“Indeed you did, darling,” she agreed and snuggled closer to him.
Thursday was their first completely free day, and they decided to take a long, lazy drive and just enjoy themselves by themselves. It was a fabulous day, full of kisses, teasing and laughter with some reminiscing thrown in—How could they not talk about their conjoined childhood on occasion?—and they got back to Royal a little before eight that evening, ecstatically happy, a little tired and very hungry.
“Let’s stop at the diner for one of Manny’s burgers,” Keith suggested.
“And a slice of his coconut-cream pie,” Andrea agreed. “Oh, that sounds perfect. I’m famished.”
And so they went to the diner. Because of the hour only a few other people were there, and, to their surprise, the customers were all strangers, no one either of them knew.
Keith led the way to one of the back booths, then excused himself and went to the men’s room. Two glasses of water in plastic glasses were placed on the table, along with two menus. Andrea glanced up and saw Laura Edwards. Laura looked, Andrea realized with a sad and sinking sensation, even more haggard than the last time she’d seen her.
“Hello, Laura,” she said quietly.
“Andrea,” Laura acknowledged while looking around, as though expecting someone to pounce on her from behind. Andrea experienced a chill, for she was positive now that Laura was desperately afraid of someone. “Is it still all right if I call you at home?” the waitress whispered. “I’m off tomorrow and I think I could find a way to call without…without…” Her voice broke, convincing Andrea even more of her terror. But then she managed to add, “Maybe we could meet somewhere.”
“Of course we could. I’ll meet you anywhere you wish.”
Keith returned and Laura scurried away. He smiled at Andrea and asked, “Did you order for us?”
Andrea leaned forward. “Laura and I were talking. Keith, she’s scared to death of someone and she’s going to call me tomorrow to set up a meeting. I think she’s reached the point of having to talk about it and I…”
Keith was so stunned he couldn’t immediately speak. Laura Edwards was the key person providing Dorian’s alibi for the night of Eric Chamber’s murder. They hadn’t been able to disprove Dorian’s claim, not when Laura claimed he was at the Royal Diner most of the night. Laura had stuck to her story. Did he want Andrea involved with this woman?
“Andrea, I don’t want you getting hurt over someone else’s troubles,” he said, forcing calmness in his voice and sounding as though his stomach wasn’t doing flips.
Andrea was startled. His objection was a complete surprise and puzzling. “Keith, I’ve helped quite a few women get through some very bad times and I’ve never once been in danger. Laura is in trouble and if I can help, I have to. That’s what New Hope is all about. You wouldn’t believe how many women are in abusive relationships, and I strongly suspect that’s Laura’s problem. Every time I see her she looks worse. Please understand.”
It wasn’t a matter of understanding. He nearly broke his vow of silence about the club’s covert activities and told her what he and the other members were working on right now. He was so concerned about her and the baby that he even opened his mouth to fill her in on the real facts of Laura Edward’s desperation, even if they weren’t completely clear in Keith’s mind. But it made sense to him that Dorian might be a threatening force in her life now simply because she knew too much. Actually, if Andrea weren’t involved—or trying to get involved—Keith would be elated about stumbling across Laura’s present state of mind. But it was impossible for him to be elated over anything with Andrea crossing a line she didn’t even know existed.
“Andy, tell her to go to New Hope. Isn’t that what they do, take in women who are in trouble?”
Andrea frowned slightly. “That’s exactly what New Hope does, thanks to the generosity of people like you and your club friends, but it takes some abused women a very long time to reach the point of public acknowledgment of something that’s been going on privately, possibly for years. Keith, darling, I have to do it her way. I have to. I’m going to wait for her call tomorrow. I’m sorry you disapprove but I know what I must do.”
Her determined expression wilted Keith’s protests. He couldn’t demand she stay away from Laura without a lengthy explanation he couldn’t provide. He would watch over her and their baby in another way.
Internally shaken, he reached across the table and took her hand. “I don’t disapprove. Just be careful, okay?”
He only wanted to protect her from any possible harm, the darling man. She loved him so much at that moment that she had to blink back tears. “I promise.”
The following morning, Keith told Andrea that he really should spend some time at his office—a lie—but he would call her around noon. He also asked—nicely—if she would call him when Laura Edwards phoned her, just so he would know where they were meeting. Holding her in his arms he said emotionally, “Maybe I shouldn’t worry about you and the baby, but I do. Take care, sweetheart.” He kissed her goodbye and left.
Andrea closed and locked the door behind him, then watched him drive away in his SUV through a side window. He’d stayed all night. Everyone in Royal had to know by now that Andrea O’Rourke and Keith Owens were lovers. Some of them were undoubtedly speculating about the duration of the romantic affair and if it would lead to marriage. Given her loner status for so long, Andrea couldn’t fault normal curiosity.
Since she couldn’t just sit around and wait for the phone to ring she sorted clothes and organized closets, and all the while, events since the ball passed through her mind. Her and Keith together again—and, perhaps, at long last—seemed like a fantasy. But it wasn’t a fantasy, she reminded herself with a serene smile, it was real. Very real and very wonderful.
She was organizing her shoes when the phone rang. A glance at her watch as she went to answer told her it was noon. Time had really gotten away from her.
She picked up the phone. “Hello?”
It was Keith. “Hello, sweetheart. Any word from Laura?”
“Not yet. I hope something didn’t happen to change her mind.”
He hoped exactly the opposite, but he didn’t say so. “You sound worried. Please don’t let this get you down.”
“I’ll try. Are you still at your office?”
“No, I’m at the club.” He’d been at the club all morning, along with Will, Rob, Sebastian and Jason. They’d broken Eric’s numeric code; it was merely a record of his gambling wins and losses, with dates and sums. His losses had far exceeded his wins, and the dates coincided with money taken from Wescott Oil bank accounts. They had deduced the rest of the story. Dorian had discovered Eric’s embezzlement and then blackmailed him into churning the accounting records to make Sebastian responsible, using more money to open an account in his name. Apparently Eric had done something to enrage Dorian and Dorian had killed him.
Problem was, they still had no proof of Dorian’s guilt, mostly because of the airtight alibi provided by Laura Edwards. When Keith told them about Laura’s plan to call Andrea for a meeting, their hopes had gone sky-high; maybe Laura was ready to turn the tables on that lie. They had literally sat on the edges of their seats, same as Keith had, all morning, waiting to hear from Andrea.
“It’s business, too, sweetheart,” Keith told Andrea, “a lunch meeting.” He didn’t like deceiving her like this, but he had to do what they all thought was right. Dorian was a dangerous individual, and now they were very close to acquiring the proof needed to send him to prison. At least it appeared that way. Keith swallowed but concealed the nervous tension in his gut. He was, after all, permitting the woman he loved to put herself at risk by even talking to Laura, even though he and the others in the group were prepared to protect Andrea at any cost. “The fastest way to reach me is by cell phone, Andy,” he said quietly. “You know the number.”
“Yes, I do. I also have the club’s number.”
“Andy, the second Laura
“Yes, dear, I promise,” she replied teasingly. His concern was touching, if a bit silly. Well, maybe not silly, she amended. Some spouses and boyfriends were truly dangerous men, and if Laura was trying to escape a really horrible relationship, there was always the chance her brutal companion might blame anyone attempting to assist her.
But it had never happened to her with any other woman seeking help, and Andrea couldn’t get too worried that it might with Laura. She put it out of her mind.
It was three-thirty when the phone finally rang again. A bundle of nerves by then, Andrea raced for the instrument as though it were a direct line to life itself. “Hello?” she said anxiously.
“Andrea…this is Laura…you know, from the diner?”
“Yes…yes…I’ve been expecting your call. Laura, are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine. I…just couldn’t get away until now. Andrea, I really can’t talk on the phone.”
Andrea drew a calming breath, but she still felt rattled. “We’ll talk face to face. Where would you like to meet? Do you have a particular place in mind?”
“No…I…just don’t know,” Laura stammered. “Do you know someplace, uh, safe?”
Andrea was beginning to think more clearly. Laura might still be in danger but she hadn’t yet been harmed. She, Andrea, had to keep them both on the right track.
“Yes, I do,” she said firmly. “Where are you now?”
“At the pay phone on the corner of Jennings and Fifth. Do you know where that is?”
“Yes. Laura, let me pick you up and bring you to my house.”
“Your house? I was afraid you were going to say New Hope. I can’t go there, Andrea. Too many people would see me.”
“No one will see you at my home. Laura, are you afraid that someone’s watching you now?”
“It’s…possible,” Laura whispered. “Maybe it’s my imagination. I…really don’t know.”
Laura’s fear gave Andrea a shiver. She’d never experienced that kind of fear herself, but she’d seen it in women’s eyes. Hearing it in Laura’s voice increased Andrea’s determination to help.
“All right, here’s what we’ll do,” she said into the phone. “Hang up and go into that little bookstore near the corner. I think it’s the second shop from the corner. Act as though you’re browsing the shelves but keep an eye on the street. My car is a dark-blue sedan. I’ll double-park directly in front of the bookstore and wait for you. It shouldn’t take more than ten minutes to get there, but wait twenty minutes just in case some unforeseen traffic problem slows me down.”
“All right. Bye…and thanks.”
“I’ll see you shortly.” Andrea hung up, then dialed Keith’s cell phone. She didn’t know if he was still at the club—it seemed a long time for him to have been there, even for a business meeting—but with his cell phone he was reachable anywhere in Royal.
“Andrea?” he said by way of greeting after one ring. “Did she call?”
“Yes.” Andrea explained that she was picking Laura up at Jennings and Fifth and bringing her back to the house.
“Good. But if anything at all happens that you don’t expect, call me at once.”
“Keith, is something wrong? Nothing unexpected is going to happen. Well, I suppose the person she’s afraid of could…”
“Andrea, listen to me. Don’t let anyone but Laura get in your car. Keep the back doors locked and once you have Laura, drive directly home.”
“You big worrywart,” she said adoringly. “I’ll be fine.”
“And call me the minute you get home.”
“Yes, dear. I have to run. Laura will be standing around worrying. Love you. Bye.” She hung up, gathered her purse and car keys from where she’d placed them in anticipation of Laura’s call and then hurried to the garage. Jennings and Fifth was in downtown Royal, which seemed busier than normal to Andrea, and it took almost fifteen minutes for her to get there. She double-parked in front of the bookstore, Laura bounded outside and jumped into the car and Andrea immediately drove away.
Oddly, Andrea felt a strong sense of relief. Her tension had probably been caused by Keith’s long list of cautions, she decided, but could she fault him for loving her so much? And he was thinking of the baby, too, of course.
“This is so good of you,” Laura said while dabbing at her eyes with a wad of tissues. “I…I guess I’ve been wondering why a woman like you would put herself at risk to help someone like me.”
At risk? A chill traveled Andrea’s spine. “Am I in danger, Laura?”
“Well…I guess you could be…if he saw me get in your car…I guess.” She sounded miserable, very apologetic and she said again, “I can’t believe a woman like you would go out of her way to help someone like me.”
Andrea began checking the rearview mirror, although she suspected she wouldn’t know if they were being followed unless someone hooked his front bumper onto her back bumper. She wasn’t a detective, after all. Unquestionably she was vastly more concerned now than she’d been, but she was also committed and had to see this through.
“We’re not as different from each other as you might think, Laura,” she said, striving for her normal composure in dealing with an abused woman.
“You’re wrong,” Laura said listlessly. “I know in my soul that you could never do what I did.”
Andrea sent her passenger a sharp look. “What you did?”
“I…I have to tell someone about it,” Laura whispered hoarsely. “I can’t live with it any longer.”
Andrea’s alert alarm went off the scale. She’d been so certain that Laura’s problem was an abusive partner, and now Laura was talking about something she had done.
Andrea’s grip on the steering wheel tightened and her stomach tensed. She could be in over her head with Laura, but she couldn’t just put her off now, could she? The woman was in trouble, trapped in a torment of emotional agony, and she was seeking relief. No, Andrea thought, she couldn’t turn her back on Laura, whatever her story.
She couldn’t help being on edge, though, and she kept driving with one eye on the rearview mirror, just in case she was able to spot someone following them. She saw nothing out of the ordinary, just what appeared to her eyes as Royal’s usual traffic, but a clever driver could outwit an amateur like her any day of the week. It was incredibly relieving to finally drive through the gates of Pine Valley and ultimately turn onto her street. A look in the rearview mirror was reassuring; not one other car was in sight.
At her house Andrea parked in the garage and immediately lowered the door. The two women went inside and in the kitchen Andrea asked, “Do you like herbal tea, Laura?” As jumpy as Laura was, Andrea didn’t think feeding her caffeine was a good idea.
“Uh, sure…yes…thanks,” Laura mumbled.
“Don’t be nervous. You’re perfectly safe here. Sit at the table. It won’t take a minute to prepare the tea.” Andrea put the teakettle on the stove and said, “I have to make a phone call, Laura. I’ll only be a minute.” She hurried to the den and dialed Keith’s cell phone.
“She’s here,” she said at once. “Keith, she hinted at something she did. I think I was wrong about her being trapped in an abusive relationship.”
Keith clenched his free fist. He was positive now about what Laura was going to tell Andrea, and while he gave a nod to his friends, no one smiled. This was serious business for all of them.
But he couldn’t stop himself from cautioning her again. “Andy, I’m going to have this phone in my hand until I hear from you again. If even one tiny thing occurs that seems out of sync, you are to call me immediately.”
This time Andrea wasn’t flippant. Something was wrong. She had no idea what it might be, but she sensed that it was crucial that she do exactly as Keith asked. “I will, darling.” She hung up and hurried back to the kitchen.
“Your house is nice,” Laura said shyly when Andrea walked in.
“Thank you. I like it.”
“I live in an apartment. It’s…pretty nice.”
“Which apartment complex, Laura?”
“The Caplan Arms.”
“Oh, yes, I know the place. There’s the teakettle.” Andrea quickly prepared the tea and brought it to the table. She sat across from Laura and smiled, though she realized that she honestly did not feel like smiling. In fact there seemed to be a sizable knot of nerves in her stomach. “Now we can talk. A cup of tea always relaxes me.”
Laura managed a wan smile. “Tea is nice.”
And then Andrea sipped tea and forced herself to wait quietly for Laura to begin the conversation. Finally Laura asked, “Do you know about the investigation of the murder of Eric Chambers?”
Andrea was so stunned—she never could have imagined that subject coming out of Laura’s mouth—that she lowered her cup and actually gaped wide-eyed at the woman. Laura hadn’t committed murder, had she?
“Not entirely,” she managed to say, albeit rather weakly. “Why?”
“I…I think…no, I’m certain…of who the murderer is.”
Andrea could feel the color drain from her face. “How…how would you know that?”
“I provided the killer’s alibi,” Laura whispered. “Actually, I am the killer’s alibi. Oh, Andrea, it’s all so awful.” She started crying and Andrea rushed—albeit on shaky legs—to get her some fresh tissues. Her heart was pounding so furiously that her hands were trembling when she placed a box of tissues on the table next to Laura’s cup. “Thank you,” Laura managed to gasp between great heaving sobs.
Returning to her chair, Andrea wondered frantically what she should do. Did she want to hear Laura’s story now? Laura was talking about murder, the murder of that poor man who had worked at Wescott Oil. She should be talking to the police, not to a New Hope volunteer!
But dare she say something of that nature to Laura? The woman felt safe in talking to her. She couldn’t destroy that trust and tell Laura to take her story to the police. She would listen and then decide how to deal with this shocking turn. She would call Keith, of course, but first she would listen.
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