PART TWENTY ONE

"Sam, thank God you’re here."

"We came as soon as we heard that message." Paul had come with me, the message Kelly left had him worried. When we heard it, we went to the airport and Paul talked us on to the next flight back to Adelaide. Luckily we didn’t have to wait too long. "What is it, what’s wrong?"

"This came in the mail this morning." She handed me an envelope marked ‘Overnight Express’. It was addressed to her. "I don’t know what’s going on ... just read it." I sat on the couch and took out a letter.

"Oh God no," I thought as I recognised the hand writing.

‘Hello Kelly,’ it said, ‘remember me? You should, your flat mate was the love of my life ... still is really. Well by now I guess you think I’m dead ... my dear Samantha is so predictable. About a month ago I wrote her a letter, I knew she wouldn’t read it but I thought I’d send it anyway, just to see what she would really do. You see, in this letter I told her about some plans that I was making, plans which, through Sam ignoring that letter, I have been able to carry out. If she had read the letter then I’m sure that she would have informed the ‘authorities’ and I wouldn’t be walking free, as I now am. That letter outlined every move I would make in my escape ... who would be involved, how it would be done and when. Faking my own death was actually quite easy, a fire is such a convenient way to ‘die’. No remains to identify, only faked dental records for the coroner to go on. Oh ... and a ring of mine left conveniently on the remains of the body. So when you see Samantha, you must thank her for me. Actually it’s probably easier if I do it myself, I’m already in Sydney. Maybe I’ll just drop by her folks place while they’re at work and finish what I started. Or even on the beach where she went for a walk this morning. Right now she’s at the house of that fucking TV star Paul McDermott. I should have killed him while I had the chance. not to worry, I still might get that chance. Those other two are here too, damn it I thought I’d killed one of them. I don’t suppose it matters, I know where they are ... they think I’m dead. It gives me kind of an advantage don’t you think? But now I must rush, they’re leaving ... probably for the studio. I have a surprise to plan for Samantha, then I have to send this to you. Who knows ... maybe I’ll be seeing you soon.’

It was signed ‘STEVE’ in his messy scrawl.

I passed the letter to Paul, watching his face grow pale as he read it.

"Oh fuck!" he said as he put the letter down. He looked at, eyes wide and reflecting the fear I felt.

"I spoke to the detective who told you Steve was dead, he’ll be here shortly."

"What if he comes back here too?" I asked, shaking uncontrollably. "What are we going to do? It was him, he was following me. He sent the note ..."

"What note?" Kelly asked.

Paul told her about the note I received at the studio the previous night. "We thought it was just some kind of joke," he said.

"Paul," I said, realisation suddenly hitting me. "I remember getting a letter from him, you were with me. I threw it away, didn’t even open it. Oh God, if I had read it I could have stopped this. Why didn’t I read it?"

Paul put his hand on my knee. "There’s no way you could have known what was in that letter. He’d written to you before, just to frighten you or pester you. For all you knew this letter was the same."

"But it wasn’t. If I’d read it he’d still be in jail." I was crying now. "This is all happening again and it’s because of me. It’s my fault."

PART TWENTY TWO

When the detective arrived we showed him the letter. He looked at it closely, studying the hand writing and comparing it to an older letter written by Steve. The he read it, taking note of what it said, particularly the threats made.

"It could just be a joke," he said as he put it down, "but nonetheless it’s quite serious. You were in Sydney?"

"Yes. Kelly called me and we flew back this afternoon." I also told him about the note at the studio.

"This guy’s seriously disturbed," Paul said. "Is there any way you can protect Sam from him?"

"By the sounds of this letter, she’s not the only one that needs protecting. But I will see what I can do. For now, stay here, in the flat. I’ll have a patrol car outside in the street tonight, just as a precaution. I’ll call you in the morning with any more information." He handed me his card. "If anything happens, call this number. It’s my pager. You never know, it may just be someone having some fun with you."

Paul saw Detective Hollis to the door while Kelly stayed with me on the couch. "Sam, it’ll be okay," she said.

"I just can’t believe this is happening ... not again. Everything was just getting better, almost normal again."

Paul came back and sat next to me. He looked at me, a worried expression on his face. "I meant what I said this morning," he said. "I won’t let him hurt you."

"I know," I whispered. The something occurred to me. "What about Tim and Mikey?" I asked. "The letter mentioned them, they should be told what’s going on." Paul agreed and went to call them. Minutes later he came back from the phone.

"They both send their love and best wishes," Paul said.

"Are they safe?" I asked.

"They’re arranging it, talking to police and moving staying with friends."

"I guess all we can do now is sit and wait," Kelly said.

"Yeah, wait until Steve decides he wants to hurt, even kill us." Tears began to fall down my cheeks, I could feel my whole body trembling. Paul put his arms around me and held me close to him.

"I wish there was more we could do," he said hoarsely, "but all we can do is wait and see what happens."

But nothing did.

Days went by and there was no sign of Steve. No letters, no phone calls ... just nothing. After a week Paul had to go back to Sydney. Kelly left us alone so we could say goodbye. I didn’t want him to go, but he had to get back to work.

We stood at the door, his arms circling my waist. "I wish I didn’t have to go," he said as he looked into my eyes. "I feel so damned powerless, if anything happens I won’t be here for you."

"I’ll be alright," I said, trying to reassure him. I didn’t want him worried about me all the time. We had agreed to talk on the phone everyday and to visit as often as possible. I couldn’t really afford to fly to Sydney, but my parents had said they’d help out.

From downstairs I heard the taxi beep.

"I’d better go," Paul said . He stayed rooted to the spot looking at me.

"Yeah, I guess so," I said, looking back at him. He brought his hand up to my face, tracing the line of my jaw with his finger.

"Goodbye Sam," he said. He kissed my cheek, high up near my ear, then picked up his bag and left.

PART TWENTY THREE

There had been no sign of Steve during the past three months. The police eventually put the letter down as a cruel hoax and left it. I was still very wary, but trying hard to get over it. Bit by bit it was becoming easier to stop jumping at every little noise, and I could almost sleep without the light on.

Now I was in a taxi which was slowing to a stop. I got out and paid the driver, then stood staring at the beach across the road. It was a hot day and there were people everywhere. Parents giving their kids ice creams then complaining about the mess they were making as they melted, people throwing a frisbee around, young guys trying to look cool in front of the girls by showing off their surfboards ... people just out enjoying the day.

This was the first time I had been back to Sydney since the letter. Paul had come to visit me in Adelaide twice, which was great. it was always good to see him, he had a way of making me feel instantly at ease. I hadn’t really been able to travel until now, the stress that the letter caused effected the baby, and I had been all but confined to bed for a couple of months. It was nice being here now.

I turned around and went into the cool building, a relief after the heat of the air outside. I walked slowly up the stairs, knocking when I got to a door at the top. There was a lot of noise coming from inside, I smiled as I listened to the familiar voices. Eventually the door opened and Paul stood there smiling at me.

"Hi," he said as he gave me an awkward hug. "You’re late. I thought you’d changed your mind and weren’t coming. Come in."

As I went inside I was greeted by a loud yell.

"Holy shit! You’re as big as a house!" Tim shouted. Then he bounced across the room to hug me and give me a kiss.

"Uh ... thanks Tim, let’s just state the obvious shall we?" I laughed as Tim ducked his head in embarrassment.

"Sorry," he said, "but I haven’t seen you in months and ... well ... you’ve grown!"

"Yeah, funny how being pregnant will do that to you," Mikey said as he came over to say hello. "How much longer?"

"Around seven weeks. I wish it would just get out already!"

"Welcome to my world," Mikey said as he grinned.

I carefully lowered myself into a chair. "It would be okay if it weren’t so bloody hot! It’s not so bad at home, but this is awful."

"Here you go, this should cool you down," Tim said from behind me. I felt something cold slide down my back, and managed to fish out an ice cube from under my shirt. I threw it at Tim, who dodged behind Paul. It missed them both and landed in a bowl of chips.

"Hey!" cried Paul. "I went to a lot of effort to make those!"

"Yeah, he opened the packet and even got the bowl out all by himself," Mikey said.

"And I poured them into the bowl. Now it’s all ruined, they’ll go soggy." Paul pretended to cry as Tim picked the ice cube out of the chips and threw it at him. It hit him on the forehead and he pretended to cry even harder.

"Oh, poor Pauly. Come here and I’ll kiss it better," I said. Paul came and knelt in front of me. I leant forward and kissed him lightly on the forehead. He lifted his eyes and for a moment they locked with mine. I’d almost forgotten how weak that look could make me feel. Paul put his hand on mine, a touch that made my fingers tingle. He looked away when there was a loud knock on the door.

"I’ll get it," called Tim. He grinned at me. "Wouldn’t want to interrupt anything." Paul moved to sit on the arm of the chair I was in, his hand still covering mine. There was an odd noise as Tim opened the door and we turned around to see what was going on, only to see Tim falling backwards away from the door and someone come in.

"Well, well, well. Samantha, look at you." Steve stepped over Tim, he was followed by someone else. "I bet you never thought you’d see me again."

PART TWENTY FOUR

I felt my heart stop ... it actually stopped beating. "Oh God no, this can’t be happening," I thought. I looked at Paul, his face ghostly white. He stood up, moving between Steve and myself.

"Get out," he said. His voice sounded strong and steady.

"Nah, I don’t think so," Steve responded. "I think you should sit down." I saw him pull out a gun and point it at Paul. "Over there," he said, pointing towards the couch, "away from her." Steve’s friend shoved Paul across the room.

"You," he said to Mikey, "shut the curtains."

There was a groan as Tim sat slowly up. When he saw what was happening, he stopped, eyes wide. The friend forced him to his feet and pushed him towards Paul and Mikey. They were all looking at me, similar expressions of fear on their faces. I had to look at the floor, I knew that if I looked at them any longer then I’d cry and I didn’t want Steve to have the satisfaction of seeing how upset I was.

Steve stood looking at me while his friend checked out the place. He came back and nodded to Steve. Tim Mikey and Paul were made to stand and then forced out of the room. Once they were gone, Steve came and sat on the coffee table directly in front of me. He just sat, looking me up and down, a sneer on his face.

"Well Sam, here we are again. You knew I’d be back didn’t you?" he paused, looking at my stomach. "So ... I see things with you and that little fuckwit in there developed well."

"Go to hell," I said in a low voice. Steve reached out and slapped me across the face. My head jolted sideways, stinging, but I turned back to meet his stare. "I see that being in jail hasn’t improved your communication skills," I said.

"You’re pretty chatty for someone with so much to lose. If I were you I’d just shut up and do as I say."

"What do you want?" I asked.

"The same thing I’ve always wanted. You." He stopped and looked at me. "You’ve fucked me around in the past, but not this time. Nothing is going to stop me from having you."

Inwardly I cringed, but tried to keep my composure. "If that[s it, then why do you need the others? Why not just me?"

"Damn it Sam, we’ve already covered this before. With them here, you are much more likely to do as I want. You wouldn’t want the daddy of your baby to die would you?"

If only he knew how much I did want exactly that. I couldn’t tell him who the father really was, but I couldn’t let him go on believing it was Paul. It was too dangerous, he hated Paul enough as it was.

"Steve, you have no idea what you’re talking about. You don’t know anything about me any more."

"Oh no?" he said, grinning. "I know that a while back you spent a week in hospital. I know that you never told most people why you were really there, I also know that you tried to kill yourself."

I stared at him in shock. "How the hell did you know that?"

"Sam, I make it my business to know everything about you. I know all that there is to know."

"No," I said quietly, "you don’t. You think you do, but you’re wrong."

"Really? Suppose you tell me what I’m wrong about." I didn’t answer. I was scared that he’d find out the baby was his, then he would have too much power over me. I couldn’t let that happen. "Sam, don’t make me hurt you. What are you talking about?" He hit me again, his way of encouraging me. Again my head jolted sideways. The side of my face burnt and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. Steve swung again, I almost had to admire his persistence. The pain was so great, I couldn’t take being hit again.

"The baby ... You’re wrong. Paul’s not the father."

"Oh really? Who is it then?"

"No one. Just some guy I met at a bar ... it was a one night thing."

"You know Samantha, it surprises me that you turned out to be such a little slut." he stood up and dragged me to my feet by my arms. He shoved me out of the living room and into another, very dark room. Then he shut the door behind me, leaving me standing in pitch black. I was in the bathroom. Paul’s place was designed so that the bathroom was in the middle of the unit, no windows. The light switch was out in the hall, a mistake made by the builder, Paul said, and too costly to correct. There was no way to turn on a light if you were shut in here.

"Sam?" Tim’s voice came to me out of the dark.

"Yeah," I said. I slumped against a wall and sat down on the cool, tiled floor. I felt someone move to sit next to me and a second later their arm was around my shoulders.

"Did he hurt you?" Paul asked.

"Not really." I put my head on his shoulder and cried. Once again I had put the lives of some of the people I cared most about in danger.

PART TWENTY FIVE

No one spoke for a long time, the only sound was my sobbing. Eventually that stopped, then there was just silence.

"I’m so sorry," I said, breaking the silence. "This is all because of me."

"Don’t say that Sam," Tim said.

"But it is. I brought this guy into your lives, and now he’s back. If it weren’t for me you’d never even have seen him."

"Sam, we told you last time, this isn’t your fault. This guy’s crazy, you have nothing to do with that," Tim said.

"What happened out there?" Mikey asked.

"Not much. He told me he came back for me, you were all just insurance to make me do what he wants. He hit me a couple of times ..." I paused, close to tears again. "He’s been watching me for months ... he knew why I was in hospital."

"Oh God," Paul said. "Really?"

"Yeah, he knew the real reason."

"What do you mean?" asked Tim.

"I wasn’t sick, like I said I was." I reached for Paul’s hand, needing some kind of support to continue. He grasped it and held it tight. I took a deep breath. "I tried to kill myself."

"What?! You’re joking right?" Tim asked.

"No," Paul said softly, "she’s not."

I told them the whole story, how I felt guilty about Scott, the baby, the pills ... everything.

"Oh Sam." Tim said. "Why didn’t you talk to someone?"

"Because I didn’t want to. I didn’t want people trying to help me, I only wanted to die." Paul was still holding my hand in his lap. I felt a drop fall on my hand. I looked at Paul, but his head was bowed and I couldn’t see his face. I felt another drop though, and knew that he was crying.

"It sounds like you were damned lucky," Mikey said.

"I don’t know," I said. "If it had worked, this wouldn’t be happening now. It would have saved a hell of a lot of pain and suffering."

"Damn you, don’t say that," Paul muttered quietly. He reached for my other hand. "Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to get over it when you tried to kill yourself? Knowing that you wanted to die and I couldn’t do a fucking thing to help you? What’s happening now is nothing compared to the pain I’d be in if you had died." His voice was shaking badly and I could feel his tears falling on my hands. "Do you have any idea how much it hurts to watch someone you care so much about die?"

I looked at the floor. "Yes Paul, I do."

"Oh Sam, I’m sorry ... I didn’t mean ..." Paul stammered.

"It’s okay, at least now you know a little bit of the pain that I was in when Scott died, and still am in. Please, don’t get angry at me, but there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wish I had died that day. I mean I have it under control ... for now ... but it’s still there."

"Sam," Tim said, "what about Scott?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"How do you think he’d feel, know that you tried to die? If he were here he’d be devastated, he cared so much about you, like you were his sister. Imagine how he’d feel if he were looking down on you. He’d want you to fight, to go an and be happy again. not to give in."

"You know," said Paul. "One of the nurses at the hospital said that so many little things happened to go your way, if even one of them hadn’t then you would have died. She said it was as if someone upstairs was looking out for you."

"There you go," said Tim. "Maybe that was Scott, trying to let you know that he didn’t want you to die.

I was crying now. I’d never thought of what Scott would want, only that if I died I would be with him again. That’s all I wanted. No matter what it took I wanted to be with Scott.

"But it’s so hard," I said. "I don’t know if I can do it, especially now that Steve’s back." I was crying so hard that my whole body was shaking. Paul reached out and gathered me into his arms. "Paul," I whispered, "I’m so scared."

Paul gently kissed my temple. "I know," he said, "but I made a promise to you a few months ago, and I intend on keeping it. I’m not going to let this guy hurt you ... ever again."