Suddenly remembering where she was, Joey steps back with a wry smile. "Oops."

Aden grins at her. "It's great to see you to Joey, not that you've been gone all that long."

"Sometimes it feels like I have been gone forever. What are you doing here?"

"There wasn't exactly a stampede to accept a case in a small town, so I put my hand up and here I am."

Charlie relaxes slightly as she watches the exchange, seeing nothing more than a couple of close friends greeting each other.

"Angie," Georgie tries out the name, "Looks like he's about ready to explode."

Charlie glances at Angelo who was glaring at Aden with barely disguised hatred. She shivers slightly. Somehow, she got the impression the agreement he and Joey had wouldn't stop him aiming that look at her if he ever found out she was the woman Joey had spent the eve before her wedding with.

Angelo steps forward, cutting off the friendly exchange. "Aden, why don't you go and speak to the investigating officers," he smiles charmingly at him as he points out Charlie and Georgie. "I'd like a minute with my wife."

Aden nods. "Joey, I'll catch up with you later." He walks over to Charlie and Georgie, "I guess I may have put a dampener on Angie's day," he grins, extending his hand. "Det. Aden Jeffries."

Charlie takes his hand, finding his boyish charm appealing. "Snr Const. Charlie Buckton and this is Const. Georgie Watson. I take it you know the happy couple?" Charlie couldn't resist asking.

"We grew up together."

"So you're all friends then." Charlie glares at her cousin for asking that particular question, knowing she was obviously digging for the reason of Angelo's apparent dislike.

"Well, Joey's been my best friend since we were kids and even though Angelo's always been around, I've always been beneath his notice." He grins again. "That is, until he took an interest in Joey in a 'let's be more than friends way', then, I became a threat."

"So you and the boss' missus never," Georgie makes a few hand gestures.

Aden chuckles, shaking his head. "Never been anything remotely romantic between us, not that you can tell Angelo that. And now after years of pining after her, he finally has her and he can't handle any guy being too friendly with her."

"What about women?"

"Georgie!" Charlie hisses at her.

Aden glances between the two women, his curiosity piqued. "Angelo knows she's bi, but he's one of those guys who sees a man as more of a threat."

"Is that what you think?"

Charlie struggles not to step on her cousin's foot to shut her up.

"I think Angelo's a fool," Aden says.

"I'm sorry Angelo, I guess I didn't realise how much I'd missed some of my friends until I saw Aden."

"Especially him."

"I wish you wouldn't keep being jealous of Aden, he's like a brother to me and nothing more."

"I trust you Joey, I don't trust him."

"He's never made any moves on me Angelo."

"That's why I don't trust him. You're a beautiful woman Joey, it's weird that he hasn't tried it on."

"It's not weird Angelo. Aden is my friend and that's all he has ever been."

Sitting in the office that had been assigned to him, Aden looks over the files. "You're right, there doesn't seem to be anything linking these businesses together aside from the fact they were targeted by an arsonist, an arsonist who uses a different MO with each fire, which is something I've never personally come across, though there have been cases." He looks up from the files. "Most criminals, including arsonists, have a set way they do things, but there are those who like to mix things up and it makes it harder to catch them. Have there been many fires in the past few years?"

"Sure, but only one that was ruled as arson. Three years ago, someone set fire to an old farm house and it nearly started a bush fire."

"Any suspects?"

Charlie shakes her head. "It was a fairly remote farm and it was only because a plane was flying over that the fire was spotted before it got out of hand, so there was no witnesses or evidence, other than that it was deliberately lit."

"So who are we looking for?" asks Georgie.

"Profiling isn't an exact science but from my own cases and one's I've studied, it's mostly white men in their late teens/20s, though there are cases of them being younger and older. Considering the differing MO's and the lack of evidence left behind, I'd say it's someone a little older, late 20s/30s and with the way the fires were staged, I'd say he's found a way to practice his craft without drawing attention."

"There are plenty of remote places to start a fire without anyone knowing, provided it didn't get out of control."

"He's definitely had practice. He takes his time to plan the fires, so he's got average or high level of intelligence, though he probably has a poor academic record but that would be more due to lack of social skills than anything. His family life was most likely disrupted during childhood, an absent or abusive parent and now, he probably works in a trade or menial job."

"Great, that describes most of the male population in the area," mutters Georgie.

Aden shrugs. "Like I said, it's not an exact science."

Charlie sighs, before asking where they went from here.

"I'd like to see the crime scenes for myself, perhaps get more of a feel for our guy." He notices Georgie's amused look. "Something amusing?"

"No offence, you barely look old enough to be out of school, yet you sound like you know what you're talking about."

"I'm 23, but I got into the Property Crime Squad as soon as I finished my probationary stint as a Constable."

"Personal interest?" asks Charlie.

"I always wanted to be a fireman like my father, but when he died in a house fire that had been deliberately lit, I decided then and there to be a cop who prevents further fires by catching those who started them. Of course, my duties aren't limited to just the arson cases, but I've become somewhat of an expert on them. Any other personal questions you'd like to ask," he adds with a grin.

"Well, now that you said it, I would," Georgie stops, grinning in the face of Charlie's glare. "I'm kidding."

"Am I going to be safe in a car with you two," jokes Aden.

"My cousin can be rather irritating," Georgie points out. "Always with the attitude and such."

Aden chuckles, knowing full well that if anyone was going to be trouble, it was Georgie. "Cousins, huh? This could be interesting."

"Don't go getting any ideas," Georgie warns him. "I'm taken and you have the wrong equipment for the both of us."

"Georgie!" Charlie looks horrified.

Yes Aden decided, things were definitely going to be interesting. "Not that I don't find you both attractive, I do, but I don't date colleagues under any circumstance, too messy if it doesn't work out. Well then, should we get going?"

Walking through the reception area, Charlie's a little disappointed to notice that Angelo was alone in his office. "Sergeant, Georgie and I are going to take Det. Jeffries to the crime scenes now."

"Fine," he says, silently adding to himself that he wished they'd lose him somewhere. He had smoothed things over with Joey, but as long as Aden was here, he was going to cause trouble. "Senior," Angelo calls out as Charlie turned to leave.

"Yes?"

Angelo pauses, before shaking his head. "Never mind."

Charlie shrugs, rejoining the others.

"Jesus Charlie, you look like some creature from the swamp," Ruby remarks, screwing up her nose at her appearance.

Charlie glances down at her soot stained uniform, still feeling stupid for tripping and falling into the charred ruins of one of the crime scenes. Georgie and Aden had both been unbearable with their teasing on the trip home. "Had a little accident. I'll take a shower and get cleaned up. Why don't you go through the paper and pick a movie out to go and see."

Standing under the shower, Charlie reflects back on the afternoon. While they hadn't come up with any new leads after visiting the crime scenes, she was feeling much more confident that they would catch the guy now that Aden was here. After her initial jealous reaction and reservation about him, she found herself liking him and he certainly knew what he was doing. And to her surprise, even Georgie had warmed quickly to him, which for her was very unusual, but both of them had appreciated the way Aden hadn't just come in and taken charge but had treated them as equals, happy to listen to and take their theories on board. Once or twice though, she caught Aden looking at her as if he was trying to figure something out and it unnerved her a bit. He was obviously very close to Joey and she suspected he would have said something if he knew about her and Joey, so she was wondering what he was trying to see when he looked at her like that.

"So you're working now?" Aden asks as he accepts the beer from Joey.

"Only a few hours in the afternoon during the week but it gets my mind off things for awhile."

"I checked in on your dad before I left, he seems to be doing ok."

"I'm glad and I'm glad you're here too."

Aden squeezes her hand gently. "It's the main reason I put my hand up for the case. I missed my best friend like crazy."

Joey studies him carefully as Aden smiles back at her. "You and Nic broke up again, didn't you?"

"That obvious?" Joey nods. "We did try and make it work this time, but there's just something missing so we decided to go our separate ways."

"It's a shame, I really liked Nic."

"We're still friends but we're definitely not going to try again." He takes a sip of beer. "Joey, I hope my being here isn't going to cause too much trouble between you and Angelo."

"The problem is Angelo, not you. No matter what I say, he can't get past this irrational jealousy of his and I've told him over and over that we're not attracted to each other like that."

"Well, we're friends and that's never going to change." Aden raises his beer. "To friendship," he clinks his glass against Joey's.

"What movie did you pick?" Charlie asks as she follows Ruby out the door.

"Oh you'll love it; it's blood, guts and violence galore."

"Wonderful," Charlie mutters, closing the door behind them. "It sounds just like work sometimes."