Chapter 1

Phew, it was good to be back home. New Zealand was great, don’t get me wrong, but there is no place like home. Home is where the heart is, as they say. Nicolette had thought so too, and wasn’t fussed that we’d had to come home a few days early due to Maggie’s job. Nicolette had missed her little toddler, James Mathew Michaels, too much. I didn’t mind either; we were only going to spend those days in Sydney visiting museums anyway.

I walked into my small but tidy bedroom and plonked my heavy black suitcase on my un-canopied double bed. The lack of a canopy was a sore point, I really wanted one. Purple and gold velvet with gold silk. I wanted to live it up. Oh but one could dream.

I stepped back and breathed a sigh of contentment, then walked down the hall to the lounge room and abruptly squealed when I found a tall dark stranger coming through the previously closed front door as if he owned the place. He didn’t. Jaz and I did.

“Hi” he greeted me before flopping down into a black leather armchair.

I bet my emerald green eyes were as wide as saucers as I stared open mouthed at him. Then my senses returned and I quickly grabbed the cordless phone off the kitchen bench along with one of the knives from their wooden holder.

“Get out of my house!” I yelled waving the bread knife at him, why did I have to pick out the bluntest knife of the lot? Was my survival instinct so low? And why didn’t we own a cleaver?

“What the hell?” The dark haired stranger all but yelled jumping to his feet in record time and staring at me in mild confusion. He furtively looked behind himself, somewhat weasel like, well okay, not weasel like. I just felt like being insulting. After all, he was breaking and entering.

“Is this a joke?” he asked then.

Had he read my mind?

“What? Just…get out!” I yelled and started dialling ‘000’. So I hadnt heard any broken glass, and he’d just ‘entered’ without actually doing the ‘breaking’ part, so what?

“Oh hello” I said upon reaching the police, all the while keeping my eyes on the stalker in my lounge room. “There’s a man in my house. Yes, I live at 34 Oxford St. He’s walking at me…and I- just get here quick!” I squealed hanging up to give my full attention to the huge confused man in front of me.

“I’m Jason, remember?” He asked, clearly annoyed.

“Does it look like I know you? Just go!” I squealed backing up to the wall as he walked steadily towards me, arms outstretched soothingly in front of him. What do I do what do I do what do I do…

I was scared.

We heard the front door creak and we both looked around towards the noise.

“What the hell is going on?” My sister yelled, her emerald eyes wide in disbelief at the scene. The man had turned to see her come in so I took the opportunity to point the knife in the middle of his back, the tip of the useless blade pressing on his grey suit jacket.

“Now don’t move, the-“ was all I got out before he smoothly turned, knocked the bread knife from my hands, twisted me around and pulled me to him so that my back was against his hard stomach and he had my hands locked in his around my chest. Needless to say, I started to struggle.

“Jaz help me, there’s a freak in here” I yelped.

“Em that’s Jason, he’s a cop-“

“You know this jerk?”

The arms around me squeezed slightly tighter. Oops, I thought. Obviously not the right time for insults. There just never quite seemed to be a right time…

“You never told me you had a twin.” The Jason fellow reprimanded my sister.

“Get off me” I said struggling against his strength to no avail until of his own accord he released me. I fell on my arse of course.

“Hmpf” I said getting up and rubbing my bottom inconspicuously.

“Who is he?”

“My boyfriend” Jasmine said quickly. Jason was frowning at her.

“And he’s already making himself at home here? I never knew you were dating.”

“It all happened rather quickly.”

“I’ll say, and you said he was a-, oh drat, I called the cops… they aren’t going to be happy campers. It’s all your fault!” I accused, pointing a slender finger in Jason’s direction. Should I have said that to a cop? Jaz would sort him out I decided as I went outside to await the arrival of the police. I was already dreading it.