Chapter 24

The following morning Leah and Richie woke up late. They had arranged the night before that Leah, Richie, Jon and Dot would stay on at the hotel for a few more days after the others had left. They woke up in just enough time to get breakfast and washed and dressed to say goodbye to David, Katie, Tico and his wife as well as a few other guests. The only thing they had left to do now was decide what the plan would be for the rest of the day. After a long time wasted with no one wanting to do the same thing they eventually decided to go a boat trip and just spend the day on the loch. It was really cold out on the water but they made the most of it. Having a laugh together and making an endless supply of hot drinks to keep themselves warm. Arriving back at the hotel they all agreed never to get on a boat in the cold again even though they enjoyed themselves they still couldn’t get over turning blue and shivering for most of the time. They spent a little while together in the bar getting warmed up again before they made their way back to their rooms and arranged to meet for dinner and a drink later at night.


By 7pm they had all arrived at the table in the hotel restaurant and were ordering up their food. It was pleasant meal and they had been having a good time together but Leah felt as though she was being watched but no matter how hard she looked she couldn’t see anyone there. The room was pretty busy so she reminded herself that she was sitting with two members of Bon Jovi and put the paranoia down to it being some fans watching them. When dinner was over with the four of them continued to sit at the table and swap stories. Most of them were so funny that Leah had turned red from laughing so hard and she excused herself to get some fresh air and cool down. Outside Leah stood at the side of the building to catch the breeze coming from the loch. She stood there for a few minutes just taking in the scenery until she felt it again. The same feeling she had inside the hotel of someone watching her. This time she was convinced it was definitely no fan. The feeling brought with it the sense of danger and she began to study the areas amongst the trees for any sign of something moving and once again failed to see anything. Deciding it must just be her mind playing tricks on her after the couple of glasses of wine she had with dinner she moved to go back inside. But it was too late.


The man came out of nowhere and was standing right in front of her. She recognised him immediately. Panic and fear set in at the same time and she tried to run but he was too fast for her. In one swift movement he had her pushed back against the wall with his hand over her mouth so she couldn’t speak. “Do you know what you put me through, sending me to that place? I promised you I would find you when I got out and here I am. Imagine my surprise when I find out you’ve been living it up with some rock star while I’ve been locked up like an animal. Now the question is how do we finish you off?” the man said in a dark menacing tone. Leah was trembling now, she knew what this man was capable of more than anyone. “It’s a shame it has to end like this, we could have been good together but you had to go and ruin it all. I think I’ll go for a nice slow death and make you suffer for setting me up. Before we get to that though, I can think of better things to do with you. You were mines once before, you could be again,” he said as his free hand wandered over her body and found the bottom of her dress. As he began to lift it upwards Leah tried to kick and punch at him in an attempt to break free but it only made him mad. “Now that wasn’t very smart!” he whispered quietly which only made it sound more fierce than if he had roared it. Grabbing her neck he threw her back against the wall so her feet were dangling in the air and she couldn’t breathe. She continued to kick at him and pull at his hands but he only tightened his grip. Just as she was about to give up, Leah saw Jon come round the corner and the shock in his face that turned to rage as he realised what was happening. In a split second he had flew from the doorway to where Leah was and dived for the man. Leah fell to the floor and gasped for air while Jon and the man rolled around the floor fighting. After a short time the man managed to break free and ran away.


Jon picked Leah up and helped her back inside making sure she was okay. Richie and Dot noticed them from the table and ran to see what had happened while the barman phoned the police. Within half an hour the police had arrived and Leah explained to them everything that had happened. After dealing with them she returned to where the other three were waiting and Richie threw his arms around her. Leah had tears in her eyes as she apologised for getting them involved in this and thanked Jon for saving her life. She now had to do what she had been dreading for months, she was going to tell them about her past. She explained that she knew the man, that his name was Steve and he was responsible for the death of her husband Joe and their baby. He had been so sick as to set up a camera before he made the attack on them. First he had beat up Leah and stabbed her in the stomach while she was pregnant before moving on to killing Joe with multiple stab wounds. When she finally came around in hospital to the news that she had lost her husband and her baby, the police arrived to tell her that there wasn’t enough evidence to arrest anyone even though she had caught a glimpse of the man they couldn’t use it in court because of the state she was in. She told them of how she got so angry with life and vowed to get justice for Joe. She made the decision to act as Steve’s girlfriend and get to know him and find out where the tape had been hidden. She told them of how she overheard him talking about how he couldn’t believe the woman he stabbed was now his girlfriend and the torture she went through during that time and how it destroyed her as a person but she wouldn’t give up until she found the tape and she eventually did which got him sent to prison. The others couldn’t believe it and Dot seemed to be crying more than she was. They told her she was very brave for doing what she did, but she only felt stupid. They decided to call it a night and they headed to bed where Leah fell asleep in Richie’s arms.