Except for the sounds of animal patients in the next room, utter silence had fallen over them as both women stared at each other. One stood in shock, one in absolute horror. Joey knew there was little point in trying to retract her words. She'd said them loud and clear and they hung between them like a dead weight.

It seemed like an eternity as they stood there, neither moving, neither saying a single word. Then Charlie sparked to life and her lips were on Joey's. Hands worked on clothes and they were naked. Neither cared about the coldness of the surgical table as they lay on it. Their only concern was finally giving into their feelings, and give in they did.

"Where the fuck is that damn car," Pee Wee raged as they continued to drive aimlessly around. "They have to be close."

"We can't look forever," said Brodie. "Someone had to have called the cops after you opened fire, and soon enough this place will be crawling with them." As it was, they'd had to take a quick turn to avoid one squad car already.

"I'm more worried about Brax finding out we fucked up again than the useless cops," Pee Wee muttered. "Besides, the cops don't have anything on us," he said, knowing they'd never find the secret compartment in the car where they'd hid their guns for the time being.

"Even so, I'd rather we didn't get pulled over."

"For what, driving a car?" he snidely said. "Get a grip, Brodie."

"What if they see the wound on your arm?" Brodie said. "They'll want to know what happened to it."

Pee Wee glanced at his arm. There was a makeshift bandage over it and he'd probably need stitches eventually, but he couldn't afford to pay it too much attention right then.

"I'll think of something," he muttered in reply. "Now let's just forget about the fucking cops and find those two bitches," he snapped.

Brodie just shrugged. His mate always got a bit short tempered when things didn't go his way, so he was used to it.

"So you reckon it was Joey who was driving?" asked Brodie, since both had been too busy diving out of the way to get a good look at the driver.

"It had to be Joey," said Pee Wee.

"But why would Joey be helping a cop?" he said. "She'd be better off on her own."

"Because maybe she's been working with them this whole time," Pee Wee reasoned.

"No way," said Brodie. "Elijah would never have spoken for her if she couldn't be trusted."

"And just where is Elijah hiding these days?" he said smugly. "I'm telling you, the bitch is dirty," he said. "Why else would Brax be testing her if he'd trusted her, and why did she run that night?"

"Maybe she just panicked when she realised it wasn't her usual job," Brodie said.

"She panicked because she got found out," he said. "And that's why she's helping the cops."

"So why aren't she and the cop in police protection?"

"Think you idiot," Pee Wee said. "We have cops on the payroll and thanks to that dumb bitch Watson's screw up, the cops now have proof of it, as does Joey and her cop buddy," he pointed out. "I'm betting they won't be heading back until they smoke out all the dirty ones," he said.

"So you reckon Joey was undercover or something this whole time?"

"She can't be trusted, and she's working with the cops, what do you think that means?"

"That we have to stop her."

Pee Wee smirked. "And we will."

Joey lay naked beneath her, her body warm and pliable, gasping for more…then Charlie shook herself free of the image. Thank god that moment of reckless abandon had all been in her head and not reality. Oh wait, it was reality, at least partial reality. Joey really had said those words - Because I love you. What did it mean? Well, of course Charlie knew what the words meant in a literal sense, but what did it mean to their situation with Joey saying it? It didn't really change anything, because she didn't return the feelings. Even in her own head, that didn't sound very convincing. Whatever, she thought dismissively. Nothing had changed, she said more forcibly. Joey was still a criminal who couldn't be trusted and that would never change. Nothing could happen. Ever. She was a cop, Joey was a criminal should be her new mantra, and she was determined to repeat it as many times as necessary until it sunk in. Cop, criminal, nothing remotely emotional between them. Well, except for Joey saying those words. Words Charlie had longed to hear from a woman at some stage of her life, just not in these circumstances. Could things be any more fucked up than they already were? Charlie had thought Joey's confession earlier had been the low light of the day, only to then be topped by dodgem cars and bullets. Now, here she was, in a vet's surgery with a criminal who'd been shot, professing her love for her. Oh, and let's not forget they were only in here after breaking in. Another crime. What else could she expect from a criminal, other than criminal acts? Certainly not those words. Yet the words had been spoken. They were right there between them, and Charlie still had no fucking idea in how to respond. It was as if she was frozen in time.

"We still don't have a positive id on any of the occupants in either car," Graves informed her senior officer over the phone. "All we have is a partial id on one of the men, which could be a match to Peter 'Pee Wee' Wilson, but our witness couldn't be certain when we showed him Pee Wee's photo," she told him. "I've filled the locals in on the situation with Buckton, and we now have people on the lookout for both cars, but it's going to take time."

"It's a small town though, isn't it?" said Robertson.

"Summer Bay is small, but the surrounding area isn't," she replied. "There's a lot of ground to cover if Buckton and Collins have left town, and only a limited number of police officers available to help."

"Are you absolutely certain the shooting is connected to Buckton and our witness?" Robertson asked.

"No, I can't be 100% it's connected to the two women or that the shooters were Braxton goons, and the locals are looking into other angles, but it'd be a hell of a coincidence if this isn't related," said Graves. "Buckton sends a message to us, then we have a shooting incident, which isn't exactly in character with the town, and now Buckton is nowhere to be found," she said. "She reached out to us Robert, and now she's missing again."

"Ok, we can't sit around waiting for Buckton to contact us again, so if you can't find any sign of them still being in the town within the next hour, I want you to head out after them, whether I'm there by then or not," Robertson told her.

"Will do," she said as the call ended. Graves turned to the nearest Constable. "How is the search going for the cars?"

"No luck yet," he said. "We've circulated the description John provided for one of the cars, but do we have anything more to go on for the other car, other than it was red, small, possibly a Corolla?"

"We don't have confirmation back yet that the paint on the pole is from the same car, but assuming it is, then keep a lookout for a red car with damage to it's front or side, and possibly bullet holes and a broken window."

"That should make it easier to find the right one then," he said.

"Best to play it safe though, by stopping all small red cars, regardless of damage," Graves told him. "At least until we have forensic confirmation on the paint."

"Roger that," he said.

"I just hope they haven't ditched it already," mumbled Graves.

Joey's shoulder ached and she could feel the blood still seeping out, yet she made no move to stem the flow. She made no move to search the now open medicine cabinet for the drugs she needed to deal with her injury. She made no move at all because she couldn't fucking move. The world had stopped. The words hung heavy between them. Words that spoke to the truth of her heart, yet had never meant to speak aloud for one reason. She knew they'd never be returned. She had no future with Charlie, she never really had, and any brief hope she may have had, had been completely snuffed out the moment Charlie had learnt the truth. That she wasn't one of the good guys, that she wasn't to be trusted, that she was a danger to everyone, especially to Charlie. Of course she'd never wanted to hurt Charlie, but she'd done just that with her lies and her deceit. Worse, Joey knew Charlie was only in this fight for her life, because she'd been dragged into her mess, and with Brax and his goons now knowing where they were, their chances of survival had grown even slimmer. It was all her fault.

And now instead of treating her wound and getting the hell away from Charlie, and perhaps sparing her from further harm, she remained rooted to the spot, face-to-face with Charlie. Joey had no idea what was going on in Charlie's head, what she was thinking, she just couldn't tell. Contempt probably. Was she laughing at her for her foolish declaration of love? That thought alone, hurt more than the bullet through her shoulder had.

Enough!, she told herself, and she felt the first movement return to her body. Now to pick up the pieces. She smirked, then laughed.

"Oh the look on your face," she said dismissively. Joey couldn't take back the words, but she could mock them. It was her only defence. "If I'd known it was so easy to shut you up, I'd have said that back at the cabin earlier."

The spell was broken, and Charlie swallowed. For some reason, Joey not meaning the words felt like a punch to the guts. Get over it, she told herself. You don't want her like that, so who cares that she didn't mean it. Still, her stomach was in knots, and she hated the feeling.

Joey turned her back on Charlie and concentrated on the contents of the medicine cabinet, in the vain hope of regaining what was left of her composure, and putting this all behind her.

"They must have left town," muttered Pee Wee.

"Or they're holed up somewhere," said Brodie. "I reckon you may have got her, and that's why she lost control of the car."

"If I did, then she may need medical treatment," he said. "The hospital would be too obvious," reasoned Pee Wee. "If you have a bullet hole in you, where else could you go to get treatment without alerting the wrong people?"

"Wherever there are drugs and shit to treat it," said Brodie. "A pharmacy or something," he said. "They'd be closed at this time of night, but that'd just suit Joey even more."

Pee Wee slammed on the brakes, raced out of the car, then returned. He tossed Brodie the phone book he'd just swiped from the payphone. "Get the addresses," he ordered.