Ruth Robbins faced her fellow detectives. She knew them all and would trust them with her own life; there was know doubt in her mind that if there was a case to be solved, they could do it. The weren't the donut eating type, they were hard as nails, fire breathing, smart as whips detectives.

"All right boys, what do you have for me?" she asked them.

Harve, a senior detective spoke up. "To be honest with you, Ruth, not much. We have a record of all the phone calls that have been made recently and well....look."

He handed her the sheet, it was blank except for Taylor's "hello" many times and the Hanson's hotel phone numbers.

"Where's the number she called from?" she asked, turning the paper over, looking for it.

Harve met her eyes. "There is no number. Somehow the girl got a hold of an anti-tracer. Or made one. She's covered her tracks like nobody's business."

Another detective spoke up. "That girl must have a friggin IQ of 180! No litte girl can cover her tracks THAT well."

"Can you tell me anything?" Ruth impatiently asked.

"We got a list of all Hanson's flights and the people who were on the plane or flew there later on." Harve began.

"And?"

"There's three recurring names on the list. They are with Hanson everywhere they go, and aren't members of their 'entourage'." Harve continued.

"Give me the names."

"Rose Donahue, Beth Eltee, and a Sara Hatchett. All from the Tulsa area."

Ruth wrote them down on a notepad and stood up, grabbing her purse from off of her desk, and scooping up her gun.

"Harve, run a check on all these names for me. Find out which one is our girl."

"Where are you going, Ruth?" Harve asked.

"I'm going to become Hanson's shadow for the next few days. If she's out there, I might just run into her."

He talked to me. He talked to ME!

Claire Hatchett tightend her grip on the autographed photo of Taylor she had gotten today and remembered how sweet he had looked when he signed it. How gently he brushed the honey blond hair out of his eyes and how tightly he gripped the pen in his hand. He was beautiful.

I could tell he wasn't interested in anyone else, he talked to me, like I was special! I know, I just know it! Taylor loves ME and no one else. Why couldn't I have seen him sooner? Why couldn't I have met him before that whole icky thing with Mr. Almode?

She frowned and set down the photo.

Mr. Almode wasn't the first guy I had ever fallen for, there was Bobby Burnstien, he moved away from me, transferred schools and I couldn't find him. Otherwise, he'd just have to pay like the rest did.

And then, before we moved to Tulsa, there were three other boys. They weren't interested in me, but those other girls in class, so at the Christmas pageant, I put something into everybody's punch and made them all get sick.

A small giggle escaped her mouth as she remembered being the only one on stage because everyone else was in the bathroom getting sick.

Then mom and dad told me that they wanted to move to Tulsa.

She looked around her hotel room, then at her watch. She had just enough time to put up all of her decorations before she had to go to the venue to see Taylor. She reached into the biggest suitcase she had with her and pulled out a large stack of posters, letters, e mails and magazines. On all the pictures of Taylor, Ike and Zac were crossed out, replaced with pictures of her.

They'll be the first to go. Then his parents, then the little siblings. I have to have him ALL to myself.

After she had to kill Mr. Almode and his family, she realized that if she had just killed Mr. Almode's family in the first place, Mr. Almode wouldn't have made her mad.

She smiled.

Well, I won't make that mistake this time. I'll just get rid of his family and friends first and then I won't have anything to worry about!

Glancing at the phone, she smiled happily and sighed. Maybe I should call him, let him know that I'm here with him.

Delicately, she picked up the phone and dialed the number she had gotten for the hotel computer system.

Hacking is a beautiful thing.

The phone rang, once, twice, then someone picked up.

"Hello?" it was Taylor. He sounded different this time, scared, rehearsed. She estimated that the detective had probably gotten him to answer the phone, and she was now going to be recorded and traced. She didn't care.

Thoughtfully, she pushed "play" on her cd player, letting the beautiful tones of Sarah McLachlan come out from the speakers.

"Hello?" Taylor repeated. Then she could hear him start breathing harder when he heard the music. "Look, I don't know who you are, but I hate you! Do you here me? I HATE YOU! You're ruining my life!"

Claire stopped smiling and stared at the phone in shock, tears gathering in her dark, deep brown eyes.

"I hate you! I hate you!" Taylor howled over and over.

She began to shake and a small tear rolled slowly down her cheek.

Why? Why Taylor?

Dropping the phone, she placed her hands over her ears, and she winced as he repeated the words over and over again.

"I hate you! I HATE YOU!"

Stop it! Stop it! You don't hate me, you love me! You love me and if you don't, I'll simply make it so you'll never love anyone!

Gently, she picked up the phone and placed it back in the cradle, fighting the impulse to burst into tears.

He probably didn't know it was me. He thought I was someone else and that's why he was saying that.

She laughed, pressing her hand against her mouth to smother the sound.

Poor girl. Taylor hates her! I am so lucky that he loves me. So, so lucky.

"I HATE YOU!!!!" Taylor screamed over and over again. She had long since hung up, but he couldn't stop.

Ike and Zac were staring at him with stricken expressions. Their normally quiet brother never had outbursts like that. They didn't know whether to comfort him or to run out of the room.

Finally, Taylor flung the phone back down into the cradle and flopped down on his hotel bed, his head buried in a pillow.

"Tay? Are you okay? Did she say something that made you upset?" Isaac asked, sitting on the bed beside him.

"It's okay Tay. Ruth will come in here in a second and say she's knows who it is. She tapped the phone, Tay, remember! They're probably arresting her right now!" Zac comforted.

Taylor rose his head. "You think?"

Zac and Ike both nodded, "Yes." they said in unison.

Just then, the door opened and Ruth walked in.

Zac smiled, "See! I told you!"

Ruth wasn't smiling. She walked straight over to Taylor and flung down the earphones she had been listening through.

"What the hell was that?" she screamed.

They stared at her, amazed at her anger.

"Do you actually want to be killed? Huh? Because you sure act like it! You don't just tell an obsessed homicidal maniac that you hate her!! That probably pushed her over the edge!!!" Ruth yelled.

"I'm trying to keep you safe and you go and do something like this!! We went over what you're supposed to say 40 times!! How could you do that?!" she picked up the phone and slammed it back down again. "We didn't even get a trace, we still don't know where she is or who she is and you just go off on her!!"

Ruth's hair had come loose from its normal, tightly wound bun and was falling into her face. She had her hands on her hips just like their mom always did when she got really mad. Zac's chin began to tremble and Ike and Taylor glared at the woman.

"Don't ever answer that phone again, Taylor. Do you hear me? Never!"

She turned on her heel and stalked out the door, slamming it angrily behind her.

The phone rang.

The three boys looked at it, then at each other.

With another bang, the door opened again and Ruth ran in, her eyes wild and frantic.

"Don't just sit there! Answer the phone!" she cried.

Taylor didn't move. The phone rang several more times.

"Answer it!"

"You told me not to."

Jaw clenched, Ruth picked up the phone and threw it to Taylor, who amazingly caught it and held it to his ear.

"Hello?" he asked hesitantly.

With wide eyes, the rest of them watched.

"Yes. By the pier? 4:00? I'll be there." Taylor hung up the phone slowly.

Ruth jumped up enthusiastically, "She wants to meet with you?! Yes! We got her!" She punched at the air with her hand and did a little dance around the room, forgetting that the Hanson brothers were still there.

Taylor looked at her like she was crazy. "What are you talking about?" he turned to Ike and Zac, "Mom wants us to meet her, dad, and the kids at that new restraunt by the pier tonight for dinner."

"Would you like a refill on that iced tea?" the giddy waitress asked Taylor for about the fourteenth time in the past two minutes.

Taylor clenched his teeth. "No. No, I wouldn't."

She smiled. "Okay! I'll be back in a couple minutes to check on that!"

The waitress scurried away, running back to the kitchen and giggling. Taylor watched her with glaring ice blue eyes until she had disappeared from sight.

"Can we say, annoying?" he muttered to himself.

"Now, Taylor, she's just doing her job." Diana scolded.

Jessica picked up a shrimp by it's tail, ever so daintily and smirked, "Yes, Taylor, mind your manners."

"Mind you manners." Taylor mocked her under his breath.

Jessica glared at him.

"Ahem, why don't you three boys go pick out a song on the jukebox over there." Walker said, handing Isaac, Taylor, and Zac a handful of quarters.

"Why do they get to pick out a song?" Avery cried.

"I want to pick out a song!" Jessica stated.

"Girls, I'm sure the boys will be happy to play whatever you want them to. We can all pick a song." Diana said consolingly as Walker dug more quarters out of his pockets.

"Fine. What do you want to hear?" Zac asked Avery and Jessica.

"Barbie Girl, by Aqua." Avery cried excitedly. They all winced and looked at Jessica, who grinned mischeviously.

"Everybody, by the Backstreet Boys."

Taylor, Zac, and Ike gave her a horrified look. "MOM!" they all shouted at once. "Jessica, pick another song." Diana said, a disgusted look on her face.

"Fine. Spice Up Your Life."

The older boys groaned again, but marched off to the jukebox anyway.

"All right, how do you work this thing?" Isaac wondered aloud.

"You know, I'm not sure."

"I think you put the quarter in, then push in the number the song you want is." Zac stated.

"Oh look! MMMbop's in here." Isaac pointed at the button.

"Should we play it? It might look like we have big egos." Taylor said.

Isaac and Zac laughed at Taylor.

"What?"

"We do have big egos, Tay."

Taylor smiled, "Alrighty then, play that sucker."

They selected MMMbop, Spice Up Your Life, Barbie Girl, and a couple of oldies songs and waited for them to play.

Shania Twain's soft voice came through the speakers.

"What the he-" Ike started to say.

"Why is it not playing Ike?" Taylor asked.

"Someone else made a choice before we did, as soon as that song is done playing, ours will come on." Zac said, rolling his eyes. Sometimes his brothers could be so stupid. He was beginning to think that he was the only one with common sense in the goup

"Oh." They headed back to the table and just as they were sitting down, a new song came on the jukebox.

"Listen as the wind blows, from across the great divide...."

Taylor froze.

Possession? Here? Now? Is she in this restraunt? Can she see me?

His breathing began to quicken and he looked around him wildly, looking for a suspect. Everyone else in the restraruant looked calm and involved in their own conversations....but suddenly it all looked threatening and malicious to him.

Everyone else at the table exchanged looks and eyed Taylor, worridly.

"Taylor. Taylor, calm down!" Walker said calmly, but forcefully.

He looked at his father with a fearful expression, thoughts of the stalker still running through his mind.

Walker remained calm. "Now, that is a popular song, a lot of people like it. Someone probably picked it out because they liked it. Not because of any significant reason, okay? She can't be here now, Taylor, it was just a coincidence, that's all."

Taylor nodded, but was still a little shaken up.

"Excuse me? Would you like some more iced tea?" the annoying waitress said from behind Taylor.

He was too out of it to be angry, so he just said no in a quiet voice.

"All right, I be back in a few then to see if you need more." she scurried off again, then turned back suddenly. "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot, some girl wanted me to give you this."

She handed Taylor and envelope with his name written on it. In the most familiar, scrawly handwriting.

He looked at it, then at his family, his eyes clearly displaying the fear that was ripping up his insides.

"Maybe you shouldn't open it." Diana said looking at Walker with concern.

"Ooooh Tay's got a secret admirer!" Jessica said a little too loudly.

Avie and Mackie giggled and started singing the "K-I-S-S-I-N-G" song.

Taylor envied them. Not only did they not know about the psycho that was trying to kill him, but they probably wouldn't understand, even if they did know.

He opened the envelope and read aloud in a shaky voice what was written in it.

"Do your mother and father, Isaac, Zac, Jessica, Avery, and Mackenzie and favor and leave them. Now. Leave them or I'll kill them, just so I can be with you all alone."

Jessica dropped her piece of shrimp and looked at him with scared eyes. His mother simply sat there with tears glistening in her eyes. His father stood up.

Mmmbop began playing in the background as the Hanson's table was cleared off. The waitress hummed along to the music.

They sure left in a hurry.

Tiredly, Ruth Robbins made her way into her hotel room and shut the door quietly behind her. It was late and she didn't want to wake up anyone next door.

What a day. I feel bad that I yelled at the poor kid, but he didn't realize what he was doing to me! That little outburst over the phone could have cost him his life!

Switching on her light, she sat down at the desk where she had set up her laptop. Harve still hadn't gotten back to her about those three girls that were following the Hanson's everywhere they went. She'd just have to check on it herself.

What were those names again?

Opening her notebook, she found the sheet of paper with the names written on it.

Rose Donahue, Beth Eltee, and Sara Hatchett.

She typed Rose Donahue in the FBI "search" box.

Rose Donahue:
birth date: 12/14/90
place of birth: Tulsa, OK
residing: Tulsa, OK
background: Parents, Elieen (secretary, 36) and David (congressman, 51) divorced. David remarried to Beth Eltee (no occupation, 40). Extensive traveling.
schooling: Tulsa elementary school

Elementary? That can't be her. And that Crosses out Beth Eltee too. She's a 40 year old woman, and that girls mother! They are probably just wandering around following Hanson because they have nothing better to do.

Ruth typed in the name Sara Hatchett. It took the computer awhile, but the file finally came up.

Sara Hatchett
birth date: 3/1/56
place of birth: San Francisco California
residing: Tulsa, OK
background: Died in 1994 by house fire along with husband Frank Hatchett. Survived by daughter, Claire Hatchett, and mother, Louise Majors.

Dead in 1994? That couldn't possibly be right! She bought a plane ticket less than a week ago!

A link to an article was attached to the file. She clicked on it.

Tulsa World

Tulsa residents killed in fire, possible arson.

by Bill Watts

On Tuesday, July 8th, 1994, the Sun wasn't the only thing burning up. Frank and Sara Hatchett of Tulsa were killed in a large house fire on Line St. Though the fire seemed normal on the outside, it was caused by gasoline, which, is a form of arson. The fire department also noted that the bedroom door in which Mr. and Mrs. Hatchett were behind, was locked from the outside. Nothing in the home was stolen, but there were signs of what appeared to be forced entry.
Daughter, Claire Hatchett arrived at the scene, just in time to see her house go up in flames. When asked who would kill her parents, she relented that her parents were well liked in the community and she didn't know anyone who might have done it.
Claire,11, will live with her grandmother, Louise Majors, who also resides in Tulsa. The house, which was burnt to the ground will be cleared off and possibly made into a children's playground.

Something's wrong. Something is very, very, wrong. Why did someone use the alias of Sara Hatchett? How did they know about Sara Hatchett?

She stared at the article a bit more. An idea popped into her head. Quickly, she typed in the name Claire Hatchett.

Claire Hatchett
birth date: 5/8/83
birthplace: San Francisco, CA
residing: Tulsa, OK
background: Parents Frank and Sara Hatchett killed in house fire in 1994. Lives with grandmother, Louise Majors. A certified genius. All inheritance went to her.
schooling: Victoria School for the Gifted.

Claire Hatchett? She's definatly worth looking into.

She picked up the phone and began to dial. She was on the fourth digit when she realized there was no dial tone.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Detective. So nice of you to give me a call." said an unfamiliar voice on the phone, followed by a loud laugh. "Now, we have some things to discuss. Number one, you're making it very hard for me to do what I need to do, number two, if you don't stop it, I'm going to slit your throat. Got it?"

"Claire? Claire Hatchett?" Ruth asked.

"Huh?" The girl seemed startled.

"I know who you are." Ruth spat out angrily.

"Do you really?" an intrigued voice sounded. "Well then, come and get me!"

Ruth pounded on the door a second time. She looked through the windows of the small brick home.

"Mrs. Majors?"

She was back in Tulsa, checking out this Claire Hatchett girl. She knew that Claire lived with her Grandmother, Louise Majors.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the door was opened.

A girl who looked about 13 or 14 stared at Ruth. The girl was holding a mixing bowl and had flour all over her beautiful face.

"Can....I help you?"

"Claire Hatchett?" she flashed her FBI card and pushed her way through the door.

"I'm Claire Hatchett, may I ask why you're here?"

"Why don't I ask you, Claire?" she looked into the girl's dark eyes. "I'm sure you'd know better than I would."

Oddly enough, the girl reminded her of Betty Davis. It was the eyes, huge dark, almost hypnotizing eyes. Eyes that Betty Davis was famous for, eyes that this girl seemed to mesmerize through. And no doubt about it, this girl had serious "Mother Dearest" potential.

No emotion showed on Claire's face, it was as if she carried a calm arua, totally unconvinced that the world she was living in didn't exist for her and for her only.

She merely asked in a bored voice, "May I ask what this is all about?" Ruth headed upstairs. "No." she called back down to her."You may not. Is your grandmother home?"

"No. She's grocery shopping."

Panic sounded in her voice as Ruth neared a door at the end of the hall.

"Where are you............You can't go up there!? Stop!!" she cried.

She pounded up the stairs until she was right behind the detective, bumping into her.

Ruth turned and faced her hypnotizing eyes. "Why not? Do you have something to hide?"

The girl glared angrily, then a calm look came over her face. "Go ahead detective, search all you want."

Ruth opened the door and almost fell over in shock.

Thousands of Hanson posters were up all over the walls and ceiling, none of them were group shots, it looked as though Isaac and Zac had been cut out of all of them, sometimes crossed out with, "Die! Die!" written over their faces.

A phone lay in the middle of the floor with a cd player next to it.

"Detective....are you done? I have an important phone call to make and I am baking a cake."

Ruth crept to the cd player and almost hesitantly lifted the top up to see what cd was inside. Sara McLachlin's cd was staring back up at her, almost mocking her for not finding this girl sooner.

Ruth turned and faced the young girl with an astonished look on her face.

"It's you....You're the one who has been harrassing Taylor."

Claire's eyebrows went up. Then a slow Cheshire cat smile appeared on her lips.

"Too bad you won't be able to solve this mystery detective, I'm afraid an unfortunate accident is going to happen."

Ruth's jaw dropped.

That was a threat, she's going to kill me!

Claire slowly put down the mixing bowl and took a step toward Ruth.

I have a gun in my jacket. I just need to get to it.

She eased her hand along the seam of her jacket, searching for the gun. Claire noticed and smiled as Ruth's face registered confusion when she couldn't find the gun.

Claire's smile widened. "Looking for...." she pulled Ruth's gun out from behind her back. "This?"

Ruth paled and swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat.

It's helpless, there is nothing I can do, this girl is armed, and Lord knows she's dangerous.

Claire pointed the gun at Ruth's chest. "Well, Ruth, I did some checking up on, you too....And I found out that your dear late husband committed suicide only one year ago." Ruth blinked. It still hurt her to think about that. It was her weakness, her husband's suicide. This thinking about it made her want to die. And this girl knew it.

"When I found that out I thought, 'Wow! What a perfect way to get rid of someone!' " She smiled at Ruth. "You see, I've tried all sorts of things, poison, axes...."

"Fire." Ruth put in weakly.

"That right! That's how my parents died! Anyway, I thought I'd try suicide on you, because it would just be too suspicious if I actually killed you." she walked toward her and stuck the gun in her face.

"Now Ruth, I want you to tell me where every single peice of evidence you have on me is."

She shook her head, biting her lip.

Claire fingered the trigger. "I SAID tell me where it is!"

"Please, I have family! I have a daughter!" Ruth blubbered through tears.

"Like that means anything to me."

"Why? Why are you doing this to me?" Ruth cried.

"WHY? You're taking the thing that means the most to me away from me! You're trying to keep us apart!" Claire spit out. "I will NOT let you take Taylor away from me!"

Ruth just continued to cry.

"Tell me."

Ruth pointed to the briefcase that lay on the floor. "Thank you." Claire said with a smile. "Now, what hotel are you staying in, Detective?"

"The....the Super 8." Writing this down on a peice of paper Claire looked up. "Alright, and which room?"

"656."

"Thanks again detective, you've been a big help." Claire smiled warmly and stepped toward her. Then she aimed the gun at Ruth's head and fired one shot.

Chapters 12-15
Possession Index
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