jasper, do you need a moment?” I asked.
He pondered some more and then turned his cold eyes on the reporter. “I wantto see the interview.”
Bryn had leftno stone unturned. She and Katie talked about the moment they’dmet and how it was to see each other for the first time. Sabrina Lowland, the reporter for the local station, wouldn’t have been worth her salt if she hadn’t gotten right to the point, which was the reason why this particular story was so important. She gave a brief biography of the late Randolph Christmas, including all his achievements in business and politics.
“But you’re saying therewas a man behind the mask?” Sabrina asked.
Either Bryn was a great actress or—when her expression turned tortured and she sniffed back tears that never rolled to the surface—she really felt some pain concerning her father. “He was more like a monster.”
And then Sabrina had conducted an interview that probably could have won her a Peabody Award. Bryn spoke of her relationship withher father, citing an incident when she was a young girl and he’d fondled her. She said he probably would have done it more, but her brother kept her safe.
At that point in watching the recorded interview, Bryn looked over at Jasper with glassy eyes, but he kept frowning at the screen with his arms crossed. He was very angry, and I was sure Bryn could see it.
Sabrina asked a leadingquestion regarding Katie’s similar experience with their father, and that was when the most damaging part of the interview occurred. Katie spoke about the house she’d grown up in. Beth, their mother, was right by her side and confirmed that she’d only been fifteen years old when the old man had sex with her. Beth and Katie retold the traumatic details of their lives at that house in Chattanoogawith a sort of numbness. Beth said she ran away from an abusive home when she was twelve years old to only end up at another one.
“But they would get into your head and brainwash you, I guess,” Beth said. Her voice was gruff like someone who smoked too many cigarettes or burned out her vocal chords while smoking hard drugs.
“When did you leave that place?” Sabrina asked.
“After my daughter, Katie, escaped. There was no need for me to be there no more,” Beth replied.
Finally, Katie started crying but without visibly sobbing. Tears just rolled out of her eyes, and she kept wiping them. The camera stayed on her face, and she seemed agitated by that, but she couldn’t stop the waterworks. Zach sat beside her and put his arms around her, and she rested her faceon his chest and broke down.
“You were the one who saved her?” Sabrina asked.
Zach scowled at the reporter as he guided Katie to her feet and walked her out of sight of the camera.
Jasper ripped his eyes off the interview to glance at Zach. I saw appreciation on his face.
Sabrina made a comment about how tragic and painful their story was, “as we can see.” She thenasked Bryn when she had learned that Amelia Christmas wasn’t her mother. Bryn looked as if she was second-guessing her decision to set up the interview but realized it was too late to turn back.
“Did you know that the authorities are looking into a claim that Amelia Christmas was kidnapped?” Sabrina asked.
Bryn stared at her. “No,” she finally said. “I don’t think that’s true. Ifit were, then…” She shook her head adamantly. “Not true, and I think we’re done here.”
“I understand,” Sabrina said in a soothing tone. “Thank you for sharing your story with us. That’s all for now. Stay with us as this story develops over the coming days.” She gave one last tight-lipped smile for the camera, and the color bars came up.
Jasper rubbed his face as the room remainedsilent. Then he glared at Bryn. “You don’t know what you’ve done.”
“We’ve done the right thing,” Dale said.
If looks could kill, Jasper’s glare would have put Dale six feet under. “Bryn, did he talk you into this?”
I could see the little girl who knew better than to cross her big brother behind Bryn’s eyes as her expression vacillated. “Not really. It was both of us.”
