Texas…Now and Forever Read Online Free PDF Page B

crouched low in the seat, trying desperately to blank her mind to the frantic search she knew was taking place out on the lake. She’d made the wrenching decision to leave. For her father’s sake, she had to follow through with it.
    â€œHere we are.”
    Slowing, the judge pulled off onto a narrow track. Branches scraped against the sides of his caras it bumped down the path. When the headlights picked up the gleam of metal, he shoved the gear-shift into park but left the engine running.
    The hot Texas night wrapped around them as they made their way to the waiting Ford. Digging the keys out of his pocket, Carl passed them to Haley.
    â€œYou’ll need some cash,” he said gruffly. “Here’s two thousand for immediate expenses. I’ll wire more when you get settled.”
    â€œJudge, I—”
    Her throat closed, tears burned behind her eyelids. This was it, the moment she’d both dreaded and planned for so meticulously. Her last seconds as Haley Mercado.
    No, not as Haley Mercado. Haley was already dead. Lost beneath the dark waters of Lake Maria.
    â€œYou’d better get going,” the judge said gruffly, his own voice thick. “It’s a good stretch of road to San Antonio, and you have a plane to catch.”
    She couldn’t get a single sound past the ache in her throat. Awkwardly, Carl patted her shoulder.
    â€œDon’t worry. I’ll look after Isadora and Ricky. And I’ll do what I can to extricate your father from the mess he’s gotten himself into over the years. I can still pull a few strings ’round these parts.”
    Maybe then she could come home again. Clinging to that hope, Haley threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.
    â€œI hope so, Judge. God, I hope so! Keep me posted, okay?”
    â€œYou know I will. Now scoot, girl, before we both start bawling like new-weaned calves.”
    She gave him another fierce hug, then slid into the sedan and waited while he backed his own car down the track. Its headlights stabbed into Haley’s eyes. Almost blinded, she turned onto the paved road. She idled the car for a moment, waiting for the black spots to fade, then slowly accelerated. A few moments later a turn in the road took her away from Lake Maria.
    Â 
    In the weeks that followed, Carl Bridges was Haley’s only contact with Texas and the life she’d left behind.
    The judge’s assurances that her family was working through their shock and grief sustained her through long days and lonely nights in strange cities. After a circuitous journey across several continents to cover her tracks, she found refuge in the comfy flat Carl had leased for her in London. There she found funds waiting to cover her expenses, including the cosmetic surgeon who altered Haley’s features.
    Under the surgeon’s knife, her nose lost the littlebump she’d inherited from her mother, and her slanting, doelike eyes became rounded. She considered breast reduction and possibly liposuction to diminish her lush curves, but by then stress had carved off so many pounds that she carried a far more slender, if still subtly rounded, silhouette. Dying her hair a glowing honey-blond, she adopted a sleek, upswept style that gave her an unexpectedly sophisticated look.
    With her degree in graphic arts, it didn’t take her long to land a terrific job. She’d just begun to feel comfortable in her new skin when a call from Carl shattered her shaky sense of security. It came mere weeks after her supposed death. She could tell from his terse greeting that he was upset.
    â€œWhat’s the matter?” she asked, her pulse kicking into overdrive. “Are my parents okay? Ricky’s not hurt, is he?”
    â€œNo, no one’s hurt.” His voice took on an odd note. “No one we know, anyway.”
    â€œTell me, Judge. What’s happened?”
    â€œThey found your body.”
    â€œWhat!”
    â€œSome fishermen out