Free Relentless: Three Novels by Lindsey Stiles

Cliff?”
    “Yes, and she saw me as a hero and a mediator. Long before I ever kissed her, I saved her life a hundred times from Cliff.”
    “See? You were a bright spot in her life, Ray. Without you, she would have died long before she did.”
    He nodded. “You’re very kind, Jodie. And you understand a lot about what happened that other people wouldn’t. Did someone abuse you, too?”
    “Yeah, but I got out before I got killed. If my ex does anything to me now, he will go directly to jail because he has done it before. I am not putting up with that, not ever again, and Frank is even skating on thin ice for getting to see our son. He has to pee in a cup for the cops every month to make sure he isn’t drinking or using drugs.”
    “I could be yourhero,” he said softly.
    “I won’t let you, Ray. With a small son and a demanding teaching career, I am not equipped to be there for you to deal with this kind of tragic life event and the fallout from it. Not that I haven’t thought about it. About you. You’re very kind, but my child has to come first—I have to give everything to him and make sure he has a safe home and a happy life. Can you understand that?”
    “Yes.”
    “And I have kind of a squirrely ex-husband, too. He’s unpredictable when he drinks, okay when he doesn’t, but there are no guarantees that he won’t show up someday drunk and try to take Trenton and disappear with him. Or hurt us. Or you. Or all of us.”
    “I wouldn’t let that happen.”
    “That is exactly why I have to leave here, Ray. I don’t want Frank to come here thinking that there is something is between us and then have history repeat itself. As it often does, you know?”
    “Thank you, pretty lady. You think ahead very well.”
    I nodded. “I have to. That’s what mothers do. And…you’re welcome. Take good care of yourself. Try to forgive yourself. Find your peace.”
    “I don’t know if I can. I’ve lost so much. But I’ll try.”
    “You are worthy of a great love, Ray. Never forget that.”
    Tears misted his eyes. “So are you, Jodie. So are you.”
    I smiled at him and we waved goodbye. I walked over to the moving truck and told Elizabeth that we could leave now.
    “You sure you want to do this?” she asked.
    “Yeah, I already signed a contract with my new school and I can’t live in that cottage another day, knowing what happened in there. And I don’t want anything violent to happen between Ray and Frank. I can see the handwriting on the wall. The smartest thing to do is bail out before I get in any deeper.”
    “I think Ray was a little in love with you and Trenton.”
    “I’m not blind to that, but I can’t live in another woman’s shadow like that, Liz. And I sure as heck won’t make my kid into a replacement son for Ray, either.”
    “You have some guts, lady,” Liz said and started the truck.
    “Thanks for helping me find them, Liz. Let’s hit the road.”
    Liz took off in the rental truck as I followed behind her in my car with the kids in the back seat, playing with Bryce’s old toys. Buck, the puppy, sat nicely secured in his dog seat and looked out the front passenger window, his ears flapping in the breeze.
    I looked in the rearview mirror one last time.
    Ray—and the cottage—got smaller and smaller in the mirror as I left that part of my life behind.
     
    The End
     
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    TELEPHONE TERROR
     
    A thriller by
     
    Lindsey Stiles
     
     
    Telephone Terror
    Published by Lindsey Stiles
    Copyright © 2013 by Lindsey Stiles
    All rights reserved.
     
    Ebook Edition, License Notes
    This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
     

 
    Telephone Terror
     
     
     
    Chapter One
     
     
    On the twenty-fifth anniversary of her mother’s murder, Nikki drove to their old house.
    It was the first time since her mother had died that she’d visited the home they