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the rest, with a blue t-shirt, and
jeans. As the sisters approached, the men stood in silence. Burrows stepped
closer to the front door to make room for them on the porch, and began the
introductions.
    "Aurina." She said
shaking the Chief’s hand and then Max's. "This is my sister Ryanne."
When Max shook Ryanne's hand, her grip impressed him.
    "Burrows is going to go for some take-out. The girls haven't
eaten in a while. We didn’t make any stops." Jones told them, and nodded
toward Burrows, who went back to the car and gave a quick wave before getting
in the driver's seat. "Should we go in and get organized?” Jones
asked. “Burrows and I can only stay for an hour or so, and then we have to
get back."
    "O’course. Ladies." The Cheif opened the front door, and
Aurina and Ryanne stepped inside. Before Jones followed, he whispered something
to the Chief, and he shook his head as they both went in, briefly holding the
door open for Max.
    The
Chief had explained to Max that the girls cover would involve their new next
door neighbor, Blake Holloway. Max was shocked at first. Blake owned a mechanic
shop in town, and rarely had any affiliation with the police. He had
volunteered for search committees in the past, but that was the extent that Max
knew of. It was convenient that he had the two houses on his property, one
being his own and the other his parents’ old place.
    The
Patrick sister’s new identities would be as Blake’s cousins from Camden, coming
to stay for summer vacation in his parent's old house that stood beside his.
Blake and Aurina would be about the same age, and although word would spread
fast through the town, people would pay less mind to visitors than new comers
who planned on staying. Max thought it was a solid plan, but wondered if anyone
had considered keeping the sisters closer to the station in town. It had
occurred to Max they would be closer to safety and security there, and he
wondered if the Chief had thought of this.
    Jones
told the Chief he would be sending the rest of the files on David Matthews and
Jeremy Evans over when he got back to Toronto. Max knew they were both
suspected of murder, and got the feeling they were planned extremely well to
have eluded the police for over three years now. If a man like Jeremy found his
way to the Patrick sisters, it was important they be prepared to protect them.
The town of Dersten had never seen a serial killer as far as Max knew, but he
had studied some, and thought he had a handle on what Jones and Burrows were
dealing with.
    “Nice
place.” Max heard Jones say, but his voice sounded uninterested and doubted the
place impressed him.
    Max
thought the set-up was a bit hasty, but regardless of whether he liked the
plan, it was his job to help carry it out. The Chief had been on the force for
practically his whole life, and Max was sure he had extensive experience with
the WPP. He knew what he was doing; Max put full trust in him. As he stepped
through the front door, he felt certain he was ready for the challenge.

Chapter 8
    After
meeting Chief Crawley and Officer Max, Ryanne's heart began to race at the
thought of taking a tour to see their safe house. When they walked in, she
noticed it wasn't fully furnished. The front hall was empty, and the floors
were dark wood. The living room and the kitchen were an attached open space,
separated only by a harvest table in the kitchen, and two couches in the living
room. The cupboards and counters appeared to have seen better days, but the
house had such character. Ryanne followed Aurina down the hall to the left and
saw three doors. The first on the right was a small three piece bathroom, and a
little further down, the two on opposing sides were bedrooms of equal size.
    "I
call this one." Ryanne claimed the room on the left that faced the front
of the house. It had a small window, with a big closet and a bed with a big
blue quilt. Aurina went into the other room, which had a bigger window, but a
smaller bed