Love and Protect

by Lori Ryan

  “I can take her down to the morgue, gentlemen,” Josh said to the officers, who looked to Mrs. Kensington for confirmation. “I’m her doctor,” he said.

  It wasn’t entirely true since he’d only ever treated her in the ER and she certainly wasn’t currently under his care, but Josh wasn’t worried about technicalities right now. He wanted to be sure Laura was all right.

  She seemed numb as she nodded to the officers, who wasted no time tipping their caps to her and making a break for the door. They clearly hadn’t relished the idea of taking her to the morgue to view her husband’s body. Josh was more than happy to. He was fairly sure that the abuse she’d suffered over the years had been no small matter. If he could make a bit of difference for her, help her come to grips with what had happened and move on, he wanted to do it. And the first step would be helping her view the body of the man Josh was sure had tormented her.

  *

  Laura stared at the body, in front of her and imagined Patrick’s death was all a dream or a sick joke. The suddenness of her freedom left her reeling. She wasn’t quite sure she wanted to trust it, to let herself believe it yet. She imagined he could still reach out to grab her. That he would sit up and trap her. That his hands would close around her throat once again, as he laughed at her struggle to draw breath.

  She suppressed a shiver.

  “Are you all right, Laura?” came Dr. Samuel’s quiet voice. When she had first seen him in the lobby, she hadn’t known what to think. The doctor had been trying to convince her to leave Patrick for a long time. Though she’d never told him what Patrick was doing, he always seemed to know. At first, his knowing eyes frightened her. If he pushed, if he insisted she get help, it would only make things worse. Thankfully, Patrick believed her when she’d said the doctor was trying to recruit her to serve on the hospital’s charitable foundation board.

  Over time, some of the doctor’s advice broke through, and she understood he was right. She realized she needed to find the strength and courage to go. If she didn’t leave soon, Patrick would kill her. And if he did, he’d be killing her unborn child with her. Laura couldn’t put her baby at risk. She had put her plan of escape in motion as soon as she realized her baby would never be safe if she didn’t leave her husband.

  She looked up into the doctor’s kind face. Hair like snow, gentle blue eyes. A questioning smile hovered on his lips. Something about him was always calming. Before she could think to say anything, his eyes darted to her arms and her stomach sank. She’d left the house in short sleeves and didn’t realize she had been rubbing her hands up and down her upper arms, probably moving the sleeves up with each brush of her hands. She was normally careful to keep her sleeves in place.

  Laura abruptly dropped her hands to her sides and glanced away. She swallowed the fear that clutched at her, grabbed hold, and didn’t seem to want to let go. No one was supposed to learn her secrets. Not ever.

  “I’m fine. Yes. Thank you, though. For asking, I mean. But, I’m all right.” Words seemed to blurt out from her lips now, as she tried to cover the awkward silence.

  She looked back to her husband’s body. She really was all right now. Patrick was gone. He couldn’t hurt her anymore. He couldn’t hurt her baby. One thought rang over and over in her head. It’s over. It’s really over.

  “You look pale. Would you like some water or to take a seat?” he asked.

  Laura shook her head. The smile she gave him was one born of practice.

  “That’s very nice of you, really, but I’m fine. Thank you.” She’d pasted that smile on her face permanently, but both the smile and her words seemed at odds with the fact that she was viewing her dead husband’s body.

  The uncomfortable silence that settled between the two near-strangers was filled all too quickly by the sound of the automatic doors opening. Martha Kensington, Patrick’s mother, and his notorious younger brother, Justin Kensington, were shown into the room by a technician, with Patrick’s business partner, Alec Hall, at the rear. Martha and Alec were stone-faced, but Justin looked genuinely distressed.

  Laura’s step toward the doctor was instinctive, as was the way she cradled her stomach in an unmistakably protective gesture. Neither move went unnoticed. Martha’s eyes narrowed on Laura a split second before the doctor stepped in front of her. Laura wasn’t sure why this doctor had taken up her cause, why he was so willing to help her, but in that moment as she realized she wasn’t free of the Kensingtons yet, she was grateful he was there by her side.

  “Good morning. I’m Dr. Samuels.” He extended his hand and merely waited, as if expecting the newcomers to introduce themselves, to explain their relationship to her husband. As if he didn’t recognize them from the papers and television.

  Justin met the doctor’s eyes and shook his hand. Martha did not. Justin introduced everyone, then said, “I’d like my brother’s body released as quickly as possible to this funeral home.” Justin handed a card to Dr. Samuels. He, in turn, passed it to the morgue technician who had shown them in and now hovered awkwardly nearby.

  Laura thought Martha would want to see her son, that she might show some sign of grief over losing him. But, no. Martha simply turned her back on Patrick’s body and spoke in a cold, commanding voice, to no one in particular.

  “We’ll be taking my daughter-in-law home now, where she belongs. Laura, come.”

  Laura gasped. Martha’s words were low—a warning and a command—one that was completely clear. Martha Kensington had no intention of letting Laura walk away with Patrick’s baby. Tension coursed through the room feeling thick and weighty as realization hit. She wasn’t free. Patrick’s death had freed her from her husband’s torment, but the Kensingtons would never let her go.

  How stupid could I be? Laura knew in that moment that coming to the hospital had been a mistake. When she got the news, she should have left right away. No one would have thought anything of it if she told the police she wanted to be alone, that she’d go to the morgue when she was composed. If she’d done that, Laura could have taken the money she’d put away and the ID she’d hidden and left town before Martha Kensington could have stopped her.

  She raised her chin and took a deep breath. There was no way in the world she was walking out of here with the Kensingtons. Freedom was in sight and she would grab it with both hands and hang on tight.

  Dr. Samuels raised his hand, palm facing out, an appeasing gesture meant to diffuse, but a firm one nonetheless. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Kensington. I can’t allow that.”

  Martha looked stunned at the refusal. She drew her already tall form up to its full height. “She’ll come home with us. She’s pregnant, doctor. She needs to be with family so we can care for the baby. We’re the baby’s family.”

  Laura opened her mouth to speak, although she wasn’t sure what she intended to say. But, the doctor was there for her once again, intervening with Martha in a way Laura wasn’t sure she could have. Her relationship with her mother-in-law was not a loving one. In fact, in many ways, Martha frightened her more than Patrick had and whatever lifeline Dr. Samuel was throwing her, she would take.

  “Then I’m sure you understand, for the safety of the baby, I cannot let Laura go with you. She’s suffered quite an emotional blow this evening.”

  “Nonsense. We have a private physician who can meet us at the house,” Martha said. Justin shifted next to her looking from Laura to his mother and back again, seemingly undecided as to whether to support his mother or listen to the doctor. Alec stepped forward as if to join the debate, but the doctor raised a hand again.

  “Now, I’m sure you’ll agree, we all want the best for Laura and the baby. By the time you get her home, she could be in a state of shock, putting both Laura and the baby at risk,” Dr. Samuels said. “I’m going to keep her here under observation. We’ll monitor the baby for twenty-four to forty-eight hours and be sure there are no complications or ill-effects from the shock.”

  Chapter Three

  Laura was stunned
. No one challenged the Kensington family. Not only had Dr. Samuels challenged them, it appeared to have worked. The Kensingtons had no response for Dr. Samuels as he waltzed her out of the room. She suddenly felt five years old as opposed to her twenty-five years, and she felt the need to cling to the doctor’s hand like a little girl would cling to her mother’s.

  “I don’t…” Laura didn’t know what to say as they waited for the elevator.

  “Don’t say anything. Wait ’til we’re on the elevator. Don’t turn around and look at them. Just look straight ahead and walk away as if nothing is wrong,” the doctor said quietly.

  Laura was silent as they rode two flights up. When the doors slid open, the older gentleman led her off the elevator to a small office. He shut the door and helped her to a couch, then sat across from her. At that point, Laura would be lying if she said she wasn’t shaking. She honestly had no idea what to make of what had just happened, but she was feeling more than overwhelmed by the events of the last hour. She needed to get it together. She needed a plan.

  The doctor leaned forward and she felt compelled to look into his kind eyes. He didn’t know it, but he had been a big part of her decision to leave Patrick. Well, not the decision itself so much—that had been more to do with her pregnancy than anything the doctor had said—but he had planted the seeds of courage to start thinking about leaving even before she knew about the baby. Laura’s head spun as the doctor looked at her, and waited patiently.

  Her husband was dead. For two minutes while she’d looked at his body, she’d felt relief. She’d thought she was finally free. But she wasn’t, and it was foolish to think freedom would ever come easily for her. Patrick’s mother would now be even more committed to keeping Laura and the baby in the fold because her son was gone. Martha would want to keep close any part of Patrick that she could still control—Laura and her baby.

  No, that wasn’t exactly right. Once the baby was born, Martha would have no need for Laura. She knew in her heart Martha would try to take her baby. She’d fight for custody and she’d fight dirty. Martha Kensington didn’t know any other way to be. The fear that she had lived with for three years of marriage began to churn deep in her stomach, rising up her throat to steal the breath from her body.

  The doctor’s gentle voice broke into Laura’s thoughts. “Laura, do you need to get away from your husband’s family?” he asked cautiously as though he didn’t want to offend her with the assumption.

  Laura heard a small sob and realized it had come from her. She nodded. “Yes. I think I do.” How could this be happening? Could Martha really take my baby? Maybe Laura was just overreacting from the shock of seeing Patrick’s body. She must be. This couldn’t really be happening.

  “No. No, I’m sure I… I don’t know,” she said. The Kensingtons were now down to Martha and Justin. Laura hadn’t seen enough of Justin to know what he would do. He had always traveled and hardly saw the family any longer. But, in truth, it was Martha she feared. Could Martha use her wealth and influence to take her child from her? Now that Patrick was dead, couldn’t Laura stand and fight instead of running? Shouldn’t she be able to take on Martha and win?

  “I had plans to leave next week.” She swallowed and closed her eyes as tears dropped, but continued. It was suddenly important to her that this doctor know she’d had the guts to walk away from Patrick before he’d died. At least, she thought she would have had the guts to go through with her plan.

  “I sold jewelry Patrick wouldn’t know was missing, jewelry that normally sits in our safety deposit box between events. I bought a new identity and was ready to run next week.” Laura wrapped her arms around her belly, hugging herself tightly.

  “I think that’s wonderful, Laura. I knew you had it in you to leave someday.”

  But Laura had a feeling he had been ready to give up hope on her. He’d been trying for close to a year and she had never admitted the abuse, much less given him hope she would leave.

  “Do you have family you can go to? Anyone who can take you in? Help you if the Kensingtons try to fight for custody?”

  Laura’s head snapped up. How had he read the situation so clearly?

  Would Martha do that? Fight for custody?

  “Laura, do you have family you can call?” he tried again.

  No. There’s no one left. Laura tried not to think about her brother. It hurt too much to know he was dead. Her mother had died long before Laura was old enough to remember, but her brother had always been the one bright spot in her life. When his life was taken in a car accident only a few months after her marriage to Patrick, she’d lost the last of the family she cared about.

  Laura shook her head. “No. No family.”

  Her thoughts shifted back to Martha and the odd statements she’d made about the baby being her family, being a Kensington. “I’m probably overreacting,” she whispered softly, but there was little conviction to the statement.

  As she pictured what Martha Kensington might be capable of when it came to getting her grandchild, fear latched onto her, hard and deep and bone chilling. The Kensington family wielded power within this state like no other and she had wealth to back it up. Laura would have money from Patrick’s estate, but there was no telling if that would be enough. No. She wouldn’t risk it. Couldn’t risk it. Not when it came to her unborn child.

  The doctor’s voice cut through her thoughts once more. “Can you get to the money you saved?”

  “I buried it in a pot in my greenhouse. It’s the one place he never goes. Went. The one place he never went.”

  “I think we’ve bought a little time by telling your mother-in-law I’d check you into the hospital. I can drive you to your home to get the money and then we can get you out of here. You can get a good head start on the Kensingtons before they realize you’re gone.”

  Laura shook her head at the man sitting across from her. “I don’t understand. Why are you helping me?” Her voice shook, but she took a deep breath, then swallowed hard. She would get herself under control. She would handle this.

  The doctor seemed to fortify himself with his own deep breath before he answered. “When I saw you that first time in my ER, you reminded me so much of my own daughter. She’s just about your age. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to know my daughter was being hurt like I knew you were.” Laura flinched but he continued, “I just want to help you start again. Whatever it was that brought you to this spot, that brought you to this marriage, you deserve some help in getting out of it.” His smile was tender.

  Tears burned at Laura’s eyes. Fear, humiliation, and confusion vied for top position in her mind. She stood and paced at the far end of the office, for some reason feeling the need to reiterate her plan to leave, to explain that she wasn’t just a victim. She was more than that. Not at first, she hadn’t been, but now she was stronger. She’d been getting stronger and stronger by the day.

  “When I got pregnant, I knew I had to leave. I knew I couldn’t risk staying there with the baby. Not with the way…” She couldn’t finish that sentence. She couldn’t tell anyone what her husband had been doing to her, even though it was clear the doctor knew some of it.

  Laura took a deep breath and made a decision. She needed to trust this doctor. He’d been trying to offer her a lifeline for months now, and it was time she took it. “Yes. I think I need to get the money and leave. I don’t want Martha Kensington anywhere near my baby. She raised one monster. I’m not going to let her have anything to do with raising my child. I don’t have much money put aside, but I have enough for a security deposit and a few months’ rent while I find work.” Laura didn’t bother to tell the doctor that the only thing she could get a job doing was waitressing or maybe working as a hostess in a restaurant. She had no degree, no experience other than waitressing and it was old experience, at that.

  Dr. Samuels stood and gathered his coat and keys then handed Laura her purse. As they left the hospital, she thought for a minute that she should probably just cal
l a taxi to take her home for her things and then go to the airport, but when he told her where he would pick her up at the outer edge of the parking lot, she found herself leaving with him instead. The truth was, she didn’t want to do this alone right now and there wasn’t anyone else for her to turn to. Laura swallowed her doubts and grabbed hold of her conviction. She was leaving. She was finished being a Kensington. She was finished letting Martha have any hold over her. For better or worse, it was time to run.

  Chapter Four

  When they turned onto the street where she and Patrick lived, Laura was stunned. The front of the house was crawling with reporters. They spilled out onto the sidewalk, as enormous antennae towered over news vans and pierced the sky. The news of Patrick’s death had gotten out.

  “Change of plans,” the doctor muttered as he turned down a side street a block before they reached the house.

  Laura turned and looked out the back window of the car and took a deep breath. She needed a new plan. She thought of the money, her ID. Her mind also flashed to that USB drive taped to the bottom of a drawer in her kitchen. She hadn’t planned to touch it when she ran, but now that Patrick was dead… Maybe she should take it with her as well. If she could just get into the house. She glanced at her phone to check the time and thought to herself that she’d need to get rid of her phone if she wanted to hide.

  She spoke more to herself than to the doctor at this point as she searched in her purse for her wallet. “The bank is closed, but if you can take me to an ATM, I’ll take out what I can and then figure out where to go from here. I think there’s a limit on what I can take from the ATM in one day. Five hundred dollars, maybe?”

  “I can take another five hundred dollars out of my account for you, so you’ll have a little more. You won’t be able to get a new identity right away, but we can get you to a safe place. Airlines are subject to very strict regulations nowadays so your husband’s family shouldn’t be able to find out what plane you took. By the time they realize you’re missing, you’ll be long gone.”