Chapter Fifty Three
April 2009
Summer Bay, Australia
"What's this about?" Charlie asked, sitting down at her desk.
Her father had vacated and Angelo was perched awkwardly in a chair. His heart was beating too fast and he felt sick. Charlie looked impatient. She didn't have time for whatever stupid problem Angelo might be having.
"I know what's going on," he said.
"What do you mean?"
"Hugo abducted Joey."
"Well, I've figured out that much," Charlie snapped.
"No, I mean I know he did. He abducted her outside her house in January 2000. He's been holding her prisoner all these years. They hung around Australia for a bit and then moved to Indonesia. He's been sexually abusing her for years, although she doesn't see it that way. She was raped by someone else a few years back and Hugo protected her. And he 'hires her out' when necessary. When they arrived here, they convinced a dirty cop to tag her. He's working with Tim down at the old development site and another colleague of theirs, Derrick Quaid. There's also a woman called Suzy but I don't know her surname."
All his words came out in a rush and he hardly had any breath left in his body. Charlie just stared at him.
"How... how do you even know all of this?" she asked, dreading the answer.
"Because I'm the dirty cop," Angelo confessed.
Joey tearfully paced her cell. She called out to the officer posted to guard her, wanting to know where Charlie was and when she'd be coming back.
"She's talking to another officer right now," he told her. "But she'll be back soon."
He tried to smile encouragingly but Joey was not comforted.
"I need to go home," Joey begged. "Please?"
"I can't do anything without Senior Constable Buckton's permission. I'm sorry."
Joey cried harder as she sank on to the bench.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Charlie demanded in disbelief and anger.
"I didn't mean for it to happen," Angelo said. "Hugo and Tim... they forced me. I had no choice."
"What did they do, put a gun to your head?"
Angelo shook his head, tears spilling from his eyes.
"I killed Jack," he confessed quietly.
Charlie felt sick. Angelo kept his head bowed and tried to regulate his breathing.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"You're sorry?" Charlie screeched. "You murder our friend and then lie about it. You help Hugo trap Joey in this hell she's living in. And you're sorry? Are you fucking kidding me?"
She stood up furiously and headed towards the door, yelling for Watson to come into the office.
"Charlie?" Angelo asked. "What are you doing?"
"Watson, you sling this bastard into a cell right now," Charlie instructed. "And you keep him as far away from Joey as possible."
"Um..." Watson faltered.
"Just do it," Charlie said.
Watson gestured for Angelo to follow. Apologising to Charlie again, he stood and obeyed. Remaining at her desk, Charlie wept. A few moments later, Ross appeared. He put a gentle hand on his daughter's shoulder and asked what was wrong.
"Angelo killed Jack," Charlie said. "He killed him and he's been lying about it ever since. Hugo knew and he used him to help trap Joey even further. It was Angelo who stole the tag and put it on her. And goodness knows what else he's done."
Ross hugged her, crouching down so they were more at eye level.
"Charlie, I know this is hard," he said gently. "But you have to pull yourself together now. You have to wipe your eyes, take a deep breath and plough on. You have to find out everything Angelo knows and then you have to confront Hugo with it. And Joey is on the verge of freaking out again. You have to account for that, okay? You can't spend every second with her, keeping her calm. You have to find another way."
"How?"
"Use your resources."
Charlie looked confused.
"You've got a trained psychologist and medical Doctor hanging around in reception willing to do anything she can to help," Ross said. "Use her. Get Joey checked over physically and mentally. Get her out of that cell and somewhere more comfortable, even if it has to be the hospital. At least there she'll be taken care of properly until you've got more of a handle on things."
Charlie nodded. Following her father's instructions she wiped her eyes and regulated her breathing. Standing up, she hugged her Dad and thanked him, ready to tackle everything head on. Ross hung back, watching and feeling proud. Charlie charged out of the reception area and called all of her officers together again, also bringing Rachel into the fold.
"Okay, I need two people to go and bring Tim Coleman in," she said.
"Tim?" Watson asked. "From the development site?"
"The one and only," Charlie sighed. "I need someone else to track down a man called Derrick Quaid. I know nothing about him other than he's involved and I hope he's in the area. Also, someone needs to trawl through Hugo's history and find any kind of connection to a woman called Suzy. I don't have a surname and again, I know nothing about her but there has to be something tangible we can find."
Four officers nodded and headed off to follow their instructions. Charlie turned to Rachel.
"Can you assess Joey, please?" she asked. "Physically and mentally, as far as she'll allow."
Rachel agreed and asked if she was looking for anything in particular.
"Well, she already has the obvious injury to her face, the one you treated before," Charlie said.
Rachel nodded unhappily. She didn't quite know what was going on but she could kick herself for not bringing it to anyone's attention that the girl had had no medical records to speak of.
"Check for other injuries and possible sexual assault," Charlie said, feeling sick at the mere words.
Rachel swallowed and was escorted round to the cells by an officer.
"I want Hugo kept under close guard," Charlie said. "Anything he says, however insignificant it might sound, needs to be reported to me and written down. Watson, I need you to sit in on an interview with Angelo with me."
"What's he done?" Watson asked worriedly. "I don't understand."
Charlie sighed heavily and instructed them that they were not to discuss anything she was about to say until she told them they could – not even with each other.
"He just confessed to being involved in this," she explained. "He was being blackmailed because Hugo and Tim figured out that... that... that, um..."
She could hardly say the words.
"It looks like Angelo did shoot Jack after all."
Next time... Charlie and Watson interview Angelo and Joey opens up to Rachel...
