Paying for the coffee and cakes, Belle gathered the food and was just about to head back to Martha's room when she found herself face-to-face with Joey. "Hey Joey," she greeted her warmly.
"Any of that for Aden?" Joey knew her tone sounded harsher than she intended and that maybe with her sister's current situation she was being a little hard on Belle, but after spending time with Aden, she thought he deserved an answer or two.
"Ah, no," Belle stammered, taken aback by both Joey's tone and expression.
"You do know that Aden is still in the hospital, don't you?" Joey asked sarcastically.
"Of course I do."
"Then do I take your absence to mean you don't care about him?"
"I care," argued Belle. "It's just that with Martha's accident, I've been busy helping my sister and nephew, that's all."
"You say you care for Aden," Joey said in a tone heavy with scepticism. "Yet you can't even spare a minute to walk down the corridor to say hello to him."
"Look, I don't have to justify myself to you," snapped Belle, her shame at avoiding Aden feeding her anger. "It's none of your business."
"Aden is my best friend and that makes his state of mind my business, so if you're ending things or were just using him to get your story, then at least have the decency to say it to his face," Joey said, before she swivelled on her heels and stormed away.
"What was that about?"
"Shit!" Belle jumped, spilling coffee everywhere. "Don't sneak up on me like that, Georgie."
"What the hell is up with you?" Georgie asked. "Is what Joey said right?"
"About what?"
"About Aden. Were you just using him?"
"How the hell could you even think that?" Belle asked in outrage.
"Gee, let's see, you knock his advances back repeatedly, then give in, then when he's hurt, you have a go at him, then run off for your scoop before you ignore him completely."
"Shit," she muttered when she realised how it did look.
"Now the sister I know and love, would never use someone like that, so why are you avoiding him Belle?"
"I'm scared Georgie," she finally admitted. "He could have died because of his job and as soon as he's better, he'll be right back out there and I hate the thought of worrying about him all the time."
"You don't think Martha worries every time I put the uniform on and go to work?" Georgie stated in an understanding voice. "But she never asks me to quit because she knows being a cop is who I am and that I do everything in my power to get home safely to her and Jay and if you want a future with Aden, then you're going to have to find a way to deal with his job and the fear that goes with it."
"Maybe I don't want a future with him."
"Fine, then go into his room and tell him that," she told her sister. "But just stop using me as an excuse to avoid him. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for your support and I wouldn't be able to get through this without you, but Aden's a friend of mine and he deserves to know one way or the other." Georgie put her arm around her sister's shoulders. "I love you little sister and I want you to be happy, so if Aden is the one you want, then go to him and if he's not the one, then you still need to do the right thing and tell him that."
"Yeah, I know."
"And I'd do it soon, because Mama Bear Joey looked about ready to bite your head off."
"God I hate waiting," murmured Charlie. Robertson hadn't called with an update yet and so far, Avery and Stevenson had drawn a blank on garages and known backyard mechanics, but that didn't necessarily mean much. It was possible that the second car hadn't been taken in for repairs yet or the driver had ordered a replacement headlight online and was trying to make repairs on their own. If that was the case, it was unlikely they'd be able to hide the body damage or scratches to the paintwork like a professional could, but either way, she was still hoping that when they found the car, it would still show some evidence of damage, which would then make it a lot easier to place the car at the scene.
Charlie glanced at the report which had been faxed through by the Accident Investigation Team. She'd already read it twice and it pretty much confirmed Robertson's own theory at what had happened. The second car had crossed over to Martha's side of the road, then sideswiped her when she tried to avoid it, which sent her car out of control and over the embankment. Most of the damage to Martha's car had been caused by the roll down the embankment and hitting the tree. The report also concluded that the tyre marks further down the road were indeed from the same car that caused the accident and with the way the car had been swerving from side to side and ended up on the wrong side of the road, the lead investigator suggested that drugs or alcohol could be a contributing factor. If the driver had been drunk or high, then it could explain why they left the scene of the accident, Charlie thought. Bianca she knew, liked to drink and she suspected she was no stranger to drugs and Angelo, well, anything was possible with him. She'd stopped thinking of how a cop should have reacted to a situation like that and started to see him as just a man, a man who'd lost his wife, whose career was in danger of going down the toilet and after that scene in the diner, a man whose life was spiralling out of control and so she could see such a man turning to drink to drown out his sorrows and with his reputation to protect, running from the scene of an accident he'd caused.
And it was looking increasingly likely that Angelo was involved, Charlie told herself as she reread a particular section in the report. The A.I.T. had pulled out all the stops and had already analysed the paint found on Martha's car and along with the headlight casing and tyre treads found at the scene, they had been able to narrow it down to two makes of car, one of which was the model Angelo drove. She'd relayed the information to Robertson and was now sitting here, waiting to hear how he went with Angelo.
"God I hate waiting," Charlie murmured again.
"You don't want the wind to change or you'll be stuck with that serious face forever," Joey joked as she strode into Charlie's office and closed the door behind her.
"Joey!" Charlie jumped out of her chair in surprise.
"I know it's not long since we spoke on the phone, but I'm on my way back to the Club and I just needed to stop by to do this," Joey said, gathering Charlie in her arms and pressing her lips firmly to hers.
"You can stop by and do that anytime," Charlie murmured appreciatively when the kiss finally ended. She didn't care that they were in her office and anyone could walk in on them, she was loving the closeness right then and so kept her arms around Joey.
"I may take you up on that offer. While I'm here, there is something that I wanted to tell you in person and I couldn't wait any longer," Joey said. "Morag called earlier in the day and," she grinned. "It's official."
"What is?" Charlie asked in confusion at Joey's excitement.
"I'm now officially Joey Collins once more."
"That was quick," she said, now as excited as her girlfriend, especially as it meant she was moving further away from her marriage.
"Returning to my maiden name was only a formality really, so now all I have to do is change it with the banks, my licence and all that."
"Miss Joey Collins," Charlie said. "It really is a nice sounding name."
"Only because it says I'm single and available," Joey said cheekily.
"You are most definitely not single or available." Charlie backed her statement up with another kiss that left them both breathless.
"I think I should go before we make use of that desk of yours," teased Joey. "And don't forget, there's a demonstration on my easiness when you get home."
"You are going to get me into so much trouble," Charlie moaned with a flushed face.
Brushing her lips over Charlie's, Joey stepped away and moved toward the door. "But it's the kind of trouble you can't stay away from," she said with a low and husky voice before leaving an even more flushed face girlfriend in her wake.
Knowing she still had to tell Joey about Angelo's likely involvement with the accident sobered Charlie somewhat, but not enough to stop the images of Joey on her desk flashing through her mind.
Before heading up to Angelo's front door, Graves and Robertson stopped to examine his car, which was parked right out the front for all to see. The car matched the model they were looking for, it matched the colour, but walking around it, Robertson couldn't see a single sign of damage.