"If things go bad, we head this way," Joey said, pointing to the map laid out over the bonnet of their car. They were ten minutes from the area of town they'd chosen for the rendezvous and therefore, forty-five minutes from coming face-to-face with the man Nick had sent to meet with Charlie. After she'd called Nick, she'd agreed to the meet, provided she could set the time and place, and so for the past three or so hours, she and Joey had been studying the maps of the town, working out exit strategies, as well as going over every single detail of the area this was all to go down in, just in case it all went wrong and they needed to make a quick getaway. The spot they'd chosen for the rendezvous led off into three different directions and along each of those roads, were multiple side roads, which meant that if they managed a clean exit, then any pursuer would have to gamble on which way to go after them. Knowing their luck though, there was a good chance they'd choose the right one. Still, the more exit options there were, the more chance any pursuer would get it wrong, which would give her and Joey more time to put some distance between them.

Charlie listened to Joey as she went over the strategy yet again. She was still amazed that Joey had even agreed to accompany her on this potentially foolhardy mission. Not only that, Joey had taken very little convincing. Charlie suspected that Joey was using this just to prove once and for all that the cops couldn't be trusted. Whatever her reasoning for being here was, Charlie was just glad that she wasn't in this on her own, even if part of her had been secretly hoping Joey would say no, thereby giving her a reason to abandon this foolish plan. She shook her head and allowed herself a wry smile. Only yesterday, she doubted she'd have trusted Joey at her back, but it was amazing how quickly things were turning. It didn't mean that she trusted Joey, it was just enough to have her there. Along with the gun. That was a little more uncomfortable for Charlie, knowing that Joey would be watching the meet with the gun at the ready. What if this Angelo guy really was legit, yet Joey panicked? The last thing they needed was to be caught in a shootout none of them wanted and for a cop to end up dead by accident.

Graves wasn't sure if she was all that pleased about her latest assignment, with Robertson sending her to the rendezvous point, which to her, seemed utterly pointless as Buckton and their witness would most likely be in Angelo Rosetta's custody and already on their way back to the city, well before she even got there. She could see two possibilities for Robertson's way of thinking. One, he didn't trust Nick Parish or his man to do it right, or two, he just didn't trust them, full stop and given Watson's actions and Parish's silence until recently, Graves could certainly see why Robertson wasn't taking any chances. Still, she hated the idea of being sent on a wild goose chase when she already had so much to do here.

Her brow rose when she caught sight of the officer Robertson had assigned as her partner for this trip. If anything, Dexter Walker looked the part of a cop even less than she did, which was saying something. She knew how most people viewed her, so she could only imagine what they must think of Const. Walker.

"Det. Graves?" he said, greeting her with a cheery smile and a firm handshake. That got him a pass mark for Graves. She hated those blokes who went soft on the handshake because they were afraid she'd break or worse, the ones who tried to crush her hand as if to prove some bullshit macho point. Walker's was the right amount of pressure and there wasn't an ounce of condescension in his eyes. Bloody hell, he looks even more innocent than I did at that age, she suddenly thought.

"Const. Walker, is it?"

He nodded. "It's Dex."

"I'm Graves."

"Really, you go by your last name?"

"It's more authoritative."

"Than?"

"Amelia," she replied. "Come on, Christmas will be on us before we even get started."

Charlie's fingers tapped on the steering wheel. She was as nervous as hell, especially as the more she thought of it, the more she realised how close Nick's man must already have been to them. By rights, it should have taken a lot longer than a few hours for Angelo to get from the city to this town, which meant he'd already picked up their trail or just gotten damn lucky. Either way, she'd been shocked by how close he'd come on his own and it gave her cause for concern. How many others were out there? How close were they? She half expected Watson to pop out and scream, 'gotcha', before putting a bullet into her forehead. It would be just like that fucking bitch too. The nerve of that woman to not only have called Nick, but to have played the victim, while painting her out to be the corrupt one. Charlie had even more reason now to hate that bitch and she was damn well going to enjoy destroying her when the time came. First though, she'd have to find her, assuming Watson didn't find her first.

She glanced over her shoulder out of habit. Oh, how she longed for the day where she wasn't constantly looking over her shoulder for danger. This was definitely turning into the worst assignment ever and if she managed to get out of this alive, Charlie was seriously considering requesting a transfer back to patrol. Even a nice, steady nine-to-five shift at a desk would do just fine after this.

"Are you ready?" Joey asked her from the passenger seat.

"No."

Joey smiled at her. "You'll be fine," she reassured her. "If this guy tries anything, I'll be there in a flash."

"That's what I'm worried about," said Charlie. "That you'll come in, all guns blazing and you'll shoot me by accident."

"You'll be safe from me," Joey said. "I know what I'm doing, Charlie."

Of course she did, thought Charlie, at yet another reminder that danger could very well be sitting next to her right at this moment. You have to trust her now, she told herself. At least for the time being. Fucking hell, she really must have done something wrong in a past life to have ever gotten mixed up in this never ending nightmare.

Charlie glanced at her watch and saw that it was only thirty seconds since her last look. Fuck, she couldn't remember the last time she'd ever been this nervous. Maybe they should have waited until tomorrow to do this, but once she'd made the decision to contact Nick, she'd wanted to get this over with as quickly and as safely as possible, plus both she and Joey had thought there could be an advantage to staging the rendezvous at night. Far easier to escape under the cover of darkness, at least, that was the theory, but now, standing under this streetlight, all she felt was exposed. Suddenly, there were footsteps and she became even more nervous as she turned to where the footsteps were coming from. She was surprised by the man who was calmly, yet confidently, approaching her. The streetlights gave him an ethereal glow and she could see that he was handsome, with a friendly face and a smile that just screamed, 'you can trust me, I'm a police officer'. Charlie just hoped to god that she could trust him.

"That's far enough," she said the moment he came within ten metres of her position. "Are you Angelo?"

"Yep."

"How do I know you really are him?"

Angelo smiled. "Nick said you'd probably say that, so he gave me a message to relay to you as proof that I'm his man," he said. "Something about a stakeout, Celine Dion, a full bladder and."

"And that's enough," Charlie hastily said and she blushed furiously at the story Nick had chosen. It was definitely one that only the two of them had previously known about, which was a relief, as it was one of the most embarrassing nights of her life.

Angelo peered around Charlie. "Where's the witness?"

"I don't know," lied Charlie. "She took off when she realised I was handing myself in," she explained. "I tried to stop her, but she has no love of cops, especially me. She blames me for all of this and there was just no way I could talk her around," she told him.

"It seems a tad unfair for her to blame you, when it was Watson who did the dirty on the both of you," Angelo said. "That is how it happened, isn't it?"

"Yes," Charlie said.

"Boy, are there going to be some very red faces when word gets out that one of the Forces' up and comers is a Braxton stooge."

"It will be even worse if Nick turns out to be one as well," she dared to say. Charlie tried to gauge his reaction to her accusation, but his body language gave nothing away.

"Ah, you don't trust us either?"

"I'm here, aren't I?"

"Yet you're keeping your distance."

"Can you blame me?"

"No," he said. "After all, I am here to kill you."

At first, Charlie wasn't sure if she'd heard him correctly, since he'd spoken so calmly and matter-of-factly, but the gun now raised in his hand cancelled any doubts that she may have misheard him.

"I am so sorry about this, Charlie," Angelo said and to Charlie's chagrin, he did appear genuine, not that it helped her. "I don't have a choice. It's either you or me."