Lust and Lies 04 - Pretty Maids in a Row

accelerator. He could hardly wait to see his clients' faces when they realized they might have a grandchild.
    * * *
    Only a handful of people knew Barbara's cell phone number and every one of them called her by Sunday night.
    Two coworkers who knew nothing of her past called to congratulate her on appearing on AOL's home page. Her mother further confirmed what she had feared the moment she'd seen the morning paper. The picture had been picked up by a wire service. A search for her name on the internet showed the picture had been posted in enough places for her to want to cry.
    After all, it was the image of compassion, a story without words. The photographer would probably win some sort of prize for it. He couldn't have any idea what damage he may have caused. Since she hadn't given any sort of permission she supposed she could sue someone but no cash settlement would undo the exposure.
    They may as well have hand-delivered it to Russ Latham.
    One of the calls was from Shelley, a friend who had helped Barbara and Matthew slip out of Albuquerque in the middle of the night four years ago. She was also the one who put Barbara in touch with the organization that eventually helped her establish a completely new identity two years ago.
    Barbara had been certain she had finally outsmarted Russ and he had quit trying to find her. She desperately wanted to be able to go back home, even if it was only for a weekend visit. But it wasn't safe. So she and her mother limited their communication to sporadic calls using throw-away phones.
    Two years ago, she would have already begun packing. A part of her was tensed in preparation for flight, but a greater part of her resisted. She and Matt were truly happy here. He had friends and was doing well in school. She had a good job with excellent benefits. The house they were in was only rented, but they had turned it into a real home.
    There had to be a way they could stay in Fredericksburg. In the past, her flights were nearly always prompted by mindless panic. Perhaps this time, knowing in advance that Russ might try to find them in the near future, she might be able to prepare better. If nothing else, she would hold out as long as possible without endangering Matthew.
    She had been making choices based on her son's welfare for so long, it was hard to remember that she was once a young, carefree girl whose toughest decision was whether to follow her dream of being an actress to Broadway or Hollywood.
    She smiled as she recalled the stunned expressions on her girlfriends' faces that long-ago day when she made her selection by plucking petals off a daisy. To her, life had been that simple. She had identified her dream and outlined a plan to achieve it. All she had to do was go for it. Thus, she had left for New York City immediately after graduating from high school, with a two-year plan in mind. If she wasn't well on her way to becoming a Broadway star by the end of that time, she would head for Hollywood and try her luck there.
    The smile that memory triggered faded as she thought about how terribly naïve her plan had been.
    Barbara had no idea how long it might take for Russ to find them, but she began taking protective measures the next morning. She drove Matt to and from school rather than let him take the bus. She reminded him to keep alert, stay with the crowd and run for help if necessary. She notified the school principal and Matt's teacher, filed a watch order with the local police and advised her employer of a potential problem. But being prepared didn't stop her from quaking inside or jumping at every sound.
    She felt some relief when she picked Matt up from after-school care on Tuesday and he assured her that everything was still fine. As they approached their house, however, there was a familiar-looking van parked in the driveway, and a man wearing a parka and ski hat was at the door.
    Because she had been anticipating a problem, she was able to outwardly control her fear for Matt's sake. The man turned around when she pulled the car onto the swale in front of the house and shut off the engine. Even from that distance, the dark skin on his face confirmed that he wasn't Russ, but that didn't mean they weren't in danger.
    "Pop quiz, kiddo. You come home with a friend, my car's in the driveway but there's a strange car out front. What do you do?"
    Matt rolled his eyes at her, wordlessly expressing his boredom with her constant reminders. "I look at the living room window. If