I yawned as I poured my morning coffee. It was quite early in the morning and we were already packed and ready to go to Sydney and I would be lying if I didn't say that fronting up to Joyce was leaving me with some trepidation, especially as the uneasy feeling I'd had since reading the paper yesterday hadn't left me. It didn't help that I was also feeling guilty about lying to Caz and Kym yet again but until we knew for sure what was going on, we planned to keep things as they were and so Kate and Joey were heading out of town because of a family emergency. Maybe it was because Kym was practically walking on cloud nine these days with the prospect of being a mum again or perhaps they were just being the good friends that they were, but neither had brought up the distinct lack of family around since Mathew was born or that neither Joey or I ever really talked much about our families, they just accepted we were leaving for family reasons. I hope the day comes soon when there won't be a need to lie to our friends anymore, of course with that day, came the prospect of telling them I was the Bitch. I sipped my coffee and thought a little bemusedly that I'd rather face Joyce and a firing squad than Kym finding that out.

Pouring a coffee for Joey, I took it to her in the nursery, where she was sitting in the rocker with Mathew in her arms. Watching her hold him always brought such intense feelings of love and contentment to me and I could stand there for hours and just look at them, but today, time was getting away from us. I set both coffees aside and squatted down beside them. "How is my little man?"

"Sleeping peacefully."

"I hope he stays like that on the flight or we may end up on the receiving end of some rather unfriendly glares if he cries the whole way."

"I'm the first to admit to finding a crying baby annoying, especially in a confined space, but it is different with Mathew."

"Because he's ours and so while crying babies are a no-no when they're someone else's, it's totally different when they're yours," I said with a grin.

"Oh absolutely," she replied with a matching grin.

"We should get going soon or we'll miss the flight."

"You know that you really don't have to go back to the Bay to face everyone after you see Joyce, because I could go alone and explain things to Leah and Ruby and then bring Ruby back with me," Joey said and I was sorely tempted by the offer, but I shook my head to decline.

"I've been thinking about this a lot since yesterday and it may seem crazy to go back, but it honestly feels like something I just have to do," I explained to her. "I don't want to have any guilt I still may have slowly gnawing away at me over time or have anything hanging over my head that may someday come back to haunt me and end up hurting what we have, so I need to clear my slate and that means taking responsibility for my actions and accepting the consequences."

"How much trouble will you get into, I mean, legal wise?"

"I was party to stealing evidence and lying to my colleagues and that's quite serious and I suppose it depends on how much of an example they want to make of me."

"Like jail?"

I took Joey's hand and squeezed gently. "I don't think so. What I did was criminal and I'll most likely lose my job, but coming forward will be in my favour." I frowned as I thought of something. "Actually, I'm not entirely sure where I stand with my job, since the day I was shot was officially my last day."

"I'm sure Joyce will let you know where you do stand."

"Hey, is there something else the matter?" I asked her when I sensed further reluctance in her.

"I guess I have my own insecurities about going back," she admitted. "It will mean Brax is going to find out he's a father."

"Unfortunately, there's no way that word won't get back to him, even in jail, but at least he won't be there and after what he did, it's going to be a long time before he's out." I smiled down at my son. "Mathew will be an adult before Brax even gets a whiff of parole."

"He hasn't even faced court yet."

"Joey, he was caught red-handed with drugs during a police raid and with an officer killed, the Prosecutor will go hard at him and make damn sure that every scrap of evidence is above reproach," I said to her. "He's out of our lives Joey."

"Not completely," Joey said. "Family means a lot to him so do you really think he'll sit by and do nothing about Mathew."

"Of course not, but I will fight any attempt he makes to get access to Mathew while he's in prison and with both his brothers having records, it will show a judge what a bad influence he's been on them and I'll make sure his brothers steer clear as well, even Casey. That boy had such promise to be better than his brothers, yet he's already started down the same path and he's far too loyal to Brax for me to ever be able to trust him." I cupped her face in my hands and held her eyes with mine. "You, Mathew and Ruby are the most important people in my life and I'm not going to let anyone come between us," I assured her. "And I'm not proposing we move back to Summer Bay permanently, but I really do feel that I need to do this and once things have been sorted in the Bay, we can always come back here if that's what we want."

Joey took a deep breath. "Then I guess we should get going."

"I think we have a bit of time to finish our coffees and dote on our boy here."

"He's going to be spoilt rotten," Joey murmured, her heart filled with such love for the little bundle in her arms.


The flight from Melbourne to Sydney had thankfully been uneventful, with my little man being a perfect little angel, even earning some admirers on the plane, but now the moment of truth was almost here. After arriving at Police HQ, I had been taken up to the fifth floor where I was now waiting for Joyce in a rather stark and cold room that had me wishing for Joey to be by my side, but she was in the park across the road with Mathew. God I missed them and I'd only been here for, I glanced at my watch, twenty minutes.

I was starting to wonder if this was a good idea when Joyce walked into the room and stopped and stared at me.

"Forgive me for staring," he said after a minute or two. "But I truly believed you were dead and so your call yesterday came as a hell of a shock and I was still half convinced you were an imposter."

"Nope, it's the real me," I said. "Has there been an update on Georgie, because all the paper said was she was in a stable condition?"

"It was a bullet to the arm and there was some worry there would be nerve damage, but she's been given the all clear and has headed home."

"That's great news."

He came over and sat across the table from me. "Now, I'm guessing you have a bit to tell me," he said to me and so I began. I told him about waking up in an unfamiliar room with Mac standing over me, about everything Mac said to me that day and because I wasn't sure just how much Joyce had known and because I wanted to be totally upfront and honest, I also told him about my part in the evidence being stolen from the squad car and Liam's accident. I even told him about my time of reflection, how I'd changed my opinion on Brax and have turned my life around.

The entire time I was talking, Joyce silently sat there with an unreadable expression on his face and I took a nervous sip of water as I drew my account to the end. "And so yesterday when I saw the paper about Brax and Jake, I realised it was close to being over, yet I hadn't heard from Mac and I started to get this uneasy feeling and that just got worse after I did finally talk to him, which is why I then decided to call you."

"And I'm glad you did, because there's a very good reason for you to feel uneasy Charlie," Joyce said. "I have never met Det. Sgt Daniel McWilliams nor even spoken to him, so I certainly wasn't in on any of the details as he may have implied to you and I can tell you now that he was involved in no such investigation in Summer Bay, at least not any official investigation," he told me and a sick feeling settled in my stomach. "I'm sorry Charlie, but none of this, including faking your death and putting you into witness protection, was ever officially sanctioned by anyone."

"Oh god," I muttered, not liking where this was going at all. "So are you saying that Mac lied to me about everything?"

Joyce nodded. "Obviously until you called yesterday, we had no idea of his part in your so-called death, but for some months now, McWilliams has been under investigation for police corruption and as of yesterday, has disappeared off our radar."

"Fuck," I let the word slip out and Joyce smiled sympathetically at me. I had felt uneasy for a reason, that maybe Mac was keeping something from me, but I hadn't allowed myself to even consider the possibility that all of it was a lie and the sick feeling turned to anger and shock at the realisation I'd been played for a fool yet again and been kept from my daughter because of it.