Uncovering Secrets: The Third Novel in the Rosemont Series by Barbara Hinske Read Free Book Online

called you.”
    John
held her at arm’s length. “What? How is that possible?”
    “She
lives in Westbury now.” Maggie watched as surprise bled into anger on John’s
face. “She works for Frank Haynes.”

Chapter 12
    Loretta took the highway exit away from Westbury—away
from her apartment—after her encounter with Maggie Martin. She needed
time to think without her kids underfoot. Nothing had gone as planned. She
never expected, in a million years, that Maggie knew about her and Paul.
    Traffic
was sparse. She pressed her foot down hard, trying to get as much distance
between herself and that humiliating scene as possible. Had that bastard Paul
finally told his wife, or did she have her creep of a boss, Frank Haynes, to
thank for this?
    Thirty
miles south of Westbury, she pulled off the highway at a McDonald’s to use the
restroom. Loretta stood at the sink and let the frigid water race over her
hands as she surveyed herself in the mirror. The best things in her life were
back in Westbury waiting for her. She wouldn’t let Paul Martin or Frank Haynes
screw that up for her. To hell with both of them. She dried her stinging
hands on the coarse paper towel and shoved it into the trash. She would go back
to her children and get a new job—away from those creeps Frank Haynes and
Chuck Delgado. She’d make a good life for herself and her kids.
    An
hour later, Loretta collected her children from her neighbor and ushered them
through her front door. “Who wants ice cream?” she asked, knowing it was a
favorite she never allowed at bedtime. Three-year-old Nicole slumped against
Loretta’s leg.
    “What’s
the matter, sweetheart?” Loretta asked, smoothing the damp hair back from
Nicole’s face. She bent down and placed her cheek against Nicole’s warm
forehead. Nicole sniffed and Loretta fished a tissue out of her pocket and
wiped Nicole’s nose. “I think someone’s catching a cold. You can have your ice
cream in bed. In fact, why don’t we all have ice cream in bed?”
    ***
    Loretta trudged up the steps to Haynes Enterprises the
next morning. She had intended to start looking online for a new job the prior
evening, but Nicole was sick and needed her attention until the wee hours.
Loretta was exhausted but determined to get out of Haynes Enterprises at the
first opportunity.
    She
locked the door behind her and hung up her coat. Mr. Haynes would be out of the
office doing site visits all week. The work of Haynes Enterprises could wait;
she would spend the day looking for a new job.
    By
three forty-five that afternoon, Loretta was cross-eyed from staring at her computer
screen and thoroughly discouraged. Wages weren’t as high in Westbury as they
were in Scottsdale; she’d have to take a significant pay cut if she were to
take any of the available openings. Frank Haynes was overpaying her. And she
couldn’t afford to make less. It appeared she was stuck right where she was.
    Loretta
pushed her chair back from her desk and stretched. She was headed to the
coffeemaker when the call came in from the babysitter: Nicole was miserable and
wanted her mother. Could she please pick her daughter up early? Loretta logged
off of her computer and locked up the office. It looked like she’d spend
another night tending to a sick child. Would she ever get a break?

Chapter 13
    Frank Haynes pulled his Mercedes sedan into his usual
parking spot by the employee entrance of Forever Friends. As founder and principal
benefactor of Westbury’s only no-kill animal shelter, he kept close tabs on the
shelter’s finances. He was there to review the weekly payroll.
    He
nodded to the talkative woman who sat at the reception desk and kept moving at
a fast clip. Haynes was in no mood to engage in meaningless small talk. He
settled himself behind the desk in the tiny administrative office and turned to
the payroll records the bookkeeper left for him in a folder in the top drawer. He
was surprised to see David Wheeler’s name still in