Alabama - Dangerous Masquerade (Americana 1 - Alabama)

Chapter One

THE afternoon sun tried desperately to pierce the hazy smog that lay like a dirty halo over Los Angeles, the City of the Angels. There was nothing angelic about the traffic in the streets, racing about like lemmings on their self-destructive path to the sea. Laurie's cab driver weaved and honked his way through the three lanes of bumper-to-bumper vehicles while she braced herself for the collision that never came. An irate motorist shook his fist at the taxi that cut in front of him and Laurie sank a little deeper in her corner. She knew she could never drive as aggressively as the scowling man behind the wheel, although her cousin LaRaine had no such compunction.
The thought of LaRaine drew a weary sigh from Laurie. Laurie was supposed to have been back at their apartment before noon. Her fiery cousin would be furious with her. It wouldn't make any difference, that she had been helping Aunt Carrie, LaRaine's mother, prepare for her women's organization annual charity bazaar. Nor would it matter that it had been her aunt who had volunteered her services as typist without consulting Laurie. No, her aunt had presented it to her as an accomplished fact with a snide comment that someone should get some benefit from Laurie's secretarial course.
Resentment flared briefly in Laurie. Her own parents had been killed in a car crash when she was only seven. Her mother had no living relatives, which left Paul, her father's brother, with Laurie. She dearly loved her uncle Paul who was so much like the slowly fading recollections of her father. It should have been an ideal solution for her to come to live with Paul Evans, his wife Carrie and their own daughter LaRaine who was only nine months younger than Laurie. It might have been if Uncle Paul hadn't been so wrapped up in his career and Aunt Carrie hadn't devoted every minute to her only daughter.
As a sensitive seven-year-old, Laurie had been quick to realize that their world revolved around LaRaine. Memories of her aunt's parties where LaRaine was paraded in front of the women who gathered came drifting back. Half the time Aunt Carrie had forgotten to mention Laurie except to refer to her in passing as their 'little orphan'. The remark hadn't meant to be unkind, but deprived as she was of the secure world of her parents' love, the constant reminder of her status had hurt. And Laurie had been glad to stay in the background while her vivacious, confident cousin occupied the spotlight.
Although she had gone to the same schools as LaRaine, had an equally beautiful bedroom across the hall from her cousin's, and on the surface had been treated as a member of the family, Laurie had looked forward to her high school graduation. Against the wishes of both her aunt and uncle, she had used the last of her father's money to take a secretarial course and thus have the means of earning her own living without being dependent on what had become the charity of her aunt and uncle.
There had been a few months of sweet success with money she had earned herself in her pocket every week. Then, beautiful LaRaine was out of school, intent on taking a trip to Hawaii. LaRaine was an adult. She wouldn't consider letting her parents accompany her and they wouldn't consider allowing her to go by herself. The compromise was that Laurie should go with her. Feebly Laurie had attempted to protest, knowing her position in the typing pool of the large firm could be filled by someone else at a moment's notice. But the look in her aunt's eyes had plainly said that Laurie owed it to them to give up her job—after all, they had raised her. Laurie had given in, the yoke of forced gratitude bowing her head.
After Hawaii, it had been something else, finally culminating in LaRaine's demand to have an apartment of her own. It was a request that was fulfilled after Laurie had agreed to live there as well. Any display of rebellion by Laurie was always met by the same reproachful looks that reminded her of the everlasting gratitude she owed with an added "How lucky you are not to have to work for a living." A bitter smile flitted across her lips. She was a companion to her cousin, provided with room and board and a clothing allowance, at the mercy of LaRaine's whims and the dictates of her aunt. She was twenty-one-without a life of her own or friends of her own.
"This is it, lady," the cab driver growled over his shoulder.
With a start Laurie realized the taxi had stopped in front of the luxurious high-rise building that housed her apartment. A quick glance at the meter sent her rummaging through her purse for her wallet. The grimace on his face when she handed him the money intimidated her into adding another bill to the tip she had thought adequate. He waited impatiently while she fought the door handle, knowing that if LaRaine had been sitting here she would have ordered the cab driver to open the door for her. But Laurie finally managed it on her own, sending a breathless 'thank you' over her shoulder as she crawled out of the back seat.
Inside the lushly carpeted lobby with its many urns of potted foliage, Laurie was greeted warmly by the security guard. "Good afternoon, Miss Evans."
"How are you today, Mr. Farber?" she returned in equally friendly tones.
"Just fine, miss," he nodded.
"I'm running late today." A wry grimace revealed the twin dimples in her cheeks. "My cousin expected me back before noon and here it is nearly three."
"I believe your cousin is out." Noting the look of surprise on her face, he added, "She swept out of here about an hour after you did this morning and I'm almost certain she hasn't returned."
That meant absolutely nothing had been done since Laurie had left. Now that she had returned before her cousin everything would surely fall on her shoulders, so with a resigned shake of her head, she smiled her thanks to the security guard and hurried towards the lifts.
As Laurie walked out of the lift towards her apartment, she blamed the brief spate of self-pity on the tight, sore muscles in her neck and shoulders, her reward for sitting in front of a typewriter for nearly six solid hours. Her future wasn't bleak. There was a bright spot not too far away. LaRaine was engaged to be married and the tentative wedding date was only four months away. Then she, Laurie, would be free to live her own life as she chose, but she knew the next few months would be hectic.
The sight of dresses, evening gowns, and trouser suits tossed over every available piece of furniture greeted Laurie as she walked into the living room of the apartment. A resigned dullness clouded her eyes as she recognized her cousin's helter-skelter method of choosing clothes from her extensive wardrobe to be packed in the empty suitcases set to the side. There was typically no note telling Laurie where LaRaine was going or when she would be back. LaRaine Evans was a law unto her own self, answerable to no one.
A moment's qualm shuddered through Laurie as she considered her cousin's engagement. It had all begun almost two months ago when LaRaine had attended another one of those elegant Hollywood cocktail parties, secretly nursing her childhood wish to be "discovered" and become a famous movie star. Laurie never went. The artificial atmosphere of surface gaiety underlined by malicious backstabbing revolted her. It had been unusually early when LaRaine returned from this particular party and Laurie had still been up. Her cousin had swept into the apartment, her calculating brown eyes glittering with suppressed excitement.
"I've just met the man I'm going to marry!" she had announced.