In the Shadows

Chapter 1

Three weeks earlier....

    Charlotte Johnson was just about to turn in for the night when there was a soft knock on her front door. She almost didn't hear it, but when it came again she cautiously approached the door and looked through the peephole. She almost fell over from shock at the sight of the face looking anxiously back at her. She quickly opened the door and looked at the girl with dark hair who was panting as if she had been running.

"It's you," Charlotte exclaimed, "I never thought I'd see you again."

"Charlotte," the girl gasped, "Please can I come in? I need a huge favour."

***

"I know who you are."

The statement seemed to catch her by surprise. She looked up startled from her computer screen. "What are you talking about?" she asked appearing puzzled, "Of course you know who I am."

Michael Anderson, a junior staff member in the law firm, stood in front of her desk and chuckled. "Well I know your name isn't Stacy Johnson like it said on your application form. How did you get this job without references anyway? Did you sleep with one of the partners?"

She gave him a cold stare. "So exactly who do you think I am then?" she asked, ignoring his question.

Michael pulled his phone from his pocket, pressed a couple of buttons and held it in front of the girl's face.
It showed a replay of a television news story from the previous night.

"That's not me," she said after watching it for several seconds.

"You've changed your hair colour to light brown, but it's you all right." 

He was expecting her to deny it again, but instead she surprised him by giving him a flirty smile. She leaned forwards giving him a nice view of her cleavage. "So what are you going to do about it?" she murmured in a soft sultry voice, "Are you going to dob me in, or maybe we can come to some arrangement?"

Could she be offering him sex? He used his best lawyer voice, "Be more specific."

"Do I have to spell it out?" she said, "I could come around to your place tonight. After a night of mind blowing sex you won't even remember your name, let alone mine."

Michael could feel a stirring in his groin. He mentally weighed up the pros and cons. Stacy was a beautiful girl, tall with long brown hair and a figure that most women would be envious to have. He was single right now after a bitter break up with his former girlfriend two months ago, he was horny from lack of sex, and no one else at the office seemed to have worked out who Stacy really was. Of course if the senior partners found out he was banging the receptionist it would probably go against him when he applied for partner in the firm. Hmmm, that was four pros and one con. He made his decision.
"All right then," he said quietly so no one would overhear, "Come around tonight at eight." He wrote his address on the back of one of his business cards and handed it to the girl.

"And if I do, you'll keep my secret?" she asked.

"I think we can come to an arrangement," he chuckled, "Just keep this little liaison to yourself. I don't want anyone else here in the firm knowing about it. By the way I hope you're flexible. I know how to do it in ten different positions."

She gave him a devastatingly sexy smile, "I know fifteen," she said.

****

It was nine in the evening as Luke pulled his car into the carport next to the block of flats where he lived. As he made his way along the front of the building to number six a movement across the street caught his eye. He stopped and strained his eyes to see through the darkness. He could have sworn he saw a figure step into the shadow of some overgrown shrubs in front of the house across the street. The lighting was poor, the nearest streetlight was about sixty metres away. He stood still watching the shrubs, but after a few minutes he gave up. There was no further movement. Maybe he imagined it. Maybe he imagined it the other night too when he thought he saw someone in the carports watching him as walked to his car.

Luke unlocked his door and went into his empty flat. He hated arriving home to that place now. Maybe he should move. It was full of memories of her. One year, that was all he had with her. Twelve precious short months with his wonderful beautiful girlfriend with the long blonde hair. Then one day he had arrived home from work to find her waiting with her bags packed. She had sat across the table from him holding his hands and crying as she told him why she couldn't stay. He had cried too as he watched her drive away.

That was three weeks ago. He had called her phone over and over to beg her to return, but his calls all went to voicemail and were never answered. He had struggled into work every day but had trouble concentrating. Every time the phone rang he snatched it up hoping it would be her.
Then yesterday a postcard arrived in the mail. It was a photo of an iconic bridge in Brisbane. She had left Sydney and moved there to start a new job. She said how sorry she was for leaving, but she couldn't stay. She finished by wishing him well and drawing a smiley face. It had started him crying again.

But tonight he made a decision. He was going to pull himself out of this depression and move on. There were thousands of single girls in Sydney. He would start dating again. He poured himself a glass of scotch and sat on the couch thinking about the events of the last three years. He had met a girl who had an insatiable appetite for sex. But she was really a psychopath in the disguise of a beautiful woman. She drew men into her evil web of sexual desire and ruined their lives. She had very nearly ruined Luke's life. Twice he thought she was dead but she had returned to stalk him. For some reason she was obsessed with him. But that was all over now. She was safely locked away after she had murdered two of Luke's friends.

Then he had met Aurora, a gentle sweet girl who was nothing like the demon who had sent him to the brink of destruction. For twelve months Aurora had lived with him, had emotionally supported him, kept him sane, had been his rock. Thanks to her he had almost recovered from the nightmare. But now she was gone. She had told him she couldn't continue to compete with the demon woman in his past who wouldn't get out of his head. He had to manage on his own now, and he was determined he could do it. He would put both women right out of his mind, concentrate on his job during the day, and tomorrow night, which was Friday, he would go to a singles bar and maybe meet someone.

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