Chapter 6: Betrayed: Isobel and Jubal
Isobel was reading a case file when an agent approached her and said, "Mam, there's someone here looking for ASAC Valentine."
She looked to the agent's side to see who it was. "Samantha."
"Oh, hi!" Surprise evident on her face. "I was just looking for Jubal," she said, holding her kids' hands - Tyler and Abby.
"It's okay, I can take it from here," Isobel said to the agent. She then turned to Sam, "Jubal is out in the field. It might be awhile until he comes back. Is there a problem?"
"It's just that I need for him to take the kids. I just received a call saying that Allan got into an accident. I don't want to take them to the hospital and expose them, you know?"
Isobel understood. With Tyler's condition and Abby being so young, they need to take precaution. "Well, if it's alright with you, they can stay in Jubal's office and I'll call him immediately."
"Yes, thank you." Sam turned to the kids, "Okay, stay here 'til your dad arrives. And behave yourselves. Tyler, watch over your sister."
To which the kids respond: "I know, mom" and "I don't need a babysitter."
Sam hugged and kissed them before the kids start arguing and left.
As the two kids turned to her, Isobel felt a little self-conscious. "So, this way to your dad's office."
While walking, Abby looked up at her and said "You're pretty," which Isobel rewarded with a smile. She continued, "You must be the one, dad said, who is the prettiest in the office."
Isobel, thinking he might be referring Rina, said "Hmm, I don't think so."
"Well he said, she is smart, strong and brave. She even stayed with one of their co-workers who had a bomb around her neck."
Nope, definitely not Rina. She stopped abruptly, luckily it's in front of the ASAC's office. She started to open the door to let the kids in but she thought about how she, if they were her kids, would react if she just left them alone in the office. So instead she said, "Why don't you stay in my office?" Tyler looked surprised while Abby's smile is from ear to ear.
When Jubal finally came back from the field, he was surprised to find Isobel and his kids talking and laughing together. As the kids were gathering their stuff, Jubal talked to Isobel, "I'm sorry you had to put up with those two. But thank you so much for taking care of them."
"It's alright, I had a great time. They even taught me something," she said with a shy smile and is that a blush?
Once in the parking lot, Jubal asked the kids about their time with Isobel. Abby eagerly replied, "It was fun! I even told her about your office crush."
That stopped him in his tracks. "What?"
"Yeah, the one who stayed with the girl with a neck bomb."
He turned to his son, who just said, "I didn't even realize what was happening until she said it all. Sorry."
He felt a headache coming on. "But that was a long time ago," he said in amazement that his daughter would forget her things at his place all the time but still remembered a brief conversation from years ago. Even he barely recalled answering his daughter's persistent questioning - no doubt he was still in awe of Isobel's sacrifice to save Elise. He also knew of her dating Ethan back then so he just dismissed whatever he's feeling.
As his kids climbed up his SUV, he thought of how Isobel acted that afternoon, which finally made sense. He wiped his hand over his face before going to the driver's seat. How is he going to face Isobel now?
Notes:
Reviews are appreciated! Thanks for reading!