Pam POV


    Kitty was lovely. She is talented, and I now have a fantastic dream wedding dress. It is a little morece than I am used to, but I feel Bob will have to pick his jaw off the floor when he sees me walking towards him. I am so excited and looking forward to Saturday. I am so fortunate to have Bethany ept me so readily; I thought I would be seen as the wicked woman who stole her Dad from her. I could not have been further wrong if I had tried. That girl knows how to make everyone feel better with her calm words and warm hugs. When she and Thomas called me Mum, I cried. I had not considered her as my daughter before, and it hit me hard. I am sure she was the one behind Thomas calling me Mother. Bob is lucky to have those two as his children; they both turned out to be sure- headed children; even with Thomas''s alternate marriage, he is still well grounded and has lots of love to give; both are quick to forgive and move on, leaving the sad past behind them. ''Honey, are you around?'' I heard Bob enter our apartment. We have been busy packing. I think he is all done, as he did not unpack all his boxes when he moved here, having ced a lot of items in the storage shed that Bethany hired when she moved to this city. I only have a little, but I have been a little slow at packing. Each box held a memory, either good or bad, and I walked down memoryne every now and then.


    ''Backroom. I call out as I seal up another box of memories and write where I want the box to go when the moverse. Bob hands me a coffee and a vani slice. Yum, it is like he can read my mind sometimes.


    ''Nearly done?'' He sits on the floor behind me, stretching his long legs on either side and resting his head on my shoulder. The warmth of his body heats my back, helping with the ache from being in this position for too long. ''Yeah, just the kitchen to go. I have an overnight bag to use until we get sorted. When will the moverse?'' Because the house had been empty for so long, we got the keys to move in; we paid the owner a small amount before settlement and getting things started down there. We were going to wait until all was done, but our minds changed when we realized the work was not going to be that bad. Bob had some friendsing to do some of the moreplicated work, and Bob said he would try his hand at painting. Bob POV


    ''Ten minutes will have them take the bulk of it. I think we can do it on one trip and fill our cars with boxes or suitcases; we will see after they have filled the truck. I had envisaged arge truck, but my idea of what arge truck is and the movingpany might be two different things. I looked around her apartment, and she had less than me, and that is saying something, considering most of my furniture came with the apartment, and I am leaving most of it there.


    The movers came and took mine from my ce first; it is now empty of everything I wish to take. I ced three suitcases in my car and two boxes I would like to take myself. Pam managed to fill the rest of the truck and wanted to take some of the furniture as she had grown to love a few pieces and had a ce in mind at our home.


    Our Estate Agent arrived with an offer for both of our ces. An investor wanted them, and we were happy to have them off our hands. I am not andlord type of person and did not want to go down that path, even with the Estate Agent trying to push us that way. One ce to keep is enough for me.


    At our new home, I looked around. It is a safe area, but I need Scott to improve it a bit more; I am sure we can do better than this. Knowing the syndicate is on the move has me a little nervous. I have a new family to protect and one next door. It will be nice having us all so close; it makes Sunday sports day even better. I can get tipsy and walk home rather than get


    a taxi. Hank has already hinted we will be doing some renovations at his ce, and both Theo and I are helping as it is our fault he has to do them. Kitty is keener for these babies to be born than any of the girls.


    ''Honey, we need to talk. After we had everything side by side where she wanted them to be, I cornered Pam, and the movers were finally gone.


    ''Okay! Pam said beside me, coffee on the table, and looked at me with anticipation.


    ''Does the syndicate mean anything to you?'' Having been undercover a lot in her life, I wondered if part of her undercover had involved them, and by the look on her face as she paled, I knew she had been engaged in something that had to do with them. ''Yes.'' She quietly said, her eyes dimming.


    ''The boss is active.'' I used the term loosely to see what her reaction would be.


    ''On the way here?'' She was staring at the table, her hands shaking.


    ''I have been informed that Horandeze is sailing towards us on his yacht with his wife Maria as we speak; the ship should arrive on Friday night. Pam''s whole body was shaking now as she drifted into memories that seemed to be upsetting her. ''Talk to me, Pam. I urged softly.


    ''We could never prove it. Let me start with what I know, and then we can look at piecing it together. I nodded to encourage her to go one.


    ''When I was a new recruit, I was put in a team to try and flush out a guy that preyed on young girls, and I was caught and taken to a cave, where I was tied up and was beaten, and my innocence was taken. Other girls were there, too. Big shots paid to have us in any way they wished; some wanted our bodies, and others wanted to use us as punching bags. I was in that cave for a month, and I still cannot tell you how I got out of there; I was unconscious when I was rescued. I could not identify our attackers as we always had a mask or something covering our eyes, and I putvender on the mask so we could not smell who was in the cave with us. The syndicate was believed behind it, but we could not prove he was involved.'' Pam took a sip of her coffee and continued. ''The next undercover operation against the syndicate was for illegal gambling. These were run in a warehouse owned by the syndicate. After over a year of undercover work, the best we could do was get some local guys. We still could not get Michello or Horandeze. I had a hand in closing down a few ces owned by the syndicate, but no proof the top guys had a hand in it; thew of proof was against us all the time, like those hotels that were involved with moneyundering and such. The syndicate owns them, but we could not prove the top ordered any illegal dealings or had a hand in anything. Theirwyers got them out of it all. Peter, Bret''s brother, was taken under Horandeze wing and put through university to be thewyer we all know and hate. He was being groomed to be the heir to the syndicate.'' I whistled as the dots started to join; no wonder he wasing this way. He must be trying to find Peter and Cynthia and be pissed he has lost his money. That was an obscene amount hidden away.


    ''Peter was brutal with Cynthia. I was in a hotel, doing surveince, and I saw him beating her up, but she would not press charges against him. One of thedies in the hotel tried to convince her to go to the police, but what good would a battery against a wife be? We needed to get him on bigger charges, so I did not get involved in it; I could not risk exposing myself. I so wanted to go to her and help her. I did not know her that well, but no person should have gone through what she did. In that year, I worked in that hotel. Every time Peter came back from being with Horandeze, he would beat her up.


    It was as if she was what he needed to get his anger out. Peter had a number of women he would take to bed with, but only Cynthia would get his violent side. I had been in their hands twice before and managed to escape. I did not wish to test fate again. That exined her fear of getting close to anyone; she had been through some horrific things while undercover. I need to give her as much love as possible and give her space when needed. I know it can be hard to adjust to being part of a more prominent family; she has spent years being a loner away from work.


    They may be teammates at work, but you do not get that close bond when you have to do so much by yourself undercover and have no one to turn to. She puts up a brave front, but I can see her vulnerability.