Holly sat in the back of the car on the way home from school that day, not even attempting to fight for the front seat with her brother, a Croker tradition. Alex offered for her to sit in the front, which suprised Charlie, but she acted like she didn't hear him, and got straight into the back seat, deliberately sitting behind Charlie and putting a book infront of her face so that he couldn't see her.

"Holly?" Charlie asked. "Is everything alright?"

"Fantastic." She said in an oddly quiet tone, not looking up from her book to where Charlie had turned in his seat to look at his daughter. Obvious that he wasn't going to get any other sort of answer out of her for the moment, Charlie turned to Alex, who nodded to let him know that he would explain later. Extremely worried, Charlie began to drive away from the school, glancing at his stone faced daughter in the rear-view mirror every so often.

She was doing the one thing that Charlie encouraged her not to do. She was holding in her emotion. He would rather her be a permanently stroppy teenager then keep everything locked inside. He had seen first hand the damage it could do to someone, and he didn't want to see his daughter harming herself like that. Trying to block out the deafening silence, spoke aloud.

"We're having everyone over for dinner." Charlie told them, simply to make conversation. He knew something was wrong with Holly, but he didn't want to force it out of her, and become like his father. "We're ordering in."

"What're we having?" Alex asked.

"Pizza, probably, or Chinese."

Alex grinned, either one was fine with him, when it came to having a take out, he would eat anything so long as it was hot and not contaminated.

The rest of the drive home was just as silent as it had been before. Charlie spoke occassionally, as did Alex, but Holly continued reading. Yet Alex had noticed that she had not turned the page once in the ten minute journey. When they got home, Holly went straight upstairs to her room, not even wandering around the house as she usually did to find Stella. As Alex was about to walk upstairs himself to put his bag down in his room and change out of his uniform, Charlie stopped him by putting his hand on his shoulder.

"Oh no." Charlie said. "You're not going anywhere." Alex sighed. "What's wrong with your sister?" Charlie asked.

"Trust me, you don't want to know." Alex muttered.

"Oh, I want to know." Charlie assured him. "What happened?"

Alex was silent for a moment, and the father and son locked eyes. The only thing preventing Charlie from looking at a mirrored image of himself was that he was seeing Stella's eyes staring back at him, but his face in his son. "Neither of us can be there all the time, Dad." Alex told him. Charlie frowned in confusion. "I got to her classroom to take her to her next class but there'd been a room change and I didn't get there in time. The others did, and they found Holly in the corridor."

"What happened?" Charlie repeated.

"Steve." Alex said, and he watched a strangely angry emotion fill his fathers eyes. "He was talking to her. None of us went to our next lessons, complained we were ill, and we tried to get her to talk to us, but she's just silent." Alex explained. "She's just switched off."

"Do you know what he said to her?" Charlie asked.

Alex shook his head. "We all tried, she won't talk about it." He said. "We did try, Dad, really we did." He added hastily.

Charlie's gaze softened. "I know, I don't blame you." He assured his son, and clapped his hand on his shoulder in reassurance. "You're trying, that's all I ask. But as soon as I get within ten feet of Steve-, well, just make sure you aren't around to watch." Charlie informed him.

Alex gave a choked laugh. "Are you kidding?" He asked. "I want to help." He said, and Charlie grinned at his son. "Hey," Alex added. "Let's race, see who can give him the most beatings in a minute."

Although it wasn't really a subject that they should have joked about, and they both knew it, they found that laughing it off was an easier way to deal with it. "You're on." Charlie agreed, then turned serious."Ok, I'm going to sort this out."

"Mom?" Alex asked.

"Yup. STELLA?" Charlie called through the house as he went into the living room, where he found his wife laying out on the couch reading a book.

"Hey." She said as they walked in, and she marked the page in her book and closed it. "Did you have a good day, Alex?"

Before Alex could answer, Charlie stepped in. "We need to have a talk with our daughter." He told her seriously.

Stella frowned yet her eyes widened a little. "Why?" She asked. "What's she done?"

"She hasn't done anything." Charlie said with a sigh. "Steve on the other hand..." He regreted having to say it as soon as the words had passed his lips. There wasn't anything else he could have said, but he knew that it was the last thing Stella wanted to hear.

Stella was instantly on her feet. "WHAT?" She exclaimed. "What has he done?"

Both Alex and Charlie shook their heads. "No idea." Charlie said. "She's switched off, won't talk to anyone."

Meanwhile, Holly had gone up into her bedroom and put her bag on her bed, then began rumaging through it. After a few moments, she emerged with an envelope in her hands. It was from Steve, who had given it to her when he had caught her in the corridor, and addressed to her parents, but had her name on as well, so she opened it. Sitting down on her bed, she put the paper in her lap. It consisted of two sheets of paper, one addressed to both her parents, and one to just her father.

Dear Mr and Mrs Croker.

Having recently witnessed your daughter, Holly Croker, earn the female lead in this term's school production of the Phantom of the Opera, I am delighted to offer her a place in the New York Acting Academy as a college placement. Although the placement will only be available when she reaches 17 years of age and has graduated from high school, I am confident that her ability to both act and exceed in academic subjects will continue at such a high standard, and I have no doubts at all about reserving her a place.

The opening night of the production will take place on the 14th November, and all proceeds for the ticket price will go to a charity. To book tickets, please contact the school reception who will send them home with your child. I look forward to meeting the parents of such a rising star of an actress, and would appreciate a meeting after the performance to arrange the final details of Holly's placement.

If you have any queries, please contact me on the number above.

Your Sincerley,

Mr Shaun Martin.

New York Acting Academy, Talent Scout.

Letting out a sigh, she set that paper aside, she couldn't bring herself to look at the one just from her father, so she put both letters back in the envelope and resealed it convincingly. Laying back on her bed and staring up at the ceiling, she let her mind wander back to the events that had occured that afternoon.

"Miss Croker?"

She paused, looking around to see who had called her name. Immediately, she wished she hadn't reacted, she remembered that name from her taunting dreams. Reluctantly, her eyes met with a man wearing sunglasses and a black suit. She tried to look away, but knew it was too late, as everyone else had already began to hurry off to their next class, and Steve was approaching her slowly.

"Miss Croker, I have looked forward to meeting you for a long time." He said with a large false smile. Taking off his sunglasses and revealing his eyes to her, his cruel, ambitious eyes, he extended her hand to shake hers. Tentatively, she shook his hand, not liking the feel of his skin against hers. "Your acting is extraordinary, especially for someone your age." She didn't answer at first, and he gazed at her thoughtfully, as if trying to read her mind.

"Thank you." She said quietly, trying to get away from him as soon as possible.

"You are most welcome, Holly." He told her. "I'm Steven Bain. You know the talent scout, Shaun Martin, I'm his boss. He works for me." Yes, I know what a boss is, she thought stupidly, but didn't voice her opinion. She was focusing hard on her parents advice - Don't do anything to provoke him.

"I have to go." She said determindely. "I have to get to class."

"Surely it doesn't matter if you're late for a few minutes." Steve reasoned. "I was hoping you'd accompany me down to the auditorium, I could do with some help on a few matters concerning your co-stars. You may be able to help me out." That was the last thing she wanted to do.

"I'm sorry, Mr Bain," She said, as politely as she could manage with the panick she was feeling. "I really must go to class. I have a test." She lied. She didn't have a test, but she would rather have one than stand here with Steve.

"Shame." Steve said with a evil smile as she turned to walk up the corridor. "Your father would be very upset."

She stopped in her tracks, and turned slowly. "My father?" She asked. Why was he mentioning her father? She hadn't said anything about him. He looked at her challengingly, as if daring her to act upon him.

"You're not as innocent as you look, Holly." He told her. "I know more than you think I do. Here, give this to your parents. I'll know if you don't." He handed her an envelope.

"Holly!"

She was about to ask him more, suddenly intrigued by what he was saying, but was interrupted by two familiar voices calling out at the same time. Before she could say anything, Damon and Michael were stood before her, blocking Steve from view, and when she looked over their shoulders, he was already gone. Before they saw the envelope, she hid it in her shoulder bag.

"Are you alright?" Damon asked. "What did he say to you?"

She looked down, avoiding their eyes. "Nothing." She lied, but stood still. Now that Steve was gone, she realised that she had been standing face to face with the man who had killed her grandfather, and she had been polite to him. This man was the reason that Stella had lost her father, and yet she had shaken his hand. She shook her head, and felt a pair of arms embrace her, Michael's. She hugged him furiously, wanting to take back everything that had just happened, and then the twins had joined them. She vaugely heard Damon instructing them to go and find Alex, and she was led outside of the school to a bench which was sheltered from the wind, and there she had sat and refused to tell anyone what Steve had said to her.

Sighing, Holly wondered why she had stood there. Why hadn't she run? She should have run as fast as she could to her brother, to Michael, to Damon, the twins, anyone, but she stayed. In a way, it was her own fault, and she knew that. She was struggling to wonder why her father would be upset if she didn't do what he said. He had only asked her to go to the auditorium, why would Charlie be upset if she didn't go? He hadn't mentioned anything on the drive home about it, so surely Steve was just winding her up, right? He couldn't really do anything to her, could he?

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts, and she said dully. "Come in." She wasn't at all suprised to see both her parents entering her room. She sat up as Charlie closed the door behind him, and as he sat down opposite her, Stella came and sat beside her. They were silent for a while, before Charlie started talking.

"Alex told us what happened." He said quietly.

"I guessed." Holly said, just as quietly.

"Are you all right, sweetie?" Stella asked, putting her arm around her daughter's shoulders.

Holly nodded slowly. "Yeah. Just a bit shocked." She admitted, there was no point keeping things from the two people in the world who could tell when she was lying.

Charlie leaned forward and picked up Holly's hands in his own. "Holly, we're not going to force you to tell us what happened before the others turned up." He told her. "But if you do want to tell us, we can help with this, but I don't want you to do it because we want you to, I want you to tell us because you want to." His voice was as comforting as he could make it, and Holly squeezed his hand in return, at the same time as she leaned her head on Stella's shoulder.

"He shook my hand." She said. "I had to shake hands with the man who killed my grandfather before I could meet him."

Though Charlie and Stella were proud that Holly cared so much for the late John Bridger, it was a wonder how she could love him as other loved their grandparents, even though she had never met him. Now that she knew exactly how John had died, her hatred for Steve had doubled.

Holly handed out the letter to Charlie. "He told me to give you this." She said. "One's from the talent scout, but one's from him. To you, Dad. He said he'd know if I didn't give it to you."

Charlie read the first letter and handed it to Stella when he had finished, who read it silently herself. Whilst Stella was reading the first, Charlie looked down at the second.

You never thought that I could have them at my mercy, did you, Charlie? I bet you'd even forgotten all about my plan. What I said nine years ago still counts. Whatever you do to me, I'll do to them. All three of them. Your 'darling' wife, you're 'precious' children; they aren't safe anymore Charlie. You can try to protect them, but it won't help. One way or another, I'll find them, I'll find you, and you'll wish you never came after me in LA. If you interfear with my plans, or screw anything up for me, I will kill them, one by one. The kids first, so that you and Stella can watch it, and know that it was your actions that caused it. After watching them die, Stella's next, and everything you've built with my gold will fall apart. You'll have no family, Charlie. None. Just because of the gold. Unless I get my gold back, their lives are mine. I want every cent back, in cash. To refresh your memory from twenty years ago, that's $27 million, and unless I get it all back, Stella, Alex, and Holly die. Don't even think that I'm messing around. Give me my gold, and won't hurt any of them, but until then, I can strike anytime.

He looked up to find Holly looking out the window, and Stella staring at him curiously. She wanted to know what the letter from Steve said, but instead of showing her, where Holly could easily read it as well, he slipped it into his pocket. "Holly-" Charlie began, but Holly cut him off.

"He tried to get me to go with him to the auditorium." She told them, "I said no, and he said that my father would be very upset. He said I'm not as innocent as I look and that he knows more than I think he does."

Charlie didn't answer. He didn't have an answer. For once, Charlie Croker, the mastermind planner of the Italian Job and the LA Heist, had no plan.