Welcome to today's first update. I'm taking a bit of a risk with this one and I'm not entirely sure where it came from but it's going to be kind of dark and may test some boundaries. But I hope you'll go with it and that you'll enjoy it. It's certainly not the most conventional approach to a CJ relationship and I have to admit I am kind of nervous about it! I look forward (with a little anxiety!) to your feedback. Love, IJKS xxx
Hooked
Chapter One
It was the early hours of Friday morning in Yabbie Creek when Sergeant Charlie Buckton and her partner in every sense of the word, Senior Constable Angelo Rosetta picked their way through the busy club. Dressed in plain clothes in a bid to look inconspicuous, they were nearing the end of their shift and neither could wait to go home and get some rest. It had been a particularly heavy fortnight and if they didn't manage to find at least one lead in the case then several local murders could go unsolved. Charlie was determined not to let it happen, not on her watch.
"Over there," Charlie nodded, spotting a dark haired girl leaning against the bar and facing away from them.
She was talking to an overweight, balding man who, even with a lack of natural light, looked to have particularly bad skin.
"You reckon?" Angelo asked.
He and Charlie had been wandering round the bar for the past half an hour, trying to keep an eye on everyone in there. They'd sat and observed, nursing unfortunately non-alcoholic drinks. They'd danced, separated to check out the toilets and continued to try and make conversation while they took in the room around them.
"Definitely," Charlie said when she saw the girl lean into the man and whisper something into his ear.
The man nodded eagerly and pulled out his wallet. The girl, whose features Charlie couldn't yet make out, touched his hand, stopping him from pulling out his cash. Then she gestured for him to follow her into the toilets.
"You're right," Angelo said, moving to follow them.
"Wait," Charlie said.
Angelo looked confused.
"We've spent half the night trying to find one of these girls," he said. "What are you waiting for?"
"Somehow I don't think we're going to get much out of her if we lose her some cash and scare off a client," Charlie pointed out.
She gestured for them to sit down at an empty table where they could maintain a good view of the ladies. Angelo grimaced and nodded. He tried not to give in to bitterness every time his girlfriend so easily proved why she had been considered Sergeant material when he had barely managed to become a Senior Constable.
Joey Collins escaped the toilets as quickly as she could. She'd made a little cash but so far, the night had been pretty slow. Really, she was eager to head home and sleep but with her rent due in two days time, she needed the money. There was no way she was going to dip into her savings, kept oh so carefully in a hole in the side of her mattress in the attic room she called home.
"Lemonade please, Aden," she requested.
The barman nodded and poured the drink, refusing to accept her cash.
"After that, I feel sorry for you!" he remarked.
She laughed and sipped her drink, appreciating the ice cold liquid in the hot, stuffy club.
"Thanks," she said.
Aden Jeffries was a nice guy. He was a couple of years younger than Joey, good looking and sweet natured. She gathered, from the time she'd spent with him after hours, that he had had a tough life. His most recent tragedy was the loss of his wife, Belle, to cancer. He'd loved her for as long as he'd known her and she had been far too young to die like that. Still, Joey reasoned, death was an unfortunate part of life. One of the many things Joey appreciated about Aden was that he never asked anything of her. He didn't even charge her for drinks. And she certainly didn't expect to be propositioned at any point. In her world, that was rarity.
"Company," Aden remarked, nodding behind her.
Joey turned and came face to face with a man who looked to be perhaps a little older than she was. She looked him up and down, noting his black jeans and shirt. His hair was short and his eyes were shifty.
"It's fifty bucks an hour or a two hundred for the night," she said evenly.
A strikingly beautiful woman stepped up beside him. Joey raised her eyebrows and glanced between them. Her eyes lingered mostly on the woman. She had long, beautiful dark hair that framed a beautifully flawless face. She wore a form fitting red halter-neck top and skinny black jeans.
"I don't do two for one deals," she said. "You both pay."
The woman stepped a little closer, taking the lead over her boyfriend. She flashed her police badge.
"Oh, fuck," Joey frowned.
Rolling her eyes, she held up her hands, fully expecting to be cuffed and hauled into a cell for the night.
Next time… Charlie and Angelo try to get information from Joey…