Runaway: The Sequel to Secrets, a sexy and dramatic western romance (Finding Love ~ THE OUTSIDER SERIES) (21 page)

“I want Laura gone
, and you’re going to help me. Andy may not realize it yet, but his father and I have plans for him, and he needs the right wife to make that happen. Laura just won’t do, and she embarrassed me. I can’t ever allow anyone to do that.”

“I don’t believe you have a say. Laura and Andy love each other
. She is going to have his babies.”

“Ah
, yes, his babies. Well, that part has been taken care of. His babies will be nursed and raised as the Friessens they are. They’ll soon have a new mother, and Laura and her bastard son will soon be a memory for Andy. Remember, Aida, how easy was it for your John? He promised he’d love you forever, that he’d marry you, and then he turned his back on you and went along with everything his family said. He never defended you.”

“You’re quite mistaken and don’t know your son very well if you think he’d allow any of this to happen. Andy
Friessen has a conscience; he knows right and wrong, and he’d not walk away from Laura. No one can tell that man what to do, not even you, Missus Friessen.”

“Oh
, I know my son well. Andy may be strong willed and might need the right encouragement. You are wrong about one thing: Andy will hate her, and he’ll never want to see her again after he learns what she’s done.”

“Laura has done nothing wrong. What are you accusing her of
? What have you done?”

“Oh
, Andy will see that she sold her babies and walked away from him, from them, without a second thought for the right price, because money was more important to her, and I’ll show Andy everything after she’s gone. He may not believe me at first, but when he can’t find her...”

“You’re a fool if you think Laura would take money for her babies. She’d go to the grave fighting for her children. She won’t walk away.”

Andy heard his mother laugh again, and he glanced up and out into the living room, turning the sound down so Laura wouldn’t be able to hear from upstairs.

“It won’t be as easy to make her go away and disappear as it was
with me.”

“Well
, that’s where you’re wrong, because you’re going to convince her, and you’re going to help her see that she needs to go away. You’ll do this so that she doesn’t suffer your same fate. Prisons swallow young women up all the time. What should it be, drugs, murder? Hmm, let me think. Ah, yes, after you return to your cage in Arizona, Laura will follow, and authorities in Arizona tend to throw the book at traffickers depending on the drug they find stuffed in their suitcases. She could be looking at ten, twelve, twenty years. And you know what happens in prisons to young, pretty things like Laura.”

“Leave her alone. That girl is good and honest
, and her little boy did nothing to deserve your spite. They have a good life, and Andy loves them.” Aida’s voice sounded old and weary, as if her energy had been stripped out of her.

“No
, I don’t think I will. Make your choice, Aida. You have twenty-four hours, and then I want your answer.”

There was a rustle
, and then the tape clicked off. There was static and then another click as he listened to someone’s breathing and a scrape of a chair before Aida’s voice came back on.

“Andy
, we all have our skeletons. Please don’t judge me. Your mother, well, I knew she was up to something, and I never wanted Laura to endure what I did. I survived. But my life is over. Her, you, Gabriel, and those babies, well, you’re just at the beginning of your life together. I cannot go back to prison. I’d die there in that cell. The only crime I had was to love the wrong man.”

There was a heavy sigh
, and Andy stared at the tape as he leaned on his elbows and jammed his fingers through his hair. He couldn’t believe what he was listening to, what he heard from his mother. He felt his blood race through his veins as if he had been shocked by an electric current.

“I will not do what your mother asked. You already know
, Andy, about the termination of rights. I spoke with you today when you showed up with that young sheriff. It scared the hell out of me, having him there. I thought right then that your mother would me sell me out, as I’d not lived up to my end of the bargain. For a minute, I thought he’d be taking me away. In the end, I just couldn’t do it and be able to look myself in the mirror.

“
I never slept that night after your mother’s ultimatum, and the next day, when I went in to work, I heard from Jules that Laura was gone. She’d snuck out, thankfully, in the night. Andy, you have to know I was prepared to talk her into leaving, walking away and leaving the babies, because I know what your mother’s capable of. I know her family and have come face to face with her people. It’s evil, and Laura and I will never win against that kind of power. It was weak of me to go down that road, and I hope you’ll forgive me.

“Andy
, I know you’ll think me cowardly when you hear the news, but don’t judge me too harshly. I can’t go back to that cell. I survived it once. I wouldn’t survive it at my age. This is better. Tell Laura I love her. I like to think she’s my daughter, but she’s not. You need to protect her and Gabriel, and I know I’m not wrong about you. There is something so strong in you that believes in right and wrong. Others may not see it, but I’ve seen what sets you apart from your family. I think from what you heard that you should know your mother may never stop trying to rid Laura from your life. Bless you, Andy, for having the courage to stand up for your family.”

There was a rustling
, and then there was nothing but static.

The phone rang
, and Andy jumped and answered it before it could wake Laura. “Andy Friessen,” he said.

“M
ister Friessen, this is the Stan Richards from the coroner’s office. I was given your number by the sheriff. I’m calling on...” There was a rustling of papers.

Andy gritted his teeth
and almost yelled through the phone that the man should show Aida some respect. “You’re calling about Aida.”

“Ah
, yes, here is Aida.” The man cleared his throat roughly. “The cause of death has just been ruled a suicide. There was an overdose of Lunesta, a generic form of a sleeping pill, found in her system, enough to put down a horse. So there is no mistake that it wasn’t an accident.”

Andy swallowed and squeezed his eyes shut
. “I see. Thank you for letting me know. Can you tell me when I can collect her remains? She has no family, and I’ll be taking care of the arrangements.”

There was a brief silence on the other end and then more rustling of papers. “We’ll be done most likely tomorrow. The coroner just has to sign off a few reports and she’ll be ready to go. We’ll call you and find out which funeral home you want her sent over to.”

Andy held the disconnected phone and then set it down. He picked up the now silent recorder and stuffed it back in the envelope with the paper. Andy folded it over and then stepped into the living room, flicking off the kitchen light. He made a point of locking the front door, checking the deadbolt, the locks on the window. It was something he had never done at the estate. It was always handled by the staff.

Andy wandered into the den at the back of the house beside the laundry room and
the old desk pushed against the wall. He slid open the top drawer, shoved the envelope in back, and closed it. Andy leaned his hands on the desk, feeling dirty and dark, at a loss of what to do.

What he did have
, he realized, with the tape and the note, was better than a smoking gun, for if something happened to Laura, he’d use this to blow his mother’s world apart. Tomorrow, he’d take it to a safety deposit box and hope the day would never come that he’d have to use it.

Andy flicked off the lights in each room and walked up the steps
, stopping outside Gabriel’s room and then to look at his babies. They were sleeping soundly as if they knew he was their father, there to protect them. When he stepped into his bedroom with his wife, who was sleeping so soundly that she seemed like an angel, his angel, in his bed, he knew how right Aida had been. He’d never allow anything or anyone to threaten his family, his peace, and what was his: Laura, his wife; Gabriel, his son; Jeremy and Chelsea, his babies; the newest Friessens to this tiny corner of North Lakewood. It was the beginning of their brand new life together.

Thank you so much for reading
Runaway
. I really enjoyed writing this story, as Andy and Laura were far from done. As far as the series, well, there is one more to come, and that’s Neil’s story. Neil Friessen was introduced in
A Baby and a Wedding
, and he showed up again in
Secrets
. He’s the independent, charming, happy middle brother to Jed and Brad. Just wait until you see what trouble he gets himself into! His story will be out the middle of June 2013.

If you enjoyed
reading
Runaway
, then I’d love to ask you a favor and have you go back to Amazon and provide a review. Reviews really do help all us authors out.

Although this book and all my books have been edited and proofed, editors, proofreaders
, and I are all human. If you spot a typo, please email me at
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and let me know. Also, I would like to thank everyone who has emailed and told all their family and friends about my books.
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Lorhainne Eckhart

Saved

Growing up
, I had dreams that one day I’d fall in love, get married, and start a family. Then one night, I was taken.

But I survived, I escaped
, and I was saved. Eric didn’t see me as damaged. He didn’t see my baby as a monster. He protected me, he kept me safe...he saved me.

To download a sample or purchase SAVED
, simply click here
.

The Forgotten Child
, Book 1

Finding Love ~
The Outsider Series

#1 Bestseller in Western
Romance

How do you tell a man there is something wrong with his child?

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The Forgotten Child
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This is by far one of the best books I have read.
Lorhainne Eckhart proved herself yet again by pulling you in with a heartfelt story and keeping your attention with the passion that fills the pages.

~ ROMANCE JUNKIES

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The Forgotten Child
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