For Jensy25. 'See' you all on Wednesday! Love, IJKS xxx

Chapter Twenty One

January 2009 (Age 27)

"I can't believe I'm really doing this," Joey muttered.

It was her twenty seventh birthday and nothing had gone to plan except that it had gone wrong, as one would naturally have expected. The idea had been that she, Hayley, Aden and the rest of their 'friends', namely Brax and Heath would go for dinner and then onto a party, except that Hayley had changed her mind at the last minute and wanted to skip the dinner. Joey, who had been looking forward to the dinner more than that party, hadn't caught herself in time. She had let her face fall for just a second and Hayley had flipped. There had been a massive row, Joey's birthday had been essentially cancelled and she had been left at home alone until Aden had shown up on her door.

After a series of abusive texts and phone calls, Joey had surprised herself by reaching the decision that she was going to leave once and for all. And Aden had been more than happy to support her decision and go with her.

"I'm proud of you, Jo," he enthused. "This is the start of the rest of our lives."

"Thank you for not giving up on me," Joey said sincerely. "I think anyone else would have."

"Maybe anyone with half a brain," Aden teased. "But fortunately for you, I only have a quarter of one."

Joey giggled and swatted him playfully on the arm. They stood and she cast one last glance around the place she called home but had never actually felt like it. Taking a deep breath, she led the way through the front door.

It was a whole two days before Hayley managed to claw Joey back. She gave Joey the worst beating to date and denied her access to a hospital for a further two days, just to punish her some more. While they were waiting for the paramedics, she leaned in and whispered that her precious Aden would get worse if she dared run away again. And so she had never tried.

June 2012 (Age 30)

"Joey, please let me find you somewhere else to go," Charlie begged.

Evening was drawing in. They had been on the beach for a long time, half the day, in fact. Joey sighed. It was more than tempting. All she wanted in the world was to give in and let Charlie take care of her. But she knew not even this beautiful, wonderful woman could make everything okay, no matter how hard she tried.

"I'm fine," she said, putting her brave face on.

The last thing she wanted was for Charlie to come to any harm. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if anything like that happened.

"Joey…"

"Charlie, I know what I'm doing…"

"Really?" Charlie challenged. "Because if you go back to that bitch then I'd seriously question that statement."

"Well, she probably won't even be around for a while," Joey said. "Not until the heat's died down anyway so I'll be safe for a little while."

"You need to be safe forever," Charlie insisted.

Joey sighed. She lifted Charlie's hand and kissed it softly.

"Sometimes it's just not possible," she said, her voice etched with sadness.

"But it could be," Charlie protested, her hand tingling. "Joey, if you just let me help you…"

"If I let you try, we'll both get hurt," Joey said. "It's not worth putting you at risk."

"I'm a cop," Charlie reminded her. "I can handle myself."

"I was a cop too," Joey said. "And look what happened to me."

November 1997 (Age 15)

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon and, having completed their chores and their homework, Charlie and Joey had eagerly escaped to their hideout. Like a lot of kids their age, they seemed to spend a lot of time roaming but liked to think they were never up to no good.

During various jaunts through the park and the surrounding woods, they had found an old abandoned tree house that they had fixed up and now spent a lot of time in. They'd even considered making it the location of their first time but try as they might they just couldn't think of a way to get a comfortable bed up there!

"I hope this is how we spend all of our days," Joey mused happily.

Snuggled up on cushions they had been sneaking out of the home in pairs over the past few months, the couple were more than contented.

"There's no hope about it," Charlie said certainly. "Of course we will be."

Joey grinned.

"I love your faith in us," she said sincerely.

Charlie shifted so that she could look into Joey's beautiful brown eyes.

"How could I not have faith in us?" she said. "I look at you and I can't feel anything but happy. Even when I think about all the sad stuff we've been through, everything we've both lost, my heart still sings for all that we've got. I feel so lucky. I feel so complete."

June 2012 (Age 30)

Joey arrived back at her thankfully still empty house. She flopped down on the sofa and rubbed her temples. She had a headache brewing and she knew it would be the first of many. Sometimes it felt like her whole life was a headache. She wondered where Hayley was and if she was coming back soon. She hoped not. She hoped she would stay away forever. And that Brax and his horrible little gang would go away and join her. Sighing heavily, she longed for Aden to receive her telepathic messages and come round. She didn't have the energy to find him and unless she did that, she was isolated.

Charlie returned to work as soon as she reluctantly dropped Joey back at home. She wasn't due back on shift until the morning but it just couldn't wait.

"Nick, I need to speak to you," she said urgently.

"What's up, Charlie?" her boss asked. "What are you doing here anyway? I thought you'd be well at home by now."

"This whole case is way bigger than we thought," Charlie declared.

She promised herself to be careful about confidentiality but she was going to save Joey if it was the last thing she did.

Next time… the case gathers momentum…