Charlie had finally managed to drag herself away from Joey's side without too much of the afternoon being lost, and found her way to the local library. After speaking to the librarian, Charlie walked over to the computers. It was time to do a bit of research on those she'd placed on her list. She hadn't told Joey where she'd been going or why, because, well because, she honestly didn't know why she didn't tell her. Joey knew she wanted to find a solution to their predicament, so actually doing something about it wouldn't really come as a surprise to Joey. So why then didn't she tell her what she was planning to do? Charlie hadn't even mentioned the list, though she was certain that Joey had seen the notepad on the table.

She sighed. Even now, they were keeping secrets from each other. Not even allowing herself to be distracted by sex and multiple orgasms, had completely broken through the mistrust, not that Charlie had expected it to, but given what she was doing here impacted on both her and Joey's future, then she really should have mentioned it. Yet she hadn't. That should tell her something. Yeah, she had to protect Joey, yet get her out of her life, and so the quicker this was over, the better, she decided.

Taking the list out, Charlie reread the names, along with their pros and cons. She'd added a couple of more names since she'd first started the list, so here's hoping at least one of them turned out to be the right one. Charlie typed the first name into Google. She'd figured her best option was to check out newspaper reports and any other mention of them within the media. At least that way, she could better gauge her choices.

Nick glanced at the calendar on his desk. He didn't really need to, as he already knew what day it was. It was D-Day. The day he had to produce Charlie and the witness or Robertson would go public with their flight. If that happened, Nick feared that he'd never see either woman again, alive or dead. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of a single argument to stall Robertson any further, because he was bereft of ideas himself as to what more he could do. Charlie hadn't responded to his messages in the Personals and since he had no other way to contact her, Charlie was beyond his reach. He just hoped she was also beyond the Braxton's reach. Nick dreaded to think what would happen should Watson or another of Braxton's thugs catch up to them before his colleagues did.

He shook his head in resignation and prayed that Charlie could keep ahead and safe from them all, or better yet, go to the nearest Police Station. He understood why she continued to mistrust the uniform, but the Charlie he knew wouldn't want to run forever, so there had to come a time where she had to take the first step, and make contact with someone. His choice would be Robertson, he just wasn't sure Charlie would see it the same way, since Robertson's name was linked so closely to his own. Perhaps if he'd stepped down from the investigation, then Charlie would have been more inclined to have contacted Robertson herself, but if he had stepped aside, Robertson would likely have already outed both women to the media. Whatever he had decided to do, Nick realised it really wouldn't have made much difference, because Charlie would still be out there, wondering who she could trust.

Nick reached for the report in front of him. At least they'd found the person responsible for arranging to have Watson added to the detail. Though he'd denied all knowledge previously, once pressed a little harder, Peter Baker had cracked. Turns out his brother had a gambling problem and had gotten in too deep with the Braxtons, and they'd used Dan Baker's debt to blackmail Peter. Baker claimed he hadn't had a choice, yet as far as Nick was concerned, he could have gone to a colleague the moment the Braxtons had made the approach, and then something could have been done about his brother's debts. Instead, Baker had fed information to the Braxtons about two cases, one in which led to a witness retracting their statement, causing the entire case against the Braxtons to fall over. Then of course, there was this case. The Braxtons had always known that there had been a witness to Ryan's murder, and their original plan had been to have Baker feed them information on the witness' location so they could plan a way to take her out, only then Jack Holden's personal problems had presented them with the perfect opportunity to actually have someone placed in a position to do the deed themselves. They'd applied the pressure to Baker, who then set up Watson as Jack's replacement.

Unfortunately, given Baker had been an unwilling Braxton pawn, he had limited information in which to help bring them down. He knew nothing of Watson, beyond what was in her file and that the Braxtons had specifically asked for her to be on the detail. Beyond that, he was of little help to them. A shame really, because if he'd had information to share, Baker may have been in a position to do a deal to lessen the charges he was facing. As it was, Baker had been suspended without pay, pending further investigation. Nick just hoped he was the only mole left in the Force, though they hadn't stopped looking for dirty cops or for cops who were in a similar position like Baker, who were open to being blackmailed.

Nick jumped when his phone blared to life. It was probably Robertson, warning him that his time was running out.

"Parish," he said.

"Rosetta is dead," was Robertson's abrupt message.

His hands were handcuffed behind the chair. His old wounds still ached, the fresh ones slowly leaked blood. He was naked. The knife dangerously close to his manhood.

"No more," he said, sounding defeated.

"If you don't want to become a Eunich, talk," Tegan warned him as she casually tapped the knife on his thigh.

He hesitated, then nodded.

"Good boy," Tegan said.

Charlie flinched at the sight of a familiar uniform walking past the desk she was sitting at. It was a woman. Dark hair, attractive, about late 20s/early 30s, her eyes firmly fixed on her target. Not her, thankfully, it was a scruffy, hippy type character with a big, warm smile that had this woman's entire attention. A couple, going by that rather enthusiastic greeting they just gave each other. Charlie smiled. Ah to be in love, something she had little experience with. An image came to mind, but she hastily shook that loose. Loving sex with someone was a lot different to being in love, she told herself.

Without appearing too obvious, Charlie kept an eye on the couple and opened her ears, trying to overhear them. Constable T. Garner, going by her nametag, was on her break, and she called him, Miles. Miles? Why was that name familiar? Ah, that's right, Pippa and Irene's son. Now Charlie could also place the woman. Born and bred in the country, Teri Garner was as honest as they came and if Pippa had her way, her future daughter-in-law. An honest cop, it seemed such a novelty under the current circumstances, Charlie thought somewhat bemusedly, yet she had no reason to doubt Pippa's summation of the woman. If anything, Pippa and Irene weren't the type to hold back their opinion on someone, regardless of whether it was passing judgement on one their children's prospective partners or not, so if Pippa thought Teri Garner was honest, then she was more than likely an honest person. Honest enough for a cop on the run to trust? That was another question entirely.

Teri laughed at something Miles said, then looked guilty when the librarian threw her some shade. She had a nice laugh, thought Charlie.

"I'd better get back to work," Teri told her boyfriend.

"A little bit longer," he said, nuzzling at her neck.

"Miles, what would your mums say about you acting like this in public," she gently admonished him.

"Find a room to be together," he smugly replied. "How about it?"

Laughing again at his cheek, Teri shook her head. "Unlike you, I'm not on my day off, so I have a boss to keep happy."

"Fitzy's a pussy cat."

"I'll tell her you said that."

She laughed at the look of horror on his face, then planted her lips on his. "I love you, but I prefer you alive, so let's not piss off the boss."

"Good idea."

The Constable was walking by her again. It would be so easy for Charlie to intercept her and tell her what was going on and that she needed help. Charlie was hesitant to step forward though. After everything they'd been through, would it really be fair to Joey to make this decision without her, given how opposed she was to it in the past? Running background checks was one thing, but actually contacting the Police without warning Joey? The Constable was now past her, time was running out. Yet Charlie remained torn as to whether to go after her or not.

Kyle was worried. He'd reluctantly followed Brax's orders and sent Stu after Casey, but he'd sent him in the opposite direction of where he knew Casey to be. Problem was, Pee Wee and Brodie had then decided to go after Casey themselves. They'd been in the doghouse ever since their failed pursuit of the women, and so were keen to get away from Brax and his flailing fists, and also to get back into his good books. Unfortunately, with Stu going one way, the other two had chosen to go down along the coast. Straight to where Casey was. By Kyle's reckoning, they could be right on top of Casey within hours. He had to find a way to warn him, only he was stuck in the car with Pee Wee and Brodie after he'd foolishly decided to join them, having figured he could give Casey the heads up if they got too close. He glanced at his mobile. Still no signal and it was getting low on charge. Kyle needed to get to a pay phone. And quick.

"Hey," he called out. "I'm getting hungry, can we stop at the next town?"

"Maybe," said Pee Wee, focused on the road ahead of him. This was one assignment he wasn't going to fuck up.

Kyle didn't press the issue again. He'd wait until they arrived at the next town before broaching it again. He just hoped he was able to get word to Casey before it was too late.

Joey stared at the phone in her hand. One call to the right person, and this could all be over. It would also mean that Charlie would have to learn the truth about who she really was. Joey closed her eyes. This was one of the hardest decisions she ever had to make. Make the call, and the woman she loved would never look at her in the same way. Don't make the call, and she could be signing their death warrant, because no matter how much belief Joey had in both of their abilities to stay alive, the Braxtons had an endless supply of thugs and killers to send after them, and they'd never stop until they were dead. While Joey was perfectly happy to disappear for good, forever looking over her shoulder for oncoming danger, Charlie was never going to agree to it, which meant their only way out of this, was to remove the danger completely. The Braxtons had to be destroyed, not as in killed, though that had a certain appeal, but it would be nigh on impossible to get that close to all of them to achieve that, so all that was left, was to crush them so badly, that their power was lost, so that even from jail, they couldn't reach out. Destroy them, destroy their powerbase, destroy their minions. Destroy them all.

It was within Joey's power to do so. It had been her backup plan from the start, only Charlie's presence had changed things. Yet now she knew she had to make the call. If she delayed any longer, she knew she wouldn't be able to leave Charlie, that she'd fall deeper in love than she ever had before. She had to do this, regardless of what Charlie ended up thinking of her.

"Besides, I'm going to be leaving Charlie behind anyway, so who cares if she hates my guts when I'm no longer around to see it in her eyes," she told herself without much conviction as she began to dial the number.

"Yeah?" the gruff voice on the other end said.

"I need you to bring it," she said. "All of it."

"Now?" the voice said. "Are you sure? I thought you needed more time."

"That's no longer possible," she said. "Ryan's death changed the timetable and there's been other complications since then, some unforseen. I can't wait any longer."

"What sort of complications?"

"Look, I just need you to bring the stuff so I can end this once and for all."

There was a pause from the other end and Joey thought she could hear voices in the background, but she was growing impatient.

"I don't know how close they are, but I can't take any more chances," Joey tried to explain. "It needs to end."

"Tell me where you are and I can be there by tonight."

Tegan whistled happily as she drove. They now knew where their quarry was and they had enough of a head start on everyone else to get there first. Within hours, they'd have those women lying naked before them, terrified and cowering as they murdered them. Maybe they'd first have a little other fun with them too, especially the one she couldn't wait to get her hands on. Oh god, she was going to enjoy this so much.

The two words reverberated in Graves' mind. They knew where Charlie and their witness was and they were racing toward them. Hopefully, they would reach them in time.