Thanks for the quick note RHL… I'm glad you enjoyed my first four stories, but I hope I won't let you down with this one – it is very different.

Just to let you know I'll be posting about once a week…

Lucy

John Kelly opened his eyes and sighed as he saw the time… Working late nights providing security escort to wealthy widows and wives of the rich and famous certainly paid his rent, but he couldn't remember the last time he'd woken up at a decent hour of the morning.

Getting out of bed and dressing quickly in a tracksuit, he picked up his tux from where it was hanging on the door of the wardrobe and inspected it carefully. Last nights party had become very loud and boisterous, and champagne had been flowing freely.

The 21st birthday party of a wealthy businessman's youngest daughter had begun quietly and John, his partner and three of their employees had no trouble keeping uninvited guests out.

Mike had left at midnight – he usually ran the office in the mornings, John usually arriving to cover the afternoons. Their security company was well respected and used frequently by the high society of Manhattan. John and Mike also had several investigations running – mainly missing persons or the more common requests to find out if someone's partner was having an affair or not.

It was an aspect of their work which John disliked, but he couldn't be too picky. After Janice had left for California there was only one wage to pay the bills. Walking into the bathroom he thought back to the last time he had heard from her – over 18 months ago.

The letter had been short, but he had sensed that from what was said that she was happy, a new job and a new town was helping her to forget the time she had spent in prison. She had only served two years, but her character had changed a great deal – so much so that she was almost a stranger to him.

She had asked for a little more time before they had met again, wanting to settle into her new job before he joined her and said she would be in touch. John had returned her letter, but heard nothing; finally he had called the phone number she had given him to be told that she had moved out of the apartment six months before. That had been last March, it was now October and he had still heard nothing.

Gazing into the bathroom mirror, he told himself off. He had to accept that Janice no longer wished to be part of his life and had gone West to start afresh. A quick shave and he was ready for his morning run – which was slowly turning into a lunchtime one.

Grabbing his tux, he left the apartment and dropped it off at the cleaners before heading to Central Park. He and Janice had moved into their place just off East 91 Street shortly after her release after residents at her old place had started giving her trouble. John had kept the apartment because it was only a block away from the park where he ran every day.

Crossing the road near the Convent of the Sacred Heart school, he grinned to see the girls milling around outside. Though he'd passed his mid 30's, he still liked to keep himself fit, and occasionally some of the older girls would pass some kind of comment that would cheer him up if he was feeling down. Today was no exception.

"Late today Mr Kelly… We thought you weren't going to show… Seeing you at least helps us get through a boring History lesson."

John grinned at the young woman talking; Kara Richards was the eldest daughter of one of his best clients and a well balanced individual, though John knew she had had a tough time coping with her parents divorce the year before.

"I thought it was your lesson on English Classics that was boring."

Kara chuckled, "Not anymore, we have a new teacher…. She's really good… Suddenly I find myself liking Shakespeare."

John laughed, hearing the bell signalling the end of morning break, he bade Kara and her friends goodbye, with a bit of luck he would finish his run and be in the office by noon.

&

Crossing the road, he decided to take his favourite route – around the Jackie Kennedy-Onassis reservoir… The man made lake at least made him feel like he was out of the city for a short time, though some parts of the path ran close to the road.

Stopping for a breather halfway round, he smiled to himself. It was a glorious day, not that hot, but the sun was shining and a soft breeze in his face was keeping him fairly cool. Glancing at his watch, he cut short his break and pushed on.

Nearing the end of his run, he was distracted by a couple of youths playing basketball, who called him to join them. "Sorry boys… Got to get to work… Maybe later ok?"

Turning to face forwards, he found himself colliding with another person, almost knocking them to the ground. "Jeez… I'm sorry, that'll teach me to look where I'm going… You ok?"

The woman smiled at him, "I think so… No harm done at least – except maybe to my sketch book." Kneeling down, she began to collect the pages together.

"Here let me help you… Miss…"

"Mitchell, Frances Mitchell. Don't worry, nothing's been damaged." Straightening up, she put the sketch book back together and placed it inside a large case, but not before John had time to see the copies of several novels.

"You're new in town…"

"Is it that obvious?"

A twinkle in her eye made John smile back, "Well I have to admit not seeing you in the park before… and I run here everyday."

Frances nodded, "I arrived a few weeks ago, started a new job, thought I'd spend some of my morning break enjoying the sunshine. You're very observant…" She raised an eyebrow, making John realise he had forgotten to introduce himself.

"John Kelly. I run a security company with a friend. The late hours mean I tend to run at different times to everyone else." Walking slowly back towards the gate, John was intrigued by the woman's accent.

"So… Where you from?"

Frances hesitated before answering, "Originally, Scotland, but then I moved to the South. I arrived here after being accepted for a job at the school over there…" She pointed at the Sacred Heart.

"English classics teacher… Right?'

Frances was startled, "Yes how did you guess?"

John grinned, "I spotted the Shakespeare and Jane Austen in your bag and one of my client's daughters told me she had a new teacher."

Frances became quiet, "I see, well Mr Kelly, nice meeting you." She shook his hand and quickly left him standing by the side of the road.

John was confused by her abrupt departure, 'What did I do?' he thought to himself, then shrugged his shoulders and continued running back to his apartment.

&

Walking into the school, Frances took off her glasses to clean them and allowed herself a quick glance back through the double glass doors, relieved to see that the red-head had continued with his run. Something about him had sent her senses alive, what did he say he was? Security…?

She wasn't so sure about that, the way he spoke, the way he noticed things said something completely different… He may have claimed to own a security company, but her mind said something else… Cop…

Walking to her classroom, she remembered him mentioning that one of her students was the daughter of a client, she smiled, if she could find out which one, she could find out more about Mr Kelly. She needed to, for her own safety.

Distracted by her thoughts, she barely noticed that several of the girls were looking out of the classroom window until she sat down at her desk. A comment from one of them drew her attention…

"I don't care if he is almost old enough to be my father… He's gorgeous…"

Frances raised her eyebrow and gave a slight cough, giving an amused smile as the girls scrambled to their seats.

"So ladies, you can give me a short essay on the object of your desire that you have just seen out of the window, and we shall compare it with Romeo's soliloquy about Juliet."

Several of the girls turned bright red with embarrassment, but a couple grinned, "In modern English Miss Mitchell, or do we have to follow Shakespeare's forms?"

Frances chuckled, "Well now there is a challenge… How about we make it your homework for this week. Select the object of your desire, and see if you can match the bard for his eloquence."

Kara Richards grinned, "Shall I compare thee to an autumn sunset…"

Frances was amused, "Are you telling me that the object of your desire is older, Miss Richards?"

Her student nodded and shrugged her shoulders, "Well miss, Mr Kelly is a real nice guy… and his hair is the right colour… Though I guess I'm more interested in guys closer to my own age he is kinda cute."

Frances tried to conceal her emotions and kept the expression on her face neutral, "Well Miss Richards, Shakespeare wrote about his own fair share of forbidden love… Why don't you surprise me…?"

It seemed that she was going to find out some information after all…

&

Frances chuckled to herself, the quality of the girls essays had ranged from moderately acceptable to excellent, some of them picking up well on the tone and quality that Shakespeare might have used. Others had asked if they could use 'Modern English' not feeling comfortable with the literary style.

She had agreed, though insisting that the girls used the proper 'forms'. Collecting the work, many admitted to enjoying the assignment, which gave her ideas for the future. Reaching Kara's essay which she had left until last, she read it carefully, finding out little beyond what she already knew. What she did notice was that her student had the heart of a poet…

&

John closed the meeting with his usual smile and wished his employees a good evening. Many of them were part-time workers, needing the extra cash to help pay the bills. This evening there was a charity function at a nearby Art Gallery hoping to raise funds for under-privileged children.

Along with himself, only two other members of the team would be working that night, arriving home, he showered and changed into his tux, noting that the cuffs were starting to turn. Sighing he made a mental note to go and get a new one.

&

Elizabeth van der Zandt smiled as her escort gave her his hand to help her out of the limo, a widow in her eighties, she still had a wicked sense of humour and teased him often… "So John… Are you going to be my nephew or the son of a long lost cousin this time…?"

John chuckled, "Dealers choice Mrs van der Zandt, I really don't mind…"

She laughed, "One day I'll tell everyone you're my lover and see what ripples I make with that one."

"I'll be the scandal of New York if you do that… No-one will use my organisation again."

Laughing she took his offered arm and they made their way inside. For a while he stayed on her shoulder, looking quietly around, nodding to his two colleagues and checking that there was nothing out of the ordinary. He was just about to excuse himself from the group, when Elizabeth took his arm.

"I have a quick meeting with the curators John, why don't I introduce you to one of our new volunteers, she's just arrived in town and needs a few friends."

A few minutes later he was stunned as a familiar face regarded him. "Miss Mitchell, nice to see you again."

"Oh, have you two met before? Wonderful… Now you two young people enjoy yourselves for a short while. I'll be returning home in about an hour John ok?"

He nodded, not being able to say anything, the woman in front of him looked nothing like the school teacher he had met a few days before. The thin glasses were gone – possibly replaced by contact lenses and with make up and her hair styled differently, she certainly was much more attractive than he originally thought.

Frances smiled, "Well Mr Kelly, you are the last person I expected to meet here, I have to admit. So, what do you fancy… Modern Art, or do you prefer the classics…?"

&

Walking around the gallery, John and Frances kept to polite conversation, remaining in neutral territory, talking about the work on display or their own jobs. Any time the questioning became a little too personal however, John noticed that Frances deftly deflected his queries and changed the subject.

"So Mr Kelly, are you a true New Yorker? Or did you come in from elsewhere?"

John chuckled and admitted to the former, realising that he was answering questions about himself that she refused to answer. He thought about asking again, but changed his mind. She was a woman, probably living alone and didn't as yet trust anyone fully.

"So do you live near the school?"

Frances nodded, "I have an apartment a block away from the park, I find myself spending a lot of time there… It's very relaxing."

"Have you always been a teacher?"

She shook her head, "No, that's a fairly recent occupation, but I've always liked the classic English writers and when a friend suggested I should go into teaching after a career break the idea appealed to me."

John nodded, "My company has been going around four years now, I had to change my profession too, for a while I didn't know what I was going to do, but then an old friend made a suggestion which I followed up.

"Oh? What did you do before, I have to admit, you don't really seem the type to be a security guard…"

John gave her a sad smile, "I worked with the 15th precinct here in Manhattan, a detective with the NYPD."

Frances swallowed, once again her instincts had been correct, while she did not fear him, she knew she had to be careful if she met John Kelly in the future. He could not find out about her past.

&

Across the Atlantic, a dark-headed man frowned at the person standing in front of him, "What do you mean, you can't find Sarah… We nearly caught up with her a couple of weeks ago – she can't have disappeared. She must be somewhere, use that informant you have."

As the man left, Phillip Michaels frowned at the photograph in his hand, it had been taken on the day he had married Sarah and the two of them had been happy together. Then she had found out about his work and left him. He had been searching for her ever since.

Placing the picture gently back on his desk, he walked to the window of his office, overlooking the Thames and sighed softly. "I'll find you Sarah, if it's the last thing I do."