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Love, Life and Lies


Guest dolly-999

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Chapter number 21. Good bye

“Peter” Lara exclaimed, she was sitting at Peter's desk, stairing at the documents they'd found at the shed last night, and one near the bottom of the pile had her name on it, Loyd had wanted her dead, along with her no good brother and nearly everyone else she knew.

“Yeah” he called back coming through the door and seeing her with the files in her hand. “Um Lara you don't need to be reading those”.

“I already found the one with my name on it” she told him dully, “Peter, why didn't you tell me?”

“I didn't want you to worry” he explained, pulling up a seat next to her and sitting down.

“This is part of a case I'm working on, you can't just keep these kinds of things from me!” Lara screamed. “Sorry” she apologized softly, “it's just a shock” she told him, bitting her lip, trying not to cry.

“No, I'm sorry, I should of told you” Peter told her soothingly.

“Promise you won't keep anything else from me?”

“I promise” he agreed nodding his head slightly. “They just called in before”.

“And?” she asked, still trying to hold herself together.

“The hit man Loyd was hiring for all his work in the past was...”

“Who?”

“Matt” Peter told her, “Your brother Matt”.

Lara was silent for a moment, “But how?” she began to lose control over her tears. “He was one of the one's Loyd wanted dead”.

“We don't know yet” Peter told her in a hushed voice, trying to calm her down.

“For all we know, Loyd could of told him to kill everyone else on that list, and then finished him off himself” she sobbed.

“Lara, nothing's certain yet”.

“That doesn't mean it's not true, knowing Matt's twisted mind he's probably watching and waiting for the right moment to kill me and everyone else. Why did I have to come from a messed up family?”.

“Your not messed up, just because one brother has an obsession with crime doesn't mean your like that, your nothing like him, nothing at all” he told her, trying to make her feel safe, using his fingers to move a stray piece of hair back behind her ear. A tear rolled down her cheek, and Peter found himself whipping it away with his thumb before pulling her in close to him, sliding her onto his lap and wrapping his arms around her, “It's ok Lara, no one's going to hurt you, I promise” he whispered.

For some reason he felt the need to protect her, like he would blame himself if someone dared to hurt her, and once again, without thinking her kissed her gently on the top of her head while she cried into his shirt.

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“She looked so weak” Martha spoke sadly taking another sip of hospital made coffee from the disposable polystyrene cup. She looked over at Tony who was sitting next to her, he seemed lost, really lost, just like Beth, Maddie and Lucas who were sitting in chairs opposite them.

Maddie sighed, “why did this have to happen?”.

“I don't know sweet” Beth sobbed, putting an arm around her, “It's not fair”.

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Down the hall, a man in about his sixties stood in front of Serena's door, he looked at the number, it was twenty three, just like the nurse had said. Then slowly he reached out and grabbed the silver stainless steal door handle applying pressure on it to turn, ever so carefully pushing it open, taking a step inside.

Serena looked up, expecting to see Martha or one of the other's she tried to smile, but as soon as she saw who it was she was angry, “what are you doing here?” she asked, she couldn't raise her voice, she didn't have the strength, she just staired at him with fierce eyes.

“I came as soon as I heard about the-”.

“Don't even pretend to care dad”.

“Serena, of course I care, your my daughter”.

“Like that's even made you care about anything else that happens to me, you sit and watch me get sent to jail for something I didn't even do, you sit there in front of me while I'm locked up and tell me that I got myself into that mess and that I deserved every single minute of it” she exclaimed, her voice going crackly and she was shaking from trying to make her weak body get her point across, “and you expect me to believe that you actually care when I'm dieing?”

“Look I know I made plenty of mistakes about you, but that doesn't mean that I don't love you. I can't lose you the same way I lost your mother” he whispered sitting down next to her bed.

“What? Mum had Leukemia? But why didn't you tell me?”

“You were too young, can you imagine explaining to a two year old that there mum just died from a deadly disease?”

“No, but that didn't mean you had to lie to me my whole life, you told me that she died in a car accident. Dad, your a doctor, a cancer doctor, you knew more than any one what her condition was and you couldn't even explain it to me” Serena said blankly, she didn't know what to do, she felt more betrayed than ever, so she did what came to her first, “just go”.

“But Serena-”

“No dad, just go” she repeated, holding herself together and keeping a straight face.

“Hey, how-” Tony started as he came into the room, “hey, I didn't mean to interrupt anything”.

“You weren't interrupting anything, he was just leaving” Serena told him, giving her dad a death stair.

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“You ok now?” Peter asked soothingly rubbing his hand up and down Lara's back.

“Yeah, thanks, I just got a bit of a scare”.

“That's alright. I'm just glad your ok now”.

“Me too, you've been a big help, not just today, ever since the whole thing with Matt last year you've been great, thank you, I don't know what I would of done with out you” she thanked him, there was a moment of silence, a moment of confusion, Peter could see a twinkle in her eye, there was something special about her.

He moved closer, their eyes locked. Lara didn't know what to do, so she gave him a hug instead, she couldn't kiss him. Her husband died three years ago and ever since then, when ever she'd gotten that close to another man she'd felt like she was walking allover his grave.

Peter felt a little disappointed, but he took her in his arms anyway ,“So are you up to going down to Greensville now?” he asked, pulling away from her.

“Of course I am, come on lets go” Lara said, getting up and grabbing Peter's hand, pulling him out of the door. Peter just smiled and followed her lead, it was good to see Lara's smile again, even if she didn't feel the same way towards him.

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Tony sat by Serena's side, ever since the guy that had been in here earlier had left, she'd been silent. She was getting weaker, the cancer was taking over. “Serena, is there anything I can do for you?”

Serena just nodded, slowly reaching out to grab a folded up piece of paper, her hand shock as she handed it to him, “can you give it to Jack for me?” she asked softly, she couldn't talk anymore than a small voice now, an her words were coming out slowly.

Tony nodded, trying to hold himself together, for everyone's sake, he had to stay strong, “I will. I'll make sure he gets it” he reassured her.

“Thank-, thank you”.

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Chapter number 22. What you mean to me.

Jack sat in his cell, his dad had come and gone five minutes ago, leaving him with a letter from Serena, he couldn't open it, he'd cheated on her and she knew nothing, well that's what he thought anyway. Then something forced his hand to unfold the piece of paper, stairing at Serena's hand writing he began to read:

-

Dear Jack,

By the time you read this I'll be long gone, and if not then I'm not far away from passing. I've caught a virus, and the chemo has prevented my immune system to take control.

I love you Jack, and i can only hope that I can leave this world in total peace between us, I never ment to hurt you by not telling you about my past, I just wanted to forget about it and move on, so I blocked it out completely, and blocked it out from the people around me. I just hope that you can forgive me over time.

I want to say thank you for being with me in the last few years of my life, it's made my life full of joy, I've never felt so loved by anyone in my life, and I want to thank you for loving and respecting me.

I know that while I'm gone there will be plenty of other women that will see the amazing man you are Jack, and I want you too be happy, even if it's not with me. I know this might seem a little straight forward, but, I know you love Martha, not just as the mother of your child, but as a person. I don't want you to hold back, or feel bad about it, if your happy I will be too.

Take care of yourself.

Love from Serena

-

When Jack finished reading the letter he folded it back up. His face had tears streaming down it, no matter what there would always be a place in his heart for Serena, there was no point in denying it, he just hoped that Martha could understand.

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“You ready?” Peter asked, pulling the keys out of the ignition after stopping the police car when they arrived at the crime scene in Greensville.

“Yeah” Lara sighed. Peter went to open his door, but then Lara stopped him, grabbing his arm, “listen, Peter about before, back at the station-”

“Can we talk about this later?” Peter snapped, giving Lara a moment of fright. “Look I'm sorry-”.

“No Peter, it's fine, maybe it should just wait till later” Lara told him, getting out of the car quickly and out to some of the other's that were investigating the area. Peter felt like an idiot, carelessly he tossed his head back, banging it on the head rest and letting out a sigh of frustration before pulling himself back together and opening the car door to face what was in front of him.

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Back at the hospital Tony made his way down the hall and entered Serena's room where Beth, Maddie, Lucas and Martha were all surrounding Serena's bed. She lay there so still, too still. “oh my gosh” Tony let out, his eye's, like the other's in the room, began streaming with tears.

No one looked up at him, they all were lost, only half aware of what was going on around them, “you missed her by a few minutes” Martha told him, still lost in space, “she's gone”.

No one knew what else to say, no one knew what to do, all that was going through their heads was the last words she'd said to each of them over the last few hours, she'd spoken to Tony before he left, and then when he was gone, she'd asked each of them to come into the room one by one.

-

BETH'S MEMORY

“You know my mum died when I was to young to remember, and as I was growing up I didn't think I'd ever love anyone the same as her, but then I met you. I love you the way I would of loved my mother if I'd met her”.

-

MADDIE AND LUCAS' MOMORY

“Thank you for always being around for me, thank you for listening to me, for laughing with me and for crying with me. I don't think I could of ever asked for a better brother and sister in law”.

-

TONY'S MEMORY

“I know that when I first came to Summer bay with Jack that I was a real mess, but you still made me feel welcome, and made me feel like I was part of the family, thank you.”

-

MARTHA'S MEMORY

“It's no secret that we were never the best of friends when we first met Martha, but over time, you became my best friend, I know that we've both had our differences to sort out over the years, but, no matter what you'll always be like a sister to me. Thank you for accepting me for who I am and my past. Look after Jack for me”.

-

“Sorry to interrupt” the nurse apologized, “but were going to have to take her away now” she explained, as other nurses came in and wheeled her bed out.

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“Peter come and take a look at this” Greg, one of the officers called out.

Peter approached him, he was standing next to Lara in the shed, he'd managed to avoid her since they had arrived right up until now, he felt orquad now that he was coming close to her, even though he wasn't looking directly at her, he could feel her eye's on him, they were haunting him, and he didn't know what to do, “so what have you found then?” Peter asked trying to keep his eyes away from Lara who had now turned around and pretended to look like she was searching for something, inside she was itching to turn around and shove Greg out of the way so that they could talk, but she couldn't let this get in the way of work.

“We've found out that Loyd was hiring some one else to kill Matt after he'd killed all the other people on his hit list” Greg explained to him, “does the name look familiar?” he asked handing the file to Peter.

“No, we'll have to do a background check, see if we can track him down” Peter told him, “how about you go and run that over to one of the computer guys now?”

“Yeah, ok” he agreed leaving Peter and Lara alone in the shed.

“Lara?” Peter started, feeling a little uncomfortable.

“What?” she replied bluntly, not even turning around to look at him.

“We need to talk”.

Lara turned around and looked at him for a second, waiting for him to continue.

“Look, I'm confused” he said honestly.

“Are we still talking about the case, or something else?” she asked.

Peter paused for a moment, taking in a deep breath and moving a step closer to her, “I'm talking about you and me”.

Lara nodded, “Look, I know things have been weird between us lately, but right now, we've got a job in front of us”.

“Lara please, it can't wait” Peter begged her, almost sounding desperate.

“Peter, would you just stop, please!” Lara exclaimed, almost feeling the need to yell, she looked angry, making Peter's spine shiver. “It can wait” she simply said before storming out the door.

Peter raised his hand to his head, hitting himself in the center of his for head, he had the charms to swept a woman off her feet, just like his brother. But unlike Dan, he had a way of really annoying the heck out of women right after he had them under his spell, driving her away, 'maybe that's why I'm still single' he thought to himself.

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“Oh my gosh” Tash exclaimed, “she's dead?” Tash could feel her heart skipping a beat with fright.

“Yeah, she caught something” Robbie explained, sitting down on the couch at Irene's next to Tash.

“She caught something?”

“Yeah, it was the flew”.

“But that means-” Tash started, but then covered her mouth when she realized, “she caught my flew, I killed her” she said out loud, her eye's beginning to swell up with tears.

“No Tash, the flew killed her” Robbie comforted her, wrapping a strong arm around her.

“Yeah, a flew that I gave to her” she sobbed, “this is all my fault”.

Author note: Well Serena's officially out of the picture now, so I hope everyone that hatted her with a passion is happy now. Please review and give me your opinion.

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Chapter number 23. Why?

“Why did this have to happen to her?” Martha finally said after sitting in silence for the last hour. The cup of coffee in her hands that she'd been stairing at had gone cold about half an hour ago. And there she sat in the Holden's lounge room with the other's all sitting in silence. It wasn't like a family gathering to be so quiet, the Holden's were one of the families who knew how to party better than anyone else. But now the place was full of grief, it felt like a ghost town, the people were dead spirited, coffee couldn't help any of them.

The only response Martha got to her question was a hug from Beth who was sitting next to her. She put down the mug in her hands and cried into her mother's shoulder, the world wasn't fair, it probably never would be, and right now she felt like every worst night mare was hitting her in the face.

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In the busy city street's of Sydney, a taxi pulled up in front of the airport. The door opened and a man stepped out; it was Serena's father. He showed little emotion's and his face looked stiff, like he was angry. He'd left the hospital as soon as he'd heard the news that his daughter had passed, and now he was trying with everything he had to block the pain away, shut himself down, and go on with normal life.

It was the same way he'd lost his wife, the same condition, the same complications and the same results, and now he was blaming himself. He'd lost his daughter long before today, it was something he didn't like to admit, but it was the truth, he'd blocked her out, doubted her, and left her when she needed him most. 'What kind of father does that make me?' he thought to himself, making his way through the airport doors, ready to return to Washington D.C to his cancer patients.

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“Why did you have to die?” Lara sobbed. She was sitting at the foot of a grave, the light was getting dimmer and dimmer, day was fading away. The head stone on the grave read 'Glen Fitzgerald, much loved husband and friend'. “Why did you have to go to work that night? Everything would have been ok if you'd just stayed at home” she continued, her husband Glen was a cop, just like her, he was working at the station at Reeften lakes the night he died, there'd been a phone call from a girl in fright who's boyfriend was threatening to kill her. So without any second thought Glen and his work partner made their way to the address, only to find themselves at the gun point of the crazed drug driven boyfriend, and he didn't hesitate to shoot.

Moment's of crying like this had been more and more fewer over the three years since his death, she'd adapted to everyday life again, she'd become stronger, but every now and then, some one would get close to her, someone who cared more for her than just a friend, and she'd fell that by giving in, she'd be dancing all over Glen's grave. He loved her, he'd told her that every day since he'd met her in high school. He would of wanted her to be happy, she knew that, but it still didn't make her feel any better.

She looked around her, it was getting darker, she'd be due back at the station soon, and there was no prizes for guessing who would be waiting there for her, just waiting to talk.

She pulled herself together, ready to face the world again, trying to keep calm and forget about the many things on her mind that were slowly driving her to insanity.

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In the shadows of the moon-lit sky, a figure dressed in black from head to toe quietly walked trough a patch of long grass in the middle of the bush. The area was surrounded by trees, tall tree's that stood still in the night's sky, haunting the place buy there leafless branches. The figure kept creeping along through the bush, the trees getting thicker and thicker as it got further and further into the darkness.

Then, there was a small wooden box shed, only a few meter's in length, with an old wooden door that looked like it had been pulled out of a junk yard. The door opened, creaking loudly from the rusty hinges, and the figure disappeared into the shed, closing the door behind them.

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Peter sat in his office tapping the end of his pen on the desk furiously, Lara was in his mind, driving him crazy. He kept remembering how angry she'd been at him that day, he'd just pushed it too far, and now he'd come to the realization that she didn't have the same feelings about him that he had about her.

His thought's were interrupted by a familiar voice entering the station. “Sorry I'm a bit late” he could hear Lara saying to the guy sitting at the front desk.

“That's fine, do you think you could go and give this to Peter, I think he's in his office” the guy asked, handing her a yellow paper folder will what looked like a million pages in it.

She staired at the folder for a minute, and the thought of Peter re entered her mind, “Um, ah, um, yeah, sure thing” she stuttered, finding herself reaching out for the folder and heading towards the door of Peter's office. 'Oh gosh Lara, why the flipping heck did you just to that?' she asked herself, feeling the need to use the thick folder as a weapon to hit herself over the head.

Peter could see a shadow through the paint covered glass in the window of the door, he knew who it was, then there was a small knock, it seemed almost like she was still trying to decided whether to come in or not. “Come in” Peter called.

The door opened slowly, and Lara took a step into the room, she didn't even look at him in the eye, she just lent forward and dropped the file on the edge of the desk.

“Lara, please, just-” Peter tried to get out, but before he could say anything else the door closed and Lara was gone.

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Down the corridor of the station, past the interview rooms, Lara made her way into her office. Half of her hated herself for leaving Peter like that, but the other half didn't want to talk, so that's why she had done what she'd done. She sat herself down, taking a look at the piles of work on her desk and sighed.

The door opened and there stood Peter, “Lara please just hear me out”.

Lara nodded, giving in, “Ok, come in” she said softly, she was going to have to talk sooner or later, and she seemed to get the idea that he wasn't taking no for an answer.

Author note: I've been noticing while reading through the last few chapter's that everyone in this story seems to be pretty depressed at the moment, I'll try to make something happy happen soon. Please review.

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Chapter number 24. The final goodbye

“Lara about today, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you get upset” Peter apologized.

“No, I'm sorry, you were right, it can't wait, when stuff like that comes up, it's hard to keep working while your thinking about something else” Lara said honestly.

“Yeah tell me about it” Peter replied, a smile came to his face, a few minutes ago he thought that he wouldn't be getting the chance to talk to her without one of them getting cranky, and there they both were, smiling at each other, it was a second that seemed to last forever, he looked into her eyes, they were beautiful to him, just like her smile, just like everything about her.

“Look, Peter, I'm going to have to be honest with you”. She started, pulling her gaze away from his. “This morning before we left to go to Greensville, there was a bit of a-, well”.

“A spark?”

“Yeah, I guess you could call it that” she told him looking down at her hands.

Peter reached out his hand and gently guided her chin up, “I felt it too” he admitted, “and you've been driving me crazy ever since”.

“Peter” Lara spoke, pulling her head back slightly to separate his hand and her chin. “I'll admit that there was something there, and yes, I can't stop thinking about you, but-”.

“There's someone else isn't there?” Peter jumped to conclusion, sounding disappointed.

“No” Lara shot out, “yes and no”.

“What do you mean?”

“You remember Glen don't you?”

“Yeah, of course I do, he was a very highly respected cop”.

“Ever since-, ever since he died, I just-, I feel like when ever I get close to another man, like I'm dancing allover his grave”.

“Oh, I see” Peter said, putting his arm around her.

“And I know, I know he would of wanted me to be happy, but it's just-”.

“You still feel like your letting him down” Peter added.

“Yeah. But that doesn't mean that I want to forget about what's been happening between us, the truth is I'm falling in love with you. Are you willing to wait just a little while for me?”

Peter nodded, with an understanding smile on his face, “I think I can manage that”.

“Good cause I'd hate to see you leave like that” she smiled back at him.

“As if I'd do that to you” he said lovingly rubbing his hand up her back and giving her a quick kiss on the fore head. “Looks like you've got a lot of work to do, I'll leave you too it”.

“Ok, catch up with you later then?” she asked as he neared the door.

“Of course, you can bet on it” he replied giving her a promising smile before leaving.

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At the Macklin's mansion in Sydney, Martha drove into the driveway and got out of her car, she slammed the door and made her way up the drive way. Rose and Boyd would be inside waiting for her with Dylan. She's called earlier to tell them the news about Serena, Dylan wouldn't know though, it was something Martha had to tell him herself, she could only imagine the sadness of the little boy, and it hurt her to know that her little boy was going to have to go through all the sadness at his young age.

She opened the door slowly and put her bag on the small table up against the wall in the entry way of the house. Then, taking a deep breath and pulling herself together, she walked up the stairs to where she could hear the sound of Dylan playing with his cars.

“Mummy come play with me” Dylan smiled at his mum as she came into the lounge room.

“Sweet heart, not now” Martha started, taking a seat on the couch, “come and sit next to mummy” she instructed, patting the spot on the couch next to her.

“What's wrong mummy, you don't look very happy” Dylan asked, he might have been only four, but he knew that something wasn't right.

Martha pulled Dylan onto her lap and just looked at him for a second, “I went to go see Aunty Serena today”.

“Really? Is she beating the big bad wukemia monster?”

“No sweety, she's gone to a better place where there's no more hospital's, and no more Leukemia monster's to hurt her” she spoke softly holding him in her arms.

Dylan looked sad, his eyes were watery and his face looked disappointed, “But Aunty Renie promised me she'd beat bad Mr wukemia, and her friend Chemo was going to help” he cried.

“I know sweety, I know” she whispered, holding him close, “I know”.

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At the shed in the bush of Greensville, the same figure dressed in black appeared from in the bushes only seconds after the last police car was out of sight. They made there way towards the shed, in there hand was a piece of white paper. The figure opened the door and slipped inside, pulling off the black hood of the jumper, revealing there face, it was a female, her hair covered by her black beanie. She placed the piece of paper down on one of the tables that had nothing on it from being cleared by the police earlier, then made her way out not disturbing a thing, the quest wasn't over yet. Not until the biggest secret of all was revealed.

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“Good morning” Rose greeted Martha as she stumbled her way into the kitchen the next morning, “how are you holding up?”

“I've been better” she sighed, “I'm just so worried about Dylan, last night he came in and snuggled up with me, and just cried himself to sleep”.

“Poor little guy”.

“Yeah, his not taking it well at all”.

“Well can you blame him, I don't think anyone's taking it well, especially you, you can't keep holding it all in the way you've been since you came home last night” Rose told her.

“I'm just trying to stay strong for Dylan's sake, I am dealing with it, I promise”.

“Ok, but if your not then-”

“I know, I'll ask for help, but for now could we just drop it please!”

“Yeah sure. Anyway so what are you up too today then?” Rose asked, changing the subject.

“Well I was thinking of going and seeing Jack today”.

“Well how about me and Boyd take Dylan with us too the park with Izzy today, maybe it will take his mind off things”.

“Yeah, I'm sure he'd love that”.

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A week passed and things didn't get much better for anyone. Martha had gone to see Jack, he didn't talk much, nether of them did. Dylan hadn't felt like doing much all week, his little four year old mind didn't know what to do. The police hadn't been back to the shed in Greenville yet, they were still going through the stuff they'd already taken. As for Lara and Peter, they were still just friends, very good friends, they'd even had other work mates comment on how close they seemed to be, Peter just smiled and shrugged it off, he would of loved to tell them that they were more than just friends, but he kept his mouth shut for Lara's sake.

Today was Serena's funeral, every one gathered at Stuarts point for the service, even Jack who had talked the guards into taking him.

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“Get out of the car” the guard ordered opening the door of the police car where they were parked in the car park across the road from the grave yard where his wife had just been berried. “Move it Holden!” the other guard commanded him, grabbing the small chain that attached his hand cuffs together and pulling him out of the car, there were four guards escorting him, two in front of him and two behind him, acting as walls to stop him from escaping.

Jack looked around him, he hadn't seen anything of Summer bay since he was put in jail one and a half years ago, and now it looked more beautiful than ever. He'd taken this place for granted before he was taken away, and he vowed that when he got out, he'd never be unthankful for anything.

“This way” the guard instructed him as they neared the church, he was then seated at the very back of the church, up the front, he could see his family and friends all dressed in black, seeming sad and depressed. He wished more than anything that he could be with them right now, but they guards would never allow it.

“We have come here today to say a final goodbye to Serena Holden” the priest at the front of the church began.

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Just as the service was finishing, Jack was taken outside and the guards lead him across the road so he could watch his wife's grave being taken away from a distance, he wasn't allowed to attend the wake, the prison wouldn't allow it, he wasn't even to be close to any of the other's. And so he watched as Serena's coffin was carried out of the church by Lucas, Tony, Boyd and Peter, until it was out of sight, then without any second thought the guards pushed him back in the car, locked the doors and drove off back to the prison.

Please review.

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Chapter number 25. Moving on

“Maddie” Tony called out from the front door as he sorted through the mail.

“Yeah?” Maddie's sad voice called back from the upstairs lounge room. Tony started making his way up the stairs.

“The bridal magazine came in for you” he explained to her, putting the large package envelop down on the table in front of her.

Maddie just staired at it, she hadn't thought about her wedding much lately, “she was supposed to help me choose my dress” she finally spoke, tears coming back to her eyes.

“Hey, hey, hey” Tony comforted her, sitting next to her and giving her a big hug.

“She was so happy about the whole thing. I think she was more excited than I was when she first heard” she continued.

“And I'm sure that right now she's sitting up in heaven waiting to watch you and Luc get married”.

“Yeah I guess so, I never thought of it that way” she sobbed.

“Look I know things suck right now, but there will be happy times to come, and lots of things to look forward too” Tony encouraged her. “Like your wedding”.

Maddie nodded, smiling for a second, and then reaching for the unopened envelope. “This is the start of a new beginning”.

“Yeah of course it is. In six months, you'll legally be a Holden”.

“Yeap” she replied reaching to the shelf under the coffee table and pulling out the bridal magazine that had come in about three weeks ago.

“Wow your finally looking at it” Tony teased. Since it came in she hadn't touched it once.

“Yeah the thing I don't get it why it's already been opened, I mean who else would have been going through it?”

“I don't know” Tony answered as she began flicking through the pages with tears still running down her face. “Look Maddie are you sure your in any state to be thinking about dresses at the moment?” he asked, seeing how cut up she was, and now she was using work as a way to take her mind off things.

Maddie paused for a moment and a smile came to her face, “she did help he pick my dress” she whispered.

“What? Come on Maddie lets just put the magazine down-”

“No, no, no” Maddie managed to get out, “If you think I'm trying to burden myself with work, I'm not”.

“You sure?”

“Yes, I know things suck, but you were right, we have to think about things to look forward too, and this is something that Serena was really looking forward too, you remember how excited she was?”

“Yeah”.

“And this just shows it” Maddie told him holding up the bridal magazine with a dress that had been circled, “she must of opened it while she was here for a day and a half before she was taken back to the hospital, it's perfect”.

Tony smiled, “I guess so. And it looks like something she'd pick too”.

“Exactly” Maddie added, before turning the page, “that must have been the brides maid dress she wanted” Maddie commented, her voice starting to sound sad again. Tony, not knowing what else to do, put his arm around her, “I wish she could still be here”.

“Yeah we all do” he whispered, “we all do”.

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“How are you feeling today?” Martha asked as she entered the room Jack was in.

“Honestly not to good” he replied in a gloomy voice.

“Yeah, there's a lot of that going around at the moment” she told him, pulling up a chair and sitting down in front of him.

“So how's Dylan going?”

“Not too good, he missed his Aunty Renie”.

“Yeah, poor little guy, it must be hard for him”.

“Yeah, just like it must be hard for you too” Martha added, “Jack there's no point in avoiding it, I know you loved her a lot”.

Jack just nodded seeming uncomfortable.

“Look Jack, please don't”.

“Don't what?” he asked.

“Please don't feel bad, it's ok to be upset”.

“Yeah, I know, but I just feel bad about-” Jack started, but stopped when he realized what he was about to say.

“About what?”

“Look, it doesn't matter” Jack shot out.

“Yes it does, what do you feel bad about?”

Jack let out a deep breath, “about loving two different girls” he admitted.

“Is this why you've hardly mentioned her to me, because you thought it was wrong?”

“Yeah”.

“Jack, it's ok. Well unless this other girl is someone other than Serena that is?”

“No of course not”.

“Well it's ok then, you were married to her for like what, three, almost four years, I know there will always be a part of her with you”.

Jack reached out for Martha's hand, gently lifting it and planting a soft kiss on the back of her palm, “Thank you” he whispered.

“For what?”

“For understanding. You know you'll always be my favorite traffic offender”.

Martha laughed at those words, “I can't remember the last time you called me a traffic offender, it was a long time ago”.

“Yeah it was” Jack smiled, “before everything got complicated” he sighed.

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“Hey do you think you could send some of the other's down to the shed in Greensville for me?” Peter asked Lara as he stepped behind the front desk at the Yabbie creek police station.

“Yeah sure”.

“Thanks I'm just heading off, we've had a call for a noise complaint” Peter told her.

“Well good luck with that then” Lara said before he walked out the door.

“Lara?” one of the other female officers called.

“Yeah Jackie?”

“This needs to go to HQ” she said handing her a yellow paper folder.

“Yeap sure”.

“So, what's going on between you and the boss then?”

“What?”

“Oh come on Lara, you and Peter, there's something going on, it's dead obvious” Jackie continued, she always had to know all the gossip that went on in the office, Lara wouldn't be surprised if she started her own gossip collum.

“Why do you say that?” Lara asked, seeming amused by her comment as she turned around to put the file in one of the filling cabinets.

“Everything, the way you two have been acting around each other, the way he looks at you when your not looking-”.

“Wow, hang on a second, he looks at me like that?”

“Yeah. You sound like you've got the hots for him too”.

“Well...”

“I thought so, so why don't you too just hook up then?” Jackie asked, almost like she was making things sound easy.

“It's complicated, it just-”

“Glen?”

“Yeah”.

“Well he would of wanted you too be happy”.

“I know”.

“Then what the hell are you waiting for girl?”

Lara paused for a second, and a puzzled look came across her face, “You know what, I don't have a clue”.

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“So did you see Tash today?” Tony asked Beth as he watched her make lunch at the kitchen bench.

“Yeah, she's still blaming herself” Beth explained as she spread butter on the bread.

“Poor girl” Tony sighed, “it's not even her fault, she didn't know she was sick until she left”.

“Yeah, she'll realize that eventually, she was like this after Sarah killed Noah too, she kept thinking it was her fault that Sarah was able to get her hands on a gun” she continued, “anyway how's Maddie been this morning, I didn't get a chance to see her before I left”.

“Actually she's pretty good, she's found a way to come to terms with things”.

“Really, how might that be?”

“It's a long story involving a bridal magazine and a few things Serena circled while she was here for a couple of days”.

“Interesting” Beth answered sounding a little confused, “oh well I guess everyone's got a different way of coping don't they”.

“Yeah, how about you, how are you coping?”

“Honestly?”

“Yeah, honestly”.

“Well, I keep trying to convince myself that she's in a better place now, and that she won't have to deal with being in hospital or having needles and blood tests all the time, but i can't help but wish she was still with us”.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. Thing's will get better”.

“I know, but it's just going to take time”.

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“Peter” Greg, called out as soon as he and one of the other's entered the station.

“Yeah, you found anything?”

“Yeah I guess you could say that”.

“What do you mean?” Peter asked, all of a sudden sounding more interested.

“You remember how we completely cleared one of the tables in there?”

“Yeah”.

“Well we found this on it” he explained handing a piece of paper to Peter.

“Ok, well someone's obviously been in there” Peter started, looking at the piece of paper Greg had handed him, it was a map, with and X marks the spot, and down the bottom was a sentence that confused Peter, 'This is were Loyd's quest really begins'.

“Yeah but who?”

“I don't know, who ever they are they don't like coming here and telling everything to us face to face”.

“What are you saying?”

“He, or she ether has something to hide, or there being blackmailed by someone who has something to do with Loyd” Peter explained.

“If they were being blackmailed then why would they say anything at all?”

“Well they might be trying to turn them in without them knowing. Look, I'll get Lara and go and check out where this goes too before we decide on what were dealing with ok”.

“Yes boss”.

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Lol, you guys really want Jack out of jail don't you? :P

Anyway here's the next chapter.

Chapter number 26. Your special guardian angle.

“So basically some psycho's leading us on a never ending mind game” Lara concluded after Peter explained the map Greg had found.

“Well no, I mean look at what we found last time we followed this person's instructions”.

“Peter, your a detective do the maths, people don't just play mind games to tell us about crime, they come into the station and make an allegation”.

“Yeah, but we don't know the circumstances of whoever is sending these to us, do we?”

“No, but that doesn't mean that it's not a hoax, how do we know that this isn't a distraction from something else that going on?”

“We don't, Lara could we please just go to this place before we start making presumptions?”

“Alright” she gave in, still not sounding to happy, “but your driving this time”.

“Fine”.

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“Did you do as I asked?” a man's voice asked in the darkness of a cellar.

“Of course, they'll know all the secrets in good time, and then, the time will be right and you and I can be looked up too again” the other voice , a woman's voice, explained, sounding excited.

“Yes, just like the good old times before I was wrongly accused” the man's voice added, “and she'll be mine again, just like she was supposed to be, before he got involved...”.

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“Another shed what a surprise” Lara commented sarcastically as Peter pulled up in front of the small wooden box-like shed in the middle of nowhere.

“Well they certainly have a theme going on” Peter grumbled as he got out.

“Yeah, lets hope that this time it's the last destination”.

“Yeah, that would be good” Peter said before opening the door and stepping in with Lara right behind him.

“So this was Loyd's quest then was it? Nothing” Lara sighed as she looked around the bare shed.

“I guess so, maybe he wasn't the mysterious guy we thought he was”.

“A whole town looked up too him” Lara continued, shanking her head, “and all his quest lead to was a dead end”.

“Yeah, pretty tragic if you ask me”.

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“Sweetheart” Martha called out through the halls of the Macklin's mansion in Sydney, “Dylan?” she continued as she reached the doorway of Dylan's room to see him sitting on his bed looking dully at the floor, “Dylan sweety you want to come down to the park with Uncle Boyd and Aunty Rose?”

Dylan shock his head.

“Come on you can't just sit here forever” she encouraged him, moving towards him and sitting down next to him. “You know what?”

“What?”

“Aunty Serena's probably sitting up on a cloud right now, just waiting to see you beat your Uncle Boyd in a game of soccer”.

“Really?”

“Yeah, of course she is” Martha told him running her fingers through his hair.

“Like a guardian angle?”

“Yes, just like a guardian angle, a very special guardian angel and she's always going to look over you, always” she whispered. “So how about you show her how good you are hey?”

Dylan nodded, seeming a bit happier now, “Ok”.

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Peter sat at his desk, his shift was finishing soon and he was itching to get home, then the words 'you've got mail' popped up on the screen.

The message contained only one line, 'Try again detective, you might have more luck this time', reading those words Peter instantly thought of the empty shed he and Lara had been to that day, so he grabbed his keys and went to leave.

“Peter, we need you in here now” Greg called out from one of the interview rooms.

“Can it wait?”

“No, it can't, but I promise you your definitely going to like this” Greg told him.

Peter gave in and walked into the room, his eyes came across a familiar face, “Well, well, well, Matt Wilson, nice of you to join us”.

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Chapter number 27. I'm sick of waiting

“For the last time, I haven't done anything against the law in the last year!” Matt explained one again like he had been for the last hour of sitting in the interview room of the Yabbie Creek police station. “I'll admit to the other stuff, before I ran off, but I didn't lead you all on a wild goose chase to Greenville with a dead end”.

Peter puffed looking over at Greg who had definitely had enough of going over the same thing over and over again, “well were obviously not getting anywhere” he said, then reached out to press the button on the recorder.

“So can I go now?” Matt asked, seeming restless.

“No, you'll be staying in the detention center down the road until a court can hear your case” Peter explained as he stood up and moved from behind the desk, “I'll send a lawyer to see you tomorrow” he informed Matt who was being re handcuffed by Greg.

“But-”

“Just do as your told Wilson” Greg warned him before dragging him out of the station.

“Wow I never thought I'd see him again, why didn't some one tell me he'd been caught?” Lara asked after watching Matt being dragged out, from behind the front desk.

“We didn't want you to worry” Peter explained.

“Worry? Are you kidding me, it's great that he's finally behind bars”.

“Really?”

“Yes, definitely”.

“Good, I was wondering how I was going to tell you, I didn't think you'd take it well”.

“And whys that?”

“Well he's your brother”.

“Yeah, and he signed papers to kill me, as far as I'm concerned I'm not related to him” Lara told him, “I'm just happy he's finally getting what he deserves” she smiled, by now both her and Peter had moved closer. “I had a really interesting conversation with Jackie today” Lara told him, changing the subject.

“Really, now what's she gossiping about now? Wait no, let me guess... Alf and Colleen are supposedly together”.

Lara couldn't help but laugh at him, “no”.

“Well what was it then?”

“Well it was more being nosie than gossiping, she was actually asking about us”.

“There's been a lot of people asking about us” Peter commented.

“Yeah, but this time it was different, we started talking about Glen and how he would of wanted me to be happy, and then she asked me what was stopping me” Lara explained, “and I I didn't have a clue”.

“So what are you trying to say then?”

Lara didn't answer straight away, she could feel herself coming towards him, and her arms fell loosely around his neck. Then, she smiled at him, looked into his eyes and said the words he'd been waiting to hear her say for what seemed like forever, “I'm sick for waiting Peter”. And with that she moved right into him, there bodies so close that no air separated them, her lips met his and she didn't pull away, nether of them did.

Peter ran his hands up and down Lara's back, pulling her into him. He could hear her heart racing, just like his, her fingers had now moved from his neck to his head, running through his short hair. Any memory of going back to the old shed were long gone now.

Lara felt like the luckiest woman in the world, every part of her was smiling, and now she wondered why she'd waited so long for this, he'd been there for her through everything, and all she'd done was try and keep her hands off him, and now, she found that impossible to do, even though anybody could walk in and see them, she didn't care.

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“Hey did you guys have fun?” Martha smiled as she saw Dylan and Boyd come in followed by Rose pushing Izzy in the pram.

“Yes!” Dylan exclaimed, “I beat Uncle Boyd” he told her proudly with the biggest smile on his face, “do you think Aunty Renie saw me?”

“Of course she did, and I'm sure she's very proud” Martha told, giving him a big hug, “she'll always be proud of you no matter what, and so will I” she whispered, “always”.

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Back at the station, Jackie made her way in, ready to start her night shift, and then her eyes came across something very out of the ordinary, she didn't believe her eye's, Peter and Lara were-, “oh my gosh, it's true” she whispered to herself seeing Peter and Lara making out on the middle of the station, and they looked very cosy indeed. Trying not to interrupt she went to walk into one of the offices, but managed to drop her bag which was so full it made a thump when it hit the ground. Peter and Lara pulled away with a scare, Lara jumping and grabbing Peter.

“Um sorry” Jackie managed to get out, stumbling on her words.

“It's ok” Peter spat out.

“Um, u, maybe, maybe you should take it that way” Jackie said uncomfortably, pointing to the door, “both your shifts are over”.

“Um, yeah, we might just do that” Lara said grabbing Peter's hand and pulling him out of the station.

“Well I thought they'd never leave” Greg commented as he came out of the hallway after Peter and Lara had left.

“Yeah, you saw it too?”

“Yeap, I was lucky to get passed quietly”.

“I didn't quite managed to do that, silly me managed to drop my fifty pound bag on the floor”.

“Fifty pounds? What the heck have you got in there?” Greg asked looking curious.

“I don't have a clue, everytime I put something in there it never seems to come out” she explained while opening her bag and taking a look at what was inside.

“Really, maybe you should try emptying it some time. Oh well it's about time Peter and Lara got there act's together”.

“You got that right” Jackie laughed, “definitely about time. Oh my gosh, I just had the most brilliant idea”.

“What?”

“You know how everyone keep joking around and saying that one day I'll gossip so much that I'll start my own collum?”

“Yeah”.

“Well maybe I should” she smiled pulling out her digital camera from her bag. “And I know the perfect story to start it all”.

“Peter and Lara?”

“Yeah”.

“And what the heck have you got a digital camera in your bag for?”

“Oh it's still in there from my brother's wedding a while ago, but now all I have to do it get a picture of Pete and Lara”.

“What?”

“For the collum” she told him, making it look as if it had been obvious.

“Well good luck with that” Greg said sarcastically, “I'm off”.

“Ok”

“Oh and Jackie?”

“What?”

“Try and get some real work done” he told her before leaving.

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“So were do we go now detective?” Lara asked, putting on an irresistible smile. As they reached Peter's car in the car park in front of the station.

“Well” Peter started, wrapping his arms around Lara's waist, “What do you say to a picnic dinner under the stars on the beach?”

“I'd say it sounds beautiful” she said, giving him another kiss and stopping him from saying what ever he was about to say.

Hope you all liked it, please review.

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Hey everyone, here's the next chapter, sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been a bit sick this week so everythings been happening a bit slower than usual.

Chapter number 28. Goodbye to the gossip queen.

The moon shine brightly through the sky along the beach, surrounded by millions of little sparkling stars, it was a spectacular night, there was a nice cool breeze and the beach was empty, except two love struck residence, enjoying the night; Lara and Peter.

“It's so beautiful out here at night” Lara smiled contently, resting her head gently on Peter's shoulder.

“Not as beautiful as you” he whispered softly in her ear.

“That sounds so cheesy” Lara giggled happily, lifting her head up so that she could see Peter's face, “but I love it anyway” she whispered him, gazing into his eyes, “I love everything about you”.

Peter smiled happily at her and decreased the space separating them, leaning in and planing a soft kiss on her lips, but before he pulled away, Lara pulled him right in and their bodies moved in one motion to the ground so that they were lying side by side on the picnic rug.

Peter moved his face away slightly so that he could look into her eye's, and one hand reached from it's place around her waist to move a piece of hair back behind her ear. “I love you” he spoke softly.

“I love you too”.

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“Wow, I haven't seen any of this in ages” Martha exclaimed when Boyd lifted the lid of a large box that had been dragged out of the basement of the house, in the box were loads of photo's in photo frames.

“Who's that?” Boyd asked, sitting down on the couch next to Martha as she pulled a frame out and looked at it.

“That's my cousin Ric and his wife Cassie” Martha explained, “They used to live in Summer Bay when I did, but they moved to Perth just after I left Sasha's. The last I heard of them was a few years ago when I got a phone call from Cassie saying she was pregnant”.

“I never knew you had a cousin”.

“Well there's probably a lot of other people's photo's in this box that you wouldn't know” she said, pulling out another one from the box. “That's Sally, she's Ric and Cassie's foster mum, and that's little Pippa. They moved with Cassie and Ric, along with Sally's boyfriend Brad. Oh and there's Kim and Rachael I think they moved to New York. There's Leah and Dan, they still live around in Summer Bay” she continued going on as she pulled more and more photo's out, “that's my granddad Alf and Auntie Morag, you remember meeting them don't you?”.

“Yeah, what happened to them?”

“They went to a retirement village in Yabbie creek, I was talking to Leah yesterday, and she was saying Colleen's going there today”.

“Really, well at least she'll be doing less gossiping then”.

“I doubt it, nothing could stop that woman form sticking her nose in everything” Martha sighed. “Aww look at this one” she changed the subject, pulling out the group photo that was taken at Alf's sixtyth birthday party, “I was only eighteen then”.

“Wow, that was a long time ago”.

“Hey” Martha exclaimed, playfully hitting him, “I'm not that old, I'm only twenty six!”

“Yeah sorry” he laughed in amusement of her reaction.

“Anyway I better go back upstairs and put Dylan to bed, it's late already”.

“Yeah that's probably a good idea, we all know how grumpy he can be when he hasn't had enough sleep”.

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“Hello, haven't seen you in a long time” Rose said cheerfully as she pushed Izzy's pram through the door of Jack's cell the next morning.

“Hey, how are you?” Jack smiled, seeming surprised that Rose had come to see him.

“I'm alright, how about you?”

“I've been better, just taking one day at a time” Jack explained as Rose took a seat in front of him on the opposite side of the bars. “I'm guessing this is Izzy then?” Jack asked looking at the pram that sat next to Rose.

“Yeah, it is” Rose told him, pulling little Izzy out of he pram and sitting her on her lap, “Izzy say hello to Uncle Jack”.

Jack chuckled, “hey little one”.

“Anyway, so are you going to tell me how your really feeling?” Rose asked, putting Izzy back in her pram.

“You know me too well”.

“Yeah, I do, which is why your going to tell me everything” she nodded convincingly.

“Alright, you win, but promise me you won't repeat any of this”.

“You've got my word” she promised.

“It's about Martha”.

“Ok”.

“Well... and Serena”.

“Oh I see, let me guess, you love them both?”

“Yeah, I know that Martha's fine with me still having a place in my heart for Serena, but I just-”.

“Look Jack, the girl only died just over a week ago, no one's expecting you to move on straight away”.

“Yeah I know” he sighed.

“Just give it time, things will work themselves out eventually, you'll see” Rose encouraged him.

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“I got it” Jackie exclaimed walking towards the front desk of the police station, flicking through the settings on her digital camera.

“Your crazy” Greg said in disbelief.

“I know”.

“So did they see you?”

“Nope, I got it when they came through a minute ago, they were totally oblivious to everything. Now all I have to do is put it in the collum”.

“And what exactly do you plan on doing with this collum?” Greg asked, lifting one eyebrow in curiosity.

“I'll put it on the notice boards around the station, just think everyone will know what's going on around this place”.

“Yeah, great” he said sarcastically. “Anyway shouldn't you be going, your shifts finished”.

“Yeah, soon, after I print this off and put it on the notice board” she said, making her way back to her desk in the room.

“Oh brother” Greg mumbled to himself so that Jackie couldn't hear.

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At the Holden's house everyone was in the lounge room when Beth walked in. “Hey were have you been?” Tony asked.

“Oh, I just went and saw Colleen before she took off for the retirement village”.

“So she's really going this time?” Maddie asked.

“Yeah well it seems that way, I don't think she particularly wants to leave, but Leah has convinced her that it's for her own good” Beth explained.

“It's going to be very different without her around” Lucas sighed.

“Yeah it is” Tony added, “when is she leaving?”

“Well” Beth started, looking at her watch, “It should be about now actually”.

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“Is that the last one?” Leah asked as she lifted up Colleen's suit case that had been sitting on the step of her caravan.

“Yeah, I think so” Colleen said sadly.

“Come on Colleen, it's going to be great, you'll see all the bowls ladies again, and you'll meet lots of new people” Leah encouraged her.

Colleen sighed, “yeah I guess so pet, it's just a big change thats all”.

“Yeah it is, but I'm sure your going to love it, and if you really feel home sick then I'm sure everybody would love a visit from you, and we'll pop round and see you sometimes”.

“That would be lovely” Colleen smiled, grabbing her walking stick and hobbling her way to the passengers side of the car, “Well I guess this is it then”.

“Yeah, but I'm sure when we get there, your not going to miss it at all”.

“Goodbye old home” Colleen whispered before hopping in the car.

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“Well what do we have here?” Peter said out loud as he noticed a picture of him and Lara on the notice board.

“That would be Jackie's new gossip collum” Greg told him as he walked past.

“Well it's actually quite a nice picture” Peter commented, “hey Lara” he called.

“Yeah”, she called back walking out of another room.

“Come take a look at this” he said pointing to the piece of paper on the board.

“Jackie's gossip collum” she said out loud as she read it, “Aww look at us there”.

“Yeah, it's a nice picture, I'd just like to know how she got it”.

“Does it really matter Pete?”

“Well I guess not” he said, kissing Lara on the cheek, “Now the whole world will know that your mine” he smiled.

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Just a warning to those that didn't read the two stories before this, this chapter has references to the first story 'Some life for a Princess'. Maddie was engaged to Jack and Lucas' cousin Taylor who died the day before they were supposed to get married from a heart attack. Anyway, here's the chapter.

Chapter number 29. Second thoughts

A month later...

“It's here!” Beth yelled in excitement as she brought Maddie's wedding dress through the door with a protecting cover over the top of it.

“Give us a look” Lucas begged turning his attention to the front door.

“No, you can't see it till the big day, it's bad luck” Beth warned him.

Lucas turned back to the television and sighed, “oh well I'm sure it's beautiful”.

“Yes it is” Beth told him, then walked up the stairs. “Maddie”.

“Yeah mum” Maddie's voice called out from her room.

“Oh there you are sweet” Beth said, making her way into the room, “your dress just arrived”.

“Oh thanks”.

“Aren't you going to try it on?”

“Yeah, soon, I've just got a few things I have to do first”.

“I thought you would be itching to try it on, you aren't having second thoughts are you? Cause if you are-”.

“No mum, I'm fine, I'm just pretty busy at the moment” Maddie told her, faking a smile.

“Ok, but when you put it on, give me a yell ok?”

“Yeah, ok” Maddie agreed as her mum left the room.

She looked over at the dress laid out on the bed next to her, tears formed in her eyes, all she could think of right now is what would happen if history repeated itself, if she lost Lucas the way she lost Taylor.

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Peter staired at the screen of his computer, he had another new message, from the same sender as the last creepy short email he got a month ago, 'time's ticking detective, I'm getting impatient'.

“Hey these came in for you” Lara said cheerfully as she came into Peter's office.

“Oh thanks, I'll look at them in a minute” Peter answered seeming on edge.

“What's wrong with you?”

“Nothing” he shot out.

“Peter spit it out, you only act like this when your hiding something”.

“Alright, I'll spit it out then” he sighed, “You remember that she we went to about a month ago, the one with the dead end?”

“Yeah”.

“Well that afternoon I got this weird message from some unknown sender”.

“Why didn't you say something?”

“Well, I was going to go back down myself, but then Greg called me in to the interview room to interview Matt and I just forgot all about it, until I got another one just then”.

“Were they both about the shed?” Lara asked.

“I don't know, but by the way they talk I think it is. Lara, do you think there's a possibility that someone's put something in there now and is trying to get us to find it?”

“I guess so, how about you and me go for a little drive then?” Lara suggested, leaning over Peter's shoulder and kissing him on the cheek, your never going to know until you see for yourself”.

“Yeah sounds good” he replied before getting up and taking her hand in his.

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“Maddie” Lucas said happily as he opened the door to their bedroom, but his tone soon changed when he saw the tears running down her face, “Maddie what's wrong?”

“I can't do it” she sobbed as Lucas sat down next to her and wrapped his arm gently around her.

“What do you mean?”

“I can't get married, what if it happens again”.

“Shh, Maddie” he tried to calm her, “what if what happens again?”

“What if you die and leave me right before the wedding”.

“Like Taylor?”

“Yeah-”

“Maddie, I'm not going anywhere, I love you and your stuck with me for life” he told her soothingly.

“You can't be sure of that, you don't know when or how your going to die”.

“Hey, hey, hey, Taylor died because he had a serious heart condition, he was never going to live long enough to see his old age, we all knew that, and so did he, but he never left you by choice”.

Maddie bit her bottom lip to try and stop her self from continuing crying, “yeah I know” she nodded quietly.

“I love you, you know that don't you?”

“Yeah, of course”.

“And if you don't want to get married then I'm prepared to respect that”.

“Look Lucas, it's not that I don't want to marry you, I really do, but-”.

“Well marry me now then” Lucas shot out.

“What?”

“Maybe I should do this properly” Lucas said, getting down on one knee in front of her and taking her hands in his, “Matilda will you come down to the registry office now and become my wife?”

“Are you serious?”

“You better believe it. So you want to do this or not?”

“Yes” she smiled, “yes” she repeated a little louder, leaning forward and giving him a hug.

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“Here we are” Lara announced as she stopped the car at their destination, “you ready?”

“I most certainly am” Peter replied, opening the door and hopping out. “So what's the bet that this leads once again to the middle of no where?”

“Or that it might actually be something this time” Lara added.

“Oh don't tell me you actually think there's something in that old termite house”.

“Well I'm just saying”.

“Oh well there's only one way to find out, would you like to do the honour?” Peter asked, being a gentlemen and moving aside so that Lara could get to the door.

“Certainly” Lara replied, reaching for the handle and opening the door. “Oh my gosh” Lara said in shock with her jaw dropped.

“You don't really think that trick's going to work do you?”

“No, no, Peter just take a look at this” she told him, stepping backwards, seeming scared.

“Nice acting Lara” Peter laughed, stepping to the door and turning his head to take a look. Inside was a body tied up in the corner, that face could be recognized anywhere.

Without a second thought Peter pulled his gun out, and with all seriousness he looked around to Lara who was behind him, scared as a mouse, “honey, get the handcuffs out of the car”.

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Chapter number 30. He lives and breathes!

“I can't believe this” Lara shock her head as Peter came into her office behind her and closed the door. She was still in shock, who they'd found in the shed was still trying to process in her mind, she just couldn't believe it.

“Nether can I. All I can think about is how stupid it was of me to forget about the first email like that, if I'd gone down there when I got it this would have been over sooner” Peter said, taking a seat.

“Peter it wasn't your fault, you didn't mean for this to happen, none of us did” Lara told him sitting on his lap and putting her arm over his shoulders.

“Thanks” Peter said softly, trying to smile, “I just can't believe he's still alive, I mean, he was dead, well at least we all thought so”.

“Yeah, and poor Jack”.

“Mmm, yeah, he's been sitting in jail for the last couple of years because that idiot decided that instead of getting better like most other normal people, he was going to hide away and make Jack go to jail for his supposed murder”.

“Wait hang on Peter, we don't know that he was hiding away-”.

“Yes we do, he was supposedly dead Lara”.

“Hang on, calm down, what I ment was that how do we know that he wasn't being held against his will, this is Sean Loyd were talking about, he's smart enough to keep away from the cops, I doubt he'd go tieing himself up in a shed”.

“Or the other possibility is that it's not really Sean, like that guy in Greensville told you, he's got a lot of wanna-be's” Peter added, running his hand up and down Lara's back.

“Yeah, I guess well know soon enough though”.

Peter just nodded and pulled Lara closer to him, wrapping both arms around her, this case was really messing with his head.

“Knock, knock”.

“Come in” Lara called out.

“We just got word back from the diggers” Greg explained as he stuck his head through the door, “and Loyd's grave is empty”.

“Thank you” Peter thanked him, trying to sound remotely happy.

“This really can't be happening” Lara sighed after Greg shut the door.

“Yeah I know exactly what you mean”.

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“You ready to go?” Maddie asked, popping her head around the door of the bathroom where Lucas was standing in a suit.

“Yeap” he smiled, “you look beautiful”.

“You look pretty good yourself” she commented. “Oh and Mum and Tony just left, they said they'd wait for us out side of the office.

“Alright. So you ready to do this thing?” Lucas asked stepping towards her and stretching his hand out to her.

“Yeap” she simply said before taking his hand and following him down the stairs and out of the house.

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“You sure your up to this?” Lara asked a nervous Peter as the stood in front of the door of the interview room.

“Yeah, I need to find out if it really is him” Peter nodded.

“Well good luck then, I'll leave you to it”.

“Aren't you coming with me?” Peter asked, putting on a sad face.

“No sorry, it's a bit to creepy for me”.

“Please” Peter begged, putting on his sad face and puppy dog eyes.

“No” she said shaking her head, “he wanted me dead, I'd just rather he stayed in there and I stayed out here.

“Alright then” Peter said before disappearing into the room.

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“For better or for worse” Maddie began, the service was already underway and Lucas had already taken his turn, “for richer or for poorer” she continued, looking deep into Lucas' smiling eyes, “in sickness and in health, till death do us part, this is my vow to you”.

Lucas' smile couldn't get any bigger, without taking his eyes off Maddie he reached out for the ring that the celebrant handed to him, “with this ring as a token of my love for you, I be wed” he spoke lovingly, gently slipping the ring on Maddie's finger.

“Lucas, with the ring as a token of my love for you, I be wed” she said, doing the same.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife” the celebrant announced, “You may now kiss the bride”.

Without hesitation, Lucas wrapped his arms around Maddie's waist and pulled her into him as her arms fell loosely around his neck. “I love you Mrs Holden” he whispered softly before he took her into the first kiss of their marriage.

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In the interview room, Peter sat on the opposite side of the table to Sean Loyd, the devil himself. Although, despite his past, his eyes weren't full of the evilness that they once were and he seemed defeated and powerless, a sight many would pay millions to see. “So are you going to talk?” Peter asked finally.

“What's there to say?” Sean began, his voice wasn't as stern as it once was, now it seemed crackled and weak, “one minute I've got a bullet in me left arm and the next some mongrel's got me locked in a shed for years on end”.

“So you didn't purposely make us all think you were dead? Because right now a guys sitting in prison for your murder”

“I got shot, that doesn't mean I was dead” Sean grunted.

“I'm not asking you if your alive, I'm asking you if you purposely made people think you were dead”.

“No, people think I'm dead because some idiot took advantage of the fact that I got shot and then they managed to pull a lot of strings in making it look different to what it was. Look I don't care that Jack Holden shot me, let the guy go, if I held a grudge against everyone who tried to kill me I'd start to forget how many people I hate, all I want it for the idiot that locked me up to get what he deserves”.

“Fine, but your going to have to give us a better idea of who this idiot it then”.

“I don't remember much of him, but if I saw him I'd know who he was straight away. He had a certain evilness in his eyes” Sean explained.

“Alright well we'll see what we can do, if you think of anything else, no matter how small, just let us know alright” Peter told him, taking some papers in his hands and got up, turning around to file them in the filing cabinets.

“Wait there was something else” Loyd spoke, grabbing Peter's immediate attention. “He spoke about getting what he deserved”.

“Can you expand on that?” Peter asked, turning back towards him and placing his hands on the edge of the desk.

“Well there were lots of little things he said every now and then and it all came back to what he deserved, once he said that he was going to use me because I'd hurt some girl he was in love with and he couldn't be with her because... well actually he didn't say why, but he did say that when he dealt with me that she'd some how love him too”.

“Ok, um, can you think of anyone that you hurt that he'd be referring to?”

“Look detective, you know as well as I do that I've hurt way to many people to know which one he was talking about”.

“Yeah I know, but I just need you too think, were starting to get some where” Peter told him, sitting back down and pulling out a pen.

“Really?”

“Yes, and that's why I really need you to think, was there anything he said about this girl that could maybe narrow the numbers down, or the circumstances of why he couldn't be with this girl he loves” Peter continued going through suggestions.

“No... but I do remember overhearing a conversation he had with someone else, it was very sort and vague, but the voice he was talking to sounded awfully familiar, I just can't think were I heard it”.

“Well you think about it then, I've got to go and make some calls” Peter explained, getting up and walking through the door.

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“Everything alright?” Lara asked as Peter came back into her office.

“Yes and no” Peter started as he made his way towards her.

“Ok just tell me the good news, some how I gather that the bad news is long and complicated”.

“It sure is, anyway the good news” Peter said sitting down next to her, “were getting our old boss back”.

“But doesn't that mean you won't be boss anymore? Hows that good news?” Lara questioned, she thought Peter loved running the place, “wait hang on... our old boss as in the last one we had?” Lara asked with her eyes widening.

“Yeah” Peter nodded.

“As in Jack?”

“Yeap”.

“Oh my gosh, but how?” she exclaimed.

“Well it's a bit silly to keep him locked up for something we've just proven him innocent for”.

“Yeah but he still tried to kill Loyd”.

“Yeah and Loyd doesn't want him charged. If I remember his words correctly he said something along the lines of 'If I held a grudge against everyone who tried to kill me I'd forget who my enemies were'” Peter mimicked Sean, faking his voice.

Lara just laughed, “your such a goose” she giggled, playfully hitting him.

“Well that's gratitude for you” Peter said, pretending to be offended..

“Ok so your a very smart goose” she smiled placing her arms around his neck.

“And you love it” Peter teased her, finding himself holding her in his arms and running his hands up and down the length of her back.

“That I definitely do” she admitted, rubbing her nose against his and giving him a kiss.

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At the Holden's mansion Beth, Tony, Martha, Dylan, Rose, Boyd, Izzy, Tasha, Robbie and the happy newly weds were celebrating. They had some music on and opened a bottle of champaign, Tony had even embarrassed the hell out of Lucas by getting up and doing a little speech.

“Ring, ring... ring, ring.... ring, ring” the phone interrupted, and Tony rushed to pick it up.

“Hello Tony Holden speaking” Tony answered, “your kidding right?” Tony continued, pausing for a minute or two while one of the police officers explained what had happened down at the station that day. “Really that's great, what tonight, no that's no problem, thank you” Tony finished and hung the phone up. Then he turned around and looked over the moon at the others who were all looking at him waiting to hear what was going on. “You'll never guess what”.

“Yeah we probably won't” Lucas answered, “so how about you just tell us”.

“Jack's coming home, he's a free man” Tony explained.

“But how?” Beth asked in amazement.

“It's a long story you all should probably sit down”.

Ok, hope Sean Loyd still being alive isn't to far fetched, but I really wanted to get Jack out of jail. Please review and tell me what you think.

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