Conviction Read Free Page A

shower over the bath and the kitchen consisted of a tiny sink surrounded by a few measly cupboards. No mod-cons like the others, like a dishwasher. She'd chosen hers for a few reasons. Firstly, hers was the only one that faced out to the road. The remaining apartments faced in the opposite direction overlooking the park at the rear of the block. But Kelly's ground floor apartment had both a front and back door. And despite the assurances from the landlord that it was a good area and not to worry, she had forked out an extra four hundred dollars to have two security doors and window bars put in. That had been a little over three years ago.
    Before moving in she had changed her name, even her old friend Candy didn't know where she was, not that she would ever think to look for her. As far as Candy and her previous life were concerned, Kelly was presumably dead.
    Candy had been her best friend since kindergarten. Kelly had been eating her lunch on her own, as usual, when one of the biggest kids in the class decided he wanted her one small treat, a strawberry flavoured chocolate frog. She rarely got treats and had tried to hold onto it, but after a round of hair pulling and two good punches in the arm, she had squashed the chocolate and it had oozed out of the packet and into her hand. At this point the boy had started laughing and had yelled out loud enough for everyone to hear that she had poo on her hands. Kelly had just burst into tears when Candy stood between Kelly and the giant bully, Kevin she recalled, and dared him to try and do it again. Despite being only an inch taller than Candy the boy had backed down and found an easier target. Kelly and Candy had been inseparable from then on. All through school and high school. Until six years ago.
    Shaking her head to clear her memories, Kelly realised that she had been standing on the side of the road staring in to space and, despite the time of the morning, people were starting to move around her.
    “Damn it,” she said as she spotted the black car idling at the corner waiting for her to make a move. Kelly immediately turned left and ran across the road, pulling her hood back up she darted down another side street. She didn’t even really understand why she was running. Whoever this creep was, they already knew where she lived and hadn’t actually tried anything so far, except to scare her. But she didn’t want to take any chances, after all it could be someone from her past. A past she couldn't let catch up with her. Looping through the side-alleys and back-streets before she doubled back a full block from her flat. But when she turned into her drive she came to a dead stop. The sweat the covered her body immediately started to chill. Sitting in the driveway was the shiny black car, its lights dimmed and the engine idling. Instead of fear, Kelly's outrage at being followed and the adrenaline that continued to pump through her veins, fuelled her courage.
    After her crappy shift at Momentum, her run in with Master James and Kai not talking to her, she had had enough for one night. Kelly stalked towards the car throwing her hood from her head and unzipping her jacket. Whoever was in that car was going to be sorry. If this stalker-wannabe wanted a fight, they were damn well going to get one.
    Over the last three years Kelly had toned her body training up to six days a week at a local boxing gym. Not just fitness but self-defence as well. The owner had put her through extensive boxing training and recently they had started to incorporate kick boxing into her regime. She received training in exchange Kelly maintained the gyms books. The owner, an older protective giant with salt and pepper hair and what he thought was an outstanding moustache, was the only person who knew what and who she was hiding from.
    “Get out of the car and let me see you, asshole!” Kelly screamed at the car. She waited a beat before walking a little closer and stopping as she noticed something on