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.”

“I can’t take your money,” Laura said, shaking her head. “Besides, it isn’t enough for rent and the deposit on any apartment. I can take money from my ATM and find a hotel to stay in nearby until I can get to the money in the greenhouse or the bank on Monday.”

The doctor raised an eyebrow. “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

“No,” Laura admitted, “but I don’t see any other option.”

She felt weak and sick to her stomach at the thought of not leaving the area right away. She honestly didn’t know if she was being rational or not, but everything in her was screaming to put distance between herself and the Kensingtons right now. And, once again, she remembered the look of fear in Patrick’s eyes when he’d hidden the USB drive. A tickle of doubt scratched at the edge of her brain as she shoved the memory aside.

She fought back another wave of tears. She would not cry again. No amount of tears would help the situation.

“Do you have any friends you can stay with?”

She shook her head. The friends she'd had in New Jersey before she married Patrick stopped calling when she made excuses not to talk to them or see them. The shame of having to lie to them about her marriage had made her tuck herself away from anyone who would question too much or see through her act. Of course, they’d all assumed she thought she was too good for them after marrying into the Kensington clan. Ha! The joke had been on her, hadn’t it?

And the friends she had in Connecticut—well, they weren’t truly friends. Just country club acquaintances. None of them would take her in and hide her from Martha Kensington.

They were quiet for a minute before the doctor cracked a wide smile. “I know a place you can go while you get on your feet.”

Laura cringed. She had a feeling she knew what he was going to say, and the idea of going to a shelter, of answering questions and letting anyone else know what was going on made her stomach clench even more.

“I’ve got a friend who owns a ranch in Texas. I spend a few weeks there every summer. It’s the perfect place for you to figure things out, to clear your head and start again, and I just know May would love to have you.” He drew a cell phone out of his pocket and keyed through the contacts before selecting one.

“How do you feel about Texas?” he asked her, holding the phone in his hand without hitting send as though asking her whether to make the call or not.

Texas? She couldn’t possibly show up on the doorstep of a stranger, even if Dr. Samuels said it was all right. There was nothing all right about doing something like that.

Laura smiled, but it felt weak. If she didn’t go where he suggested, where would she go? Even if she took Dr. Samuel’s five hundred dollars along with hers, she couldn’t use her ATM or credit cards again unless she wanted to be tracked after she left. She wasn’t exactly swimming in options. Every penny in cash she had was buried in a flower pot, and she’d have to cross a line of reporters to get to it. Reporters who would no doubt print pictures of her arriving home, blowing the lead she had. If the Kensingtons saw that she wasn’t in the hospital, they’d be on her that much faster.

“I promise,” he said. “May would really love the company.”

Laura looked back over her shoulder toward the house. Even if she could push through the news reporters, the thought of going back into the house she’d shared with Patrick… She just couldn’t do that. She couldn’t go back now.

“Texas it is,” she said more to herself than to the doctor who was now speaking with someone on the other end of the phone.

“May? It’s Josh. I need a favor.” The doctor listened for a moment before speaking again. “I’m sending someone to you. I need you to keep her safe with you at the ranch.”

There was another pause as he listened, and then turned to Laura and nodded with a big grin. “I’ll see if I can get her on a flight right away and then she’ll take the bus from Austin. I’m not sure exactly what day she’ll arrive,” he said, glancing at Laura.

The doctor listened again. “Thank you. Oh, and May? Don’t contact me for a while. I’ll get in touch in a few weeks. I don’t want any contact between us that might let someone track her right now, so let’s keep it to this one call.”

Laura looked over at the man who was helping her flee. She dug deep and found the strength she’d built up while living with Patrick over the past three years. She would not let his family take the baby, and she’d be damned if she’d let them have any part in raising her child. The woman who had raised her monster of a husband wouldn’t be coming anywhere near her baby.

She’d go to Texas long enough to get her bearings and come up with a plan. She’d spend a few days there to figure out her next move. Then she’d move on, as planned, and find a job somewhere. She’d only stay in one place a few weeks at a time if she could manage it, until she was certain the Kensingtons had given up their search for her.

Laura took a deep breath and nodded at the doctor. Texas.