Brenda gave a small laugh. "Thought it was a simple smuggling/murder case. But now I'm not so sure. It goes deeper. I just don't know how deep." They got into a comfortable conversation like they'd never been apart.

Sharon picked up her cup and moved to the empty seat across from Brenda. It was still warm from Griff sitting in it before her.

"That guy…" Sharon motioned with her hand.

Brenda shook her head and looked around nervously. He had her so paranoid. "He's dangerous. And…getting more so every day. I don't know if he's bipolar or schizophrenic or what."

Sharon saw something flash across Brenda's face that disturbed her. "Has he hurt you?" She asked slowly and deliberately.

"I have to close this case soon." She didn't answer Sharon's question. "I think tonight I should be able to infiltrate a little more. We have a dinner date and I think I can plant a bug. I hadn't wanted to because he's very methodical and paranoid already. But I think it's my only option now." Brenda kept talking. She didn't want Sharon to ask any more questions that she had to avoid. "I can't hang around long. He's always watching me."

Sharon narrowed her eyes. She hadn't realized until now how deep Brenda had gotten herself but it was swiftly becoming evident. All she wanted to do was help her get out of this mess and get back to LA and a normal life. But then it hit her that life hadn't been the same since Brenda Leigh left. As cliché as it was there was a dark cloud hanging over Sharon ever since.

She couldn't deny the feeling she got when she walked into the café and saw Brenda sitting there. It was like something out of a movie.

"Where does he live? I need to know in case…" Sharon didn't want to think about any in case situations but she had to be logical with a man this dangerous. And she didn't waste any time. She was well aware of how quickly things could turn dangerous or even deadly.

Brenda quickly wrote down Griff's address and her own. She also explained how he had her apartment bugged. As much as she didn't want involve Sharon in any of this, she knew she had to. For her own safety. It was getting too creepy now. She didn't mention the break in.

Brenda laid her hand on Sharon's arm and looked into her green eyes. She'd missed this…the camaraderie for so long. "Thank you." It was the sincerest Sharon had ever heard her.

Sharon shrugged. "What are friends for?"

Sharon couldn't tell Brenda about Stroh. Not yet. It would just be another distraction and she didn't need that right now. Sharon hoped she wouldn't regret her decision. And she really hoped Brenda Leigh wouldn't hold it against her. Because just the few short minutes they got to sit together and talk was worth it all.

For the rest of the day, Sharon scoped the area around the addresses Brenda had given her. She needed to familiarize herself with Brenda's surroundings if she was to be any help at all. But she couldn't help thinking about her.

Henry promptly knocked on Brenda's door at 8pm. She wore a stunning turquoise dress that fit her like a glove. In her mind, Brenda knew she had to get the information she needed tonight if she wanted to break this case. And it would take a lot of old fashioned charm and seduction for her to get it and she planned on getting what she needed any way possible. Even if it meant lowering herself to depths she had said she never would.

Henry was quiet but seemed more on edge than usual. He didn't say anything as he helped her into her coat and proceeded to the waiting car.

Brenda didn't engage him in useless conversation this trip. No, she needed to concentrate on the task at hand. Tonight would make or break it all for her. After today's surprise visit with Sharon Raydor, Brenda had more confidence in her abilities. For the first time she felt like her old self again.

A tiny laugh escaped her rosy lips. It shocked her how much she wanted to get this night over with and hopefully be able to sit down and have a longer conversation with Sharon. She couldn't help but feel the need for companionship. And just seeing her sitting right across from her, being able to smell her perfume, was almost too much to bear. Sharon Raydor consumed her nightly dreams and finally after all this time they had finally come true.

Henry stopped the car in front of Griff's home and opened the door. It had started raining along the route so he extended a large black umbrella above her head and she walked along the cobblestone walkway to the door.

Before she could knock on the heavy dark, wooden door, Griff pulled it open from the inside. She expected him to be dressed in his finest clothes as he was trying to impress her. But tonight he wore a pair of wrinkled black jeans and a loose grey button up shirt. The shirt was untucked and hung haphazardly on his slumped shoulders. His usual purposefully mussed hair was standing every which way and his face had a deep shadow. The whites of his eyes were blood red again.

"Is this a bad time?" She asked looking him over again.

He only shook his head and grabbed her wrist pulling her into the foyer a little harder than he needed to. She stumbled slightly in her Manolo pumps but quickly righted herself.

"Griff?" She asked again.

And again he didn't say anything. Her internal receptors stood on end now. Even when he bruised her wrist in LA and almost forced himself on her in her apartment, he was never this dark. Only now was she truly scared for her life. As he continued to grip her wrist, her eyes scanned the room. She needed to know where every window and door was in case she needed an escape. And where every available object that could potentially be used as a weapon.

Finally he started dragging her towards the dining room. She turned back and saw Henry over her shoulder. The look on his face was pure confliction. Her eyes pleaded with him to stay away. She couldn't risk him getting in between herself and G. R. Hawthorne if something were to happen. And something was certainly going to happen.

Griff kicked open the double doors of the dining room and all of the air left Brenda's body like she had been punched in the stomach.

"Hello…Chief. Well I guess it's not chief anymore, is it, since your…what did they call it…retirement?" He laughed a sinister, gravelly laugh. "We should be on a first name basis by now…don't you think?"

She couldn't believe it. The last person in the world she thought she would ever see again was sitting at the far end of the long elaborate dining table. He sat back and slowly polished the silver utensils with a cloth napkin not because he needed to but because it was there.

"Cat got your tongue…Brenda?" That smirk. That smirk that haunted her dreams at night.

It's not that she couldn't find the words. She couldn't make her brain make her mouth work.

The throbbing around her wrist made her realize Griff still had her clutched in his grasp. He easily pulled her further into the room and pushed her into the dining chair at the opposite end of the long table.

"I like the brown hair, by the way. It doesn't make you so…bitchy."

"Why…why…why aren't you in prison?" Her voice finally found her. She hoped she was in the midst of a bad, evil dream. Because before her was the only person who had ever brought her to her knees. Her heart was beating out of her chest and she could feel the heat rising up her neck. It took a few minutes but Brenda Leigh finally composed herself enough to start putting the pieces together. Her eyes darted back and forth between G. R. Hawthorne and…Philip Stroh—the man she should have killed on her kitchen floor so many years ago.

Stroh shrugged his shoulders as he stood up and walked over to the windows and quickly glanced behind the curtains and into the dark, wet London night. He then slowly made his way to where Brenda was sitting. He bent over and whispered in her ear. His hot breath sending chills down her spin. "What can I say…your husband's…" She flinched. "Oh that's right. I'm sorry. Your ex-husband's friends cut me a deal. And here I am. Surprise!"

"I always knew you had a partner." Griff was still clenching her wrist so she couldn't get up or away.

She felt Stroh smile against the side of her face. "Aren't you the clever one? Now, I get the ultimate prize. You will be at my mercy…finally." He wrapped his cold hand around her neck. "And when I slowly, painfully, end your life…I'll enjoy every second of it."