Justin had briefly smiled at Daphne to acknowledge her as she raced to greet him but his attention was immediately taken by the sight of Devon Blake fully unmasked, hideous and handcuffed on the pier at Ethan's feet, and then he could concentrate on nothing else.

Daphne stared behind him in alarm, expecting to see other officers hurrying behind him but the docks remained ominously quiet. "Justin, where are they?" she asked in a shrill voice, but he purposely ignored her and strode ahead of her to reach the others, leaving her struggling to catch up.

Everyone had turned to stare at Justin as he marched quickly onto the pier with only Daphne at his heels. His lack of reinforcements wasn't missed by any of the others either, nor his strange demeanour as he suddenly came to a complete halt in front of them just staring forward at Devon, still held tightly by Ethan.

"Er Justin buddy?" Shaggy said forlornly, as the cop finally reached them, he had an awful feeling in the pit of his stomach now but tried to laugh it off. "I think you might have forgotten to call the cavalry!"

"I called them," Justin replied distantly, his eyes still only fixed on Devon.

"Oh good! So they'll be here soon?" Shaggy asked in relief.

"They're on their way," Justin nodded. "But they won't be here for a while yet."

"What do you mean?" Velma said nervously, still shivering from her wet clothes. Daphne took a subtle couple of steps away from Justin now, suddenly worried by his fixation on nothing but Devon. Fred was completely on edge by the late and now weird appearance, and he pulled Daphne behind him protectively as they all waited nervously for Justin to respond to Velma's question.

"I called them here..." Justin said robotically, walking right up to Devon and Ethan now. Even Rory looked uncertain now and found himself unconsciously stepping in front of Shaggy and Velma. Justin sure was acting irrationally now and the fear they were all feeling was cemented by his next sentence. "But...I told them the wrong information, they're heading to the wrong Docks."

The news sent everybody reeling and for a moment nobody spoke but the confession soon had Fred reacting with fury, and there was only one person who got his ire as they all stared in horror at Justin, who it seemed had finally revealed his true colours.

"Dammit Ethan! I just knew it! I told you all along we couldn't trust him! But you thought you knew better! We're all fucked now. He's probably been working with him the whole damn time but you were just too blind to see it!"

Justin didn't say a word nor visibly react but Ethan looked deeply troubled as he held onto Devon and desperately addressed his friend standing opposite. "Justin, what the hell are you playing at? We had a plan! We were finally going to make this right. We were so close! Don't mess it up after all this time, please!"

"You had a plan?! Don't tell me you've still been playing us this whole time Ethan?!" Daphne asked him in disbelief as Fred shifted to hold her tightly in his soaking wet arms.

"No! God no Daph!" Ethan appealed to his sister straight away, horrified that she felt she still couldn't trust him. "Fuck! I meant our plan! The one we came up with in the theatre together! Of course I'm not playing you. He's on our side!"

"Really?! He's got a damn funny way of showing it!" Velma lashed out fearfully now. "As if all his sketchy behaviour wasn't enough to convince you, he's just told you that he has deliberately sent reinforcements in the wrong direction and you're still defending him! Wake up and smell the dirty cop Ethan!"

"I don't know what he told you Ethan, but it's clear now that he has been lying to you from the start!" Fred said bitterly. "He was the one that tipped Devon off in China about where we were; he's the one that told him we were back in Coolsville, and after we stupidly trusted him, he's the one that's completely fucked us over right now! I hope you're happy Ethan!" Fred added harshly, looking around his surroundings and beginning to get ready to protect his friends the best he could.

Devon had silently watched the fraught exchanges between the gang and Ethan with complete bemusement, as he saw the gang completely break down at what they thought was a deep betrayal by the young man who had arrived late on the scene and caused an absolute meltdown.

"Ha! You idiots think that this kid is working with me?!" Devon finally said in amusement as he realised what their fears were, and they turned to stare at him in shock now as Justin continued to glare at Devon without even saying a word. Devon studied Justin for the first time properly and realised his initial assessment of the young man as he had stepped forward was correct; he genuinely didn't recognise him at all. "Oh how absolutely hysterical this is!" he mocked them as they all stood on edge, with Fred and Rory stepping in nobly to shield the others. "I can honestly say that I've never seen him before in my entire life!"

"I tried to tell you," Ethan said sharply, glaring at Fred who looked completely bewildered but still didn't ease the protective shielding stance he had now assumed in front of Daphne.

Velma and Shaggy just looked monumentally confused right now, as Justin continued to stand silently, completely wigging everyone out. "So he's not working with Devon? Then what the hell is going on?" Velma hissed into Shaggy's ear.

"Like, I don't know," Shaggy whispered back. "But that guy is hella creepy right now! Look at the way he's just staring! I don't think he's broken eye contact with him once."

Scooby Doo nodded in agreement. "Rike, he's Rarier Rhan Rhost Ronsters!"

It was difficult to disagree with Scooby's assessment. Though Devon had denied even knowing Justin, there was no getting away from his disconcerting behaviour. It no longer seem likely that he was about to spring forward and free Devon, but what the hell was he doing?

Daphne shoved forward past Fred before he could stop her, hell-bent on confronting Justin angrily with exactly what was on all their mind's right now. She strode right up to him, inches from his face, much to Fred's unease. "Well if you're not working with him Justin, then why the hell did you lie and send the others to the wrong place?! Who the hell even are you?!"

For Justin it was as if none of the others were there, he didn't even acknowledge Daphne, or Ethan standing behind Devon. His eyes never once left Devon's face, it seemed like he hadn't even heard Daphne's questions, instead he finally opened his mouth again but only to respond scornfully to him.

"No, of course you wouldn't know who I am. Why would you?"

"Should I?" Devon asked him playfully. "I think I'm drawing a blank here. You might have to give me a clue. Oh wait, don't tell me? You're the secret illegitimate son of dearly departed William and this is your revenge! Honest to God, I feel like I am living in my own soap opera !" Devon chuckled.

Justin didn't say anything, prompting Fred, who had raced to Daphne's side again, to ask him in an exasperated tone, "Well...are you?!"

Justin finally tore away his eyes from Devon to acknowledge Fred, looking fully irritated. "No, of course I'm not Fred," he replied but offered no further comment.

"Ethan, do you know?" Daphne turned to him in frustration. "You've kept saying throughout all this that we could trust him but you've never told us why? How did you wind up working together in China and exactly why is he so invested in him?" she said, pointing at Devon. "Do you know who he really is?"

"Yes I know exactly who he is," Ethan admitted quietly. " I always have and have trusted him implicitly but it's never been my story to tell, it's always been Justin's."

Before Daphne or any of the others could respond, Devon cut in again, his barb aimed at Justin razor-sharp now, even he seemed irritated by the guessing game.

"Kid, you've got them all on edge, and I officially have no fucking idea who you are and why you are looking at me like that so why don't you put us all out of our fucking misery and just say something!"

Fred was loathe to admit that he ever agreed with Devon on anything, but right now he did and shared his frustration. Why the hell wouldn't Justin say who he was?

Justin's gaze dropped away from Devon as he finally turned to acknowledge the gang and Rory now. He spoke calmly and truly. "Ethan's right, it is my story but it is not one of happiness. I know you have always been intrigued as to what my purpose was here and I am sorry that I ever gave the impression that I was 'sketchy' or not on your side but I very much always have been. More than you could ever realise. I have been tracking Devon Blake for a very long time. Meeting up with Ethan furthered my cause and then finally you four, you finally stopped him and you have my gratitude for that. I have waited for this day for too long. This man," he said turning back to Devon with a sneer. "Took something very important from me."

"Ah of course I did!" Devon said uncaringly. "This all makes a little more sense now I guess! It is revenge driven after all! But you're still going to have to do better than that kid! The body count is a bit high right now, so you're going to have to be a bit more specific, which body is yours? Were you screwing Detective White?"

Absolutely disgusted by his stomach churning swipe, Daphne stepped forward and slapped Devon hard, and she saw Justin's eyes darken too.

"You have taken so much from so many people, you disgusting bastard!" He seethed. "Your murderous act here turns my stomach but that's not why I'm here tonight. I'm talking about something that happened a while ago. She was your very first victim in fact," he spat in disgust. "Your first innocent victim! Her only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time!"

"Oh god," Daphne murmured, clutching onto Fred's arm now and looking shaken, the others still looked confused but Daphne had put the final piece of the puzzle together long before Justin finally confirmed her name aloud. "Her name was Adelaide McKenna."

"Adelaide?" Fred whispered to her. "Why does that name sound so familiar?"

But Daphne was already reeling, with her heart breaking as she heard Justin tearfully spit out out her name. Adelaide who had plagued her mind so desperately so recently, suddenly Justin's fury made perfect sense to her but others present still seemed oblivious to what was unfolding.

Devon was unsurprisingly rude in his complete ignorance of who Justin was referring to and he gave as much of a shrug of his shoulders as Ethan's grip would allow. "Nope! Sorry kid. That name doesn't ring a bell at all!"

"No," Justin said darkly. "I don't suppose it would, I doubt you ever bothered to learn her real name at all. She was just a convenience for you! Her life didn't matter to you when you killed her! Well she mattered to me! I loved her! And you took her away from me."

"With that confession, even Devon looked angry now. "Oh you have got to be kidding me! This is all because I took your sweetheart away?! This all comes back to fucking love?! Again?!" Devon spat with true hatred in his own eyes now. "True love does not exist! Love is nothing but fucking pain! I thought I had made that perfectly clear. Let's face it I probably saved you a lot of heartache further down the line kid! She would cheat, they all do! Hope you know that too Freddy boy!" he said with a wicked glimmer towards Fred and Daphne. "I told you already you two have NO chance of a future. None!"

Fred bristled again at his cutting remarks but Justin looked increasingly unhinged now as he faced down Devon for his scathing remarks about Adelaide.

"How dare you speak of her like that! What the hell would you know about us?! We were planning a future together and you fucking stole that! And all for what?! All because you couldn't get your hands on her!" Justin's anger dramatically turned on Daphne now, stunning everyone as he suddenly pointed at her so hatefully. The intensity of his sudden glare at Daphne, caused her to gasp as he stared at her so coldly and prompted Fred to wrap his arms even more protectively around her. Even Ethan stiffened a little in alarm now as he saw the loathing in Justin's eyes in only Daphne's direction.

With Justin's sudden calling out of Daphne now, the penny finally dropped for Devon too as to exactly who Adelaide must have been and he laughed uproariously now. "That whore?! You're holding this massive grudge because of the whore?! Are you serious?!"

"You fucking disgusting animal!" Justin said wildly, his focus now firmly back on Devon. "She was not a whore!"

"My mistake," Devon said salaciously. "It was too dark to tell, I just assumed from the way she appeared from nowhere and the way she was dressed..."

"She wasn't a hooker!" Justin snarled before choking up a little. "We, we were going on a date but something went wrong..."

Coolsville, 2009

"Hi Adelaide? It's Justin, I'm just checking you got home OK last night. Listen, I'm sorry for what happened and I understand if you don't want to speak to me but please just at least message me OK?"

Justin hung up his phone with a nagging feeling of doubt in his heart. He was sure she was just still simmering from their argument but it was late afternoon now, why wouldn't she just at least let him know she was OK?

"Hey Just," his fellow trainee Scott suddenly shook him to full attention. We're all being called in because something major is going down. Devon Blake has just gone public with the news that his daughter has been kidnapped! We gotta go!"

Justin watched Scott grab his jacket, only half paying attention to what he was saying before he sighed and gathered his own things. He trailed Scott to the car and into the briefing room, still snatching glimpses at his phone every few minutes when he was sure Scott wasn't looking and as the Sheriff, Sheriff Dalton called everyone's chattering attention by slamming something down loudly on the desk in front of him, stilling every conversation in an instant.

"Okay, this is big. I do not have to tell everyone here how much Devon Blake has done for this town, it is absolutely IMPERATIVE that we find his daughter alive! Daphne Blake is 19 years old and was last seen at Hershey's gym last night. She is a reporter for the Coolsville Chronicle so we are keeping an open mind as to the motive. It's entirely possible her disappearance is nothing to do with her father's position but we are exploring every possibility..."

Justin was only half paying attention again as he anxiously continued to sneak glimpses at his phone but still Adelaide hadn't messaged back. Scott nudged him, noticing his distraction and not wanting to get called out, Justin pushed the phone into his pocket and forced himself to focus on the case. It seemed the girl was some privileged heiress. When Sheriff Dalton suddenly added a couple of photos to the slides on the case information, Justin nearly choked on sight of her and had to grab for his water bottle, taking loud, slurping gasps that caused a few people in the next row to turn around in irritation.

Justin continued to stare wildly at the redhead for a few more seconds feeling his whole face heat up before he scrambled out of his seat and into the lobby. She looked so much like Adelaide it was unreal, they could even be sisters.

The briefing finished not long after and officers filed out, determined to find the young girl. Scott was searching for him and Justin gave a nervous little wave.

"What the hell man?" Scott asked. "That didn't look good to our assessors you getting up and flapping like that. It's sad y'know but these are the kinds of things we will have to deal with on a regular basis when we graduate! Pull yourself together Justin!"

Scott had walked away from Justin and Justin hadn't even had chance to respond, what could he say? That he had seen a ghost?

The case moved quickly and the rapid news that a body had been found so quickly deeply unnerved Justin as the girl was discovered in a shallow grave. What had been hidden from the public was that the discovery was actually an anonymous tip-off which meant that the killer wanted her to be found. The thought turned his stomach but equally excited him a little, could Coolsville have a serial killer?

The next couple of days were crazy as the police tried to comfort and reassure the public in the wake of the Blake murder. Meanwhile Scott, Justin and the other fresh recruits had to concentrate on their upcoming exams while the rest of the force focused on her murder. In all the time Adelaide still didn't call him.

On November 28th, things finally imploded in on themselves with a series of events that left everyone gasping. A couple of new Detectives were brought in from out of town and very soon they had a lead in the form of a Jon Doe who had been found badly beat up. This led to the astonishing development of not only Devon Blake becoming the prime suspect in his daughter's murder but also of Sheriff Dalton's corruption too.

Amongst the extraordinary scenes at Coolsville PD, an even more astonishing twist to the story was also developing.

"She's fucking alive after all!" Scott told him over the phone in excitement. "She's actually still alive! Can you believe that?!"

"Who?" Justin asked, half-asleep as he clutched the phone. "Who's still alive?"

"The Blake girl! Daphne! It sounds like her father is seriously, seriously fucked up!"

"I'm confused Scott, how can she be alive? He identified her body?"

"That's where it's get seriously juicy!" Scott said salaciously, clearly enjoying spreading the gossip in a highly unprofessional manner. "Devon Blake paid off the coroner to lie and say it was her! I mean how fucked up is that?! He needed to convince everyone she was dead!"

Justin was wide awake now as the little pieces started to fall into place. "Holy fuck! Wait, but there was definitely a body right? Paid off or not, it can't have been some completely random girl who looked nothing like her."

"Hmm, I guess not! All the rumours are he killed some random girl in her place, which is some dark, dark shit. I guess she had to look a bit like her, I never thought of that, not many redheads in this town though...Justin...are you still there?! Justin?!"

Justin Richardson, trainee police officer in the making, had indeed dropped the receiver, and slumped to the floor in complete and total despair now and he let out a desperate howl of anguish as he lay on the floor in his flat alone. He knew exactly who the 'random girl' was.

Adelaide.

Justin was shaking as he finished his short recall of how he found out that Adelaide was Devon's victim that night all the while he was a trainee recruit. Rory and the gang looked shell-shocked especially Daphne but Devon merely rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Are you finished? Gosh I wish your friends would hurry up and get here so they can arrest me already! I mean, what do you want from me? An apology for killing your pretty little girlfriend? No can do! But I'll tell you what happened."

"I don't think that's necessary..." Ethan said desperately but Devon began anyway.

"When she stumbled into me, I thought perhaps she must have been a gift from God. I mean she could not have been more perfect. Oh how much she looked like you!" Devon said wistfully, speaking to Daphne now. "The same flowing red hair, even a similar headband to those you used to favour when you were younger. And she just appeared right at my feet as if from nowhere!"

"Stop it Devon," Ethan said. "Stop It now!"

But Devon was enjoying taunting Justin now. "You must have really upset her boy! She was so very upset in the rain if I recall. She was scared you know. I think at first she might even have recognised me. She probably thought I was her saviour!" He chuckled before eyeing Justin deliberately, wanting to see her reaction. "She never saw it coming until it was too late. Not until I wrapped my hands around her pretty little neck and squeezed the life out of her."

Everyone looked thoroughly sickened as he bragged about how he had killed poor Adelaide. There had always been some doubt about whether he had killed her himself or he had ordered her murder but it was clear what the truth was now.

Justin had gone purple in rage now and was too far gone to listen to any reason. "And why! Fucking just say it! Why did you kill her?!"

"Because she resembled you," Devon said to Daphne almost apologetically. "She died for no other reason than her perfect likeness to you, sorry to say it but it's true."

"I knew it," Justin said shaking from head to toe now. "All this time I've tracked you down, chased you across the world but finally I know the absolute truth. That in fact there are two people to blame for her death," he said slowly, producing a gun now to everyone's horror. "You," he said icily to Devon, hatred burning in his eyes and then he swivelled a little more regretfully to pivot the gun in Daphne's direction. "And you."

"Justin you can't be serious! You can't really hold any blame towards Daphne for Adelaide's death?!" Ethan said in horror, immediately jumping up from behind Devon to stepping towards Daphne, and Fred, who had thrown his entire body in front of Daphne as soon as Justin had produced the gun.

"I'm sorry Ethan, but I can't help how I feel," Justin said pathetically, as he finally betrayed Ethan after all. "She looks so much like her. It just isn't fair. Why should she get to live when Adelaide is long dead!"

"Justin, I'm sorry!" Daphne said tearfully as he held the gun towards her. "I'm so sorry for what you went through and for losing Adelaide. I completely understand why you blame me."

Fred was stood in front of Daphne so fiercely, making it abundantly clear that if Justin wanted Daphne he was going to have to go through him first. Rory, Shaggy, Velma and Scooby were too far away to have any impact, watching helplessly as 'on their side' Justin suddenly turned on their friends so dramatically. It was clear Justin was completely of unsound mind right now, a twist that had caught Ethan completely cold.

"Dammit Justin, I believed you! You told me you wanted him and him only, but you used me to get to him and then to her! How can you blame Daphne!? She's as much of a victim as Adelaide was!"

"But she's still here isn't she!" Justin hit back bitterly. "I had to go and visit Adelaide at the fucking graveyard today! It isn't right!"

"Well isn't this a dramatic little twist!" Devon interrupted, immensely pleased with the drama. Now Ethan had moved closer to Daphne, he was kneeling by himself and starting to think he might possibly even be able to get out of this now everyone's attention was on protecting Daphne. "It's a good job none of you fools have the balls to end me, I would hate to miss the next exciting chapter in your lives, I can't wait to follow your exploits from the comfort of my prison..."

Justin's sweeping turn from holding the gun towards Fred and Daphne, to twisting back towards Devon in an absolute instant took everybody by surprise. Even more so was the fluid movement that followed as he lifted the gun up with nothing but hatred in his eyes. They didn't have a chance of stopping him despite Ethan's wholly desperate cry of 'Justin NO!' as he realised just exactly how far Justin was willing to go.

Devon Blake certainly didn't see it coming. There was absolutely no time for one final wisecrack, he barely had time to react at all. Within seconds Justin had squeezed the trigger hard and with deadly accuracy, the bullet had slammed into Devon's chest with blood splayed everywhere as screams filled the air as everyone reacted in horror. As Devon's hand-cuffed body hit the deck hard and he fell onto his back with blood pooling beneath him and with everyone still too frozen with shock to react, Justin stepped over Devon and after seeing a tiny glimmer of life still within him, fired the gun a second time without any hesitation into his forehead, causing Daphne to scream again and had Fred, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby looking away in pure repulsion as the damage was plain to see for all.

And that was it. The life of the man who had so haunted all of their lives for so long was over in an instant. One minute he was bragging about his cushy prisoner life to come and then the next, he was lying lifeless on the deck. His reign of terror was over. The danger however certainly wasn't over for the gang.

Daphne had immediately sunk onto her knees, just staring at the brutal corpse of Devon Blake, not able to take her eyes away from the truly macabre sight. There was just so much blood. It seemed so surreal and she couldn't believe she really was looking at his body. She half expected him to jump back to life screaming 'surprise!' but she knew from the brutally professional way that Justin had executed him just now, that he was dead.

She didn't even really feel anything. No relief, no sadness, just numb. She felt nothing at all. She wouldn't grieve him but she still felt completely empty inside. This wasn't the plan at all. This wasn't how it was supposed to end. She was brought back to reality by a shaky Justin telling her to 'get up Daphne' while still holding the gun he had just killed Devon with. He grabbed Daphne's arm before a completely terror-stricken Fred could react from the stupor Devon's murder had temporarily placed him in. Justin dragged Daphne to her feet before a dazed Fred could stop him, Daphne did not fight Justin as he held the gun on her now.

"Justin, what have you done," Ethan moaned, still absolutely shell-shocked by Justin's brutal execution of Devon. "He was handcuffed! This is murder Justin!"

"It's what he deserved," Justin said calmly. "You heard his bragging. He wanted that comfortable life in prison. He probably would have got it! Him being arrested was never enough for me. I'm sorry I mislead you that it was. I was always going to kill him. For her." Ethan was completely reeling as he looked at the man he thought of as a friend, a man with a shared passion but he realised, his went far deeper. Justin's face and neck was splattered with blood from the killing. He looked completely unhinged and now he had Daphne. Fred was right in a way, Justin had played him all along, he felt complete fury and despair.

"Justin!" Rory shouted over, having recovered from the astonishing turn of events as he tried to appeal cop to cop to Justin. "Justin come on. This is it now! It has to be, you've got what you wanted! He's dead! You can't blame Daphne for what happened to Adelaide! That's just crazy!"

"Justin please, please put the gun down," Fred begged as Justin continued to grip Daphne uncertainly. He couldn't fully process it yet but it was an undeniable fact that Devon was finally gone for good and yet Daphne's life was still at risk as Justin was looking very unbalanced now and uncertain what he truly wanted to do.

They all jumped when they heard the loud sounds of vehicles pulling up now and they realised Justin's purposely diverted reinforcements were finally arriving. They reached Shaggy, Velma and Rory first, quickly handing out blankets as they came to terms with the extraordinary situation that was developing on the pier further down. Justin continued to grip Daphne with one hand whilst holding the gun in the other. The others could only watch on helplessly. Huge beams of light suddenly swept over the yard now from above and they all held their hands up to shield themselves from the intrusive lights as a helicopter circled overhead.

"Put your weapons down," a voice boomed from a loudspeaker. "Put your weapon down Officer or we will have no choice but to fire." It was clear that the yard was finally surrounded and Ethan tried one final desperate appeal for it to end peacefully.

"C'mon Justin put it down, it's over. She's completely innocent, just like Adelaide was." Ethan begged. "This isn't what Adelaide would have wanted and you know that."

"Don't try and speak for her!" Justin said tearfully but as he stared at Daphne, he began to see only Adelaide now and it was her soft smile he saw not Daphne's. "Oh god, sweetheart I'm so sorry, we both know the reason you ended up in that alley. I'm so, so sorry."

…..

"I don't want to hide any more Justin! I'm not some dirty little secret that you can call up whenever you feel like it!" Adelaide said furiously as they sat in the car as the rain poured down.

"Adee, don't be like that, you know it's hard for me right now."

"I know Justin, I know how hard you're working right now to qualify and I'm proud but it's so goddamn frustrating! I want to be able to tell people proudly that I'm dating a cop!"

"And you will, just we can't, not yet."

"You keep saying that Justin but when? We've been dating in secret for months now! I'm so tired of creeping around in the shadows."

Justin tried to grab her chin and kiss her but Adelaide turned her head away angrily.

"No Justin!"

Justin sat back in frustration, looking at the rain slamming down on the windscreen.

"I don't know what you want me to say Adelaide! I have to concentrate on my exams right now. If I mess this up now my father will never forgive me."

"That's it, isn't it, I'm not good enough for your precious family! Too ashamed to say that you're dating a lowly waitress!"

"Adee, I'm not ashamed, how could you say that?! It's just the timing isn't right now."

"You know what Justin, I'm clearly wasting your time right now so why don't I make it easy for you! Forget the date!"

With a toss of her red hair, she clutched the door handle and clambered out into the dark and driving rain, slamming the door after her.

"Adelaide wait!" he shouted through the window. "It's freezing and you don't even have a jacket!" He saw her eyes blaze angrily as she clutched her arms around herself as she stood in the little top and skirt.

"Don't worry about me Justin," she spat. "Its only a couple of blocks, probably better this way, no danger of anyone seeing you with me this way. Don't call me for a while!"

Justin stared after her helplessly but she had already blended into the night, he drove around the block a few times but could see no sign of her. He had to assume she had got home safely.

She hadn't.

Adelaide McKenna was murdered by Devon Blake just ten minutes after she had left Justin's car.

"I should have looked for you properly Adee, I should have done, maybe things might have been different, I could have saved you from him! God it was really all my fault!" He said brokenly to Daphne and she tensed as he pulled her close but then suddenly hugged her, the gun hanging limply from the hand by his left side. Daphne didn't flinch as his bloody cheek touched hers and he stroked her hair with his bloodied fingers. Instead she very gently reached around him to the hand weakly holding the gun now. Looking over his shoulder she could see Fred and the others and the approaching police officers, she nodded at them in understanding and carefully slid the gun from his grasp and it clattered harmlessly to the deck besides Devon's body which she tried not to look at.

As soon as he was unarmed, Daphne moved slowly from Justin's still tearful embrace to allow the approaching police to move in and arrest Justin now, who didn't resist in the slightest and soon police flooded the Docks.

Fred ran to Daphne and hugged her tightly. "It's over," he whispered into her ear. "Oh god it's finally over."

Daphne watched as some of the police reacted in surprise but also relief to Devon's body.

"That son of a bitch is finally in the ground, good riddance," one cop said as he spat on the sheet that had quickly been used to cover the corpse.

As she stared at the blood soaked sheet, the magnitude of what had happened finally properly hit Daphne she sobbed brokenly in Fred's arms as Ethan tentatively approached too. "He's really dead," she said her face full of tears, looking at both of them. They had gone through so much together at his hands. "I can't believe he's really gone."

Fred didn't flinch when Ethan slipped his arm around both of them. This was no time for gloating about how he was right to distrust Justin. The only feeling right now was one of pure relief.

When they broke from the embrace, Fred was grinning at Ethan. "I suppose I should thank you properly for saving me earlier."

"I was waiting for that one."

"I was just impressed that you managed to do it without hurting Fred!" Daphne exclaimed, I really did think the worst when you shot him like that!"

"Ah well," Fred said with a little rueful grin. "I wouldn't say entirely unhurt." He proceeded to slide off his wet jacket and lift up his shirt to reveal an incredibly bruised chest where Ethan had shot him at close range.

"Fred!" Daphne said in alarm. "Why the hell didn't you say something?"

"Hey, it's OK, I think I would take the bruises over you know, getting decapitated." He smiled but they all shuddered. They had probably came within just seconds of that horrifyingly coming to pass.

"Excuse me! Coming through!" Their eyes all turned as one to look at the body one final time as it was carefully placed into a bag and wheeled off the pier. Daphne held one hand of Fred's and one hand of Ethan's.

The news would undoubtedly break soon and when it did the world would cheer. Devon Blake was dead. So why didn't anyone who was there to witness it feel like celebrating?

A/N: I did it! I killed him! The idea of Devon potentially getting away just wasn't one that I even entertained, it was always going to end for him at the Docks. It's the end for him but not quite for the story. There will be significant aftermath to explore for all of our primary characters and relationships, that I promise will be very narratively satisfying for anyone who has followed this two part story from the very beginning. Lots of strands to wrap up still ;)