"Hey, gorgeous." His voice was lower than she'd expected, a rich baritone that reverberated around the room with a hint of an accent that could have been New Zealander or Australian. A voice that shouldn't have come from a man holding a gun to someone's head.

"So you're the rich bitch who's been hiding my Joni… My Joni who went on a bit of a run. But I've got her back now…" The hand that was not occupied with the gun was holding Joni's hair and he ripped it back as he spoke her name. She whimpered, and he pushed the gun more firmly so that it bit into her cheek.

"Kirsten, I think she said your name was…" Rob trailed the gun along Joni's jaw.

"Who?" Kirsten immediately thought of her sister, who was in another country and was unlikely to know anything. Her thoughts then immediately jumped to Julie, Summer, Marissa, anyone who might have known that the Cohen's had a houseguest.

"I think her name was Taryn… Ruined that cream carpet when she bled all over it, didn't she. Don't suppose it matters to her anymore…" Rob was silent for a moment, as if almost salivating over the moment he had killed Taryn. Finally, he spoke again.

"We're going to go for a bit of a drive." These words he addressed to Joni's ear before looking up at Kirsten, meeting terrified blue eyes with calmer brown ones.

"I'm guessing that SUV out the front is yours. Where are the keys?" Kirsten pointed towards her handbag on the kitchen bench. She'd brought it out from her room after she'd showered in case Joni had wanted to go out and do something.

"I'm guessing a nice suburban housewife like you doesn't have a gun in her purse. So I'm going to trust you to get your mobile phone out and hand it to me without trying to do anything brave. Remember, her brains will be on your wall if you so much as blink the wrong way." Kirsten nodded, walked slowly towards her handbag. She understood Joni's need to get away from this man. She was thankful the boys had left for school early, that Sandy had decided to go surfing this morning. She was hoping they wouldn't come back for any reason. She was sure that females didn't pose a risk to this man, but that another male would be seen as a threat that would have to be taken care of with bullets.

Her phone was on, the battery fully charged. If only she didn't have a flip phone she might have been able to call 911, delay for enough time so that they got her number and hang up before she handed the phone to him.

"That's it. Now, hand it over." He kept his gun to Joni's head, but let go of her hair to reach for the phone. Kirsten reached out with it, grasping only the edge with trembling fingertips, not wanting to let him touch her. Just as he grabbed it, Joni tried to pull away from him. Rob dropped the phone, reached out and yanked her hair. She was pulled back into the chair with a gasp, scrabbling hands pulling the photo album to the floor, memories of happier times fluttering at her feet.

"Don't. Do. That." Each word was punctuated by a harsh hit with the pistol, one to the eye, to the nose and to the mouth. Almost at once, Joni's lip split and blood trickled down her chin before dripping onto the album. Calmly, Rob reached down to pick up the phone, examining it for damage. He noted a scratch on the side before looking apologetically to Kirsten.

"It's not like you'll be needing it," he offered as a condolence before reaching behind him to put it in the sideboard draw.

"Anything else in that bag you could use to communicate with anyone? A beeper? Another phone?" Kirsten numbly shook her head, her eyes on Joni whose head was lolling back against the chair. Rob followed her line of vision, seeming to just notice the blood.

"God, you're disgusting." He moved around to the front of Joni, examined her with critical eyes.

"Throw me that dishrag," he ordered Kirsten. She meekly complied, kept as far away from him as possible when she handed it to him. He dabbed at Joni's lip, got off as much blood as possible before shoving it in his back pocket. He yanked Joni to her feet, held her by her hair as he trained the gun on Kirsten.

"Get your bag and take the keys out. Hold them and walk ahead of me to the door." She complied, began figuring ways in which she could hold the keys as a weapon, somehow turn around and stab him. It was only when she opened the front door that cold fear almost froze her; previously, she'd been in her own house, her own domain where physical harm had never been anything she'd had to consider. It was a safe place for her, especially the kitchen where she'd spent so much time with Ryan, Seth, Sandy…

"Now, open the back door of the car for me. You're going to be our chauffer." Rob slid into the backseat of the car, pulling Joni behind him. Kirsten opened the driver's door, slid in. She started the car up, jumped at a nudge to her shoulder.

"Don't think you can crash intentionally, or do anything that might hurt me. I'll discharge these bullets so fast into Joni's and your head that you'll be dead before the air bags can blow up. Besides, Kirsten, don't you want to come along to see what kind of fun we'll have?" She could see the gun that was pointed at her in the mirror, a cold snub barrel aiming for her heart. His smile in the rear view mirror looked normal, which made the blood in her veins run cold. She knew he could shoot her and feel no remorse about it. Because of this, she hadn't tried to beg for her life, figuring it would only antagonise him. As long as she was alive, she had a chance.

Kirsten took a last, long look at her house as she reversed away from it. She paused before putting the car in drive, wanting to cement the image of her home and everything it had contained in her memory. She didn't know if she'd see it again.

Another nudge from the gun made her move, driving down the driveway towards uncertainty, home gradually receding while the gun stayed pointed firmly on her and the road ahead.

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far; you guys make my day every time a review lands in my inbox! Please keep it up! Hope you enjoyed this. Meanwhile, just to add a completely self-serving plug; I've uploaded some new fics, so check 'em out!