"Angelo was only faking that he was writing the ticket and he ended up letting Ruby off with just an unofficial warning," Joey told her girlfriend over the phone. "But it was obvious he wanted to scare Ruby into thinking she was going to lose her L's and it left her pretty shaken up afterward."

"Damn him," muttered Charlie. "I'll have a word to him."

"There's not much you can do Charlie," Joey said to her. "Technically, Ruby had crept over the limit, even if it was only by a fraction and she was already slowing down by the time we drove past them, but she was still over it."

"Fuck," she said. Joey was right and she probably couldn't even have a go at him for scaring Ruby, since it was a tactic a lot of them used for first time offenders, especially the young ones. Give them a scare to keep them honest in the future.

"It's all my fault really," Joey explained. "I should have been paying more attention to her speed."

"It's ok Joey, it is easy enough to go over, especially for a learner driver," she said. "It's all part of the learning curve."

"Just our luck though, that there was a speed camera in the area and that it was Angelo."

"As much as I don't like it, this little encounter will just mean Ruby will be more careful from now on." Charlie hoped her sister did learn from this and didn't become a lead foot like their cousin. In fairness to Georgie though, she was a very good driver, despite her proclivity for speed. "And her being more careful on the road is a good thing."

"I said something similar to her to try to calm her down."

"She'll bounce right back in typical Buckton style," Charlie confidently stated.

"Hope she's not the typical Buckton in failing her test when the time comes," quipped Joey and she heard her girlfriend groan over the phone.

"I'm going to kill Ruby for blabbing that to you," she muttered. She had reluctantly accepted that it was one thing she was never going to live down. Especially if her sister and girlfriend had any say in the matter.

"Anyway, I'm just glad Hogan was there, because I'd hate to think what Angelo may have said or done if he'd been alone," Joey said. "Poor Hogan actually looked embarrassed to be there, especially when he told me Ruby had only been a k over."

"Seriously, it was only 1 km?" Charlie said.

"In a 100 zone."

Charlie swore under her breath. "That should never have happened," she growled with renewed anger in her voice. "Officers have some discretion to give the driver leeway if it is only over by that much, so you probably shouldn't have been pulled over in the first place at that speed," she said. "I think we both know now that Angelo pulling you over had absolutely nothing to do with the speed limit. He recognised the car and saw his chance."

"Oh for sure," agreed Joey. "Just like he no doubt realises what a difficult position this puts you and us in," she said. "Given our personal connection, we can't exactly lodge a complaint since Angelo was only doing his job."

"I know an officer or two who would probably commend him for his dedication to the job," she murmured. "Damn it to hell though Joey, I know I can't really do anything but at the same time, I don't want to encourage him by doing nothing."

"I'm pretty sure reactions are what he's after," Joey said. "Anything to make others look like they're in the wrong or persecuting him, but we can't play his game Charlie."

"Yeah, I know, I've been telling Georgie the same thing, but that bastard makes it hard," she complained. Charlie sighed and rubbed her brow. "This promotion is really starting to feel like it came at the wrong time."

"That's because it did," Joey simply stated. "It should have come much earlier, say, before Angelo got the job."

Charlie smiled. "The silver lining in that cloud, was him getting the job brought you back into my life."

"The one thing Angelo has done right," joked Joey. "Look, I'd better let you get back to work."

"What about you?"

"I still have an hour or so to fill in before I have to get to the Club, so I'm at the Diner enjoying a coffee and cake with Shandi. We ran into each other and I thought it was a good chance to get some dirt on you from her."

"Sorry babe, you'll have no luck there, because there is none," Charlie cheerfully replied. She was glad that Joey and Shandi were getting on. It wasn't always the case when the current girlfriend met an ex, but it was a relief. Shandi wasn't just a good friend, she was also her cousin's sister, so any jealously from Joey might have made things awkward. "But I do hope that Shandi keeps you in line so you don't annoy Leah too much this time."

"Leah's not on today," Joey replied.

"A warning for next time then, that she might just get away with justifiable homicide if you sing that kissing song to her in public again."

Chuckling, Joey bid her goodbye.

Shaking her head in bemusement, Charlie set her phone down. It was amazing how simply talking to Joey could relax her, despite the circumstances behind the call in the first place.

"Joey, don't take this the wrong way, but your husband is a complete and utter insufferable prick," Shandi helpfully informed her the moment Joey hung up on Charlie.

"Soon-to-be-ex-husband," Joey reminded her. She had only spoken to Shandi a couple of times, but she was really starting to like her. And it was nice not to feel even a little bit jealous that she was Charlie's ex. That relationship was in the distant past and now Charlie was well and truly hers for the rest of their lives together. "But you are right, Angelo is a prick."

"I still can't believe he pulled Ruby over," she said. "That's hardly going to endear him to you or make you want to take him back if that's what he was after."

"Maybe he thought letting Ruby off with only a warning was his way to say, 'see, I am a good guy in letting her off'," replied Joey.

"What's his problem?"

"Where do we start?" Joey jokingly said. "In all seriousness though, I just have no idea who he is these days. He's certainly not the man I had thought he was when I married him."

"Well, at least you had the good sense to ditch him," she said. "And get yourself a very stunning replacement."

"You make is sound as if he was an object that I traded in for something better," Joey dryly said.

"I'd say Charlie qualifies as something better."

"Oh, I agree, she's a marked improvement on Angelo, but she's more than just a replacement."

Shandi held her hand up to forestall her. "If you're going to start getting all mushy about how wonderful Charlie is and how in love you are, I'm outta here," she said. "I'd rather not hear about gushy love stories unless it's about my own love life."

"How is your own love life going?"

"Non-existent."

"Are you looking?"

"Yes and no," she replied. "I'm not looking for a serious relationship at this time of my life, but I probably wouldn't pass up on a little casual one on one fun with the right lady." Shandi leant forward in keen interest. "Speaking of ladies, what can you tell me about that cute little blonde Detective that's in town right now?"

"Her name is Graves, she's very nice, a little shy, at least in private and very taken," replied Joey. "Even if she hasn't figured out that last point for herself just yet."

"Ah," Shandi murmured in disappointment. "Is it that redhead she was with the other night at the Club?"

"Yep."

"Damn, just my luck that two visiting lesbians to the Bay find each other instead of me."

"This is another meeting where I'm not going to like what you have tell me, isn't it?" Charlie said when Robertson and Graves seated themselves on the other side of her desk.

Robertson nodded. "I received a call first thing this morning from my commanding officer," he said. "He wants me to tie things up here and return to the city."

"End the investigation?" Charlie disappointedly said.

"Not in so many words," he said. "I'm homicide, not crash investigation and the only reason why I got the case, was because I was on the scene and so calling me back and passing the case onto crash investigation would be completely above board," he explained. "However, I pointed out that both myself and Graves possessed the most knowledge on the case and we should be allowed to carry on. I also argued with him that there was still much to do, told him what we believe happened, that there may indeed have been foul play with Miss Scott's disappearance and he responded by asking me for the evidence that proves it all."

"Damn," muttered Charlie.

"Unfortunately, he is well aware that there is a lack of physical evidence that proves Angelo was the driver, that there is no real proof that anything untoward has happened to Miss Scott and also that our experts have yet to turn up anything of note," he said. "As the case stands now, it wouldn't even justify charging Angelo, other than for what we've already charged him with. There is just no way it would stand up in court and there is now a belief held by some, that the situation is unlikely to change and so handing it over to crash investigation is a gesture only, because they believe nothing more will be found to further the case against Angelo and so it will just be filed away as unproven."

"Just once lately, it would be nice to get some good news on this case," muttered Charlie. "They just want to ignore that there has been a cover up, that witnesses have been paid off, just so they can tie it up as quickly as possible and sweep it under the carpet."

"So it seems," replied Robertson. "My boss isn't happy with the decision, so I can only assume this has come from higher up."

"Rosetta connections," Graves stated matter-of-factly.

"Which we won't mention again," Robertson said. "We know the most likely scenario, but it would be career suicide to make any such allegations outside of this room."

"So that's it then?" Charlie said. "It's all swept aside and Angelo just walks away free."

"No, because I'm not done here yet," Robertson said.

"You were ordered to tie things up."

"It was worded more as a recommendation than an order and there was no timeframe given as to when I had to return home."

Charlie's brow rose in surprise at that. "Deliberate?"

He inclined his head in a slight nod. "This was my boss' way of letting me know strings were being pulled and I was running out of time," he explained. "He's brought us a few days at most, then I expect to receive another call which will carry an order and a set date on when to hand the case over." He was also hoping that until there was an official order, no one would breathe a word to Angelo about the latest developments. He wanted to keep Angelo nervous and on his toes for as long as possible, in the hope he'd slip up.

"It doesn't give you much time to nail Angelo," Charlie muttered.

"We certainly haven't given up Charlie," Robertson said. "And just because some choose to believe that we won't find anything to incriminate him, that's not a belief Graves nor myself share."

"God I hope you do find something, because he's really making his presence felt and not in a good way." She went on to explain about the encounter with Ruby and Joey and also the restraining order Angelo had taken out against John Palmer.

While Charlie spoke, Graves let her mind drift back to earlier. There was still a small bump on her head where she'd hit the overhead shelf, but Shannon had definitely made her feel better. It hadn't mattered that they'd only had 15 minutes together, it had been hot and frantic and she was sure the whole caravan had been shaking to their lovemaking. Then, when she had been lying spent in Shannon's arms, for the first time in her life, she had seriously considered taking a sickie, but work had won out in the end. She planned to surprise Shannon with lunch though. She just couldn't stay away from her.

Joey laughed out loud at what John had just said. He had joined her and Shandi at an outside table and she was finding him to be quite the character. Behind that stern expression he wore on his face most of the time, laid a wicked sense of humour.

"Oh shit," Joey muttered, all humour suddenly draining from the table as a dark shadow descended over them.

"You're closer than fifty metres to me," Angelo's voice came from behind John.

"I suggest you read the fine print of the order," John said with a complete lack of concern and without even turning around to face him. "It says that while I'm not supposed to approach you, if at any time I'm already at a location before you arrive, then you're shit out of luck, because I don't have to leave."

Joey could tell Angelo wasn't happy with that. Obviously he'd expected a different reaction from John, than this calm, matter-of-fact response.

Angelo bent over, his hands resting on the edge of the table on John's right side. Joey couldn't hear what Angelo was saying to John, but by watching John, she knew it wasn't good. His whole expression was one of fearsome anger and he was twisting a napkin in his hand. Probably imagining it was Angelo's neck, she thought.

"I'll be seeing you later," Angelo said cheerfully as he walked back the way he had just come.

"Dad, what did he say?" asked Shandi.

"Doesn't matter," John replied in a strained voice. "Excuse me, but I need some fresh air."

"We're already outside," Shandi pointed out but her father was already gone. "What the hell was that all about?"

"I don't know," Joey said. "But it certainly seemed to shake your father up."

Charlie caught herself looking at the clock yet again. Angelo was still out on patrol with Hogan, so there was less tension around the Station for the time being and it was nearing Angelo's lunch break, which meant he only had a few hours of his shift to go after that. Only problem was, her cousin was due to start her shift soon and the tension was sure to skyrocket the moment she turned up. She could always assign Angelo to more patrol after lunch, but it didn't seem fair to subject Hogan to more of that, so she looked over the roster to see whom she could switch him with.

"This isn't what the job is supposed to be," she muttered as she mapped out assignments for the next few hours. Sure, she was meant to assign people to duties, but not for the reasons she was, ie. keeping Angelo away from here.

Joey looked at her watch. She still had a few minutes to fill in before she needed to head off to work and since Irene was picking up some dirty dishes from the tables next to her, she took the opportunity to speak to her.

"So Irene, how is your stray waif going?" Joey asked her.

"Eating me out of house and home," she complained, but Joey noted the affectionate tone of her voice. "I swear that boy is a bottomless pit."

"Yeah, I probably should have warned you about that."

"He's a good boy though."

Joey smiled at the way Irene was calling a grown man like Aden a boy and she bet her friend loved being babied in such a way.

"And he makes my Belle happy."

"She makes him happy too," Joey said. "But don't let that little rat take advantage of your good nature."

Irene snorted. "Please darl," she drawled. "Those girls of mine provided me with many moments in their teen years that have me well prepared for the likes of that blond charmer of yours."

"I can't wait for Aden to figure that out," Joey chuckled.

"Jesus," moaned Angelo in pleasure as he watched her move above him. She was a sight. Her body flushed with arousal as she rose and fell with a steady rhythm. She had promised to make up for her earlier hasty exit to him and she had. The extra spice he'd added into the mix by playing his blackmail card had certainly helped as well. Boy, had she been furious when he had shown her the video of them going for it and threatened to show it to her girlfriend. She even had the nerve to slap him in the face, which had led to a lot of shouting, pushing and shoving that had culminated in her riding him to glory twice already.

"Tell me what Graves has been saying and doing about me," he demanded as he squeezed her breasts in time to her movements, making her moan loudly. He was definitely enjoying his lunch break today and it made up for his earlier disappointment with that prick Palmer.

"They went to the city to check on things."

"I already knew that."

"I really don't know what you expect me to do," she complained. "She doesn't exactly talk much about her work."

"Then make her."

"How?" despite the distraction of maintaining this conversation, she could feel the familiar tingling between her legs once more.

"Pillow talk, I don't really care how you get it, just get her talk about the investigation."

"I'd rather not talk about you while I'm in bed with her."

"I need that information," he demanded. He was getting frustrated about the situation. Not even his parents were telling him anything. It was like they didn't trust him or something.

"I don't know why you do, since you haven't even been charged with anything yet."

"Because knowing what they have beforehand, will put me in a better position to protect myself if they go ahead and pin these false allegations on me."

"I just don't think she'll open up to me."

"Tell her you want to get serious with her," he said. "Profess your love for her for all I care, but get her talking."

Her phone started ringing. Without breaking stride, she smiled down at him and reached for her phone. "Yes?" She closed her eyes as Angelo squeezed her breasts even harder and moved his hips up beneath her. She struggled to keep her moaning down and her voice even.

"Intel is good," the voice said. "You'll be home with them soon."

"Thank god," she murmured.

"Provided you don't fuck this up."

"I love you too, honey," she cooed.

The voice chuckled. "You always were a tease."

She tossed her phone away and put her hands on Angelo's chest.

"Who was that?" he demanded to know.

"Graves," she lied.

"It's kind of a turn on to be inside you while you were talking to her."

"Very much a turn on," she said. "Now, make sure you get this on film, because I'm really going to fuck your brains out before you have to leave me." It was always so much hotter near the end of a job and she rode him with renewed vigour.

When she came, her body gripped him almost painfully and he gasped. He'd never experienced anything like it. It felt like he was caught in a vice and the moment she released him, he climaxed. "Oh man, you're fucking amazing," he panted. Picking her up that day was the best move he'd made in a long time, he thought as she collapsed on top of him. He flipped them so that he was lying above her. Her eyes were closed as her body continued to spasm around him in the aftermath of their climaxes. "You are so fucking hot," he murmured and for the first time, he kissed her. She groaned against his lips, her mouth opening to him as she felt him start to move gently inside her. It was different this time. This wasn't about control, this was him making love to her as a lover would and she revelled in it. Opening her eyes, she found herself staring into his. That look was all she needed. She held his gaze and smiled up at him, letting him see what he wanted to see. He smiled back. They nearly always fell for her and she loved the thrill of power that gave her over them. And this job in particular, was proving to be one of the most enjoyable ever.

"Come over tonight," he said softly.

"I have to meet up with Graves at some stage today and I still have some work to do as well."

"After that then."

"It might be late."

"That's fine."

"Let's meet somewhere different though," she suggested.

"Where?"

"I'll call and let you know," she told him. "Now shut up and let's finish this." Her voice rose in volume with every thrust of his hips, spurring him on.

Watson stared at the report sitting in front of Charlie on her desk. One look at all the red ink told her why her cousin had summoned her into the office.

"Charlie, I know it's not up to scratch," she said. "I tried really hard, but I just couldn't get it right."

"I know you did, but there is no way this document could be filed in its current state." Watson nodded unhappily, which made Charlie feel worse. She really hated having this conversation, but she couldn't overlook it.

"I'll fix it up," Watson promised.

"Georgie, this isn't your fault," she said. "This is a stressful time for all right now, so don't be ashamed to ask for help with writing the reports if you need it."

"I hate this Charlie," Watson said as she flopped onto the seat. "It is making me feel like a dummy all over again."

"You're not a dummy," she told her. "You just have a learning difficulty which stress unfortunately happens to exacerbate."

"I just want it all over Charlie."

"We all do." She hadn't yet told her cousin about the call Robertson had received. That might make it even worse if she knew they'd be stuck with Angelo for a lot longer, but she couldn't hold off on telling her forever. She just hoped that before Robertson was officially called back, he and Graves had some luck in nailing Angelo.

"I heard whispers that Angelo served John with a restraining order," Watson said and it surprised Charlie. Not that there had been whispers, since barely anything happened in this town without it being talked about, but that her cousin had brought it up. And that her tone hadn't been tinged with the usual resentment it held whenever she spoke of John.

"Yeah, it seems that Angelo took exception to John for the way he spoke to him on a couple of occasions."

"That one at Gina's birthday was pretty good viewing," she admitted.

"John's a good man who is not afraid to stick up for others," Charlie cautiously said. "Especially when it comes to his family."

"I guess," murmured Watson noncommittally. She reached for the report. "I'll get to work on fixing this up."

"Georgie, if you need it, ask for it," Charlie instructed her.

"I will."

Graves' hand was poised an inch from knocking on the door of Shannon's caravan when the sound of her voice stopped her.