A/N: Thank you for the reviews!
Vera yawned as she stared down into her tea cup. Hu had called and said he would be late by half an hour, so she'd sat down to study over the notes she'd brought home with her. The more she read what they said, the more she began to suspect the man they only knew as Michael, had known the Kingsleys long before he'd shown up pretending to be from P and C. That or he'd been watching Hellen and had decided to get closer.
If only they had a name.
How do you find someone without a name?
If she could see him, she could get a sketch made of him and they could put it about to see if anyone knew him, if anyone could give them a name. Then of course there was the fact that the man had probably fled the country by now.
She knew that he had to know they were looking for him, after that awful news story telling, and showing, how she looked like Hellen. The PR department had wisely left her alone on that score. For updates on the case, they only bothered Aiden, another wise choice as she suspected someone in that department had been responsible for the leak of her picture to the media.
Damn vultures.
They had their use, she knew that, but the story of how the inspector in charge of the latest murder looked like one of the victims, was going over the line.
Hearing a noise outside, she frowned and got up to go see if it was Hu. Turning the lock on the door and expecting to surprise Hu, she found herself staring into the piercing blue eyes of a stranger that made her skin crawl.
"Can I help you?"
"You just won't leave me alone. Why won't you learn your lesson? Why can't you stop teasing me? I slit your throat. You're supposed to be dead."
Vera's heart hammered in her chest. So they'd all been right, she had been in danger. Well, she'd told them over and over she could take care of herself…time to prove it, she supposed. "I'm not her, Pet."
"Of course you are. Did you think coloring your hair would keep me from finding you?"
"I'm not her. My name is Vera."
"Did Mr. Kingsley tell you that lying to me would save you?"
"I'm not lying, Pet. Let me get my coat, and I'll show you me ID. You'll see I'm not her." Vera backed up slow and easy, her eyes never leaving those of the crazed man on her doorstep. She supposed she didn't need Hu's help to know what the killer looked like now.
"You can't escape me. You couldn't before. Having sex with him when you turned me down. You're all alike."
"It wasn't me." Vera denied again, bumping into a chair and moving around it, her goal the kitchen and a knife to use if necessary. "I have a friend coming. He can help you understand why you killed the Kingsleys."
"I killed Martin because he took what was mine. You. You're mine, not his."
"But I'm not yours. I wasn't his. I'm Vera Stanhope." Vera watched the young man follow her and fought to keep her wits about her. Reaching the kitchen, she moved toward the sink. "What if I make you a cup of tea? Would you like that?"
"I don't want tea. I came for you."
"What's your name? I know it isn't Michael. Tell me, Pet."
"Since you'll never be able to tell anyone, I will. It's Steven."
"Steven, I'm not Hellen. I'm Vera. I just look like Hellen. Look at me. Hellen couldn't possibly have changed her figure this much in such a short time."
Steven shook his head. "Stop, Mrs. Kingsley. I know it's you. You're just trying to get rid of me again, but it won't work this time. I'm taking you with me to where no one can find you."
"My friends won't like that," she whispered, her hand slowly reaching into her pocket and hitting the talk button on her mobile twice, knowing that it would dial Shep's mobile as she'd been the last one she'd talked to just before arriving home.
"What are you doing?"
Vera shook her head and pulled her hand out, thankful that she had a small packet of biscuits in her pocket to backup her lie. "Nothing but grabbing my biscuits. I thought they'd go nicely with the tea."
"We won't be drinking tea."
VS
Shep answered her mobile when it buzzed on her desk, the number on the screen telling her it was Vera. "Boss," she said, expecting Vera to tell her why she'd called. All she got was Vera's voice, muffled by something and an unfamiliar voice that made her eyes grow wide. "Kenny! Aiden!" she yelled as she laid her mobile on her desk and put it on speaker.
"What is it?" Aiden asked as he looked at her from his desk.
"Get over here and listen. Kenny, send uniforms out to Vera's. He's there."
Aiden's eyes widened as he half ran to Shep's desk, holding his breath as he listened to Vera trying to talk the man down like she'd done so many times. "It's like he isn't hearing what she's saying."
"We need to go." Shep said. "My firearm's in the car. Come on." She grabbed her mobile and rushed out of the room, Aiden's foot falls sounding behind her.
"Kenny, stay here and track Vera's mobile." Aiden shouted just before leaving the incident room, hot on Shep's heels.
She was already in her car by the time Aiden rushed down the front steps. His heart was hammering in his chest, but not from running. Fear had griped him and all he could think about was what would they do if they arrived and found Vera, but he shook his head. No. She said she could take care of herself.
Shep nearly squealed the tires as she sped out of the parking lot. She didn't much care that she was breaking speeding laws, she only cared about getting to Vera before…she couldn't even bring herself to think it. Vera was going to be waiting for them with a smirk on her face. She'd said over and over again that she could take care of herself.
VS
Vera had moved away from the sink when Steven started to grab for her. "I'm not Hellen. Look around, there are no pictures of my family. No pictures of children, a husband. Nothing because I'm not her." She continued to talk even as she spotted a knife on the table.
"Why do you keep lying to me?" Steven yelled as he moved around the table. "You can't get away. You're trapped. I won't let you get away this time. You're mine. I carved it into your back."
"But I don't have anything carved on my back. Steven, why did you kill Hellen and Martin?"
"I killed Mr. Kingsley because he took what was mine."
"But she wasn't yours."
"You are mine."
Vera was getting exasperated with the man. It was as if he only heard her when she didn't deny she was Hellen. How long had he been obsessed with the woman? The way Steven was acting, his obsession started long before he started working on the grounds at the Kingsley's home. "When did I meet you?" she asked, finally deciding to play along, hoping he wouldn't notice her slowly moving closer to the table so she could get the knife.
"At the hospice. You ran into me one day," he answered, reaching out and grabbing her just as her hand nearly had the knife. "What are you doing?" he screamed and shook her.
Vera felt her eyes water as the knuckles of his hand met her cheek when he backhanded her. She had no answer so she just tried to wriggle herself free of his grasp, her free hand reaching up to wipe the blood from her mouth. His grip tightened and she felt herself being dragged out of the kitchen. "Where are you taking me?"
"Home where you belong."
"But I am home," she argued, giving up on pretending to be Hellen. That had done nothing for her.
VS
"Kenny." Aiden answered his mobile when it rang. They were nearly to Vera's and things weren't sounding good on Vera's end when they could actually hear what was being said. She seemed to be moving about and something in her pocket was clacking against her mobile. "Damn it."
Shep glanced at her passenger. "What is it?"
"They're on the move. That's why it's been hard for us to hear. Kenny said they're heading South."
"Where could the man possibly be taking her?"
"I have no idea. I don't know this place like Vera does."
"I don't, either. None of us do. Maybe Billy?" Shep suggested.
Aiden nodded. "I hate to worry him more than he already is."
"Can't be helped. We have to know."
Dialing Billy's number, Aiden waited for the answer. "Billy, he's taken her."
Shep listened to Aiden's side of the conversation. She could tell Billy wasn't taking the news well, and from Aiden's disappointed, "Oh," she realized that Billy didn't know the area well, either. Now what?
Aiden sighed as he ended the call. "Now what do we do?" he asked, echoing his partner's thoughts without realizing it.
"Kenny. Call him and see what he knows. Maybe if he doesn't know it well, he'll know someone who does."
"Billy said that Vera was expecting someone at ten this morning."
"I haven't heard anyone other than her and Steven."
"At least we have a name." Aiden scowled.
"No last name, though. She's been too busy trying to convince him she isn't Mrs. Kingsley to think of asking him his last name."
"I doubt if we'd hear it now anyway. He must have stuffed her in the back of a van."
"Or the boot of a car." Shep whispered.
"Bloody hell." Aiden breathed then dialed Kenny's work number. "Are they still on the move?" he asked when the older man picked up. "What?" he listened then frowned. "What do you mean they seem to have just stopped?" Rolling his head back and forth, Aiden listened to Kenny then sighed, "Do you know the area? We need someone that does because Shep and I are lost out here if we go beyond Vera's."
Shep sighed. What bad news had Kenny delivered now? Stopping? Where? They'd just pulled into Vera's and there was nothing as far as the eye could see so where could the man have possibly stopped?