Baby Jamie

Anne Barlow is trapped alone in a Queensland country hotel, being stalked by a crazed Police officer, Pieter Bock, who's been obsessed with her for months, even trying to seduce and then rape her in her own home in Brisbane while her husband Jake is away. Bock believes Anne is meant for him and can't believe that Jake would bring Anne to Monto so close to him. But Jake and Anne are on a special assignment to examine a brilliant young cricketer who's been discovered in the small town. When Jake finds that Bock is there, he wants to send Anne home. She is defiant, not afraid, and refuses to go. Insane Bock formulates a plan to empty the hotel and that part of town with a story of an imminent explosion. He lures Jake away with a story of a murder and disables him with a blow on the head. Then he goes back to search for Anne. But Jake and Anne have prepared for this moment. She locks all the room doors and Bock begins his search, trying each door and then kicking it in. Jake is recovering and forcing himself to get to Anne while she hides in the last room in the corridor. Bock pauses and tells Anne that Jake is dead and she should give herself to him. But Anne waits. She doesn't believe anyone can kill Jake, least of all the insane South African. She sets herself up with her pistol as Jake had taught her, and Bock is outside calling to her. Anne says to herself, 'Well, Anne. Jake gave you this gun, but you wouldn't touch it. You're sure touching it now!' She aims at the door....

Jake and Anne Barlow have undertaken an assignment in a small country town in Queensland,called Monto, where Jake has been assessing a brilliant but mentally flawed young cricketer, Baby Jamie Devon. Jake was a champion cricketer and Police reporter. Anne is a psychologist and, together, they're deemed the ideal team to look at the young genius. Baby Jamie becomes smitten with Anne and trouble looms. But they have bigger problems. While Jake was absent from Brisbane on his first look at the boy,, a newly-recruited South African Policeman, Pieter Bock, meets and becomes smitten with Anne too, but he takes action and tries to rape her in her home. Anne fights him off but doesn't want to report it because their grandson, young Jake, was a witness and has already been traumatised. They determinedly resume their life and their assignment but, on arriving in Monto, find that Bock has been demoted and assigned to Monto. Jake wants to send Anne home but she is defiant, and not afraid of Bock. She refuses. It becomes clear that Bock is insane and even tries to lure Anne to a hotel room while Jake is temporarily absent, Jake arrives back, breaks Bock's arm and fingers and sends him off. Bock retires from the fight but it determined to have Anne.Then a series of murders of young women occurs in the small town and Jake's friend, the Police Comnmissioner, Jerry Hellen, asks Jake to help. Jake has solved murders before and Bock is useless. Anne vigorously objects to Jake's involvement but eventually yields. This is what her husband does best. They stay on in Monto, preparing to take the young cricketer to Brisbane, and Bock can't believe his luck. One quiet Sunday afternoon he clears the hotel and the nearby parts of the town with a story of an imminent explosion and lures Jake away with a story of another murder. He disables Jake with a blow to the head and returns to the hotel where Anne is stranded, alone. But Jake and Anne, aware of Bock's threat, have prepared for this possibility. Anne sets up in the last hotel room in the corridor and locks the doors to all the other rooms. Bock arrives and begins to hunt through the rooms, trying each door and then kicking it in. Jake has recovered a little and forces his damaged body towards the hotel. Bock calls to Anne in the hotel and tells her Jake is dead and that she should give herself to him. He's getting nearer, wooing her. But Anne is ready with a little pistol that Jake gave her, years before. Bock is outside and Anne crouches ready, saying to herself, 'Well, Anne. Jake gave you this gun, but you wouldn't touch it. You're sure touching it now!' Jake is nearing the hotel but Bock is trying the door, talking to Anne, begging her to be his. Anne takes careful aim at the door.....

R L Humphries lives in Queensland, Australia near the sea not far from where he was born. He was trained as a daily newspaper reporter, first on a regional morning daily and then in the city. He joined the Australian national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and worked in Papua/New Guinea, covering, among many other things, the attempted Indonesian invasion of then Dutch West New Guinea and the search for Michael Rockefeller, son of then New York Governor, Nelson Rockefeller. RLH was then due to be assigned to south-east Asia as Radio Australia correspondent but received an offer to work in the Queensland State Government.. He stayed there until early retirement, moving to administration in the Government. He retired to live beside the Pacific Ocean where he fishes and writes books.