Michael's eye was pinned to the sleeping form of his fiancée curled up in the leather chair in the centre of the room.

'She's OK, Michael.' Hawke said quietly.

'For how long?' Michael muttered. 'She should have stayed out of this.'

'Like you would have done?' Hawke asked wryly.

Michael glared at him. 'Don't tell me, you wouldn't be thinking the same thing if it had been Caitlin.'

Hawke accepted the comment with a slight inclination of his head.

'What time is it?' Michael asked.

Hawke checked his watch. 'Almost six.'

'It'll be sunrise soon.' Michael commented.

'Yep.' Hawke glanced over at the windows.

'You have a plan?' Michael whispered.

'No but I'm betting Cait does.' Hawke said dryly. 'Airwolf arrived a while ago.'

'Any guesses?' Michael asked.

Hawke rubbed his chin and gestured at Marella. 'I'm guessing they're going to go along with the escape and track the gang in Airwolf somehow, probably try and trap the other guy on the outside at the same time.'

'You really think they know there's someone else in on this?' Michael asked.

Hawke nodded. 'Marella and Cait kept the surveillance equipment Marella is wearing to themselves otherwise Bozo there would have taken her glasses away from her by now.'

Michael silently conceded the point. 'But they might make a move if they identify the guy before sun-rise.'

Hawke shook his head. 'Cait's an ex-cop, Michael. Her first priority will be the hostages.'

'So they're just going to let us go?' Michael said with disbelief. 'We've seen their faces.'

'They're obviously not bothered about that or they wouldn't have let the other men go.' Hawke mentioned. 'They're counting on whoever is on the outside to cover their escape.'

'It's got to be someone high up enough if he's going to mess up the chase.' Michael noted.

'That's what I was thinking.' Hawke murmured. He glanced at Michael. 'You should get some rest. You're getting married tomorrow.'

'I hope so.' Michael sighed and rubbed at his bad knee. He pressed his lips together. 'They're going to take Marella as insurance aren't they?'

Hawke figured he was right but he kept silent; there was nothing he could say.

o-O-o

Caitlin got out of the cockpit and stretched. She'd changed into the more comfortable attire of her Airwolf uniform and she was grateful for the extra protection it gave her against the slight chill of the early morning air.

'You want some coffee?' Mike offered passing her a take-away carton.

'Where did you get this?' Caitlin asked taking it from him.

'Police catering.' Mike said waving at a van close to the club house. 'They're passing them out.'

'Great.' Caitlin blew on the hot liquid.

' Saint John asleep?' Mike asked leaning against Airwolf's wing.

Caitlin nodded. 'Finally.'

'Did you get much rest?' Mike's eyes landed on her pale face and the shadows under her eyes.

Caitlin grimaced. 'Airwolf matched the pictures of the gang.'

'Oh?' Mike took a sip of his own coffee.

'They were an armed robbery gang that operated on Maui eight years ago.' Caitlin said quietly. 'Their run ended when they ended up in a hostage situation in a bank. Guess who was the negotiator?'

Mike raised an eyebrow.

'Chief Sumni.' Caitlin said. 'Of course he wasn't Chief back then.'

'So we have candidate number one.' Mike said.

'Candidate number two was also there.' Caitlin sipped her coffee. 'Strickland was part of the arrest team.'

'The homicide detective?' Mike clarified.

She nodded. 'There's no other connections as far as I can see. The gang got out of prison a couple of months ago.'

'Nice timing.' Mike said. 'We're certain this is an opportunistic crime then.'

'Definitely.' Caitlin tapped her paper cup. 'Tommy mentioned to me last night that he originally invited Sumni to the party. He's a member here.'

'Would know the layout.' Mike noted.

'Strickland's got a mountain of debt.' Caitlin went on. 'He's just divorced wife number three.'

'Busy guy.' Mike quipped.

'He might need the money.' Caitlin frowned. 'Airwolf's having problems tracing the calls. They're all internal.'

'Inside the club house?' Mike sighed. 'Well, that narrows it down.'

'Yeah. Both of them have had access to make the calls. The timings might be the key.' Caitlin mused.

'Talk of the devil.' Mike gestured behind her and Caitlin turned round to see Strickland making his way across the lawn to the helicopter.

She unconsciously straightened.

'Can I talk to you?' Strickland said without preamble.

Mike moved closer to his team-mate. Caitlin laid her hand on his arm. 'It's OK, Mike.' She gestured at the white limo pulling up. 'It looks like the money's arrived.' She nodded at Strickland. 'You can talk and walk at the same time?'

Strickland shoved his hands in his pockets as they began the walk together. 'The guard was in on it.'

'I know that.' Caitlin said.

'Well, now I know it.' Strickland said grumpily.

'Good for you.' She strode across the lawn.

'Look,' he grabbed her arm and pulled her to a halt.

Caitlin glanced back at the helicopter and shook her head at a worried looking Mike.

'The guard made a call into the police station just before he set the alarm off.' Strickland said. 'I know where that call went.'

'And why should I believe you?' Caitlin asked glaring at him.

'Because I want to catch these guys but I don't know who I can trust anymore.' Strickland pushed a hand through his hair. 'You've been a cop. You know how it is when you have to go after one of your own.'

'I know.' Caitlin said. 'You might not know who you can trust but I know I can't trust you.'

'You can trust me,' Strickland said, 'and I'll prove it.' He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper. He handed it to her.

She looked at it. Her eyes flew back up to meet his. 'I'll think about it.' She started to walk away to greet Ellie.

'Don't think too long.' Strickland called out to her. 'I'm going to have to make my own move with or without you.'

Caitlin froze for a second but kept walking. She and Ellie examined the money for a second before she took the briefcase into the club house. Chief Sumni waved her in.

'Is that the money?' He asked pulling up his slipping trousers.

'Yes it is. All twelve million.' Caitlin kept hold of the briefcase. 'Have we heard from them?'

'Not yet.' Sumni sighed and rubbed his craggy face. 'We're expecting them any minute though.' He gestured for her to step over to the side. 'I think someone might be helping them.'

'Someone?' Caitlin prompted.

Sumni shifted awkwardly. 'I've been thinking about it and there's no other explanation for why they knew it was Marella who went in.'

'I see.' Caitlin murmured scanning his face with interest.

'You must have considered it yourself.' Sumni said looking at her intently.

'I had.' Caitlin admitted. 'Do you have anyone in mind?'

Sumni sighed and swiped at his brow with a handkerchief. 'Maybe.'

'I have an idea,' Caitlin said, 'but we should talk after the call.'

As if on cue, the phone began to ring. Sumni gave her a surprised look but walked swiftly over to pick it up.

'This is the Chief.' He looked at Caitlin, his dark eyes dropping to the briefcase, 'yeah, we have the money.'

'Good.' John replied. 'Now you're going to get me a helicopter. Don't worry about a pilot – one of my men will fly. It needs to be on the front lawn. As soon as I see the helicopter I will release all the hostages except for ten. You'll get all but one when we get to the helicopter. The final hostage will be released when we're convinced nobody has followed us.'

'That's not acceptable.' Sumni said. 'You release all the hostages before you get into the helicopter.'

'No way.' John said. 'I'm keeping one. Deal with it. If I don't see a helicopter on the front lawn in one hour I start shooting a hostage every quarter of an hour until I do.' He put the phone down.

Sumni sighed and handed the receiver to an officer. 'You!' He barked. 'Organise the chopper!' He gestured for Caitlin to step over to the side. 'About what we were discussing before?'

'I think I know who it is.' Caitlin admitted. She bit her lip. 'I think we're going to have to be clever or he'll bolt though.'

'OK. What's the plan?' Sumni said.

Caitlin sighed, her mind ticking over the variables. 'Here's the plan.'