"Pull over".

Tucker pressed down on the accelerator further.

"I said, pull over," Hannah screamed.

The car came to a screeching halt; Hannah fumbled with the handle and then flung open the door, throwing herself out onto the pavement. Bent over, she gasped for air and swayed as the dizziness she was experiencing threated to knock her off balance.

Parked on an unlit road, surrounded by factories and industrial units, the engine of the car ticked over, as it began to drizzle; tiny beads of moisture twinkling in the headlight beams.

"Get in the car, Hannah."

"No."

"Get in the car and I'll take you home."

"Please, Tucker. Just give me a minute."

"We don't have a minute, Hannah."

Hannah ignored his request, concentrating solely on remaining upright. Her hair hung limply around her face and the coolness of night, that had been such a welcome relief after the stifling air of the car, now caused her to violently shiver. Tucker got out of the car and approached slowly.

"Hannah, I know what you're thinking, but you're wrong. It's not your fault."

Hannah said nothing.

"Anne knew what she was getting involved in, what the risks were and yet she continued. It wasn't ever going to end well was it?"

"Not my fault!" She stood up and laughed a little. "Everyone I come into contact with ends up dead or in danger. How many more lives will be lost because of me? No, Tucker, I'm not getting back in the car and I'm not going anywhere with you anymore."

"Hannah, don't be so stupid. I'm not leaving you here and you certainly don't get away from me that easily."

"Tucker, you just don't understand do you? This has all gone too far; I've no choice but to see it through to the very end, no matter what. But I won't risk losing you in the process. Now go home." Hannah walked off in the direction they had been heading, willing Tucker not to follow.

"Do you know, Hannah," Tucker shouted, "Sometimes you can be a selfish cow."

Stung, by the verbal slap from Tucker she spun round, squinting in the glare of the lights.

"You aren't the only one to have suffered in all of this, Hannah. Eastman and Holland did the same thing to me as they did to you. Except I haven't been quite as lucky as you, have I? I didn't get a nice, loving home with two parents who wanted me. I don't know why my family adopted me, because they sure as hell didn't love me. Do you have any idea what it's like to be beaten on a daily basis? To be treated like a slave and told to be grateful. My dad told me whenever he could that my real parents didn't love me and that they gave me up as soon as they found out how useless I was. I was a punch bag for nearly seventeen years, Hannah, and then one day someone turns up at our door and tells me I shouldn't have ever been there. Then I'm moved back to my real folks only to find it isn't quite the reunion I was hoping for. My real Mum and Dad telling me that although they feel a little guilty for giving me up in the first place, they now have a nice little family and I am surplus to requirements. There's been no tearful reunion, no outstretched arms for me. If it wasn't for Briggs insisting, they wouldn't have had me back in their house. And as for this damn thing," he said kicking out at the car door; well this is just a way of getting me out of the house and away from them. So you see Hannah, no one loved me and they still don't. And the kicker is, even after all of this, even as a Perfect, I'm not perfect enough. Hannah, you win; the loving adoptive birth parents, the loving birth mother, and now you're the perfect one, the chosen one." Tucker shook his head gently and in a calmer tone said, "So the next time you think this is all about you and that you're the only one who needs to get even, think again."

Hannah walked silently towards Tucker and watched as he furiously wiped his face. Standing just a couple of footsteps away, she met his eyes and saw a look so sad she feared it would fracture her heart. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "for everything."

"It's okay, you weren't to know."

"I know, but I should have asked and you are right; I have been a selfish cow and worse."

"So what now?" Tucker asked.

"The second name on the list."

They stood looking at each other for a moment and the Tucker nodded his head, "Ok, let's go."

Five minutes later, Tucker pulled the car over to the side of the road in what was once a residential area, now a large construction site instead. Two high-rise apartment blocks, empty and unfinished stood before them. A poster on an advertising hoarding proclaimed yet another new development for a perfect life.

"Looks like we won't be finding Joel Muro anytime soon," Hannah said, looking at it.

"Well, if we can't find him, hopefully others will struggle too," Tucker replied.

"I very much doubt that."

"So let's do the next name and address on the list then." Tucker checked his rear view mirror.

"The third one doesn't have an address, just a name and a three-digit number."

"Okay then. Let's go to the last one."

Hannah stared at the name on the paper, still unbelieving.

"So where are we headed?"

Hannah didn't respond, so Tucker pressed her again. "Hannah, what's the address?"

"I can't go there, not yet." Hannah folded up the piece of paper and went to put it in her jean pocket.

"For god's sake Hannah, why not?" Tucker asked and snatched the piece of paper from her. He scanned the list and read out the name. "Amelia Dexter, 248 Slate Street. Wow, that's one tough neighbourhood. Hannah, you and I have lived in similar places, I'm sure we'll be safe enough."

"It has nothing to do with the area."

"Then what is it?

Hannah looked down at the palm of her hands. She tried to remember what it felt like to hold his hands, have his thumb gently caress the back of hers, the way he squeezed her hand before he ran...

"Hannah, why don't you want to go there?"

Hannah looked up from her hands and looked out into the night sky, the towering buildings awash with the light from the silvery moon.

"I know her, Tucker."

"What... how?"

"She is, was Shane's mother."

"No, that's not possible, it must be a coincidence. Shane lived near you didn't he?

"He did, later, just round the corner from us. But he was actually born there," she said, pointing to the list. "It was owned by his grandfather, he took me there when we were kids. I thought it was repossessed when he died."

"Where are his parents now?"

"I don't know. I was told that they were safe and had moved away."

"What if they moved back there? We should check it out all the same."

"So what if they have. Given that I'm the reason their son is dead, do you honestly think I should involve them any further. What's done is done."

"Hannah, if that person on the list is Shane's mother and they are living at that address they are in great danger and need to be warned."

Hannah looked at the name on the paper again. "I know you're right, Tucker, but how can I face them again, after what happened."

"I don't think you have a choice sweetie. Look, it's now very late and we need to be getting back soon. Why don't we go there and just check it out. You haven't got to go in if you don't want to, but you did say you wanted to finish this. So let's do it."

Twenty minutes later, Zeke and Hannah were parked just down from 248 Slate Street. It had been about five years since Shane had taken her for dinner at his grandfather's place. In that time the area had gone further downhill. Most of the houses and business were boarded up, with trespass warning signs on the front doors. Others were occupied, but Hannah wondered how anyone could live in such squalor.

"Well it isn't boarded up so someone still lives and works there. No lights on at the front though, let's take a look round the back. "

"Ok, but only a quick look."

They closed their car doors as quietly as they could. The sky had filled with dense black clouds and the moonlight struggled to get through. Keeping to the shadows, Hannah led them off the road and down a passage way. She walked over to a gate and unlocked it and gently pushed it open. Careful not to disturb any of the rubbish strewn about, they cautiously took a couple of steps into back yard.

"Stop right there. I have a gun, so don't do anything stupid."

Hannah and Tucker froze.

"Who are you?" The female voice demanded.

Their eyes searched the yard frantically trying to locate who was speaking.

"S...sorry for disturbing you," Tucker answered, "We seem to have come to the wrong address."

The female laughed. "No one comes to this area in the dead of night by mistake. You've ten seconds to tell me what it is you want or I'll shoot one or both of you."

To prove a point, a clicking noise could be heard and Hannah didn't doubt for a minute that she was telling the truth.

"We are looking for Mrs Amelia Dexter."

"No one here of that name." The voice seemed to be coming towards them.

"If you know her or know where she is, my friend needs to speak to her urgently. She could be in danger and so could her family."

From out of the shadows stepped a young woman, certainly younger than her voice had sounded. She was holding a long barrelled weapon and pointed it into Hannah's face. The clouds briefly parted and the moon lit up both the girls faces.

"Melody," cried Hannah, relief coursing through her, realising she knew the girl.

"You!" shouted the girl, who then lowered the gun, shoving it into Hannah's stomach and pushing her back towards the brick wall. Hannah's relief disappeared. "Have you no shame? First you take my brother and then you come here to tell my mother she's now in danger. I'm gonna blow..."

"Melody, no!"

Hannah barely recognized Amelia Dexter. Gone was the slightly chubby housewife and part-time cleaner, who'd welcomed Hannah into a home full of freshly baked goodies. Instead, before her was a thinner version of Shane's mother, dressed in dark trousers and top, not an apron insight. Also gone was the smile that had seemed perpetually fastened to the woman's face. Hannah winced as Melody pushed the gun further into her stomach.

"Melody, I said stop!"

"Mrs Dexter, I'm so sorry to turn up here unannounced but I really do need to talk to you urgently," Hannah wheezed.

"Okay, if you won't let me shoot her, I'll go and get my father. He's been waiting to do this for months."

"You'll do no such thing, Melody. Now move that shotgun." Turning to Hannah, she spoke quietly. "Why did you come here, why couldn't you just stay away?"

"I would have done. I know how much you have lost and how I am responsible for that, but you really are in danger."

"Don't believe a word she says mum. She's poison."

"Melody! That is enough, young lady. So Hannah why am I in danger?"

"Did you know a woman called Anne Holland?"

Amelia Dexter recoiled as if she had been slapped.

"Mum, who is this woman she is talking about?"

Ignoring her daughter, Amelia walked closer to Hannah.

"I knew Anne Holland a long time ago. Why?"

"Anne Holland worked with Mr Eastman, the doctor responsible for classifying me wrongly as Flawed. She helped him cover it up. When I was small, she gave my mother a list of names of people she thought might one day be able to help me. Your name is on that list. The problem is that Briggs will also have a copy of the list by now."

"How will he have it?" Amelia asked.

"Briggs has my mum in interrogation."

Hannah watched Amelia close her eyes and shake her head gently, who then spoke so quietly, Hannah could barely make out what she said.

"It always comes back to him, it always did and it always will."