The Outsider Series: The Complete Omnibus Collection

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Diana crammed a piece of toast in her mouth as her cell phone rang. Startled, she yanked it out of her pocket but didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”

“Is this Diana Fulton, the lawyer?” a woman whispered softly on the other end.

Diana looked up and stared out Jed’s kitchen window, which had a bird’s-eye view of the barn. Jed was hauling out a wheelbarrow filled with manure. “Ah, yes, this is Diana Fulton. What can I do for you?”

“I don’t know if you can help me, but I saw your flyer posted in the mall and I’ve heard people talk and all of who you were and… Well, I’d rather not do this over the phone, but I’ve been involved with Todd Friessen, had my own business and everything, and he’s decided it’s time for me to go. I guess that I want to know what my rights are and if you can do anything for me.”

Two things happened in that moment—Diana’s alarm bells jangled with excitement at having a legal way to put a serious dent in the power the Friessen’s waved throughout this county, but she also knew that it wouldn’t be good for her to be associated with one of Todd’s mistresses—it could harm whatever fences she was trying to mend with the town. Her ability to be realistic won over, reminding her that if she wanted to practice law, she needed clients. So she arranged a time and place to meet this woman.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Bonnie. And thank you, Miss Fulton.”

Diana changed into lightweight slacks and a plain shirt. Slipping on her flats, she hurried out to her SUV with her laptop case, sticking it in the back.

Jed made a point of meeting Diana behind her SUV as she closed the back door. “Where are you off to?” he asked in a way that wasn’t just curious.

“Into town. I got a call from someone who needs a lawyer. Going to meet her.”

Jed glanced away, his plaid shirt covered in sweat and dirt, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The ends of his curly, brown hair stuck out from his hat, damp and a little too long. “If you run into any trouble, let me know.” He didn’t linger. He walked over to the corral, where both horses were penned together.

Diana was still uneasy—confounded was more like it—as she drove out. The man positively did not act like a Friessen. He stuck to himself, did things his way, and didn’t let anyone poke around in his business. She knew he’d come out swinging and trample anyone like a wild stallion if pushed too far, and she was damn sure he’d win.

As Diana pulled into the gas station, the attendant stepped out of his booth before she could shut off her engine.

He motioned down her window and said, “I’ll not have the likes of you here, after what your mother did.”

Diana gave him a stern look. “I’m not my mother, and all I want is gas.”

“Sorry, for a daughter of Faye Claremont, I’m fresh out.” He shrugged, and Diana fought the urge to argue. Furious again at her mother and all the bridges she’d burned in this town. If she stayed and argued with this man, he’d likely call the sheriff and charge her with loitering or something along that line, and that kind of trouble she didn’t need.

So instead, she replied smugly, “Alright, thanks anyway,” and she drove away furious, but gave herself a talking-to. She knew it wouldn’t be easy coming back. She just hadn’t realized the hatred that people still had, and hung onto all these years. Picking battles with them wasn’t going to win them over. She needed to find a way to keep her cool and pick the battles she could win. After all, wasn’t the ultimate goal to expose Todd and Andy for what they really were, predators.

She stopped and parked in front of a small white bungalow at the edge of town. It was nothing fancy, but it was neat and tidy, with a white picket fence and flower baskets everywhere filled with vibrant red, purple, and pink flowers.

She retrieved her briefcase from the back, still mad at how she’d been treated, and started up the stairs with all the confidence of a bull as she gave two solid knocks, probably a little louder than necessary.

A woman with shoulder-length, blonde hair who was not much older than Diana opened the door. “You must be Diana Claremont.”

“Fulton. My name is Diana Fulton, and you must be Bonnie.” Diana stifled her irritation at this woman for bringing up the Claremont name—a big no-no in her book, and a huge red flag.

The woman smiled brightly, flashing a nice set of white teeth, but to Diana she seemed like a gluttonous cat who’d just eaten a prized canary. She accepted the woman’s invitation inside and stepped into a warm and cozy living room filled with greens and yellows, tastefully decorated with big, fluffy pillows on the sofa and loveseat. Diana sat on the sofa and opened up her legal pad, determined to get down to business, find out what she wanted, and get out of here.

The blonde sat in the easy chair. “Can I get you a coffee, Diana? I just brewed a fresh pot and baked some cookies.”

“No, thank you. Bonnie, when you called, you said you were involved with Todd Friessen and that you own a*****e he’s trying to take away from you.” She kept her tone even and all business.

“That’s right. Todd has been sleeping with me for the last two years. And let me tell you, that man….” She fanned her face with her hand, and her eyes took on a dreamy, faraway look. She appeared to take a moment to collect herself before her expression hardened, and she transformed into a woman wronged. “Todd is an amazing man… until he has no use for you anymore. I dreamed that he’d leave his wife and one day we’d get married. He has needs, and everyone in town knows ice water flows through that woman’s veins. What’s so upsetting is that Todd hasn’t said anything to me about us being over. His son, Andy, has always hated me. He showed up one day in my store and said that I was closed and that it was time I moved on. I told him to get out of my store, as it was mine and he couldn’t tell me what to do. He said I was wrong. I didn’t own the store, his dad did, and although he may have set me up in there and said it was mine, on paper it was all in the Friessen name.”

Diana thought the woman really was stunning, but then, she didn’t think the Friessen men went after anyone who wasn’t. But in her mind all Todd had done was trade up from one low-class w***e—to one in a higher price bracket.

“Did you ever sign a lease for the store?”

Bonnie appeared puzzled and then slowly shook her head.

“Did you purchase the stock in the store? Do you have receipts from your suppliers?” Diana tapped her pen on the pad of paper balanced on her knees.

Again, Bonnie shook her head.

“Did you have any agreement in writing with Todd or with the administrator of the mall?”

“No. I trusted Todd. I put the orders in, and all the suppliers sent the invoices to Todd. He had his secretary set up everything in the store, and he gave the store to me.” Maybe she was realizing how dire her situation was, as her eyes now took on a hint of sadness.

“Bonnie, how did you get paid? I mean, this is a really nice little house that you have, and the way you’ve furnished and decorated it couldn’t have been cheap. Did you collect a salary from the shop, or did Todd give you money? Who pays for this house?” Diana knew that she was coming across quite harshly.

Bonnie frowned and flushed before responding, “Well, it was my store. I kept all the money made from sales in the store. Todd called it my ‘mad money.’ This house is paid for by Todd. I wasn’t an employee, but I thought you would understand more than anyone. After all, your mama was once kept by Todd before he let Andy toss you all out. Todd’s always done this. He has Andy go in and clean up after him when he’s done with a woman, running her out of town. And he’s done it with more than you know. After all, we were sleeping together. He moved me in here and he stayed over, sleeping here with me. He set me up in that store and let me have my candy shop, except now he’s hooked up with some other woman. I don’t know who, but I know he’s sleeping with her.”

“So you don’t own this house, Todd does? And you don’t pay any rent?”

Bonnie nodded.

“You took the money from the cash register and didn’t deposit it in the bank, but in your own pocket?”

Bonnie flushed and nodded again.

“You didn’t pay taxes?”

Bonnie’s eyes widened, and she seemed to have trouble swallowing before she slowly shook her head. “Is that a problem?”

“Well, let’s put it this way; from what you’ve told me, you’re simply a guest in Todd’s house. You have no legal rights to this house, as you’re not his wife or common-law partner because he lives with his wife and son at another residence. You have no documentation that shows he’s given this house to you or that you’re a tenant. You’ve paid nothing for rent, so rental laws won’t protect you. You are, in fact, trespassing. If he chooses to sic the law on you and toss you out, you’ll have no legal grounds to stand on. The burden of proof is on you, unless you have witnesses who’ll come forward on your behalf?”

She looked miserable, and a hint of fear appeared on her face. “No one will stand up to Todd or Andy, not for me. You of all people should know that.”

Diana realized this was one of the reasons she’d come back. The law was clearly on Todd’s side, but this was morally reprehensible, and she could see the pain in Bonnie’s eyes. She loved Todd so foolishly, but the man appeared to have no conscience.

“Bonnie, I’m going to be honest with you. You can’t stay unless you’ve got an income. You’ll have to get a job, get your own place. One of the things I fear is that the candy shop could be a problem. You’re taking money straight from the cash register, and Todd could argue theft and have you charged. But if he doesn’t have you set up on payroll as an employee, he could also be in trouble. Worse for you is the fact that you weren’t paying taxes. This could become really ugly. My suggestion is that you need to move on. Leave town. Todd is a dog, and you can’t change him. You are just a notch on his bedpost, and that’s all women are to him. You can’t force a man to love you or commit to you. I do sympathize. And what he’s doing, well, there should be a law to protect women from men like Todd Friessen.” And Andy, she thought, but she didn’t say it.

“But I don’t have any money. Todd looked after the bills here, and I bought everything in this house—well, most of it. The furniture is his, but all the trinkets are mine. Where would I move? Todd owns this town.… I could try to get another job, but I want my candy store. It’s mine.” She was beginning to whine like a spoiled child.

“Bonnie, unfortunately, you can’t have it. Unless you have something in writing, some documentation or witnesses… the best I can do is work out a peaceful settlement with Andy. And then you have to move. Pick your battles. Todd was smart. Everything’s his, and you don’t have any rights in this. Oh, and just one more thing.” Diana put her legal pad down and looked the blue-eyed blonde in the eye. “If you think by bringing me in that you’ll find a way to get back with Todd, think again. I won’t be used that way.”

Bonnie instantly flushed and then rose swiftly from the chair as if to yell and scream. “Well, I’ve never. Your mother, from what I heard, was absolute trash, and what she did to Todd, drugging him, stole money from his wallet…. Well, you all deserved what happened to you.”

Diana didn’t reply. She calmly packed her notes up and grabbed her purse, starting to the door, even though she’d just had the shock of her life from what Bonnie had said—drugged.

“Wait, don’t go. Please, I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Sometimes I say things without thinking, and it gets me into all kinds of trouble. Please, Diana, I thought you would be the one person who would understand what its like to be bullied by a Friessen.”

Diana paused as she held the outside door open and watched the panic in the pretty blonde turn to desperation. “When you’re drowning, you’ll grab on to anything to keep from going under, even at another’s expense. I recognize that, but I’ll never understand it. I believe in fair play and honesty, and I’ll not be used. And I’m not my mother.” Diana did not stop, but stormed out to her SUV, shaking as the word drugged played over and over in her mind, remembering how Andy supported his father’s arm that night and how shaky he’d appeared. What the hell did her mother give him? She drove away this time, and she didn’t look back.