"The Truth Hurts"
Thanks again for your reviews - glad you all liked Angelo getting what he deserves by seeing CJ's relationship first hand. He really is a bit of a chump and it's just so easy to write him that way - how the H&A writers can write him as anything else - a hero WTF! - is beyond me.
Drowningnotwaving - Keep reading if you're intrigued to find out what the duo have done. As for Angelo getting the message...nope he's still a douche bag!
Movie249 - Hmm Angelo's part in all this? I wonder indeed...
Boo - Aww c'mon I love Robertson - bring him back H&A anyday in trade for Angelo. He's so interesting to write for and he certainly will be a pain for CJ
- Keep reviewing!
Funkyshaz57 - Here to keep your addiction going!
SnappyD - Welcome to these reveiws - glad to see you away from !
Oniz197 - Keep reading to find out how far Angelo's willing to go...I'd say someone isn't gonna be too please with him...
JSCO81 - Aww protective Charlie is hot ain't she?
AJ-1978 - Angelo set-up might be coming your way soon - stick around...
Now let's see if the girl's reveal a few secrets about what's been happening the last couple weeks...
Chapter Thirty-Four
"No!!! Stop it, please God. Argh! Don't kill me! Charlie! CHARLIE!!!" Joey screamed in her sleep. Charlie woke immediately, hearing Joey's screams. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, Charlie still felt Joey cuddled up next to her, but the younger woman was sweating and shaking violently. Charlie had gotten used to waking up in this fashion over the last few weeks, but it still brought several tears to her eyes to see her girlfriend in pain. She felt completely helpless to Joey, that there was nothing she could do to stop what Joey was going through.
Charlie wrapped her arm tighter around Joey's waist, then with her other hand, she stroked Joey's face gently. "Joey...baby it's okay I'm here. Jo please I won't let him hurt you. Babe wake up, you're safe now. It's over and you're here in my arms where you belong." Joey's eyes blinked open, and she snapped her head up as she tried to stop shaking, "Char...Charlie?" Charlie kissed Joey on the forehead, then leaning their foreheads together, Charlie felt the tears trickling down Joey's cheeks, "Yes Jo it's me. You're safe okay? He's never gonna hurt you again."
Joey squinted her eyes shut for a moment, and upon opening them again, she whispered, "I know. I'm sorry...I didn't mean to wake you...again." Charlie stroked her hand through Joey's hair, "Don't you worry about me. The only thing I'm concerned about is you. Please Jo...let me in...tell me what's going through your mind every night. I want to help you." Joey breathed heavily, "I know...I can't Charlie...I'm sorry I just can't...not right now."
Charlie suddenly sighed knowingly, then looked across the cell outside to where Angelo was sitting silently, "You still here? Isn't there some other job you can do?" "This is my job," Angelo responded without a lack of concern for Joey's wellbeing. "Get lost Angelo," Charlie growled, "Let us have a moment alone." Angelo shook his head, "Can't do it Charlz. Making sure you two aren't alone is exactly my--" "Don't call me 'Charlz,'" Charlie gritted quietly, while continuing to hold onto Joey tightly comforting her, "This isn't about Grant's murder. I just want to make sure Joey feels safe." "Well you'll have to do that another time. I'm not letting the pair of you out of my sight while you're stuck in the cell," Angelo decided.
"Then it's a good thing they're about to be released so you can keep your eyes to yourself," Morag interrupted as she entered the hallway with the Detective, then looking down at Angelo and over to the girls, "Not quite the threesome I would've expected." Charlie let a small smile slip at Morag's sudden humour, knowing her step-mother loved every chance to get one-up on Angelo since the cop had murdered Martha's husband. Angelo glared at the woman hatefully, regretting his decision to agree to spending the night watching the woman he loved...so lovingly curl up in the arms of another woman...even when they were asleep...the small gestures they made with each other...Why couldn't it be me lying there with Charlie in my arms?
"Well don't just sit there Angelo, get out your keys and release them so I can have some time to talk with my clients alone," Morag ordered. Angelo glanced up at the Detective, silently asking permission. Detective Robert Robertson smiled calmly, "Well we can't leave them locked up like that all day so move it along Rosetta." Angelo shrugged, standing up he moved towards the cell and unlocked it. Charlie sat up with Joey still curled against her. Pulling herself off Charlie, Joey stood up, reaching out her hand to help Charlie up too. Still holding hands tightly, Charlie and Joey pushed the door open and exited the cell.
Several minutes later the girls were seated in the interview room with Morag. Detective Robert Robertson had given them a small amount of time for Morag to speak to her clients before beginning the interview. Morag glanced softly at the pair in front of her, noting Charlie slipping her hand on Joey's knee for support, "Did you girls sleep okay last night?" Both women shrugged quietly. Morag flipped through some paperwork, "Your Dad's fine by the way. Apparently he tripped over in his room, just bruised his arm a bit, but he's gotten it cleaned up and he'll be back to normal in a couple days. Ruby's also fine. I phoned her last night after I saw Ross to let her know, and also that she was coping okay after the death of her... I mentioned you two being here as well. Kind of assumed that you wouldn't leave Joey here alone, Charlie, so told Ruby you were both here for the night. After we've got this mess sorted I'll take you two to go see her at Irene's. She's very worried about all this. She didn't say it but I have my suspicions that she's blaming herself for all this happening."
"That's ridiculous," Charlie pointed out. "No it's not," Joey sighed, "She blames herself because she tracked him down...just like I blame myself for letting her do it." Charlie turned to face Joey, squeezing Joey's knee supportively, "Jo this is not your fault. How many times do I need to tell you that? I don't blame you for helping Ruby. We both know what Ruby's like, she would've done this with or without you. And...she did do this without you even though you told her not to go see him unless you were there to make sure she didn't get hurt. When you offered to help her you were doing the right thing by Ruby. If you had come to me and told me what she was up to...I would've gone off the rails at Ruby and she probably wouldn't ever speak to me again. There is nothing either of us could've done to stop her finding him."
"She's right you know," Morag agreed lightly, "Ruby's a Buckton. Stubbornness runs in the family gene." Charlie smiled, "Thanks Morag...I think." "We can't change the fact that Ruby did track Grant down or the events that happened afterwards. All we can do is clear up this mess and hope they find the real killer," Morag told them, "I take it that you two don't have a secure alibi for the other night." Charlie frowned, "Apparently telling them we were asleep in bed together isn't secure enough." "We'll see about that," Morag replied confidently, "Now why don't the pair of you go through with me the events over the past four or five weeks since I've been back in the City and Grant re-appeared in your life? And ah...Joey I think you need to tell me how you got that bruise on your head?"
Joey averted Morag's gaze, "Tripped and fell down the stairs at Aden's." "Jo," Charlie warned in a low whisper. "What? That's what happened. I'm a klutz and fell down the stairs, spent two days in hospital. After I got out, Charlie insisted I move back in with her and Leah so she could take care of me. That's all there is to it. It had nothing to do with Grant," Joey stated firmly. Morag stared at Charlie trying to decipher Charlie's reaction to Joey's story.
Before Morag could make her own judgment on the girls, they were interrupted by Detective Robert Robertson who stepped into the room unannounced, "So are we ready to get started ladies?" Morag glared at him, "I've had all of two minutes with my clients. What do you think?" Detective Robert Robertson smirked, "Well if your clients are innocent like they say that shouldn't matter. So let's get on with this. Apologies from Constable Watson but she decided not to join us here today. I assume your clients will be willing to answer all my questions this time...no excuses." Morag nodded as Detective Robert Robertson sat down next to her, and once again set up and recorded his message to commence the interview.
"Senior Constable Charlie Buckton and Ms. Josephine Collins are being re-interviewed in relation to the murder of Grant Bledcoe. Detective Robert Robertson and their lawyer Morag Bellingham are also present for the interview. Interview began at 9:30 am on Friday October 16th 2009."
"Well now ladies can you please explain to me again where you were Wednesday night?" Detective Robert Robertson questioned. Joey looked up at Charlie, feeling Charlie squeezing her knee, and she placed her hand on top of Charlie's gripping it softly, "Charlie came home from work, we made dinner, watched some TV, then went to bed...and we..." "It's okay Jo...I told him," Charlie whispered. "Right..." Joey blushed, "Well um...we slept together then fell asleep. Nothing out of the ordinary 'til the next morning when Charlie got called in to work early down to the beach where Grant's body was found."
"Going back further over the last few weeks, can you both tell me about your interactions with Grant Bledcoe?" Detective Robert Robertson questioned. "My ah...daughter Ruby tracked him down just over a month ago," Charlie began, "She'd been finding out details about him behind our backs until she went to go see him. She visited him and his family in the city posing as a babysitter but when she confronted him she accused him of his crimes. When Joey and I realized where she was we went after her, and bought her back home...we didn't know that he'd followed us back."
"Then over the next few weeks," Joey continued, "He continued to harass us. Grant came to town and stuck around after his wife kicked him out over the allegations Ruby made. He claimed that he wanted to get to know Ruby." "And what were your reactions to this?" Detective Robert Robertson asked intrigued. "I wanted him to stay the hell away from Ruby because I didn't want him doing the same thing to her that he did to me," Charlie admitted. Joey stared at Charlie, "I didn't want him hurting either of them."
Detective Robert Robertson sat back in his seat with his arms crossed, "I have witnesses from the Diner saying that three weeks ago you got into an altercation with Mr. Bledcoe and threatened to kill him Charlie, and that you Joey were there too. Can you tell me what led to that and what I'm supposed to think after you threatened to kill him and now three weeks later he'd dead?" "Just because I said that I wanted to kill him...doesn't mean that I actually meant it or that I'm capable of that," Charlie insisted. Joey squeezed her hand, "Yes I was there and I had to...pull Charlie out of the Diner to stop making a scene before he...started in on Charlie. She was just...we were both angry with him. Grant had been in town for a week or so...and he'd been spending time with Ruby."
"And what was he doing with Ruby?" Detective Robert Robertson demanded. Charlie shook her head, "Turning Ruby against me." Joey sighed, "Grant managed to talk to Ruby alone and insisted on telling his 'side' to the story." "Which was?" Detective Robert Robertson pushed. Charlie looked down at the floor, "That when he...that it wasn't rape when we...he basically told her I was just...a slut afraid of telling my father what I'd done...and Ruby believed him." "She didn't believe him...Charlz," Joey tried to comfort her, "She was just...confused. Grant was charming and more than anything...she didn't want to believe that's the way she was... You know Ruby trusts you...she just wanted to believe her father was a good guy. She didn't want to believe what he was capable of."
"So did you make good on your threat to kill Grant for ruining your relationship with you daughter?" Detective Robert Robertson accused. Morag looked over at the Detective, "My client has already stated that she didn't murder Mr. Bledcoe. Asking the question again won't result in a different answer." Detective Robert Robertson smirked, "Very well...what about you Ms. Collins? You know before I brought Morag in to see you this morning I was...watching the video from the camera in the cell...you ah...normally wake up that way?"
Joey squinted her eyes shut for a moment, trying to forget the images creeping into her mind like that, "It was nothing. It was...just a nightmare. I haven't had any nightmares for months." "Then why did Charlie tell me yesterday that this was a...common occurrence for you recently and one of the reasons she refused to leave you alone last night?" Detective Robert Robertson pointed out. Charlie gritted her teeth, "Sorry." Joey nodded and entangled her fingers with Charlie's showing her forgiveness, "Fine so I've been having nightmares the last few weeks. So what?"
Detective Robert Robertson leaned forwards, "So what's the reason for the nightmares and how'd you get your injuries? What are you trying to hide from me?" "I'm not trying to hide anything," Joey scowled, "I fell down some stairs a few weeks ago, knocked myself unconscious and got some bruises for my troubles. That's all." "Right...and though I don't claim to be the best lip reader in the world...I'm fairly certain you screamed out...what was it again? Oh yeah...'Don't kill me'...got an explanation for that one?" Detective Robert Robertson asked proudly.
Joey looked up at Charlie scared, "I...I don't know. I don't know why I said that. I don't know what my nightmares are about or why I'm having them. I can't answer that." "Ms. Bellingham," Detective Robert Robertson looked over at her, "Do you want to remind your client that lying in a police investigation is not simply frowned upon but will get her in a whole lot more trouble than she's already in?" Morag smiled at Joey supportively, "Joey just tell the Detective the truth." "I am telling the truth," Joey persisted, "I don't have any reasons to lie."
"Jo...please," Charlie begged, "Stop doing this." "I'm not doing anything Charlie. They're just nightmares, they don't mean a thing," Joey shrugged, "They don't mean anything to this investigation." Charlie squeezed her hand, "Joey stop protecting me...these nightmares do mean something and it's my fault you've been having them...it was my fault that you...got hurt." "Do you have any idea what they're talking about?" Detective Robert Robertson looked over at Morag. "Girls," Morag warned, "Whatever's going on...you're only making it worse for yourselves by lying about it. Joey I think you need to tell us how you really got hurt." Joey lifted up her free hand, scratching the wound above her eye, then looking away from Charlie, "Fine okay...I didn't fall down the stairs. I...Grant did this to me."
"What? Why didn't you report him?" Morag asked shocked. The girls looked at each other quietly. "That's a mighty damn good question Ms. Collins. If Grant is the one who hurt you like this, why are you still lying and claiming that you fell down some stairs?" Detective Robert Robertson asked rapidly. Charlie shook her head lightly, "'Cause she's protecting me." "Charlie don't!" Joey yelled. "I'm not letting you lie for me," Charlie told her, then turning to Morag and the Detective, "Three weeks ago Grant kidnapped and attacked Joey." "Again I'll ask Battleship's question: Why didn't you report him for this?" Detective Robert Robertson repeated.
Charlie looked away from the pair, glancing briefly at her girlfriend, "You can't protect me from what I did. We didn't report Grant for what he did...because he kidnapped Joey and beat her up...after I kidnapped him and forced him to confess to raping me."