Sorry I didn't post the chapter yesterday, I couldn't sign into my account to do it.
"I'm fine Rachel," Charlie says, trying unsuccessfully to hide her wince when Rachel touches the back of her head.
"This bump suggests otherwise."
"That's because you just bloody prodded it."
"Charlie, you were unconscious for at least ten minutes and I need to be sure, now follow the light."
Sighing, Charlie watches as Rachel moves the light back and forth in front of her eyes. "I thought you said the scans came back clean."
"There's no fracture, but I still want to check you over again."
After finishing her examination, Rachel steps back. "You're one lucky lady Charlie, aside from a bump to the head and mild smoke inhalation, you're fine, not even a concussion."
"I told you."
"Charlie, your head could be about to explode and you'd say you were fine, so forgive me for not taking your word." She turns to look at the other patient in the room. "You're fine too, I take it?"
"Fit as a fiddle," Aden says between coughs.
"Bloody cops, too stupid to know when they're sick or injured."
"Try living with one," Martha murmurs. "Cries like a baby over a paper cut but anything else gets shrugged off."
"It's probably a waste of time, but try to keep them in their respective beds until I get back," Rachel tells Martha.
Joey jumps out of the taxi and pauses outside the hospital doors. She holds her hand up. It was still shaking slightly. She and Angelo had only just sat down to have tea when the call had come in about the fire and Aden and Charlie being taken to hospital and it had taken all her strength not to run out of the house before Angelo had even finished talking, but the moment he had left to go to the scene of the fire, she was on the phone getting a taxi.
Charlie nearly jumps off the bed when Joey rushes into the room. "I heard there was a fire and you were hurt and," Joey stops. Seeing for herself that Charlie and Aden were fine, she breathes a massive sigh of relief and wraps Aden up in a big hug. "I know you wanted to be a fireman growing up, but please don't scare me like that again."
Detecting the hint of fear in her voice, he hugs her back, assuring her he was fine, though he suspected a lot of her fear had something to do with Charlie, the only person she'd had eyes for when she first walked in.
"So what happened?" Joey asks, taking a step back.
"I saw the warehouse on fire, so I called it in, then I realised that there might be someone inside, so I went to check," Charlie says as if what she did was just an everyday thing.
"You ran into a burning building?"
From behind Joey's back, Aden smirks at the censure in her voice. She was definitely angry and fearful at what could have happened, yet it was all aimed at the woman in her sights and not her marvellous and loving best friend.
"I didn't have a choice Joey, not if there was a chance someone was in there."
"Was there?"
"Yes, but he was already dead." Charlie frowns, her face suddenly a picture of worry. "Aden, are you sure he was dead when you found us?"
"I checked Charlie, he was dead."
"How did you end up there?" Joey turns her attention to her friend.
"I left the station a few minutes after Charlie and saw the fire, then I saw Charlie's empty car and."
"And you followed her into a burning building," Joey finishes for him. "Do neither of you understand the concept of danger?"
"Joey, they're cops, so it's a waste of time explaining to them about danger," Martha says. "I think they knock commonsense out of them at the academy."
"I think you might be right. So you're both ok, I take it?"
"We're fine Joey, though Charlie's going to have a hell of a headache after being clobbered."
"What!"
"Thanks a lot Aden," Charlie mutters under Joey's intense gaze. "I got hit on the head, but it's just a slight bump."
"Who hit you?" Aden covers his mouth at Joey's protective stance and feared for the man should Joey ever catch up to him. "Is it this arsonist guy?"
"It's too early to tell but he does seem the most likely suspect to have started the fire," answers Aden. "And most likely the one who hit Charlie and whoever the victim was." Neither he nor Charlie had gotten a good look at the victim with him face down on the floor amid all the smoke, but Aden had seen the blood and what looked like a head wound on the victim, so knew he had been attacked.
"So did the suspect backtrack and attack me or does he have a partner?" Charlie ponders aloud.
"I've been wrong before with my profile, but fire is usually something that is personal and with the planning and way the fires were set, even with the different MO's, I'm still confident in saying this guy sets the fires alone."
"Then he came back to kill me."
"This is the first time he's killed someone, so he could have panicked, left something behind or he thought you could identify him. Do you remember anything about the figure you saw running away?"
"I never got a good look and with the hoodie on, all I could tell was that it was a man of average height and build."
"Nice to see you two are doing better," Angelo says to the two officers, while sparing a glance at his wife. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised she'd be here with Aden.
"Won't even need a day off," Aden replies brightly. "Is the fire under control?"
"Yes, though the building was completely gutted, so any evidence has likely been destroyed and there wasn't much left of the body, which means it's going to take some time to identify him," Angelo says, giving Aden a look that said it was somehow his fault he left the body inside to be burnt.
"Hey, the fire was right on top of us, it was either save the dead body or the still breathing woman, I chose the breathing woman."
"And just as well, or I'd have been after you," Georgie says.
"Constable, why aren't you still at the scene?" demands Angelo.
"Why aren't you?" she wanted to answer back, instead, she ignored him and gave her cousin a hug. "Good thing you have the hard Buckton head."
"Right now, I wish I had a different head on my shoulders. I need to get out of here and back to Ruby."
"Irene's taking care of her."
"Constable," Angelo's interrupts them. "Is there a reason why you are here?"
"You mean aside from making sure my cousin was ok?"
"Georgie," Charlie says in a soft voice. "My head is kind of sore and I don't need the two of you making it worse."
"Sorry. I wanted to check in on Charlie, but also follow up on a lead."
"In the hospital?" Angelo asks sceptically.
"It's where the body was brought."
"What was the lead Georgie?" Aden asks before it descended any further.
"We've got a possible id on the victim."
"How certain are you?" asks Charlie, dreading it was going to be someone she knew.
"Kerry Hargrove arrived at the scene as soon as she'd heard there was a fire. Her husband had left his mobile at work and he was expecting an important call, so he went back to get it and she hasn't been able to contact him since he left the house."
"Oh god, it was Kim," Martha murmurs, her heart going out to his wife; she didn't know either of them all that well, but from her own experiences, she knew what Kerry was no doubt going through with her loss. She leans against her girlfriend when Georgie puts her arm around her.
"We found what was left of a car around the side of the building and the model matches Kim's car," Georgie continues. "I've called Kim's dentist and asked him to bring his dental records to the hospital. I'm meeting with him and the ME shortly and we should know if it's Kim within the next few hours."
"Well done Constable," Angelo says grudgingly. "I'll be heading to the station, let me know as soon you know."
"Will do."
Angelo takes Joey's arm, leading her to the corner of the room. "You should have said you wanted to come to the hospital Joey, I would have dropped you off on the way to the scene," he says, even though it was the last thing he would have wanted to do.
"You needed to be at the scene and it was easy enough to get a taxi."
"Well, the least I can do is drop you off at home on the way back to the station."
"I'd like to stay a little longer. I'm sure Martha wouldn't mind giving me a lift home."
Still jealous at the way she had come running to check on Aden, Angelo keeps a hold of his tongue, not wanting to make a scene with this crowd around them. "I don't know when I'll be home, but I'll try not to wake you." Kissing her goodbye, he reluctantly leaves her behind.
"Ok Georgie, what is it?"
Georgie raises her brow at her cousin. "What is what?"
"There's something you held back."
"I didn't want to say anything, because it's just a hunch."
"Go on Georgie, your instincts are usually good," Charlie encourages her.
"It's the way the owner reacted when he arrived at the scene. The fire didn't seem to come as a surprise to him and when he learned that someone had been killed, he was shocked, but there was something else about his reaction," she pauses. "It was like he was feeling guilty."
"He may just feel responsible because he owned the building."
"I thought of that, but from the moment he arrived, I just kept getting this feeling from him that he knew more than he was letting on. It was like the vibe we got off Harvey that he wasn't telling us something."
"I'll talk to him," Aden says, before coughing some more.
"Not tonight you won't," Rachel tells him, returning to the room. "You and Charlie both need to rest."
Aden is about to protest until Rachel gives him a look. "Fine, I'll rest. Georgie, I want you to check this guy's financials and anything else you can on him so we have something to go on when we speak to him."
"I won't be able to do anything about his financials at this time of night, but I'll get onto it first thing in the morning."
Aden nods. "So doctor, when can we get out of here?"
"I want to keep an eye on you both for the next couple of hours, then I'll think of letting you go home, provided you behave yourselves and rest."
"Scouts honour."
"It always makes me nervous when people say that," Rachel mutters as she leaves the room. "Hello Belle," she greets her on her way past.
"Rachel."
"Isn't it past your bedtime?" Georgie teases her sister.
"I'm a professional and like you, I work whatever hours are needed." She holds a little recorder in front of Aden. "Any comment?"
"You look lovely tonight," Aden says with a cheeky grin.
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
Shaking her head in annoyance at him, Belle opens, then closes her mouth when she catches her sister's glare. "I'm just doing my job Georgie."
"Do it in the morning, along with all the other journos when the police will make an official statement."
"And here I thought having family in uniform would be an advantage."
"We have rules Belle and contrary to popular belief, I tend to stick to them, so no favouritism or exclusives."
"It was worth a try."
"I think we should leave our two fearless friends to their rest," Martha suggests. "Joey, do you want a lift home?"
Joey had wanted to speak to Charlie, but she needed to do it alone, so she nodded to Martha. She gives Aden a brief hug and warns him to behave himself, before taking a chance and hugging Charlie as well. "Don't ever scare me like that," she whispers so softly Charlie thought she'd misheard her. Joey steps back, waiting for Martha to say goodbye to Georgie.
"I probably won't be home tonight, so give Jay a kiss for me in the morning."
"I will and try to take a break sometime during the night."
Georgie nods. "Why don't you take the brat with you?" she says with a nod at her sister.
"Older sisters are such a drag," Belle says, following after Martha and Joey.
"I'd best go and wait for the dentist and ME. I'll let you know as soon as I know something."
"Thanks Georgie."
Trying to ignore the smirk Aden was giving her, Charlie rolls onto her side with her back to him.
Aden chuckles. If he'd had any doubts as to Joey's feelings for Charlie before tonight, he didn't anymore. He just hoped that Joey finally accepted that she did have feelings.
Joey had spent the night assessing her reactions and feelings. The brief moment when her heart had almost stopped at how close she'd come to losing Charlie forever had been as painful as losing her mother and once she realised that, she no longer needed to think about her choice anymore, that brief moment had made everything clear. She loved Angelo, but he never set her heart racing like Charlie did, he never had her dreaming of him and whether things worked out with Charlie or not, she knew she could no longer stay with her husband. Honouring her vows and the promise to her father was important, but she also knew if she stayed with Angelo, she'd eventually break her vows and she'd much rather walk away from them than break them. She didn't want to hurt Angelo, but she wasn't being fair to him with this marriage and right from the beginning he knew her leaving was a possibility, though he would have expected it to be after her father died. She sighs. She'd been fooling herself with this whole marriage, that it could ever work and she could be happy; she wasn't happy, she never really had been. Now, in the bright morning sunshine, she was walking up the path to Charlie's house, her heart racing at the possibilities that lay ahead.
Taking a deep breath, she knocks on the door and is shocked when she finds herself face-to-face with a woman in Charlie's shirt and with only a few buttons done up, it was clear that was all she was wearing.
"Is Charlie here?" Joey asks, pleased her voice didn't break.
"She's in the shower. You're welcome to join me for a coffee if you want to wait."
Despite her heart wanting her to run the other way, Joey steps into the house.
"I'm Shandi by the way," the blonde woman says with a warm smile.
Joey's heart drops at her name. It had come up during conversation with Georgie and Martha. She was John Palmer's daughter, Georgie's nemesis in school and worst of all, Charlie's ex, the one she only broke up with because Charlie had come back to the Bay to care for Ruby. And then Joey remembered, she had seen this woman at the hospital last night, had even returned the woman's smile. She must have been on her way to Charlie's room she thought sadly.
"You know what, on second thought, I'll just catch up with Charlie later," Joey lies, before rushing from the house with a broken heart and blaming herself for having pushed Charlie away yet again and into the arms of another woman.
Next chapter: The arson investigation takes another twist and has Charlie lost her chance with Joey? Will Joey choose to stay with her husband after all?