"No…" Sonya murmured. Please… "Not again…"

She was standing in the middle of a crowded cafe. Gigantic aquariums, floor to ceiling, full of fish of every color tried to distract her. Nothing could steal the detective's focus away from that door marked STAFF ONLY though. It was like she was reliving the security footage from the day Sasha and Georgie were taken. This time though the thugs were taking Mike too. Everything she held most closely to her heart, her very reason for living… Gone in the blink of an eye. There had to be a reason for this dream, and Sonya knew already that it was only a dream. The dream was so terrifyingly real though, and what frightened her most was she did not want to leave it. At least not until she had reaped it of every clue it had to show her. She noticed how much taller and broader the man was who took Mike from behind. Her partner, father of her kids, looked frantic, like he knew he had failed in that instant, as a father and as a partner. Watching the scene pay out in her mind, Sonya considered herself the failure. She had not been there to protect her loved ones. The detective realized had been the absent factor that could have made a difference. The police were still searching for the men who had committed this crime, but as Sonya's dream changed the faces morphed into those of the brothers who Sonya was certain were at the center of all of it. Then the door marked STAFF ONLY closed, and the dream ended.

"Nooooo!" cursed Sonya, not finished with the vision that was finished with her.

She thumped her fists in frustration.

"Easy there, tiger!" Ray cried out in alarm. "Don't you think I've got enough bruises already?"

"Oh, sorry, Ray," said Sonya. "For a minute there I forgot where I was."

"I've got the feeling that you're starting to understand you are not where you're supposed to be," Ray chuckled, but then tried to stop as his laugh became a wheeze that developed into a painful cough.

"Here! Drink this!" urged Sonya, bringing a plastic cup of water to her friend's lips.

Ray drank greedily, like he'd spent a week in the desert.

"Whoa… Steady on there!" Sonya suggested bringing the cup away again.

"More…" croaked Ray. "Please…"

"OK," said Sonya. "But slower sips this time."

Ray obliged, taking slow slurps until half of the water was gone.

"Thank you," he said, genuinely grateful.

"For the water?" Sonya laughed.

"No, not just for that," Ray continued. "For everything."

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, or with anyone else right now," Sonya said.

"Not out there catching the bastards that did this to me?" Ray questioned.

Sonya shook her head.

"They'll still be out there," she replied. "And we will find them and make them pay."

"Not with Mike and the girls?" Ray suggested next.

"The lost has been found, safe and sound again," said Sonya.

"That's not what your dream told me," said Ray.

"You're listening in on my dreams now?" said Sonya, horrified. "What did I say?"

"You didn't say that you love me," Ray replied.

"As a friend, Ray, and that is all I can ever offer you," said Sonya.

"Well then, friend," said Ray. "You're interrupting my rest when you are dozing and when you are awake."

"I guess that is my cue to get back on the case," said Sonya.

She stood, stretched, and gave Ray a quick peck on the cheek.

"Ow!" he cried out.

"Did I hurt you?" asked Sonya, horrified at the possibility.

"Only my heart, Detective Fields," Ray replied. "Now go and catch us both some criminals."

Pulling out from the Goolwa Medical Centre carpark, Sonya considered what Ray had told her during his waking moments. There was a third brother, a brother that she could not remember well. The pieces were slowly fitting together though, the strange artworks, the signs of blood staining various tools and the work bench set up in the cellar of that house on Dent Street. As she reached the outskirts of the seaside town, the grey of the ocean in her rearview mirror, the detective wondered how things had jumped from animals to people. Those women had travelled far for a holiday that should have been filled with memories of fun. Instead, they had chosen to fall for the wrong guy, the bad boy, or boys, who introduced them to another, Phillip, and that was the end of their story. Sonya knew she had to find all three, plus the women who played their parts too, either by keeping secrets or turning a blind eye, or worse still by helping to lure those poor victims to that horror cellar. Sonya had a hunch that she knew where one of the brothers had gone. It was going to take a lot of sweet talking for her to be able to officially go overseas in pursuit of Joe. He was the only lead that Sonya had though. Jack had flown the coop and could have ended up anywhere. North, south, east, or west, Detective Fields had no idea of where to start looking. She hoped that she could get the older brother to turn though. As much as she hated the idea, doing a deal with Joe could get her Phillip, and Jack too. Phillip was the one Sonya wanted though. Phillip had hurt Ray. Ray had mentioned that Jack had called it play time or at least referred to Ray as a toy for Phillip. Sure, Jack had been the instigator, but Phillip had been the violence. When it came to finding the pair Sonya knew she would need to consider that. For now, she had a lot of thinking time, and she was planning to put that to good use. The chief was going to be a hard nut to crack. But if the answer was no to an official trip to Bali, Sonya had been due a holiday. She wondered if Mike and the girls had passports in date.

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