Old Distillery
~ Undisclosed, London ~
Shona King
The vicious laughter from Julia and Damian elicited a scowl from Shona, and she tightened her hold on Collin when she felt him flinch. Damian began to explain to her why only sending a threat was not enough of a message. That they never did...
The Ballroom
~ Covent Garden, London ~
Syd Porter
Syd's head was whirring as Roxie and Spencer began discussing what the four digits on the scraps of paper could mean. They were right, of course; they had no option but to play along with the kidnapper's game. All they had was a cryptic clue...
Old Distillery
~ Undisclosed, London ~
Jane Porter
There was no way for Jane to know what was to come, but that didn't matter; the moment the vehicle came to a rolling stop, the dread inside her exploded into new levels of fear. She screamed when Zachary grabbed Ari and pulled her by force out...
The Ballroom
~ Covent Garden, London ~
Michael Zegarra
Part of the trouble with reuniting with the wider family was that now Michael and Collin would have more people to come out to. Michael had already decided that he was ready to take the plunge - as ready as he could be, anyway - but Collin...
The Ballroom
~ Covent Garden, London ~
Syd Porter
It wasn’t a surprise to hear Jeanie admit that she had felt overlooked and abandoned while living in the family home. Syd knew that the years he had spent in prison and various hospitals had stolen considerable chunks of bonding time from J.J...
The Ballroom
~ Covent Garden, London ~
Shona King and Jane Porter
Damian had always been something of an enigma to Shona, and yet she felt she knew him as much as she needed to. He was hollow. Shona had known plenty of people without a grasp of empathy, but this man’s sheer lack of emotion...
The Ballroom
~ Covent Garden, London ~
Shona King and Jane Porter
To receive a compliment from a man so handsome himself; to be the object of his twinkling gaze. Out of nowhere, Jane had suddenly become the main character of one of her romance novels. She was practically melting under the...
The Ballroom
~ Covent Garden, London ~
Syd Porter
If she's in the mood, no need to break it
I got the chance and I oughta take it
If she can dance, we can make it
C'mon queenie, let's shake it
Go, go, go, little queenie
Go, go, go, little queenie...
"...Go, go, go, little Jeanie," Syd sang...
The Ballroom
~ Covent Garden, London ~
Shona King and Jane Porter
Roxie cupped Jane’s face in her soft, cool hands, providing some instant relief as Jane did her best to do as she was told: to not join in with the panicked thoughts that barrelled through her mind. It was strange how fast it...
The Ballroom
~ Covent Garden, London ~
Syd Porter
Immediately, Syd could see in his daughter’s eyes that she was begging him to go away. What had he just interrupted? Or was it simply that she despised him so much that his mere presence was enough to completely spoil her evening? Something...
The Ballroom
~ Covent Garden, London ~
Michael Zegarra
Having become so involved with his church in Manzanillo, Michael had done plenty of charity functions over the years. However, they were never of this scale. The Porters and Kings were much too high class for church fêtes; they were all...
The Ballroom
~ Covent Garden, London ~
Syd Porter
Working alongside Spencer was proving to be surprisingly easy. They worked together as efficiently and respectfully as if they had never been enemies, each of them reporting to the other anything relevant to either family. It was unlike Syd to...
The Ballroom
~ Covent Garden, London ~
Jane Porter and Shona King
Shona couldn’t her eyebrows from rising when Collin told her there were two people in the audience he was hoping to impress. “Two!” she exclaimed, a proud smile forming on her face. “You better be careful there. One can be...
Jeanie’s Apartment
~ Wherever Klaus told him she was ~
Monday 22nd September 1997
Syd Porter
It wasn’t until Jeanie snapped that Syd realised he had a knee-jerk reaction to defend Roxie. He sucked in a sharp breath, ready to snap back at her, but the pain in her voice stopped him. She spat out...
Jeanie’s Apartment
~ Wherever Klaus told him she was ~
Monday 22nd September 1997
Syd Porter
If he could slow down his thoughts, exercise enough self-control, maybe Syd would have been able to put more thought into how he went about approaching his daughter. But he felt he had spent long...
Jeanie’s Apartment
~ Wherever Klaus told him she was ~
Monday 22nd September 1997
Syd Porter
Maybe he was just getting anxious because Jeanie didn't seem to be home, but an unsettling feeling crept in and made the hairs on his neck stand on end. A feeling that he was being watched. Syd went...
Jeanie’s Apartment
~ Wherever Klaus told him she was ~
Monday 22nd September 1997
Syd Porter
It was too much excitement for one day. All these people in the farm house, family members he hadn’t seen for years whom he now, finally, had the opportunity to meet again, and yet it was the one...
Chapter 5: Silk and Subterfuge
Saturday 15th November 1997
London: Evening - Cold, Dry, Windy
******************************
******************************
The Ballroom
~ Covent Garden, London ~
Jane Porter and Shona King
It was all a bit confusing for Jane as to why the family were...
The Snowden Residence
~ London ~
Billy King
Charlie watched in anticipation, a smug grin on his face as Erik calculated his next move. The game was getting towards its end and at this stage, Charlie had a neat collection of white pieces surrounding his side of the board, like a little...
The King Family Home
~ Bethnal Green, London ~
Shona King
Though she didn’t know it, Shona was probably the most prepared of all the parents in the family when it came to educating her children. It was proving difficult for everyone who had returned to London to suddenly enrol their children...