by Jericho

Chapter 8

Cameron paced as he gathered his thoughts. Rachel and Amanda watched him waiting for him to begin. Amanda noted the crease on his forehead and knew that he was struggling with his thoughts. She started to reassure him when he began to speak.

"This book, Beyond Imagination, talks about the power of the mind. It describes ways to control things and do things by simply thinking about it. It also talks about how to plant suggestions in the minds of others. Stark studied mind control devices of different cultures. The book also suggests that souls travel from body to body throughout time."

"Reincarnation?" Rachel asked.

"Reincarnation," Cameron nodded. "The last part of the book talks about his wife. He seemed to have loved her but still we haven't found out why he murdered a woman he claimed to love."

"What are you saying, Cameron?" Amanda asked not sure that she wanted to hear his answer.

Cameron took a deep breath before answering. This was not going to be an easy thing to accept.

"I believe that Jordan Stark thinks he's the reincarnation of the Jordan Stark that lived 200 years ago. And I believe his interest in this family is because he believes Amanda is the reincarnation of his wife, Amalie."

Amanda and Rachel simply sat there and stared at him. Cameron knew what they were thinking. They thought he'd lost his mind. Then Rachel began to nod.

"Good work, Cameron. Think of all the things Lila told us. We know he somehow planted ideas in Matthew's head. You are absolutely right."

Amanda's eyes were wide. She wasn't quite ready to accept all of this.

"That just seems too ridiculous."

Cameron sat down beside her and placed his arm around her waist. He rubbed gently where his hand rested. He knew what she was wrestling with. He had struggled with it for days and until he'd said it all out loud to them, he truly hadn't believed it.

"If you had been in that lab at Lumina, I think you'd believe it," Rachel told her.

Amanda shook her head. Then she was the one who was putting this family in danger.

"Amanda, I'm not letting you out of my sight. Stark hasn't made any moves yet that we've noticed."

"But it's just a matter of time if it's me that he's come for."

Cameron saw the fear in her eyes and he wished he could erase it. But the fact was that they all needed to be afraid right now. They were closer to knowing what Stark was up to but they still didn't have all of the information they needed.

"We need to find out more about Clayton Cory and we need to find out why Stark murdered his wife. If this psycho wants history to repeat itself, we've got to know all of the facts."

"I think I may have a way to find out about Clayton Cory," Rachel began. "Cory published a book a few years ago that told the stories of the spies for the monarchy of England. The title escapes me now but it was a play on the title of the James Bond book, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I should be able to lay my hands on a copy of the book quickly."

Cameron felt a burst of excitement. This could be the break they needed.

"We've got to move fast because it's only a matter of time before Stark discovers that his book is missing. When he does, I think we all better run for cover. Amanda doesn't need to be left alone."

Amanda looked at Cameron defiantly, "I can take care of myself."

Cameron wasn't in the mood to fight with her and especially not in front of Rachel. He chose his words carefully.

"Amanda, I know you can take care of yourself. Until we understand what Stark is up to, you shouldn't be alone. I know that will be hard but at the moment Stark has the upper hand."

Amanda started to protest then she remembered what had happened with Scott Guthrie when she had taken matters into her own hands.

"I will do as you say, this time."

Jordan sat at his desk looking off into the distance. He heard the familiar music playing in his head. His precious Amalie. He took the key from his pocket and unlocked the drawer to his desk. He reached down for the book that he knew was there. Disbelief. Jordan looked frantically. It wasn't there. He roared in anger bringing Margaret Allen running.

"Mr. Stark, what's wrong?" she asked with frightened eyes.

"Someone has been here. I want to see every security tape of this room for the last week. Now!!!"

Ms. Allen moved quickly to do as he asked. She had never seen him this enraged.

Jordan paced with his lip curled. Who? Who would do such a thing? Cass Winthrop. That was it. Cass Winthrop knew about the book. But what need would he have for it and when had he had the chance to break into the office? No, if Winthrop had the book, he had help getting it.

"Here are the tapes Mr. Stark."

Jordan grabbed them from her hand. Ms. Allen paused for a moment before turning and leaving quickly. Jordan slammed the first one in the VCR. He viewed one after the other searching for a sign. Wait. There. He ran to the calendar to look at the date.

"No, there was nothing unusual that day."

He drummed his fingers on his desk. He played the tape in slow motion. Someone had disabled the camera momentarily but at the edge he could see a flash of black. He threw the remote control across the room breaking the device into a million tiny pieces.

"If Winthrop has shown that book to the Corys, they will see her picture. They'll know what is going on here. I have to know. I have to see what is going on."

Jordan reached for the key. He clutched it in his hand as he concentrated. He closed his eyes. Now, he was ready for a meeting.

Amanda looked out the terrace doors. Cameron had finally convinced her to work at home today. David Halliday was coming over. He was perfectly harmless. Although, she smiled, David certainly brought out the caveman in Cameron. Cameron had gone to Cory with her mother. They were determined that they would find the book Rachel had talked about. She still wondered why Jordan Stark hadn't made his move yet.

Amanda heard the doorbell ring. She blinked a couple of times reminding herself that she had to look devastated. She ran her fingers through her hair hoping to look frazzled to whomever was at the door. She heard Claudia talking with someone. She spun around as David Halliday entered the room.

"David, I'm sorry to ask you to come here to work."

"David" studied her carefully. She looked so lost. He had to remove the rest of Cameron's memories from her mind.

"Oh, Amanda, i..i..i..it's no problem. I understand. . . that is. . .I'm very sorry."

Amanda's face fell and she walked to the couch. She didn't want to deceive "David" but he'd never understand their plans.

"David" cursed Cameron Sinclair. What a waste of Amanda's time? He wasn't worthy of the heartache that he was causing her.

They spread out the papers pertaining to Brava and went to work. "David" had a hard time concentrating when she was this close to him. Did she remember? Did she know who he was? He couldn't gauge her reactions especially with Cameron Sinclair still clouding her mind. But there were other ways. He leaned forward knocking a stack of papers in the floor. The white sheets flew everywhere.

"Oh, David," Amanda laughed and got on her knees to pick them up.

"I'm sorry. I. . .I wasn't paying attention."

"David" pulled his open silver pocket watch from his jacket. He held it toward Amanda. Remember. Remember. Amanda's eyes fixed on an object in the distance as she succumbed to the music and entered a trance-like state.

Alli walked from the kitchen toward the back stairs. She paused in the door to the living room when she heard her mother's laughter. There was something she hadn't heard in a long while. "David" was here. Alli smiled and started to step into the living room to say "hello" to him. The smile died on her face as she looked at her mother.

"Remember. Remember," "David" said over and over as Amanda continued in her dreamlike state.

Alli watched in wonder. What was happening? Was he hypnotizing her? She couldn't stand there and watch someone else hurt her mother. She threw her shoulders back and pasted a smile on her face.

"David, I didn't know you were here."

"David" was startled by Alli's entrance. He quickly snapped his watch closed. Amanda immediately came out of her trance. "David" smiled at Alli. What had she seen? He couldn't read her expression.

"Alli, it's good to see you."

Amanda tried to clear the cobwebs in her head. Alli watched her carefully.

"Mom, you promised that you'd take me to the mall today."

Amanda shook her head not remembering telling Alli that. Maybe she had. What was happening to her? What were those "memories" that she'd had?

"Well, Henry is just outside, Alli. You two had such a good time before. Why don't I have him take you?"

"Thanks, David. It's a girl thing."

He laughed, "I understand. Well, Amanda, I was certainly hoping to get some more work done today."

Amanda was somewhat relieved that Alli had interrupted because she simply couldn't concentrate on work right now.

"Oh, David, I'm sorry. I forgot that I promised Alli. Maybe we can work on something later in the week."

"I'll look forward to it, Amanda."

"David" gathered up his papers. Alli followed him to the foyer making sure that he left. Then she returned to her mother in the living room.

"Mom, I think you need to stay away from him."

Amanda was puzzled by her statement. First Cameron and now David.

"I thought you liked David."

"There was something weird going on when I walked in here."

"When did I tell you that we were going to the mall?"

"I was trying to get rid of him."

Amanda was still confused by Alli's change in attitude toward David. She just shook her head.

"Okay, well I'm going to go upstairs. Tell Mom I want to see her when she comes back."

Alli watched her mother leave the room with some concern. What had he done to her? How could she tell her what she'd seen? How could she find out what David Halliday was up to? After the production number at the wedding, her family wasn't real receptive to any of her ideas. There was no way that they would believe her.

Amanda's Room

Amanda couldn't remove the music from her head. The melody played over and over. Was it a memory or a fantasy? She thought about Cameron's theory about reincarnation. She didn't want to believe it but maybe it was true. What had triggered the visions she'd had today? Amanda shook her head then laid down hoping to remove uneasy feelings she was having. She was soon asleep but it wasn't a peaceful sleep and it didn't remove those feelings.

The Corys' chauffeur had driven Rachel to the office this morning. He was quite handsome even though a hat hid the top part of his face and a dark beard and mustache covered the bottom. He was quite stern. This chauffeur was all business. He carried Rachel's things to her office. It was there behind the closed door that he swept the hat off of his head revealing his entire face.

Rachel laughed, "You look like Errol Flynn in that disguise."

Robin Hood? Didn't he wear tights? Cameron wasn't sure that he liked that comparison. He frowned at her. He was ready to get down to business and find that book.

"So where did you say that we could look for that book?"

Rachel kept smiling at him. He was very single minded when it came to things that were important and certainly when it concerned Amanda. She liked that about him.

"You're in luck. I called before I left the house this morning. I'm hoping that it is somewhere in that pile on my desk."

Cameron looked skeptically at the large pile of envelopes on her desk. He wasn't in the mood to shuffle through a lot of paper to find one book that might or might not hold the answers they were searching for.

"Ah ha! Here it is," Rachel told him with some excitement. She held it out to him because she knew he wouldn't be appeased any other way.

Cameron took the book from her and began leafing through the pages. It wasn't very long before he found the biography of Thaddeus Clayton Cory.

Rachel looked at Cameron gauging his reaction to the excerpt from the book. Cameron stared straight ahead, expressionless.

"I guess that explains why Stark murdered his wife."

"It still leaves out a lot of details, Cameron. And the details that it does give do not reassure me. Amanda is in a lot of danger and it sounds to me like you are as well."

Cameron hadn't even considered his own life. He was just concerned about Amanda. What would Stark do to her?

"Why do you think that I'm in danger?"

"I think you know."

Cameron looked at her with inquiring eyes. He wasn't fully understanding her thoughts.

"I think that you are the reincarnation of Clayton Cory which puts you in as much danger as Amanda."

Cameron looked around his apartment for the last time. It was amazing how everything he owned had fit into two bags. He had bittersweet memories of this place. The sweet memories all included Amanda. The bitter ones were the time Gary had discovered that he was in Bay City and all the times Josie had come there to conspire to deceive Amanda and Gary. He stared at the train ticket in his hand. There was no other way.

"Time to go," he said and closed the door on his apartment. He had a train to catch.

She was running as fast as she could. She held her cumbersome skirts high. She had to get away. She had to get to a safe place. The baby would be all right. The nanny would see to it. She cried out when she ran into the solid barrier of a man's chest. She looked up in fear and then relief flooded her entire body.

"Amalie, Amalie, what is it?"

"Clayton, he knows. He knows about Alexander. He knows that it is you that I love."

Clayton wrapped his arms around her.

"I'll get you to a safe place. Then I'll go back for Alexander."

"No, I can't bear for you. . ."

"Amalie, it's the only way. I can't take the chance that he will try to take you."

They ran together through the woods. Sometimes Clayton would have to drag her. She was breathless, terrified. What if he found them? What would he do to Alexander? She'd had to leave him. She'd had to find Clayton. It was the only way.

They came to a cave. The darkness was like a cloak surrounding them.

"Trust me, Amalie."

"I do. I do with all my heart."

Clayton kissed her quickly but it was a kiss full of promises.

"I'll be back with Alex. Wait here."

"I love you, Clayton. I'll love you for eternity."

He was gone. Amalie looked around the cave as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She turned to the entrance of the cave and there in the light of the moon stood the most ominous form. She screamed.

Amanda screamed in her sleep. She sat straight up in bed and looked around the room. It was her room. She was safe. The dream had seemed real. It was like she had lived it. She cried out when the door burst open. Rachel and Matt looked at her with concern.

"What's wrong?" Rachel asked her anxiously.

"It was just a dream, Mom. Just a dream."

But was it?

Jordan was still full of rage. He awaited reports on the whereabouts of his book. He was wasting precious time waiting. He had to get back to Amanda. He'd almost broken through the other day if only Alli hadn't walked into the room. He looked up anxiously when he heard the knock on the door.

"Come in."

Zak rushed in the room. He had news.

"Jordan, we've searched Cass Winthrop's offices and house. The book is nowhere to be seen. I also went to Cameron Sinclair's apartment as you asked."

"And?" Jordan asked impatiently.

"There was nothing there, either. There was no one there, Jordan."

"Good, so Sinclair didn't catch you."

"That's not what I mean. I talked to the tail you put on Cameron. Cameron bought a train ticket this morning. All of his things are gone. I talked to his landlord. He turned in his keys and told him that he was leaving Bay City."

"Well, well. I assume that the tail watched him get on the train."

"Yeah, he got on, Jordan. He's gone from Bay City."

"I knew that he would leave. That's the kind of man he is. He runs away. He's a coward. He's always been a coward. I want you to keep a tail on Winthrop. With Sinclair out of the way, Winthrop holds the key to the whereabouts of my book."

"But we searched everywhere, Jordan."

"Search again," he ordered. "Winthrop has something to do with it. I can feel it."

Dressed in a ice blue satin gown and her white robe, Amanda walked slowly toward the servants' wing. She needed to go to Cameron's old room. She sometimes went there for sanctuary. She could still feel his presence in that room even though he hadn't been there in months.

She slid a key in the lock of the door. She closed the door behind her and locked the door back. She walked to the center of the room and closed her eyes remembering the times she had argued with Cameron in this very spot. He'd called her a "princess" for the first time in this very room. They'd shared their first kiss here. It held a lot of special memories for her. She sighed.

Amanda jumped slightly when two strong arms encircled her waist from behind. And her captor placed a gentle kiss at the nape of her neck.

"You never could stay out of my room," Cameron growled in a low voice in her ear.

CONTINUE