Running To Love

By Brenda G. Bradley

Reese is a genius when it comes to finding trouble. She made a terrible mistake when she allowed Theodore and Lettie to work for her. After witnessing them murder one of her clients, the Buttons kidnap Reese to keep her quiet until they can decide what to do with her. She escapes and flees to West Virginia to take a position as a housekeeper. She doesn't realize the job is caring for the home of a man she once rejected.

The man she rejected, Grant Phillips, has turned into a handsome, well-off, respected businessman. When Grant's feelings start to rekindle for Reese, she has to tell him why she took the position as his housekeeper. Now that Grant has found Reese again, he must find a way to keep her safe.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brenda G. Bradley
• Release date: Aug 28, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393412342

Book preview

Running To Love

This book is dedicated to my husband and my two sons and their wives. It is also dedicated to my sisters, who are my beta readers, and to all the people who read my books. I thank you. 

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, names, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual persons living or deceased is coincidental.

Other books by this author:

Dirty Thoughts

The Silver and Gold Deception

Love, Crime, and Passion

The Burning Heart

Table Of Contents

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter One

Reese woke up and looked around the sparsely furnished bedroom, wondering where she was. Her right temple was throbbing as if someone was playing a drum solo on that right side of her head. She was thirsty, and her whole body ached. Looking down, she was surprised to see that her hands and feet were tied together. Someone had trussed her up like a calf at a rodeo. She guessed that she must have passed out earlier from the blow inflicted by Theodore.  She regretted ever meeting Theodore and Lettie Button.

She was increasingly becoming aware of the pressure in her bladder. Reese started squirming, trying to loosen her bonds. But all of that wiggling made her realize that her bladder was about to burst. And if someone didn’t come soon, she was going to wet the already-filthy mattress she was lying on.

She yelled for her captors to come and release her. Reese lay on that mattress, fuming. Letting the Buttons work for her had been the biggest mistake of her life.

To support herself and her children, Reese had opened her cleaning business when her husband left her.  Recently, Reese had decided to offer residential cleaning as well as commercial cleaning. The residential side of the company was picking up faster than she had expected. To find people who wanted a job, Reese had asked some of her church members if they knew any good dependable people who needed work. One of the members said that she knew a middle-aged married couple who desperately needed jobs. Reese gave the church member her business card and told her the couple could call her the next morning.

Reese met the Buttons when instead of calling her, Theodore and Lettie Button had shown up the next morning at her office at 8:00 A.M., asking for jobs. They were an interracial couple. Reese was impressed by their desire to work and had hired them on the spot. Theodore was 6’7" and stocky. He had a shaved head with tattoos on it that looked like someone had used an ink pen instead of tattoo ink to draw on his head. His wife was slender and dark. Her naturally curly hair was pulled back into a ponytail.  She was only about five feet tall with the deep, raspy voice of someone who smoked two packs of cigarettes a day. During the interview, Lettie did all the talking while Theodore just sat there and smiled.

For some reason, Reese liked the strange couple and hired them. They showed up for work on time and performed their duties without much supervision. When Reese learned that they lacked transportation, she allowed them to use the company van to get around to different homes they were assigned to clean. That way, they didn’t have to take public transportation to get to their assignments.

However, things started to go downhill quickly when Reese got a new contract with a new client. The client, Ms. Barbara James, was a retired schoolteacher.  Her husband had been an economics professor who had passed away from colon cancer a year earlier.  Mrs. James was in her sixties. The arthritis in her hands had gotten so bad; she needed help keeping her house clean. Over the years, Mrs. James and her husband had accumulated treasures from all over the world. When they were younger, they had been world travelers who never had children. Mrs. James had her treasures on display all over her house for everyone to see. The couple had brought back treasures from Asia, Europe, Africa, and other parts of the world. Reese suspected her new client was very well-off because everything in the home looked almost too expensive to touch.

Reese had sat with Ms. James for at least an hour to make sure the cleaning service could meet her needs. Her home was in a well-maintained upscale neighborhood in Hunt Valley. During the interview, Miss James had been elegant and charming, regaling Reese with stories about the exotic places she and her husband had visited. Reese had sat with the new client drinking tea and taking notes so that she could tell the Buttons exactly what Mrs. James wanted them to do. Ms. James had confessed to Reese that she could be a bit obsessive when it came to keeping her home clean.

Unfortunately, Ms. James had a doctor’s appointment the day the Buttons were supposed to begin cleaning her house. So she left a spare key with Reese. Reese gave the Buttons the key to let themselves into Ms. James’ home. Upon entering the home, the Buttons marveled at the expensive items they saw displayed. Their jaws dropped when they saw the antique silver bowls displayed on the coffee table, the La Ligue glass bowls in the cabinet in the living room, and the original artwork on the walls.

The Buttons carefully cleaned the living room and then moved on to a guest bedroom. All they needed to do in there was dust and vacuum the floor. Next, they split up to do the work quicker. Theodore went to clean the two bathrooms, while Lettie moved on to the master bedroom. The bedroom was beautifully furnished. Lettie couldn’t help herself. She had to touch all the luxurious furnishings. Miss James had blue velvet chairs in her sitting area, a writing desk, a real mink throw for her bed, and blue silk drapes covering her windows.

Curiosity made Lettie want to see what was in Miss James’ clothes closet. She opened it, and her mouth dropped in awe. There were silky dresses, shimmery gold, and silver gowns, and a white mink coat with a matching white mink hat. Lettie said, Damn, as she brushed her hand over the fabulous mink coat. It was the softest thing she had ever touched. Looking around to see if anyone was near, and seeing no one, she decided she had to try on the coat and hat.

There was a full-length mirror in the bedroom. Lettie clutched the coat around her body and pranced over to the mirror. She spied a silver jewelry box on the bureau in the bedroom. Miss James’ silver jewelry box was just sitting there on display. Lettie opened it and found gold rings, pearl necklaces, and earrings with precious stones. She put several of the rings on her fingers and pranced around the room, enjoying herself pretending she owned the expensive items.

What the hell are you doing wearing my coat and jewelry. Take those off immediately!

Lettie’s eyes flew to the irate older woman standing in the doorway. She was sure the angry woman was the homeowner. Lettie started to babble an apology. She was busy taking off the coat when Theodore, reacting out of instinct to a threat, walked up behind the screaming woman and put his arm around Miss James’ throat, choking her.

Unfortunately, Reese walked into the home at that moment to ensure that Theodore and Lettie were doing everything to Miss James’ specifications. That’s when she saw Theodore letting Miss James’ body sink to the floor. Lettie was yelling at him. You didn’t have to kill her. You idiot. Now, look what you’ve done.

He started babbling like a little child. I’m sorry, Lettie, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to kill her.

Hearing the door open, that’s when they noticed Reese had entered the house, and she had seen Theodore kill the homeowner. Looking terrified, Reese quickly had turned and fled the home. Lettie’s instincts told her Reese was their only witness to the murder. They needed to stop Reese before she called the police. Lettie ran to the window and watched as Reese got into her car and drove away.

Frantically, Reese had raced back to her office. Trembling, she was talking to the police when the Buttons walked into her office.  She had forgotten to lock the door. When Theodore took a menacing step toward her, Reese stopped talking and backed up a few steps. She glared at him. She threatened loudly to tell the police everything if they didn’t leave immediately. Suddenly, Theodore’s big hand swiped her cell phone from her hand. When she turned to look for her phone, she felt his big paw of a hand swipe the back of her head.

No, he did not just hit me was Reese’s first thought. But when Reese turned to confront him, reality surfaced, and she remembered he was a lot bigger than her. Instinctively, she decided to play like he had knocked her unconscious. That’s when she realized she really was dazed, and her vision wasn’t entirely clear either as she sank toward the floor. While she was falling, she thought, I waited too late. I should have called the police as soon as I left Miss James’ house.

Even though she was dazed and falling, Reese still tried to break Theodore’s hold, but he was just too big and too strong. He put his hand over her mouth so that she couldn’t scream. Lettie just stood there watching and said calmly, I never liked her anyway.  She thought she was better than us, Theodore; she never suspected a thing.

Together, Theodore and Lettie rolled Reese up in the new imitation Persian wool rug she had just purchased for her office. Reese struggled to get out of the carpet, but it was hopeless.

Even though dazed, Reese began to pray to be saved, and she wanted the Buttons struck dead by lightning. Then her confused mind began to worry about crazy things like she hadn’t finished paying for her imitation Persian rug that they had rolled her up in.  She cursed the Buttons for stealing her as well as her new knock-off Persian rug. She still had to make three more payments before the rug belonged to her.

She was still in the rug when she felt Theodore throw her over his shoulder like she was a rag doll and walked with her outside. When he tossed the rug into the van, she felt the floor hit her forehead. Theodore asked his wife to find something to tie around the carpet so that their captive couldn’t escape.

Feeling betrayed by the employees she had trusted and tried to help, now Reese lay on the dirty bed, angry and thinking of ways to hurt them if she ever got away. The room they had placed her in contained only the sagging bed she was laying on. To add insult to injury, the bedsprings dipped about a foot in the middle, causing her back to hurt.  She looked around, grimacing at the dirty walls that were painted an ugly, pea-green color. Two stained front windows allowed the only light into the room. They were so dirty that she could barely see out of them.

She suspected she was in some cheap apartment somewhere in the city. Listening to the noise coming through the windows, Reese heard heavy traffic and suspected that she was being held near a busy intersection. There was only one entrance to the room. She couldn’t think of a way to escape her captors.

Thankfully, a minute later, she heard the door open, and Lettie walked into the room. Reese pleaded with Lettie, Let me use the bathroom. I won’t leave. I promise you. Just let me use the bathroom.  I had a big bowl of asparagus for dinner last night. You don’t want to smell that kind of stench all day. Do you?

Lettie looked at Reese, exasperated. She bent down, untied Reese’s feet, and pulled her up off the bed. She threatened, If you try anything, I’ll call Theodore and let him deal with you. Lettie bent down to untie her feet.

What about my hands?

Lettie sneered, You don’t need your hands to walk.

Reese tried to stand, and she almost fell back down. Her feet had fallen asleep. Lettie