Chapter Fifty One
April 2009
Summer Bay, Australia
"How did you meet Joanne Collins?" Charlie asked, getting right to the point.
Leaning back confidently in his chair, Hugo stated that he didn't know who or what Charlie was talking about. She thrust the picture of fifteen year old Joey in front of him.
"That's your 'girlfriend', isn't it?" Charlie asked, glaring at him.
Hugo took a look but remained cool, calm and collected.
"Looks like her."
Charlie nodded and informed him that the girl in the photograph was abducted when she was fifteen years old.
"And I've had my officers on the case and there is no such person as Katherine Doyle."
"Well, who have I been dating for the past nine years?" Hugo asked.
"You tell me," Charlie replied.
"If Katherine's lied about who she is then it's nothing to do with me," Hugo insisted. "I'm as shocked as everybody else."
Charlie was disgusted.
"You abducted her in January 2000," she stated.
"You have no proof of that," the lawyer reminded her.
"Okay," Charlie said, changing her tack. "Where were you in January 2000, Hugo?"
He laughed.
"As if I could tell you that!"
"Try."
"Where were you in January 2000, Charlie?"
"I was coming home every night to see the stress on my Dad's face while he tried to find a missing teenager," Charlie snapped. "And now we've found her."
"Good for you."
"How did you meet Joanne or Katherine or whatever the hell you want to call her?"
"She was working as a waitress," Hugo said. "We met, we chatted, we got along, we got together."
"Sure," Charlie said, not believing him for a second.
She turned over a page of the file.
"What can you tell me about Robert Cruze?" she asked.
"Who?" Hugo asked without looking shocked.
"Robert Cruze. He was the son of a known associate of the Collins family."
"So?"
"So, you were a known associate of his," Charlie pointed out.
"It doesn't mean I knew the Collins family," Hugo said. "I know you but I'm sure you know tonnes of people that I've never met."
"Robert Cruze disappeared shortly after Joey Collins did," Charlie said.
"Did he really?"
"Do you know where he went?"
Hugo merely shrugged. He kept his hands off the table so as not to reveal that he was sweating.
"We've been trying to trace him," Charlie said. "But it looks like he disappeared off the face of the planet, the same as Joey did."
"Maybe they ran off together," Hugo suggested.
"It could have been a theory if she hadn't shown up here," Charlie said. "With you."
"Why aren't you listening to me?" Hugo finally snapped. "The woman I'm in love with is called Katherine. I have no clue who this Joey girl is. I mean, what kind of a name is Joey anyway? I don't know who she is and I don't know why you charged into my house and dragged me all the way down here!"
Angrily, he slammed his fists on the table. Charlie remained unmoved although Henry jumped. Hugo's lawyer told his client to be quiet.
"I just don't know how many times I can say the same damn thing!" Hugo said, frustrated and starting to lose his cool.
"Do you really think this is a case of believing you about a name?" Charlie asked. "A simple DNA test will prove who she is."
"And how are you going to get that?" Hugo retorted. "Because you can't steal DNA from someone without their consent unless they're a suspect. And I'm assuming that your precious Kat or whatever you're calling her, isn't going to fit into that category."
"You let me deal with that," Charlie told him. "We'll get our proof about her identity. And we'll also find proof that it was you and maybe this Cruze guy who took her from her parents. And then you'll go to jail."
Hugo laughed and shook his head, determined not to let Charlie get under his skin. He needed to get a message to his colleagues but he hadn't been alone with his lawyer yet and he was certain that Angelo was avoiding him. He just hoped the corrupt police officer was smart enough to warn the others about what was going on. Somehow though, he doubted it.
"It's a nice plan but I don't see how it's going to work," Hugo said reasonably. "I haven't done anything wrong. And Katherine isn't going to do anything but back up my story."
Charlie clasped her hands together and leant forward.
"I can assure you that she'll be telling me everything I want to hear by the end of the night," she said.
Hugo smirked at her.
"Really?" he said. "Is that screaming your name in passion?"
Charlie coloured. Henry looked at the floor. The lawyer remained quiet but was already formulating a plan to help his client back out of all potential charges. Hugo sat back and laughed.
"What?" he said. "You think I didn't see you two yesterday? You think I don't realise what a happy coincidence all of this is? You want me out of the way, Charlie. I know it and you know it. None of this crap you're spouting is going to stick."
He leant closer.
"I am not going to let you try and punish me because you want to get into my girlfriend's pants," he said.
Disgusted and out of steam, Charlie stood up and left the room.
Next time... Joey struggles to open up to Charlie and Angelo comes to a decision...
