ter. She'd have to hold onto that piece of Colin for the rest of her life and let it be enough. Angelina touched a piece of Melissa's he

in jail. She couldn't allow that to happen no matter how angry she'd become at him for his unethical business practices. And then there were the threats Richard had made about Colin and his family. The man could destroy the O'Briens if their secret

ead. Save two families. Melissa had naively believed that all she needed was time to figure out how to back out of the arrangement with Richard

ightened to put up a fight . Scared he'd force her to give the baby up for adoption or,worse yet,do something more sinister,she'd convinced Richard that Angelina was his

feds became involved. Then he'd destroy everything she loved. The worst part about her whole marriage was that she'd had to

e her daughter. She'd negotiated to have her father taken into protective custody. He was living in an undisclosed facility. Melissa had secretly helped gather evidence against her husband

no time fo

er, including him. Regretting the past or her action now wouldn't change a t

once again,she drove away fr

__

ut a couple of twenties In her fist not realizing she was

ing in the Huston ISD. Her husband's family was originally from the area,and the two of them had returned to live out their retireme

r__" Mrs.Klien glanced at her watch"__an

up your whole Evening'". Tears free-fell down Melissa's cheeks now

hurry". Mrs.Klein's brow furrowed and she had a mix of pity and kindness on her face.

h in the past twelve months,she figured she could endure most anything. Seeing Colin again was too much. She'd been naive to think that she could see him again and then walk away

ed at her,so angry

known that once she'd left him,he'd be done. Having her fear confirmed hurt. The on

e", Melissa managed to get out before

pened. The electricity in this old house was about as

Melissa asked rhetorical

ck over it", Mrs.Klein said,patting Melissa on

ne. It's been a long day and I just n

stead,she'd be meeting with her handler in a little more than

l get better with time. I

how complicated Meli

trouble". Melissa held out the fis

top twenty and tucked it inside her pocket. She winked. "I'll

e door after watching Mrs. Klein walk across the street to see that

e feds,and she wanted to shout from the rooftops now that was free. But she wasn't really free. Richard was still out there. Somewhere. Melissa shivered at the thought. She was about t

ppress

s especially in the past months since talking with the agents,that she could barely think straight. She told herself tha

nly reason she'd collected evidence against Richard was because they threatened to take Angelina away from her. Eve

feds to get an arrest warrant. She'd risked her life,not to mention her daughter's. And what had they done with Richard? Allowed him to escape. No

fic Northwest. That's the only information she'd been given and that's all she needed to know. She wasn't ready to forgive her father for what he'd done to ruin both of their lives,she she'd felt the need

e it had always been a little too tight,and threw it across the room. Relief flooded her at getting that thing off her finger. She'd put it on so no one would question her about it. The only reason she'd held on to the ring was be