We crawled into bed at eleven-thirty. "Adam," I said. "Thanks for a great twenty-four hours."

He put his arms around me and grinned. "What, that's it? In the weeks we've been seeing each other, there's only been twenty-four great hours?"

I pinched his chin. "You know what I mean. The last twenty-four hours have been wonderful. I wanted to thank you for allowing me to get to know you a little more. I didn't know you could sing, and you're a great drummer." I paused. "How long has it been since you played?"

He laughed and kissed my forehead as I snuggled against his chest. "I play every day...have a bang around. You know... it's called practice."

"Ha, ha! Very funny." We lay quiet, then I said, "Do you want to know what one of the best bits has been for me in these twenty-four hours?"

"What?" he mumbled into my hair.

"Your phone hasn't rung once. Why is that?"

Adam laughed again. "I guess I haven't been needed. The bad guys got locked up, remember."

I pinched him again.

He jerked away and gripped my hand. "Hey!"

"You don't answer my questions directly," I muttered.

Adam kissed my lips and said, "Yeah, I do. You don't listen properly."

I propped on my elbow to look at him. "Why hasn't your phone rung?"

He laughed some more and took my chin between his thumb and forefinger. "Jasmine I'll say one word. Creswick. Then I should beat your backside with my drumsticks for dancing the way you did tonight, even when I said not to do it."

I giggled and poked him in the chest. "I remember you saying to me once that you couldn't tell me what to do."

"Yeah...well...I can now because your arse belongs to me and I get to say what you can do with it."

I kissed him and sighed against his mouth. "I like that my arse belongs to you. What would you like my arse to do now?"

He didn't answer, just put his lips on mine, his hand on my backside and drew me against him. We came together. Rocked our bodies. Our lips never parted. As we shuddered, one after the other, we sighed against each other's mouths and gazed into each other's eyes.

"I will never let you go," Adam whispered. "You belong with me, Jasmine."

A lump caught in my throat. I touched my lips to his and said, "I don't want you to let me go. I want to be with you always."

I woke in darkness and reached across the bed, but Adam was gone. I sighed and checked the clock; he must have gone to the toilet. 4.09 am. I waited, but couldn't hear anything. The door to the bedroom had been closed. A thin stream of light seeped under it. This was odd because we hadn't shut the door when we went to bed. I got out from under the covers.

For some reason, my instincts told me to make as little noise as possible. I listened at the door and heard the hushed tones of men talking. I took a risk and opened it a crack. The light seemed to come from a torch or maybe someone's mobile phone, then a man said, "Come on."

"Shush...I don't want to wake her," Adam's deep tones rumbled.

"She shouldn't be here," the strange voice said. "If Brock found out? Jesus, Adam, you know what he's like."

"Yeah, and I have a life or am trying to have a life outside of this shit," came Adam's reply.

"You knew the deal when this started. Gillian's right you're a fucking idiot," the man said and then added, "She's hot though. I guess she must be good in bed."

"That's something you'll never find out." Adam scoffed, then said, "Is Kay with you?"

"Yeah. In the car. Come on."

"Okay, let me finish this," Adam growled. "I don't want her to worry."

The other man laughed. It sounded like Stan. He said, "You're just worried about your dick. Are you scared she won't accommodate it if you do a no-show?"

"Why don't you shut the fuck up? Adam said. "You're just jealous because your dick has to play by itself."

There was more subdued laughter, and then the back door closed.

I crept to the front room where Adam had stacked the drum set and pulled back the curtain. A dark car, a Commodore or Ford sedan, was parked out front. Adam ushered Molly into the back seat and climbed in after her. The other man, who was bald and dressed in a dark suit, got in the front. Even though the dim glow from the streetlight shone over the car, I couldn't see inside the tinted windows. I'm sure the bald man was Stan and queried why he was in a suit.

The now familiar anxiety of anything to do with Adam engulfed me. I slid to the floor, breathing in and out to stop myself from panicking. Once I was more together, I recalled hearing Adam say he didn't want me to worry. He must have written a note. I rushed to the kitchen and clicked on the light to find a piece of paper near the kettle.

Hi Jasmine,

I'm sorry, but something has come up.

I'm not going to be around for a couple of days.

Please don't worry. All's good. I've taken Molly with me.

I'll come and see you when I can.

I'd like you to take this note and your gear with you.

Don't forget your toothbrush.

I love you,

Adam.

The note didn't help me much. It made me panic more. Should I pack my things and leave right away? I wasn't keen to walk to the train station in the dark. He hadn't said I should rush to leave, so I went back to bed and hugged the pillow, trying to convince myself not to worry.

I woke again at 7.20. Adam's note was on the bed beside me. I reread it. Every time I got comfortable about how things were going between us, something else happened to make me uneasy. I made myself a cup of tea and found some bread in his freezer, so I put a slice in the toaster. While it cooked, I packed my things, made the bed and left my toothbrush on the kitchen sink so I could use it, and not forget it.

I was ready to leave by eight o'clock. I made sure the back door was locked and left by the front door.

A black car like the one Adam had gotten into crawled past. It made me uneasy, and a wave of panic swept through me. When it drove on, I stepped onto the road. A motorbike roared and swerved to miss me. I tripped backwards to get out of its way. My hand landed on a small piece of broken glass. The cut wasn't big, but blood streamed over my palm. I fought back the pain and sucked on the cut then pulled my dirty t-shirt from my bag. I used it to stem the flow as I made my way to the train.

Hmm... that black car sounds suspicious. 

And, wow! Slow down motorbike, you nearly hit Jasmine!!

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