Looking up when the door opens without a knock, Joey is already to chew the person out when she sees the look on Charlie's face. Having heard about the rape and murder, Joey knows it must have been bad. As Charlie sits down, Joey gets her a glass of water.

"Sergeant," Joey offers her the glass. "Sergeant...Charlie," hearing the detective use her name for the first time is enough to draw Charlie's attention to the glass being offered.

Taking the glass with shaking hands, "Thank you." Charlie stares at the glass, grateful that the detective was allowing her the time to regather her thoughts. "Detective, I, um."

"I heard about what happened," Joey says gently.

"I'm sorry, I, um, oh god," Charlie squeezes her eyes shut, trying to forget the image of Kirsty's mutilated body.

"It's ok, take your time."

"I keep seeing all the blood," Charlie starts, "It was everywhere." Taking more time to compose herself, Charlie puts the glass on the desk, hating the way her hand was shaking so much. "He had cut her breasts off," she finally manages to get out.

"What!"

"We haven't found them," still feeling nauseous at the grisly search they had conducted at the scene.

"He took them with him," Joey asks gently, appalled at the actions of this man.

"That's what the M.E. thinks."

"Then it's not the same guy," Joey says, referring to the rapes that had terrorised the Bay eight months ago.

"That's what I thought at first, but everything else is the same, including the use of the victim's own clothes to gag and tie her up." Feeling a little more confident now that she was passed the worst, Charlie continues, "The rapes have always been brutal, but this, this is the first time he's killed; Kirsty died from blood loss and massive trauma. The M.E. will know more after the autopsy, but he said the jagged edge to the cuts suggests that the person who did this had no real experience in using a knife in such a way."

Joey thinks about what Charlie has just told her, "You're definitely sure it's the same guy?"

"Detective, there were seven rapes in a three month period and I was at every scene; I assure you, it's the same guy. There was never any DNA evidence, because he always takes the bed sheets with him, he uses a condom and then he gets the woman to shower and scrub while he watches. And from the descriptions the previous rape victims gave us, the way we found Kirsty is exactly the same way he had tied them up while he raped them. Only this time, after he made her shower, he tied her back onto the mattress and cut off her breasts instead of leaving like he had with the other victims."

"If there was that much blood, he must have been covered in it."

"Pubic hairs were found in the shower and bath, but if it is the same guy, I doubt any are his and this isn't the city detective, where the neighbours are virtually right on top of each other. With all the trees and bushes, it'd be very easy to get away without being seen."

"Sergeant, if this is the same guy, then he's escalating."

"I know and that scares me, because you were right that day in the interview room, I had no clue the last time and I still don't." Feeling a little guilty that she had blamed Charlie for the lack of progress in the previous case, Joey waits for Charlie to continue. "Detective, I know you're here to investigate another case, but I could really use your help on this."

"Of course, we need to get this bastard off the streets before he strikes again." Charlie's obvious relief brings a flicker of a smile to Joey's face. "When was she killed?"

"The M.E.'s not sure if he can get an accurate time of death because the suspect masked the T.O.D. by turning the air conditioner up on high; it was freezing in there."

"Damn it, this guy is smart."

"I have officers out there trying to retrace her steps. If we can find out when she was seen last, it may give us a better idea of when she might have been killed."

"Good work Sergeant." Surprising Charlie with her praise. "Who called it in?"

"Her husband. He'd been out working on a trawler since yesterday morning, he came home at about 1 this afternoon and found her. It's just a shame that Kane has an air-tight alibi."

"Why?"

Charlie tosses a bunch of files in front of Joey. "Because Kane Phillips is a sick and twisted rapist."

"You're kidding." Joey's lip curls in distaste as she flicks through the file, "She married her sister's rapist?"

"Kane was never convicted of the rape and attempted murder of Dani Sutherland. It came down to a case of her word against his, but everyone knew he'd done it. Dani had turned him down numerous times and he had bragged to some of his friends that he was going to nail her whether she wanted it or not."

"And he still wasn't convicted?"

"Kane often took his father's boat out, but we found no evidence that Dani had ever been aboard and nothing to show that the place had been wiped clean, so he must have taken her out on another boat, one which was never tracked down. We found no witnesses that saw them together that day and because his friends had been drinking heavily the day he'd bragged about nailing her, their recall was considered unreliable. Kane had also used a condom the entire time he had her with him and when he tossed her overboard," Charlie sighs, "Well, the seawater did the rest. There wasn't any reliable DNA left by the time she was plucked out of the water and the only reason she didn't drown, was because she got snagged on a marker buoy and was found the next morning by a fishing boat."

"And Kirsty still married him, after he did that to her sister?" Joey asks, wondering how anyone could be that selfish as to marry their own sister's rapists and grateful that Georgie was her sister, because there's no way they'd ever betray each other in such a way.

"Kirsty was jealous of her sister. She wanted Kane but he only saw Dani, so when Dani accused him, Kirsty saw it as her chance to finally get Kane for herself by siding with him. I think in her own way, Kirsty actually believed that Kane was innocent."

"People don't want to see the monster hiding behind the people they love," Joey muses, not at all surprised when Charlie agrees with her, obviously not getting her dig at Angelo. "I've heard of some sick things before, but marrying your sister's rapist has got to be right up there. It says here that there was a son, Ollie, where is he?"

"Kirsty lost custody of him to her parents after Kane committed an armed robbery and went to jail; she did a little time herself because she gave a false alibi for him and she also tried to dispose of the gun."

"Nice family," Joey mutters under her breath. "What happened to the sister?"

"Nobody knows. She packed her bags and took off; no one has seen or heard from her since, not even her family."

"Jesus."

"I know it's not very nice to speak ill of the dead, but Kirsty caused a lot of pain by marrying Kane and even when her family disowned her, she refused to give him up."

"What sort of hold did he have on her?"

"It certainly wasn't charm or respect because he's an arrogant little shit who to this day still denies that he raped Dani. Her parents were pretty strict and I think Kirsty just liked sticking it up to them by staying with him."

"Wasn't she a little old to be playing the rebellious daughter?"

"Detective, really, coming from you?"

Joey grins back at her in all innocence. "I'm not a rebellious daughter."

"No, but you are a pain in the arse who seems to enjoy pissing me off."

"Don't take it personally Sergeant, that's just my natural disposition." Charlie shakes her head, surprised that they were able to find some amusement after everything they'd just discussed. "So Kane was in jail for the previous rapes and he has an alibi for this one, so what about a lover? Could Kirsty or any of these other women have been seeing this guy?" Joey asks.

"He wore a mask in the previous rapes and kept his voice low so there was no way for them to identify him. I did ask them if there were any other men in their lives, but none of them admitted to having an affair." Charlie shrugs, "And with Kirsty, I suppose it's possible she could have been seeing someone."

"I've only just glanced at these files you gave me, but there doesn't seem to be a pattern; none of the women really look alike, they're all from different ethnic and social backgrounds and of varying ages."

"There is one thing," Charlie stops.

"What? You have something?"

"It's stupid," Charlie says, shaking her head at the idea.

"Sergeant, we have very little to go on, if you have a theory, let's hear it?"

Encouraged by her words, Charlie tells her of her theory.

"Interesting and it's certainly a valid theory. Sergeant, at the moment, the fact the victims were all married and had husbands who regularly left town for work seems to be the only thing they have in common."

"I almost hope I'm wrong, because if that is the reason these women have been raped, then it's likely that their rapist is a local, someone who knew when their husbands were away for work."

"It does seem more likely that this person is a local, someone who not only knows when these women are left at home alone, but how to approach the house unseen and get away unseen. You know, it's possible he didn't know these women beforehand, but knew their husbands and that's how he knew when they'd be away."

"This is a small town, everyone pretty much knows everybody else, so if he is local, he probably knew the wives and husbands."

"You know Sergeant, I'm really starting to hate small towns."

"It's different when you're born and bred here like I was, but for newcomers, it can take a bit of getting used to."

"Yeah, somehow I don't think it's for me." Joey tosses the files back onto her desk, "I just wish I knew why this guy stopped; he committed seven rapes in three months and then eight months ago he just stops, why? Did he leave town for awhile, was he ill or what."

"Maybe he just lost the urge and something has just set him off again. Kane should be here by now making a statement, why don't we go have a little chat with him," Charlie suggests.

Interviewing Kane, Charlie is surprised at how understanding Joey is with him, even though she knew he was a rapist, she treated him as a grieving husband, gently leading him through how he found the body, admiring the way she hid her annoyance when he told her how he had climbed onto the bed to check his wife's body, thereby contaminating the scene.

Watching Kane leave a shattered man with Irene Roberts, Joey tosses her pen onto the table in disgust as soon as the door is closed. "Fuck, I wish Roberts hadn't been sitting in, I really would have liked to tell that piece of shit what I really thought of him."

"Oh well, I knew it was too good to be true or last," Charlie murmurs.

"What are you bitching about, Sergeant, I let him leave with his balls still attached, didn't I?" grinning at Charlie, who finds herself grinning in return. Charlie stares at Joey, thinking that when she smiles and her attitude was aimed at someone other than her, she really was quite stunning and then shaking her head wondering why that came to mind.

"Kane seemed pretty certain that Kirsty wasn't seeing anyone, although the partner is always the last to know."

This time Charlie doesn't miss the dig at her, but chooses not to respond. "So what now?"

"We wait. Your officers are still out looking for potential witnesses and until we get the crime scene and autopsy reports back, that's about as much as we can do for the moment."

Charlie stands up, pausing at the door. "I thought you'd be all over Angelo for this."

"This sicko cut her breasts off Sergeant, I want him and I don't want my mistrust or dislike of Rosetta to blind me to the possibility of other suspects."

"I'm sorry, you're right. And I appreciate you help."

"We'll get him Sergeant," Joey assures her, adding for Charlie's benefit, "I always get my killers." The reminder that the detective still saw her as a murder suspect almost makes Charlie wish she hadn't asked her for her help as she closes the door.

Returning from patrol, Angelo heads straight to Charlie's office, seeing her standing at the window, he closes the door behind him. "Charlie, I heard that there was another rape."

"It was Kirsty Phillips; she's dead and you may have been the last person to see her."

Angelo blanches, thinking back to last night, hoping he left nothing behind and thanking god he always wore condoms whenever he wasn't with Charlie. Taking a calming breath, "What do you mean I was the last person to see her?" Angelo asks, pleased when his voice shows none of the tension he was feeling.

"We've been retracing her steps for the day and you were seen leaving the bottle shop with her."

"Oh, right." Shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts. "I guess I'm still a little shocked, I mean Jesus, you don't expect to be talking to someone one minute and find out they're dead the next."

"What did you talk about?"

"I was picking up that bottle of wine for you when she came up to me. She wanted to ask me about other women like herself, who had lost custody of their kids because they went to jail. I gave her the number of that woman who specialises in cases like hers. We chatted a little as we headed back to our cars, I think that was at about 6pm, then I went for a run and stopped off at the diner for a power drink, before coming home."

"That narrows down the time she was attacked to sometime after 6 till when she was found by Kane at 1pm. Shit, that's a big window of opportunity," Charlie groans. "This bastard is sick Angelo, what he did to her is going to stay with me for a while."

Angelo lets his breath out softly when he realises Charlie bought his story. Careful not to overstep the mark, Angelo puts a comforting hand on her shoulder, "He won't get away with it this time."

"For his sake, he better hope that I'm the one to snap the handcuffs on him and not Collins."

"Don't tell me that bitch is stealing your case and going for the credit," Angelo fumes.

"I asked her for help."

"Why would you do that Charlie, that bitch is after us."

"Angelo, she has more experience with this type of case and this is a homicide, so she was likely to have been assigned to the case anyway. I'm willing to put my dislike for her aside for the sake of getting this bastard off the streets and preventing another poor woman from suffering like Kirsty did."

Seeking to comfort her more, Angelo curses softly when she steps away from his touch. "I guess I'd better be getting back to work," Angelo says, giving Charlie the opportunity to ask him to stay.

"That's fine Angelo." Charlie sits down at her desk, not even realising that Angelo was still there. Swivelling on his heels, Angelo closes the door loudly behind him.

"Angelo, please," she moans in pleasure, her breasts crushed against the cubicle wall as he thrusts into her from behind. "Please Angelo, I need it," hearing her pleas, Angelo pauses, changing his angle slightly, before thrusting harder into her, hitting her deep. "Ahhhhhhhh," smothering her cries against his forearm.

Arriving at the bar, Charlie wonders why she had agreed to meet Angelo here. It had sounded like a good idea when he had come to see her before the end of shift and told her he wanted to take her out and get her mind off work, but now, sitting at the table alone with her drink while she waited for him to get here, she wonders if it was such a good idea.

Reaching his release, Angelo bites down on her shoulder as he climaxes, feeling her scream her own climax into his forearm. Pulling out of her, Angelo flushes the condom down the loo.

"We really need a better place to meet," she complains when she bangs her elbow on the wall as they struggle to adjust their clothing in the tight space.

"I've just found this little place outside of town that no one knows about; nice and secluded."

"Text me when and where and I'll be there."

"Tomorrow, I'm patrolling alone in the afternoon."

"I'll be waiting...Fuck Angelo, you left a bite mark," she fumes when she notices the mark on her shoulder as she passes the mirror.

"Just cover it up with some make-up."

"Does it look like I'm carrying my fucking make-up?"

"Jesus, for once could you not bitch at me."

"You really are a selfish prick sometimes."

"I didn't hear you complaining a few minutes ago, now can we please get out of here before someone comes in."

"Fine." Poking her head out to check if the coast is clear, she shuts the door. "Fuck, she's here."

"Great, the one time that Charlie actually arrives on time and I'm stuck in the ladies loos."

Poking her head out the door again, "Nobody's looking at the moment, if you're quick, you can duck into the men's next door and nobody will be the wiser."

Leaving the ladies he makes it into the men's. Checking in the mirror that his clothes were in place, he splashes water on his face and onto his shirt. Grinning at himself in the mirror as he dries his face, Angelo recalls with fondness the time he had Charlie in the loos at work, then remembering her insistence at being professional at work, he sighs with frustration. "If only you could be more adventurous Charlie, I wouldn't have to look elsewhere," he says to his reflection. Waiting a few moments longer, Angelo leaves men's and walks over to Charlie's table.

"Hey gorgeous," he greets her with a long, lingering kiss.

"Angelo, I didn't realise you were here."

"Yeah sorry, I spilt beer on my shirt and had to go wash it off," making a big show of the wet spot on his shirt.

"Do you want to go home and change?" Charlie asks.

"Nah, it's fine, it'll dry in no time."

"I suppose you're the one who has to wear a wet shirt. Look, there's Georgina, why don't we ask her to join us."

Angelo glances over at Watson as she heads past the ladies to the bar.

"No way, it looks like that bitch of a sister is joining her."

"Angelo, please stop calling her a bitch," she says absently as she watches Joey greet her sister.

Later that night, lying under Angelo as he thrust and grunted over her, Charlie let's her body respond as if on auto pilot, giving the right responses at the right time, all the time wishing he'd just finish. When he climaxes, she cries out her own release, knowing he wouldn't realise she was faking it yet again.

Angelo collapses on top of her. "God it's nice to be getting back to normal," rolling onto his back.

"Yeah."

"I missed this Charlie."

"It wasn't as if we stopped having sex completely."

"It felt like it," he mutters sleepily.

Charlie rolls onto her side, her back to Angelo, hating the numbness she felt these days when she had sex with Angelo.

The next morning, Joey is struggling to hold her temper in. "Brett, Brett? Fuck," Joey slams the phone down when he hangs up on her.

"Are you ok Joey?"

Joey swivels her chair around to face her sister.

"Brett's just being Brett. How long have you been standing there?"

"Not long." Watson sits on the edge of Joey's desk. "I take it things are still a bit tense between you two?"

"You could say that. He's completely unreasonable Georgie."

"I never did like that guy."

"Yeah well, lately I'm not liking him all that much, either."

"So what's his problem now or is it the same old argument?"

"The same," she shakes her head in annoyance.

"Joey, from the moment you met, Brett's never been happy about you being a cop."

"I know, but you never wanted me to be a cop either."

"I got used to it, Brett never will. Joey, I never wanted you to follow in my footsteps, because I wanted you safe."

"No, you thought I wouldn't make it as a cop."

Watson nods her head in reluctant acknowledgment of her sister's accusation. "Could you blame me? Joey, I don't know how many times you nearly got kicked out of school because you were constantly arguing with the teachers, I really didn't think the police force would suit your rather, um, annoying personality."

"And now?"

"And now, I'm amazed that you've managed to survive so long, but I'm also proud of you Joey, even though I am still a little pissed off that you made Sergeant before I did."

"Oh please, if you wanted to be Sergeant, you would have had this station before Buckton."

"I suppose that I've never really been keen on the idea of command, even more now that I've seen the shit Charlie's had to deal with."

"You really like her, don't you?"

"She's my friend Joey, that tends to imply that I like her."

"What if I have to arrest her?"

"Luckily for you, I know Charlie; she's innocent Joey, so you arresting her is not something I have to worry about."

"And lover-boy?"

"You know my feelings there."

"Georgie, if Charlie's such a friend, why the hell don't you tell her what an arsehole Rosetta is?"

"I'd be wasting my breath Joey. Charlie's convinced herself that Angelo is this amazing guy, so unless she sees it for herself, nothing I or anyone else could say would make her change her mind about him."

"So she'll continue to defend him and fight me every step of the way."

"To her, Angelo can do no wrong."

Joey sighs in annoyance, "It's not just her that defends him though, just about everyone I've met has told me how wonderful he is and that I'm a stupid bitch for daring to question his innocence."

"Angelo's on his best behaviour around most people; all they see is this handsome, charming man with the boyish grin and for most people, they find it hard to believe that such a man could be guilty of anything other than being too charming."

"Please Georgie, you're going to make me puke."

Chuckling at her sister's look of disgust, Watson continues, "I do think that the gloss is starting to tarnish on him a little and I'm pretty sure Charlie's got a few doubts, though she's trying her best to deny them."

"Doubts, huh?"

"I suppose it's a waste of time asking you not to go after that little bit of info?"

"Actually, I think I might let Buckton's doubts grow on their own for the moment and just give the occasionally prod when the opportunity arises."

"I wish you wouldn't say that with such enjoyment."

"I'm just doing my job Georgie."

"Speaking of which, I heard Charlie asked for your help on Kirsty's case?"

"I was surprised myself when she came to me."

"I take it Angelo is on top of your suspect list."

"Unfortunately, no. He admitted to seeing her at the bottle shop, but that was at 6 and Buckton and her kid confirmed that Rosetta was home around 7. Rosetta had also stopped off at the diner before he got home; there was no way he would have had the time that was needed to rape Kirsty, clean up her and the scene, then mutilate her and clean all the blood off himself. I would like to know why he seemed so nervous when he came back from patrol, though."

"You think he was seeing Kirsty?"

"He was certainly worried about something more than just being seen talking to her in a bottle shop. Anyway he's in the clear for her rape and murder and as of now, we have no suspect, or," holding up the crime scene report, "Evidence. The only DNA found at the scene matches Kirsty and the bastard."

"I'm assuming you mean Kane?"

"Yeah, the bastard. We have nothing and after what I saw in the crime scene photos, I don't think he's going to stop this time." Joe pauses for a moment as she recalls what she read in the report. "Georgie, there was no evidence that she was drugged or knocked unconscious, which means, that when he started slicing off her breasts, she was mostly likely conscious."

"Fuck," Watson says softly, looking down when she realises she had crossed her arms over her chest in reflex. "Well, with you and Charlie on the job, this bastard should be running scared."

"If only he'd run to the police station and confess."

"I need to get back to work." Watson stands up, "And as for Brett, I warned him once not to mess with either of the Watson sisters, so he pisses us off at his peril."

"I guess he may have to learn the hard way, then." Joey watches her sister walk away before staring at the phone. "Fuck you Brett, you're pissing off the wrong people," she mutters at the phone.

Next Chapter, some questions will be answered, but you may have to wait a few days for an update.