Whew! This ended up being a long one, but I hope it answers some questions, though it will probably leave you with more! Thanks to Jess for your continued reviews, glad you're enjoying the story and my portrayals of old-school characters! It'll be a little longer before you meet Kirsty, but I proimse, it's coming up!

Andrea woke the next morning with a start, feeling a presence over her. The shriek nearly left her mouth when she opened her eyes to a nurse, who looked equally as startled.

"Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just came to do some obs."

"No, I'm sorry," Andrea said, sitting up and holding out her arm to let the nurse put on the blood pressure cuff. "I'm just a bit on edge, and I didn't have the best night's sleep."

"No, the night staff did say you were a bit restless. They did offer you a sleep aid, didn't they?"

"Yes," she said, as the nurse checked her temperature. "I didn't want it. I need to talk to the police today. I need to be alert."

"Yes," she said and nodded towards the door. "They are here to pick you up."

Andrea wasn't sure if that was because they were really concerned for her safety, or they thought she might to another runner again. Not that it was what she had been doing yesterday.

"How do you feel, though? We're not going to discharge you unless you're fit, whoever needs to speak to you. Your obs are good, though. Temperature is back to normal."

"I'm fine," she said. "And this is important. How long will discharge take?"

"We'll try not to keep you too long. You'll need to keep warm. Lots of warm fluids. And maybe not so many more instances of sitting in the cold, hm?"

"Yeah. Right," Andrea said and the nurse left. She sat forwards, pushing her fingers into her eyes, and the door opened again.

"Morning, Andrea, love."

Reg. For all the stick he got at the station, Andrea had always really liked him. He was an old-school copper, never did anyone any harm, yet he got treated like the village idiot. She raised her head and smiled.

"Hi Reg."

"How're you feeling?" he asked, sitting at the chair by her bed. Ever the gentleman, he probably wouldn't dream of sitting on a lady's bed, even if invited to do so. Kit could learn a thing or two from him about how to treat people.

"Fine, thanks. How's Smithy?"

"He's fine. He just needs to stay in for a few days so they can monitor the concussion, but by all accounts he'll make a full recovery."

"Good," she said. "What about Bruce?"

"Ah," he said. "I'm afraid it's not looking too good. I don't know much of course, but they've been doing various scans and tests. The results don't sound too promising."

Andrea swallowed hard as his words washed over her. She thought she'd known there was no hope for Bruce when she'd seen him in the ICU, but the hope was all she held on to.

"Andrea?" Reg said, and put a hand on her arm. "Listen, even if it does turn out to be this man who did it, that's not on you."

"Isn't it?"

"No," he said firmly. "Is isn't. I don't know what's going on here and I don't know what the story is, but what I do know is that you would never have hurt anyone, unintentionally or otherwise."

He was probably in the minority, but the words meant a lot.

"Thanks Reg."

"And I tell you this. I don't want to be this Kit when we get our hands on him. Some days, I'd like to dish out some rough justice myself, and this is one of those times."

Andrea let out a shocked laugh.

"I underestimated you, Reg."

"Story of my life," he said. "You should have read my school reports."

"I bet they're fascinating," she said. "Reg, I know we're probably supposed to go straight to Sun Hill, but can we stop at mine first? There's something I need to get. I don't think I can say what I need to without it."

"All right," he said. "I'll let them know. I'll be outside when you're ready to leave."

Andrea stepped inside her flat, followed by Reg. still ever the gentleman, wouldn't let her go in there alone, and even though she thought he'd probably been told to, he wouldn't have let her go in by herself anyway. She stopped to feed Hugo, who was displaying his displeasure at being alone all night by meowing furiously, then went to the mantelpiece where the necklace sat. She picked it up and turned to Reg.

"Have you got an evidence bag?"

He produced one without asking any questions and she dropped the necklace into it, along with the card Kit had given her, then went to get the photograph album she'd poured over days earlier.

"Is that it?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"Don't you want to grab a jumper or something? You're supposed to keep warm."

"Yeah, I suppose I'd better."

In some ways, he was reminded her a lot of her father. Maybe that's why she didn't see him as the idiot everyone else seemed to. She gave him the album to hold and went back to get a thick turtleneck jumper, pulling it on as she went back out to Reg.

"Let's go, Reg," she said, taking the album back and holding it to her chest. "It's time to tell the truth."

Andrea sat in the interview room, the album and the necklace in front of her. Reg had given her a cup of tea, which she warmed her hands around, biting her lip. The door opened and Sam and Gina entered the room. It was time to break her decade of silence. The Inspector took a seat and glanced at her watch before turning on the tape recorder.

"Interview commences at 1100 hours. Present are myself, Inspector Gina Gold, of Sun Hill police station."

"Detective Sergeant Samantha Nixon, also of Sun Hill police station. Andrea, please identify yourself for the tape."

This was just too surreal, even though she'd long accepted she wouldn't be back the other side of the table again.

"Andrea Jolene Dunbar."

She saw them exchange the sort of look she was used to and not for the first time wished her mother hadn't liked that song so much. She was just immensely glad their agreement was that her father got to choose her first name, or Jolene probably would have been her Christian name.

"Date of birth?"

"December 3rd, 1976."

"Address?"

"20 Veronica Street, Sun Hill, E3 1JR."

"You're sure you don't want a solicitor? Of course you're not here under caution, so you would have to arrange that for yourself. You're not under caution, so you are free to leave if you want to."

She knew, but shook her head.

"It won't be necessary."

"So, why don't you go ahead and tell us what you know about the attacks on Bruce Malcolm and Sergeant Smith?"

Andrea looked down at the album, her hands were flat on the cover.

"Ten years ago."

"We're asking about now, Miss Dunbar, not ten years ago."

The sarcasm wasn't lost on her, nor was the emphasis of Gina's voice on 'Miss Dunbar.' Andrea closed her eyes.

"Let me speak, please."

The temperature seemed to plummet with the narrowing of Inspector Gold's eyes. Sam shot her a look, and looked back at Andrea.

"Go on."

"I was eighteen," she said. "I'd just completed my a-levels. I had a place at university, but I wanted a break. We both did."

"We? Are you referring to Kit Maynard?"

"No, my friend KC."

"Casey have a last name?"

Andrea gave her a blank look, then blinked. "Oh. Sorry. KC is Kirsty. Kirsty Catrina Stewart. KC is just what I called her. She called me AJ."

"Fascinating I'm sure, any idea when we're going to get to the point?"

"Gina, let her talk," Sam said. "Go on."

"We wanted a break. So we decided to travel. We started in Europe, then went out to Australia and New Zealand. Then the USA. We were in California when I saw an advert for voluntary work in Brazil. Teaching English to children."

"Are you bilingual?"

That was asked from the Inspector with genuine curiosity. Andrea shook her head.

"No. You didn't need to be, you were supposed to have all your conversations in English, so the children could learn. I picked up a bit of Portuguese here and there, but no. I'm not fluent."

"So you went there?"

"Yes. I don't think Kirsty was as enthusiastic about the voluntary work, but we were both having too much fun travelling. It was an eighteen week program; it had so much included, room and board, flights, and we were only needed a few days a week, so the rest of the time was ours. So we'd spend as much time as we could sightseeing, experiencing the nightlife. That's where I met him."

"Kit Maynard?"

"Yes. In a nightclub. He asked to buy me a drink, and I accepted. That was the beginning."

She pushed back her chair and stood up, feeling herself beginning to perspire. Not here, not now.

"Do you want a break?"

"No," Andrea said and wiped her hands on her jeans, leaning against the wall. "I didn't mean it to be anything serious, it was just supposed to be a holiday romance. He was staying somewhere further in Rio de Janerio, but he wasn't there working like us. He said he was just there travelling, seeing the world. He always had quite a bit of money, he said he had rich parents. I believe he always said 'trust fund baby.' I didn't question it. You don't, do you? Question someone as to why they have so much money all the time."

"You had a romantic relationship?"

"Yes. Things moved fast, but as I've said, I didn't expect it to last, but sometimes he'd talk about it as if we had a future. I just assumed he was swept up in the moment too, and it would soon wear off. I'd go home, he'd go home, and that was it. We'd never see each other again."

"So, what did happen?" Gina's voice was soft, as if she was just beginning to realise this wasn't as simple a situation as she'd thought.

"The voluntary programme extended. We went to Bolivia, and then to Venezuela. Kit came with us. He wasn't tied down, he said, so he could go where he wanted. Like a leaf blown in the wind. It was there I think I began to notice."

"Notice what?"

"Just how…intense it was. That's how it felt at the time. How he always had to be around, how he always had to know where I was. Kirsty never liked him. I think it was the first time she'd judged a character better than I did. She was annoyed with him always being around, said she'd come travelling with her friend, not to be a third wheel. Anyway, I thought I'd spend time with them separately, but when it was just me and him, it struck me how odd it was that he always had all this money to hand, yet I'd never once seen him go to a cash machine or a bank. He even paid for a trip for all of us to go to Angel Falls."

She sat down, opened the photo album and flipped through until she came to a photograph of all three of them at Angel Falls, taken by a tourist. She slid it from the pocket and turned it towards them. They both leaned in to look.

"And it wasn't cheap. You can only get there by plane, you know, so for one person, let alone three…"

"Did you ask him?"

"Sometimes I'd try to in a jokey way, but I'd just get the same. Trust fund baby. Rich daddy. Would probably never have to work. Then he'd disappear sometimes. Not for days, sometimes just for a few hours. Meeting people, he said. I know Kirsty didn't like him, and she said we should see what he was up to. That I probably wasn't his only holiday romance. One night, we did."

"Follow him?"

"Yes," she said and twisted her hands. "And we caught him."

"Cheating?" The inspector sounded bored now.

"No. I don't think I would have really cared if I had. He was dealing."

Gina sat up straighter. Even Sam, though listening intently, blinked at her.

"A drug dealer?"

Andrea gave her a twisted smile. "You sound surprised. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, right? I should have seen it. I don't know how I was so stupid."

"As you said," Gina said, her voice brittle. "You were eighteen. I don't think many eighteen-year-olds would even think to question."

"Yeah. Well," Andrea said. "That's only half the story. We were from a distance, so I couldn't hear what he was saying, but the buyer said something he didn't like. And he attacked him. I think we were too shocked to do anything at first. I mean, we were expecting to find him with a girl on each knee. Not that. He stopped, finally, when he saw us watching. Then it was like a switch was flipped. It wasn't what it looked like. He'd stalled on a deal. Blah, blah, blah. Some people had already heard the commotion by then, and rushed to help. KC and I were due to go home within the week, so just told him; that was it, we were done. I thought it was the perfect excuse."

"That wasn't the end of it though?"

"No," Andrea said, and got up again. "We finished the voluntary programme the next day, and were just going to finish our last few days sightseeing. I think by then we were ready to go home. Our campsite was at Canaima National Park. It's vast, you know. An indigenous community. Lots of greenery. Lots of waterfalls. It was our second to last night. Kirsty went back to the site to go to the toilet. I was sitting on top of the fall, just thinking I was so glad to be going home. I didn't see him coming."

"What happened?"

"He was drunk. Grabbed me. Demanded we talk things over, because we had something really special. I told him no, I was going home and we were never going to see each other again. He didn't like that. Not one bit."

Her voice shook and her hands clenched into fists, remembering the terror she felt when Kit threw her to the floor with a strength that seemed inhumane and slammed her head on the ground.

"Did he get violent?"

The question was asked by Sam. Throat tight, Andrea nodded.

"For the tape, Andrea is nodding 'yes'."

Andrea opened the album to the back and picked up the loose picture, the one she'd hidden from her parents. She pushed it towards them and watched them both flinch at her bloodied and beaten face. Kirsty had taken it after they got back to the campsite, their own proof if they needed it. For what, she wasn't sure at the time.

"For the tape, Andrea has produced a photograph in which she appears to display facial injuries and bruises."

"Kirsty came back," Andrea said. "She always was the impulsive type, but when she saw, she panicked. Kit's so much bigger than either of us, and she tried to pull him off, but she couldn't. She picked up a rock. It was just one hit, but it stopped him. He was just lying there, on the ground. Eyes open, blood pouring from his head. We thought he was dead. It was before the days of phones, or at least they weren't that common. Not many people had one. Neither of us did anyway."

"So what did you do?"

Andrea looked at the table as she continued speaking.

Kit's dead weight had fallen on her suddenly and for a moment, she'd been too terrified to wonder why he'd stopped raining blows onto her face; she was expecting him to do worse. He didn't though, and she wriggled out from under him, gasping for air. She looked up to see Kirsty, bloodied rock in her hand, breathing heavily, blonde hair all over her face. They both looked at Kit's motionless form; Andrea heaved him onto his back, the blood running from his head into the dirt.

"He was hurting you!" Kirsty's teeth were chattering, and it was nowhere near cold, so Andrea knew it was the shock.

"KC, what've you done!" Andrea said, feeling Kit's neck, his wrist, trying to find any signs of life. "Kit? Kit? I can't find a pulse!"

"I just wanted him to stop hurting you!"

"KC, I can't find a pulse!" Andrea said, her head beginning to hum as her panic rose. "I can't find a pulse!"

"We have to go!"

"We can't just leave him here!"

"What can we do? We can't carry him between us. We have to go back for help!"

"Kit?" Andrea shook his shoulder. "Kit! Wake up, please!"

"AJ!" Kirsty said, grabbing her and pulling her up. "We can't do anything here! We have to get him help there. You as well! Come on! Come on!"

Andrea stumbled as Kirsty dragged her along, and they hadn't gotten very far before a roar of incandescent rage filled the air. Neither had even turned around before Kit grabbed her hair, yanking viciously.

"Kit! Kit stop!"

Andrea could barely hear Kirsty over Kit, even though he was speaking quieter. With his hair wild, and the blood coating one side of his face, he looked even more dangerous.

"You think you're leaving me?" he hissed. "You think I'm letting you do that?"

He shook her hard until she saw stars, pulling at her hair harder until she felt thousands of follicles screaming their agony on her scalp.

"Kit! Stop!" Kirsty screamed, getting between them. He threw Andrea from him; she landed heavily on the floor.

"You just don't know when you're not wanted, do you?" he snarled, grabbing her wrist. "You can go. I'll get rid of you myself if you don't get out of my way. She's going nowhere."

"You can't stop her!"

"You just watch me."

Andrea watched as he threw Kirsty aside like a ragdoll and turned back on her. She'd twisted her ankle when he pushed her, she knew she couldn't outrun him even if she hadn't.

"Kit, no, please!"

He was listening to nobody. He advanced on her, and Kirsty came out of nowhere, dragging him backwards. He was taken by surprise, and yelled, shouting and swearing. It happened suddenly. Kirsty got between them and pushed him, hard. Later, she'd tell herself he couldn't recover himself because he was injured, or drunk, or a mixture of both. His own eyes widened as he realised that there was nothing but air behind him and she realised then how close to the edge he was, and frantically went to pull herself up, even though she knew she couldn't get to him in time.

"Kit! Kit!"

He disappeared from sight and it seemed to take an age before they heard the splash of his body hitting the water. Andrea crawled to the side and looked over the side, squinting. There was no sign of Kit. She looked up at Kirsty, who was staring into the water, her face blank with shock.

"What did you do?"

Andrea's scream seemed to snap her out of her trance. She bent down, pulling Andrea up, draping her arm around her neck for support.

"Come on, we have to go!"

"Kirsty, he could still be alive! We have to get help!"

"Well we can't get help from here, can we? Let's get back to the campsite, we can get help there. We need to get you some help first."

Andrea hadn't remembered getting back up, but she must have. She was back against the wall, her head back. There was a silence that seemed to go on forever. She looked at the two officers and licked her dry lips. She could tell that she'd even shocked Gina Gold; something she thought was impossible.

"Then what did you do?" she asked. "Did you get help?"

"It began to set in," Andrea said. "The shock, I mean. I couldn't stop shaking, being sick. It was the first time Kirsty took control of things. She gave me something to make me feel less sick, I think it was just a travel sickness medication, but it had an adverse effect. Knocked me right out, for hours. She said she'd go and get Kit help."

"And did she?"

"She said she did. When I woke up, it was mid afternoon the next day. Kirsty had packed everything up, and said she'd spoken to the police the previous night." She tapped the picture of her. "She took that. Said we'd need it if they found him and he tried to argue it was unprovoked."

"You said 'she said.' So you don't think she did? Really go to the police?"

"No. Not now. Because she also told me they found his body."

"When was this?"

"A few days after we got home. She said she'd heard from the police that they'd pulled him out of the water. Apparently, the man we'd seen him attack wasn't the first, so they were happy with her story of self-defence."

"But nobody came to speak to you? Didn't you think that was weird?"

"No, because she said she'd kept my name out of it; made out it was just them at the waterfall that night. We just agreed to never speak about it again. So we didn't. I've never told anyone. Until today."

The Inspector gave her a look of disbelief. "You haven't spoken to Kirsty? You haven't told her that the dead man is back?"

"I think she knew full well the dead man never was dead, Ma'am," Andrea said and crossed her arms. "We haven't spoken in years."

"Because of what happened in Venezuela?"

"No," Andrea said, and looked at the floor. "We were best friends since nursery school. We were like chalk and cheese but you know what they say about opposites attracting. I think my parents hoped she'd drag me away from books once in a while and her parents were hoping I'd drag her to them. As we got older, she seemed to get…I don't know, resentful. She'd say things, in ways that seemed like she was joking, but she said them so often, I started to wonder if she really was."

"Like?"

"Well, she thought I had more than her. Only child, did well at school, had a lot of friends, stuff like that. I should have taken more notice. When I went to university I met Marc. We got engaged, but we'd barely started planning. I came home early from work one day and I caught them making the beast with two backs. And that was it. Friendship over, engagement over. They moved in together. Still are, as far as I know. I haven't spoken to her since. I guess that's going to have to change, though."

"And what about Kit? This all happened ten years ago, yet he's only just come to find you now? He just turned up at your door, and said 'hi, remember me'?"

"The day Bruce was attacked, I got a package." She tapped the necklace. "That was in it. I gave it to Kit as a gift when we first started seeing each other. It scared me, but I did just think it might have been Kirsty. I hoped it was."

"Even though you haven't spoken in years?"

"My mother keep me updated on her, or at least she did until I told her I didn't want to hear it. It wasn't too much of a stretch to think hers might do the same. Then you came to see me about Bruce."

"Did you know then?"

"No, not for sure. Not when I saw you. Later that night, I woke up and he was in my room."

There was a silence at that, and the two officers could only imagine the pure terror she must have felt at that moment.

"Stuff of nightmares," Sam said softly. "How did he get in?"

"I let my cat out and forgot to lock the door. Stupid mistake, I know."

"And did he say what he wanted?"

Now was the moment to tell them the worst part, about her baby, about the abortion, and about how furious he was about it. She couldn't. She couldn't say the words out loud. Not yet.

"He was talking about the necklace, wondering if I got it. Reminiscing about when I gave it to him. And as for why it took him so long to come looking for me, he told me he was in prison."

"In South America?"

"Yes. I guess you've checked the PNC by now, and it didn't show up on it?"

"No. There was one conviction for assault, when he was nineteen, but I guess he didn't tell you about that?"

"No. He told me he spent seven years in jail, framed apparently."

"I take it you don't believe that?"

"The hell I do," Andrea said. "Anyway, he said he spent the next three years travelling back to the UK and just wanted five minutes. So we talked. He talked about being 'left for dead.' I asked him to leave. He left."

"And what about the other night? At the pub?"

"I asked to see him again. Even though he didn't admit to doing that to Bruce, he did admit to following me. He quoted what I'd said to him about…about annoying the wrong person. I wanted to see if I could get him to admit it. I didn't think you'd believe me without any proof."

"And did he?" Sam asked. "Admit to it?"

"No. I knew I couldn't be too obvious and talk about it directly, but he…he asked if there was any chance of us getting together again. I told him no, absolutely not, and I think he realised, I didn't want him around. He said he had a fantasy that I'd still be waiting. And I didn't feel safe. So I just decided to get out of there."

"And that was what Smithy saw?"

"Yes," she said and swallowed hard. "I asked Kit to leave him alone, but it was probably the worst thing I could have done. It just made him realise how…"

"Yes?" Gina said, as Andrea's eyes flickered to her. "Go on."

"Well. That I care about him. That he's important to me. That's why he went for him like that. Well, that and nobody ever dared stand up to him like that before."

"You know as well as I do that even if he knew everything you just told us, he'd do the same thing again."

"Yeah. I know."

"This card," Sam said, tapping the card with Kit's number in the evidence bag. "He gave this to you?"

"Yes. But good luck getting any location from it. I doubt he'll use it again, he'll know I'll have spoken to you."

"Just out of interest, what's the story with the Brown Eyed-Girl song?"

"We had a dance to it in a club one time and apparently that made it 'our' song. He was always singing it to me. The man can't hold a tune but at the time I thought it was sweet. After I came home, I couldn't listen to it without wanting to be sick. Still can't."

They sat in silence for a few beats before Andrea spoke again.

"What'll you do now?"

"We'll of course put all resources into trying to find him before anyone else comes to any harm. Smithy can identify him being at the scene of his attack but unless there's a miraculous recovery for Mr Malcolm…you said Kit didn't directly admit to it?"

"No. But he did it."

"And I'm sure you're right," said Gina. "But you also know we need iron-clad proof. Especially for murder."

Bruce wasn't even dead. Andrea's eyes stung.

"You think that's where it's going?"

"From what we've been told from the hospital, it really isn't looking good. I think they've advised his brother to get here as soon as he can, and any family too."

"I don't think there is any other family," she said.

"Andrea, is there anything else you can tell us? Do you have any idea where he might be?"

"He said he was staying somewhere near the Seven Bells, but I don't think that was the truth. I heard the other day that some pretty big arrests were made?"

"Yes?"

"If I were you, I'd start keeping an eye out for anyone looking to fill those gaps. Know what I mean?"

"Yeah," Sam said. "And maybe we should try and find out exactly what, if anything, the police in Venezuela know about this, and about his overseas criminal record. We're going to have to speak to Kirsty, as you well know."

"Can you do that? Find out about criminal records from other countries?"

She'd never had to do that before, and neither as far as she knew, had anyone else.

"I don't know. But we'll give it a good go. Look, do you feel safe to go home? As you said, he knows where you live."

"I don't expect he'll try to come over," she said. "As I said, he'll know that I've spoken to you. He hasn't tried to physically hurt me so far, I don't know what he'd gain from that now."

"So, what do you think he wants?"

To get revenge for me aborting his baby.

"He thinks we left him for dead. Well, if Kirsty didn't actually go to the police, and now I'm sure she didn't, then that is exactly what happened."

"Interview terminated, twelve forty-three," Sam said and stopped the tape. "Look, we can have someone call around each day. Check in."

"I don't think that's necessary."

"Just be careful, Andrea, this man is obviously very dangerous."

"You don't have to tell me," she said shortly. "I'm not a stupid eighteen year old anymore."

Sam blinked at her. Andrea rubbed her eyes.

"I'm sorry. It's been a difficult few days. If I see him, I'll call."

"Well, why don't you wait in reception? We'll call you a cab at least. Make sure you get home safely."

"Thank you," Andrea said sincerely. "I appreciate it."

One would think people would be more careful about leaving their door open, even if they were only putting the rubbish out. One would think, that after having the police come around, concerned about your neighbour's safety, you would make less of a show of giving the police the key to said neighbour's house. But, even for an ex-army man, Andrea's neighbour hadn't been very careful and now those keys were his

Kit twirled them on his finger, in a mimic of the way Sam had done. He had access to her now, even if she had the sense to lock the door behind her this time. That hand didn't need to be shown right now though, so he'd save it, at least until he had what he wanted, and even though Andrea had said they weren't friends anymore, it was surely only a matter of time before she had to see her again. and when she found her, so would he.