PICTURES, WORDS AND WORRIES

FEARS CONFIRMED-TO TELL OR NOT TO TELL Chapter 2

Bjorn grimaced as he turned the envelope over and over in his hands. This was precisely the kind of thing he'd been fearing over the last few weeks. He sighed heavily and having looked for a moment to ensure that Agnetha was nowhere near, he opened the envelope. He reached inside and pulled out a piece of paper, which he very quickly unfolded. It contained a few words, all of them formed from cutting letters out of a newspaper and gluing them to the sheet of paper. He read it closely, more than once, hoping to gain some kind of clue as to who this was. The note was straight to the point, no messing, it was clear what was happening here. It read "WE KNOW YOU ARE HERE> WE KNOW YOU'RE TOGETHER. WE KNOW AGNETHA IS PREGNANT. WE WANT MONEY TO KEEP OUR SILENCE. BE IN TOUCH TO TELL YOU HOW MUCH. PS, IF YOU DOUBT THIS, CHECK THE PICTURE IN THE ENVELOPE!" he ran his hand through his hair, ruffling it. This was exactly what he'd dreaded and had figured was about to happen. He slipped his hand into the envelope and grabbed onto a picture, taken by an instamatic camera. He pulled it out quickly and his heart sank as he looked at the picture. There was Agnetha, clearly pregnant, there could be no denial of that fact and by her side was himself. The picture seemed to have been taken on Henley high street, he noticed the clothes they both were wearing and realised that this was taken just a few days ago. He decided there and then to try and handle this himself, he wanted Agneta kept out of this, her pregnancy was a blessing and he did not want to put it or her at risk by adding unnecessary stress to her daily life. No, he would deal with thus himself, even if it meant coughing up some unnamed figure to buy the silence of whoever it was that was targeting them. For a brief moment he pondered on just who this could be and in spite of some wild ideas popping into his head, simply could not work out who it could be. Putting the offending item into his shirt pocket he turned and went back to the living room to check on Agnetha. She was as he had suggested, requested, lying on the sofa with her feet up much to his relief. She looked up with a smile as he strolled casually over to the sofa and lifting her feet, sat down placing them upon his lap "Did I hear the letterbox? Or am I imagining things?" she smiled and inwardly Bjorn groaned, he should have known she'd hear the letterbox rattling. Quickly he thought of a logical, seemingly innocent answer "Yeah. Emmm, it was a leaflet, some guy advertising window cleaning" it was a lie, a bare faced lie, but for now at least she didn't need to know what was going on, until she really needed too. He wanted to protect her from this for as long as he possibly could, he wasn't sure how long he could actually keep it from her, but for now the less she knew the better, in her condition the last thing she needed was extra stress, they'd had enough worries when she was carrying Christian and he was determined that this time would be much less troubling for her. After meeting Linda on the road as she returned from school, during which he was extra vigilant, they returned home and ate as a family before he made an excuse to be absent whilst calling Stockholm regarding ABBA business. What he actually did was to call Benny again, his friend had asked to be kept informed and he listened intently as Bjorn explained how the mysterious letter had arrived, described and read it to him "My Brother, I am so sorry that you're going through this. It's horrible to think that someone close to you, close to us could be behind this. I'll call Frida, tell her what's happened and we'll be over in a couple of days to help however we can. You won't face this alone, that I promise you!" In spite of the troubling blackmail he'd received Bjorn smiled, he could always rely on Benny and Frida at any given moment and the fact that they were on their way gave him some kind of comfort "Thanks Man. That means so much. Don't forget, as of now Agnetha knows nothing of this and I'd prefer it stayed that way for as long as possible" "Bjorn don't worry. Frida nor I will say a word to her. She won't know unless there comes that time that you've spoken about when she simply has to" The night was a long one for Bjorn, he didn't sleep much, his mind was pre occupied as he thought over and over about just who could be behind this. The only people he could think of were either Family or very close friends, a thought that disturbed him greatly. The following day was to be a busy one, Mona, Ronny and Isaac were due to arrive at Heathrow Airport and then come back to the house for a few days visit. In many ways Bjorn was thrilled that they were coming, he was fond of them and they could help to distract him and most importantly Agnetha from everything that was going on. For a brief moment a dark thought entered his mind "What if they're behind this? You could be bringing your blackmailers home!" he shook his head, he was almost becoming paranoid! Surely they could never be responsible for this? The flight was due in at mid morning and in spite of his suggestion that she stay behind and rest Agnetha was determined to make the trip to Heathrow to greet her Sister and Family "I'm coming! I am not an invalid, I'm pregnant! So, Ulvaeus I'm coming with you!" she poked her tongue out playfully and kissed him softly, before heading upstairs to grab an over sized coat, just in case someone from the press saw her and noticed her condition. Bjorn was smiling to himself as he awaited her return from upstairs, she was as resolutely determined as ever and he knew there was no way to stop her coming to the airport, no matter what effort he made. As he smiled and checked his watch the letterbox rattled and an envelope dropped in. Bjorn frowned, it was slightly worrying after the previous day and as he reached down and picked up the envelope he froze momentarily. The writing was the same as yesterday and as he checked quickly for Agnetha, he tore open the envelope. Out spilled two more pictures, both clearly showing her pregnancy and with him next to her each time. A piece of folded paper accompanied the pictures, once again newspaper letters forming words "MORE PICTURES OF A HIGHLY PREGNANT AGNETHA WITH YOU. PRESS WOULD LOVE THIS. HAVE MANY MORE. WE WANT 2 MILLION POUNDS STERLING IN USED, UNMARKED BILLS. PAY IN SEVEN DAYS OR EVERYTHING IS LEAKED TO PRESS. WILL BE IN TOUCH REGARDING DETAILS" he took a huge deep breath. This was now very serious, there was no fear that they could afford the demand, that was not a problem, but what if this was the tip of the iceberg? It had been made clear there were many more pictures and the note made it explicitly clear what would happen if they refused. He had to think seriously about this, very seriously. To withdraw that amount of money would need signatures from both of them, something he needed to avoid, to prevent her from knowing. He checked the envelope and the postmark said London, so it was coming from the country they now called home. He wondered who this could be? John and Carole Broughton lived in London, but they were close, almost like Family, he simply could not envisage them doing this. He'd speak to them quietly later but his own mind told him they were not behind this. Likewise Judd Lander lived in the City but he was a god friend who'd never do this, he'd go so far as to help them hide things if needed, so it could not be him. At that moment he heard Agnetha on the stairs and hid the offending letter and they set off for Heathrow, relaxed, happy and enjoying the journey. Bjorn hid everything from her, his typical humour was helping to mask his concerns and at this moment she had no idea. Parking at Heathrow they made their way into the Terminal building and checked the large departure/arrival board. The Stockholm flight was due shortly, so they wouldn't have long to wait "Come on sweet girl. Time to take a load of your feet and sit down" he steered her to a seating area and as she sat down a smirk crossed her face "You do remember that I've been pregnant before? Twice in fact!" he smiled gently at her and winked "Oh I do remember that funnily enough! And that my favourite young lady is just why you are taking things nice and easy. You can stand up when they arrive" he turned and checked his watch, whilst also checking constantly for signs of someone following them. He couldn't see anyone and for once he couldn't sense anything untoward. With that in the corner of his eye he noticed the unexpected sight of Mona, Ronny and Isaac sitting in a seat across the arrival lounge. He scratched his head "How are they here? The 'plane hasn't landed yet!" Agnetha had seen them too "Look they're here already!" they quickly moved across to them and greeted them with hugs, kisses and genuine fondness. Bjorn though was confused and perhaps a little suspicious "How come you're here now? Your flight arrives in 10 minutes from now" Isaac giggled "We've been here for....Oww!" Mona prodded him in the ribs "We got an early flight. Seats going cheap. So we hopped on board" she smiled as did Ronny "Yeah, you know us. Bargain hunters!" Isaac was bursting to say something but found Ronny's hand over his mouth "Motor mouth is a little excited. Take no notice of him" Agnetha was beaming happily "Oh he's okay. let him enjoy himself, bless him" As they made their way to the exit and headed towards the car park, Bjorn's mind was working overtime. He couldn't shake the notion that something was way off here and began to think if they were behind this. He decided to test a theory forming in his mind once they got back home. The journey back to Henley was happy, full of laughter and chatter. Bjorn chimed in regularly but kept a watchful eye on his in laws, really beginning to wonder. Back at the house they ate lunch, prepared and made by none other than Bjorn "He won't let me do any of it. Honestly I feel useless!" Agnetha jokingly complained, truthfully she was thrilled that Bjorn took such care of her. As they sat in the living room with Coffee, Mona was full of chatter as ever "It really is beautiful here. So quiet, so peaceful. Far removed from Stockholm and press people everywhere!" Bjorn sensed his moment and his face became serious for a moment "We've always thought so, but the last two days we've had these. Darling I tried to shield you from this, but I think you'd best see them" he handed the letters to everyone and studied their reactions. Predictably Agnetha was mortified by what she was seeing and reading "Oh God! This is awful!" Mona and Ronny were more matter of fact as they read things. Mona looked up and without hesitation offered an opinion "Pay them! Pure, simple, straight forward. Pay them, make it clear this is a one off thing and pay them. Buy their silence" Bjorn watched closely, he was studying them intensely. Ronny was nodding "Mona's right. Buy them off. Ask for all the negatives and so forth, but pay them. It's worth that. Get it out of the way, pay them off" Agnetha was thinking along similar lines "We may well do that. We don't want this everywhere, spread all over the place" Bjorn was quiet, he was busy wondering to himself "Is it them? Have they been here all along, sending this to us? I mean they were at the airport early, Isaac was saying something and they stopped him. Can it really be them doing this?" One thing for certain, he needed to know the truth and soon......