"Fucking cats," Charlie hissed back at the offending creature that had just launched itself from the darkness at her. With her hand over her fast beating heart, Charlie hissed again at the cat. It hissed back. They stared at each other. "I'm bigger flea bag," Charlie said. The all-black cat seemed to reach the same conclusion and with a contemptuous flick of it's tail, the cat sauntered off into the night, no doubt looking for it's next victim to frighten the death out of. "Good riddance," she muttered. She really hated when cats did that in the movies and it was even worse in real life. It felt like such a bad cliché to have been frightened by a cat leaping out from somewhere at the worst possible time. At least the noise had just been a cat though and not something worse.

Charlie cocked her. She couldn't hear anything else in the immediate vicinity, which meant that Angelo wasn't coming right after her. It also meant Joey was still nowhere to be seen.

"Where the hell is she?" murmured Charlie. "Oh fuck off!" she hissed when the cat howled into the night. "I really do fucking hate cats."

Watson yawned as she listened over her phone. She really was going to have to catch up on some sleep soon.

"All I got was the name of a cop and something about a meeting," the other woman said. "I have no idea where or when it's all going down, only that Sgt Parish has arranged it."

"What's the name you got?"

"Angelo Rosetta."

"Never heard of him."

"I snuck a peek at his file and it's thin as, like paper thin."

"Shit," Watson murmured, knowing what that likely meant. "He's undercover."

"That's what I figured."

"Anything else, Steph?"

"Things have really heated up today and I've been overhearing a few other things here and there," Steph told her. "Like that maybe you're not such a good little girl after all."

"Fuck," she muttered. She'd suspected it was only a matter of time, yet part of her had still been hoping it wouldn't have come to this and now that it had, her life had gotten even more complicated, because now she'd have the cops on her tail, along with a very pissed off Braxton clan, unless she managed to salvage something from this mess. "How much time do I have?"

"Robertson's sending his little wannabe after his witness and someone else after you, but as far as I'm aware, they're not making any official announcement just yet, so it's still hush, hush, with only a few in the know."

That was something at least, she thought. With her cover blown, her usefulness to the Braxtons was diminished, which made it even more vital that she prove her usefulness to them in other ways and she needed them off her back to do that. Of course, that was reliant on the Braxtons not having someone else close to the investigation informing them about her cover being blown. Watson knew the Braxtons had someone higher up in the Force on the payroll that had helped to make sure she was noticed by the right people and she had her suspicions as to who it was, but she, like others, were deliberately kept in the dark over certain matters, because the less they knew of each other, the less chance of all of them being brought down should one of them get busted. Steph didn't count. She wasn't one of Brax's, she was just an opportunist willing to do the odd favour here and there for certain favours in return. Watson couldn't worry about that now. She just needed to focus on her current task; catching up to those bitches. She just hoped she got to them before the meeting that Parish arranged, happened.

"Thanks for the heads up," Watson said. "What about you, are you going to be ok, Steph?"

"I'll be fine," she replied. "No one ever knew about our little dalliances and even if they do ask about any recent contact, I'll just say that I was just doing my job in fulfilling an officer's request for information," Steph said. "I mean, how was I to know you were persona non grata when they never issued a warning to us?"

Watson chuckled, easily picturing the look on her former lover's face. Steph played the sweet innocent well and if anyone could draw their eyes above her chest, they'd see the most honest face possible.

"You're the best, Steph," said Watson. "I really am going to owe you after this."

"Damn right you will, Georgie Girl," she said. "You already owe me the restaurant tab, so don't even think having people on your arse is going to stop me from collecting."

"I always pay my debts."

"Start with staying alive, Georgie Girl," said Steph. "You can be a pain in the arse, but I happen to care about you."

"I'll be fine," she assured her. "I gotta go. Thanks again for the heads up."

"I'll let you know if I hear anything else."

"Thanks."

Joey didn't even have anywhere to run, having been turned around during their fight, so that Angelo was once more between her and the alley exit. Time was running out. There was no way to reach the knife before Angelo got a shot off and she still couldn't see where the other gun had landed. All she had on her that could even be remotely considered as a weapon, was the pen in her pocket. A pen verses a gun? She sure as shit hated those odds. It appeared however that it was her only option.

"Hey, keep your hands out of your pocket," Angelo said when Joey's hand edged closer to it.

"Since you're going to kill me, can I at least have a last puff of smoke?" she said, making sure her tone was one of utter defeat.

"I don't have time for this shit anymore," Angelo sneered.

"One puff, that's fair, isn't it?"

"What the hell are you on about?"

The delay had worked, as had the distraction and the moment Angelo had focused on her face instead of her hand, her fingers grasped the pen. In one movement, she squatted and threw it as hard as she could. It spun through the air, finding its target with unerring accuracy. Angelo screamed and bent over in agony, the pen protruding from his left eye.

"Huh, the pen really is mightier than the sword," Joey couldn't resist quipping.

"Ow, you fucking bitch, I'm going to fucking kill you."

"Write a letter of complaint to my employer," Joey said. "I'm sure you can find a pen close to hand," she added with a snigger, then she went silent. Even handicapped with one injured hand and now one eye, Angelo still held the gun tightly in his other hand and so Joey still had a problem. If he started to fire randomly, she could find herself on the receiving end of a stray bullet. Her best chance was to get as close to the wall as possible and stick to the shadows, hoping that his vision impediment worked even more in her favour now. "Fuck," she muttered. She'd found the other gun with her foot and the noise it made as it skittered across the ground, told Angelo were to find her and he started firing in that direction. She immediately dropped to the ground, the bullets striking the wall and showering her with brick fragments as the gunshots echoed in the confines of the alley. Nothing like telling the cops where to find us you dickhead, she thought as she reached for the gun she'd just inadvertently kicked away. He stopped firing and she figured he had a couple of bullets left in the mag. She picked up the gun and pointed it at him.

"I'll kill you bitch if it's the last thing I do."

"Think again," she said and pulled the trigger. "Fuck," she cursed when the gun jammed. Angelo smiled through the pain he was feeling and walked in her direction. She knew the shadows no longer protected her.

"This really is goodbye," he said. From this distance, he couldn't miss.

"Ah, excuse me," a voice said behind Angelo. He turned in surprise, only to be met by Charlie's fist to his face. He staggered backwards. "You look like shit," Charlie said, before finishing him off with a stunning roundhouse kick that connected to the side of his head and left him in an unconscious heap on the ground.

"Come on, the cops will be on their way after those shots," Joey said as she collected both guns before Charlie could.

"What about him?" Charlie said, nudging Angelo's prone body with her foot.

"I had no idea how long I should wait for you, but I got worried when I started hearing noises in the dark and you still weren't there, so I decided to double back to find you," Charlie explained as they made their way to where their car was hidden as quickly and as stealthily as possible. "The cops were searching the area where you shot Angelo, but I was able to keep out of their sight and make my way up the street where I last saw you heading," she said. "I just kept going, hoping I'd hear something and I did. I heard you two and what was obviously a fight going on, so I tried to get as close as I could without alerting Angelo to my presence."

"Well, you have good timing, that's for sure," said Joey. She glanced at Charlie. "Thanks for the rescue."

"From what I saw, looks like you were doing pretty well on your own," Charlie said. "You really know how to handle yourself." The accusation hung in the air between them.

"We really should get out of town before the cops widen their search area," Joey said as they reached the car. Without any further word, she unlocked the door and got in. Charlie decided to let the matter drop for the moment, since they had other more pressing matters to deal with, like getting the hell out of here, but she knew she could no longer put it off. She had to know who Joey really was and she would. Tonight, she'd make sure of it. Charlie patted her jeans pocket as she walked around to the passenger side of the car. She'd picked it up when Joey hadn't been looking. It was uncomfortable in her pocket, but in light of recent events, Charlie felt a little safer armed with Angelo's flick blade as she hopped into the car.