It was a line I'd heard before and it sickened me. I wanted to tell him that he had no right comparing what he did to consenting h.o.m.os.e.xual adults. I also wanted to ask how he figured a young child was supposed to understand the real meaning of love when many adults couldn't. But it wouldn't change a d.a.m.ned thing. Instead I just waited while he stood up, an emotional wreck. This was the end. He was either going to shoot me or kill himself. Or both.

'You're going to let me go, McCauley,' he said slowly. 'You let me walk out of here and we all live happily ever after. Kirzek killed Dallas and I get to keep helping the kids. That's the way it's gonna work.'

'I can't do that, Will. It's over.'

'Then we both die,' he said quietly, pulling one of the guns from his waistband and pressing the muzzle hard against my head. 'You first, then me. We go together, the cop and the social worker, on opposite sides of the street but heading in the same direction. Isn't that how it goes?'

'You don't need to do this,' I pleaded, my words m.u.f.fled against the carpet. 'You did it to protect Dallas from Kirzek because you loved him. The courts will understand that.'

'Nice try,' he snorted. 'See you on the other side.'

I used every bit of strength and adrenaline to break free. Then, suddenly, the window exploded with a loud crash, gla.s.s spraying over us, a chair landing beside me. Another chair flew through the window, smashing against the wall, then somebody jumped through the broken pane.

Rolling over, I saw Fletch leap across the desk. As Novak raised his gun to fire, I kicked his ankles, throwing him off balance. Fletch dived on top of him and they wrestled on the floor, Fletch punching Novak and grappling for the gun.

I clambered to my feet, pressed my back against the door and unlocked it. Novak scrambled across the floor after the gun and I kicked out at him but the kick didn't stop him. He grabbed the gun and swung it towards me just as the door burst open and Tammy York charged in.

'You sick b.a.s.t.a.r.d,' she screamed. 'It was you! We heard you talking through the ' The gun went off, the bullet clipping her left arm and catapulting her body backwards. Her shriek filled the room.

Fletch hurled himself at Novak and the gun went sliding across the carpet. Novak swung his elbow, catching Fletch across the jaw, before making another grab for the gun. I leapt into the air, bringing my good knee down on the back of Novak's neck. There was a loud crunch and I fell sideways. Fletch raced over and kicked Novak in the face, knocking him out.

's.h.i.t, look at your neck, man,' he said to me. 'You're hit.'

I looked down. My wound had split completely and blood covered my shirt, but I couldn't feel any pain. Adrenaline.

'I'm okay, just cut me loose,' I said.

Fletch found a pair of scissors and cut the string, which I then used to bind Novak's wrists. A groan sounded from Tammy she was crumpled on the floor, blood running from her arm. Fletch staggered towards her as several residents and staff appeared at the door. Panicked screams began to sound from the hallway and I heard the receptionist yelling for an ambulance.

I stumbled outside and slumped on the front porch, waiting for the circus to arrive.

36.

BY LUNCHTIME I WAS BACK in hospital, the Alfred this time. Tammy York had been lucky; the bullet had only clipped her arm. They didn't even need to put her into surgery; simply st.i.tched and bandaged the wound, then pumped her full of painkillers and antibiotics. in hospital, the Alfred this time. Tammy York had been lucky; the bullet had only clipped her arm. They didn't even need to put her into surgery; simply st.i.tched and bandaged the wound, then pumped her full of painkillers and antibiotics.

'So this is round two?' Ella's friend Jenny said as she rest.i.tched my neck wound. She'd jabbed me with a hit of local anaesthetic so the whole area was numb, but I could feel her pulling and tugging. 'Stuff like this happens in threes, you know?' she added.

'Then we might as well just leave them undone,' I said, trying to joke with her but wincing at the same time. 'How many more st.i.tches are there?'

'This is the last one. Have you heard from Ella?'

'I saw her this morning,' I said, knowing they were all probably blaming me for her being in hospital.

It was no secret that Ella wanted me to transfer out of detective duties and many of her colleagues and friends agreed with her. Some of them were in the same boat, also having boyfriends or husbands in high-risk jobs. Knowing Ella had suffered because of my work would only cement their views.

'I'm going to quit,' I said as she snipped off the last st.i.tch. 'I've made a decision. I'll tell Ella as soon as she's out.'

'Really?' Jenny said. 'My hubby says that after every bushfire. He'll probably say it this time too. Never makes any difference.'

'Well, this is is different. different. I'm I'm different.' different.'

'Okay,' she said, wiping down my neck with something. 'Just tell her I said hi, will you?'

'Sure.'

On my way out of the emergency department I stopped by Tammy York's cubicle, where Fletch was waiting with her.

'Sarge,' he said when I opened the curtain. 'How's the neck?'

'Bit stiff. I'll be right though. How's she doing?'

'Not bad, by the look of her,' he said, a cheeky grin on his face. 'She looks pretty happy to me, all that pethidine they got her on. I tried to get 'em to give me some, but they wouldn't cop it.'

Tammy opened her eyes halfway and her lips stretched to a smirk. 'Hey there,' she drawled. 'Can't believe I got shot.'

'You're very lucky,' I said, nodding at her bandaged arm. 'Could've been a lot worse, but they say you'll be fine. You should be able to go home tomorrow.'

'I don't think she wants to go home at all,' Fletch said, tapping the drip stand next to her. 'Not with all the good gear they've got her on. It's like a free ride, hey babe?'

I tried to think of something polite to say but couldn't.

'So what's gonna happen to Will?' Tammy asked as I was about to say goodbye. 'He's gonna go down, right?'

'Depends if he makes a confession,' I said. 'He's with the Homicide Squad now and they're usually pretty good at talking you into a confession. So we'll see.'

'And what about The Holy Brethren?'

'Well, that depends on how much cooperation Will is prepared to give, but the laptop should go a long way towards ensuring we get a good result.'

Tammy's hand slid out of the sheets and Fletch took it. 'Least it wasn't all for nothin',' he said to her. Then, looking at me, he added, 'Dall tried to do the right thing and he died for it. So did Sparks and Jussie. f.u.c.k, maybe even Derek. But at least if some of them go down, then Dall would've been happy.'

'What do you mean?' I said in disbelief. 'Dallas was trying to blackmail blackmail them. You them. You all all were. How is that the right thing?' were. How is that the right thing?'

'What blackmail?' said Fletch, frowning.

'We weren't trying to blackmail no one,' Tammy added.

'Hang on,' I said. 'Dallas hired Justin Quinn to star in the kiddie p.o.r.n movie, then he recruited Sparks to steal the laptop once the movie was made so he could force The Holy Brethren to pay up. It was a scam. No point trying to hide it now.'

'That's bulls.h.i.t,' Fletch said. 'Dall wanted to give the laptop to the coppers. He wanted The Holy Brethren to go down. He wanted them busted busted. That was his plan.'

I shook my head, confused.

'That's why me and Dall made that movie,' Tammy said. 'Because we wanted as much dirt on them as possible. Getting Jussie on board for the b.l.o.w. .j.o.b wasn't easy, but he went along in the end.'

A nurse I didn't recognise pulled back the curtain and checked Tammy's blood pressure and drip bag.

'But Sparks never mentioned anything about that,' I said when she was gone.

'Sparks wasn't in on it,' Fletch said. 'Dall just hired him to steal the laptop.'

I nodded, remembering Sparks saying he was just a ring-in. From that I'd a.s.sumed the laptop was part of a scam. It had never entered my mind that Dallas Boyd had justice in his sights.

'Is this about his sister?' I said.

'Yeah, her and Derek Jardine,' said Tammy. 'Derek and Dall were best mates. Both of them got recruited by The Holy Brethren when they came out of Malmsbury. Derek went to the Gold Coast and started working as a scout up there and Dallas came to St Kilda. They used to keep in contact on the phone and through email, but then all of a sudden Derek stopped returning calls and emails. So Dallas went up to Queensland to look for him and found out he'd been bashed to death.'

Suddenly it all fell into place. I remembered Will Novak saying that Dallas had given him an ultimatum: either jump on board or go down with them. He never said anything about blackmail.

'Go on,' I said. 'What happened when he came back?'

'He was furious,' she said. 'Said they were to blame, that they'd killed him.'

'Who, The Holy Brethren?'

'Yes! Either them or some lowlife paedophile. It didn't matter to Dallas. Far as he was concerned it was all the same thing. So not long after that, when Rachel got sick and we found out she had chlamydia, he went right off. Said he was gonna get her back and take down the whole lot of them.'

She waved a shaky hand towards a water bottle next to her bed. Fletch pa.s.sed it to her and helped her take a sip.

'I thought it was just hot air,' he said, s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g the cap back on the bottle. 'But a few weeks later he started working on his plan. That was Dall, for ya. No bulls.h.i.t artist.'

I nodded respectfully.

'So why did you need the laptop?' I asked. 'Why not just keep copies of the movies?'

'Simple,' Fletch said. 'The copies are edited. Ya can't see people's faces, only the kids. But Dall knew that the laptop had the master copies on it, plus who knows what else.'

'Why didn't you tell me any of this when I came to see you?' I asked, frowning at Tammy.

'Because you were with Will Novak,' she said, her voice croaky. 'And we were suss on him since it happened. See, Dall went to meet him after he left us at Macca's. Will was supposed to go with Dall to meet Sparks and do the exchange, then take the laptop to the cops. That was his part in the whole thing. At least, that's what Dall thought he was gonna do. Obviously Will had other ideas.'

Shaking her head, she blinked away tears.

'So he was playin' both sides,' Fletch said. 'When you showed up on our doorstep, we figured youse was workin' together. That's when we put it all together and realised it had to be Novak, since he was askin' questions as though he knew nothin' when all along he knew exactly what was goin' on.'

'That's right,' Tammy said. 'That's why I kept my mouth shut, because I knew Will was there to see how much I knew and how much I told ya. So I only told ya what I knew was safe. Sneaky f.u.c.kin' dog.'

Letting out a long breath of fatigue, I thought about how cunning Will Novak had been to trick everyone, even his own people.

'Well, you can trust me me,' I said, giving them both a business card. I pulled back the curtain then looked at Fletch. 'Look after her, mate. Dall would've wanted that.'

'I will,' he said, sliding the card in his pocket. 'See ya round, hey.'

I caught a cab back to St Kilda and picked up my car, which was still parked opposite the CARS hostel. Crime scene tape was strung up across the front of the building, three police cars in the car park. I hoped Novak's involvement in the killing and his links with The Holy Brethren didn't ruin the hostel for good, but I wasn't optimistic.

Just as I started the engine, my phone rang. It was Sarah Harrigan from Child Protection.

'Thought you'd want to know,' she said. 'We've got a warrant to remove Rachel Boyd from the flat.'

'When?'

'Next week,' she said. 'We'll be a.s.sembling in the car park at six next Friday morning. Fridays are always better because it means we can get them into foster care over the weekend.'

's.h.i.t,' I said, unsure how to feel.

'I couldn't tell you before because it wasn't signed off,' she said. 'But with everything that happened down there at CARS this morning, we were able to light a match under the director's a.r.s.e and get a decision made. Anyway, we got the request order signed and I'm just leaving the magistrates court now with the warrant. You're the first person I've called.'

'Thank you,' I said. 'I'll be there.'

37.

PHYSICALLY THE DOG ALREADY looked much healthier than when I'd last seen him. It had only been a few days but a good bath and decent food had done wonders. I stood outside the cage, staring at the bull mastiff, the only witness to Sparks' murder. Right now he was asleep, curled up on a blanket like a prisoner in his tiny cell. I watched for a long moment, wondering if this was the right thing to do. looked much healthier than when I'd last seen him. It had only been a few days but a good bath and decent food had done wonders. I stood outside the cage, staring at the bull mastiff, the only witness to Sparks' murder. Right now he was asleep, curled up on a blanket like a prisoner in his tiny cell. I watched for a long moment, wondering if this was the right thing to do.

The woman in reception had volunteered to show me the range of dogs on offer, but I'd declined, preferring to be alone. I tapped the cage and Hooch opened his eyes, then tilted his head, as if trying to recognise a familiar face.

'Hooch,' I said. 'Remember me?'

He trotted over to the cage door and I squatted eye to eye with him, speaking in a cheerful voice. 'Who's a good boy? Want some tucker?'

I pulled out a packet of Smacko strips and slipped one through the wire mesh. He sniffed at it suspiciously, then took it from my grasp. After a few more strips, I put my fingers through the wire and he licked at them.

I called out to the woman on reception and told her I wanted to take him home.

'He'll be hard work,' she said, sliding a key in the lock. 'You'll need to train him, walk him every day.'