Chapter Fifty Two
April 2009
Summer Bay, Australia
Charlie made her way to the back of the station and towards the cells. Holding onto the bars that were keeping a still sedated Joey in place, she gazed at her, wondering what on earth she must have been through all these years. Dismissing the posted guard, Charlie let herself into the cell. She crouched in front of the sleeping woman and gently stroked her hair.
"I'm so sorry for letting you down," she whispered. "I should have known that something was wrong. Looking back, there were so many clues. But I swear to you... I swear I'm going to set you free. I'm going to figure this case out and I'm going to save you. I'm never going to let you down again."
She closed her eyes, willing herself not to cry.
"I love you," she whispered.
Undetected, Angelo watched Charlie and Joey unhappily. He swallowed, feeling sick with guilt and regret. Moving away from the cells, he headed out of the station in a bid to clear his head. Resting against the outer wall of the police station, he thought about Joey and the afternoon they had spent together. She'd been so accepting of her fate and he'd felt such compassion for her. But it was even stronger now. She'd fallen apart and was an absolute mess. He knew exactly what the right thing to do was but he didn't know if he was strong enough.
Joey's eyes fluttered open in a wave of sleepy confusion. She was surprised but happy to find herself gazing into Charlie's beautiful blue eyes. Smiling, she reached out to stroke her hair.
"What are you doing here?" she wondered.
Charlie hesitated. Memories suddenly came flooding back. She jerked away from Charlie and sat up.
"Joey, it's okay," Charlie said gently, moving to sit beside her.
"No, it's not," Joey said. "Why was I asleep? Why am I in a cell? I haven't done anything wrong! Charlie..."
The Senior Constable reached out and tenderly held her hand.
"Joey, please listen to me," she said.
The younger woman obeyed, trying to regulate her breathing.
"I know you haven't done anything wrong," Charlie said, grateful that she was finally being given the chance to speak. "You're not in any kind of trouble."
"Then why can't I go home?" Joey wondered.
The tone of her voice broke Charlie's heart.
"The thing is, we think Hugo did something bad to you," Charlie told her. "We think that when you were fifteen, he abducted you. And you've been living with him against your will. Is that true?"
Joey refused to answer.
"You can tell us," Charlie continued in a soothing tone. "He's in custody and he can't hurt you anymore."
"What about the others?" Joey asked. "They can hurt me."
"Which others?"
Joey fell silent again.
"We can't protect you unless you work with us," Charlie said. "If you give us names, we can go out and get these people right now."
"I don't have all their names," Joey said sadly. "Just some."
"That's a start."
Joey hesitated. She gazed fearfully at Charlie, wanting to believe her but feeling deathly afraid. Charlie squeezed her hand gently.
"Please, trust me," she encouraged. "I swear to do whatever it takes to protect you."
"I don't see how you can," Joey said. "It's too late."
"It's not too late, Kat... Joey. Sorry."
Joey licked her lips, feeling uncertain. She'd held onto the horrible truth for so long she hardly knew how to start talking about it.
"Was it Hugo that abducted you?"
Joey tried to nod but remained still. She couldn't move. She couldn't reveal anything. It was too hard.
"Please?" Charlie begged. "We need your help."
"I can't do this," Joey said. "Please just let us both go home."
"I can't," Charlie said. "Not only do I have an ethical obligation to investigate the charges but... I love you."
"You don't even know me!" Joey exclaimed.
"Yes, I do," Charlie said.
"I've lied to you for our entire friendship, Charlie," Joey said. "You didn't even know my real name until tonight."
"That doesn't mean anything," Charlie insisted.
"It does," Joey said. "You can't love me because you don't know me. I'm just a liar. I lied about my name, where I'm from, my birthday, my history, my sexuality, the school I went to..."
"I don't care," Charlie interrupted. "I can learn all of those things. I want to learn them. But it's not like you lied because you wanted to. It was because you had to, wasn't it?"
Joey nodded uncertainly.
"Well then," Charlie replied.
"It doesn't change the facts," Joey stated.
"I might not know your name or your birthday or whatever, but I know you. I know that you get excited over the sweetest and silliest things. I know you love boats and sailing. I know you're hooked on Sex and the City. I know you're kind and funny and beautiful. I know that you'd do anything you could to help someone, even a stranger. I know your heart. I do. And I love you for it."
Joey stared at her. She so desperately wanted to believe her words but she was too scared.
"I love you," Charlie repeated. "I love you and I want to help you. Please let me help you."
"What do you want?"
"I want to know what happened to you nine years ago."
"I can't."
"Then give me some names. Give me anything I can work with. Please?"
Joey chewed her lip until it bled.
"Charlie?" said a male voice.
They both turned to see Angelo hovering outside the cell.
"Angelo, I'm busy," Charlie said impatiently.
"It's important," Angelo replied. "I need to speak to you urgently."
Charlie turned back to Joey. She stroked her face and promised to be back soon, begging to wait and stay calm. Then she led Angelo through to her office.
Next time... Will Angelo tell the truth...?
