Chapter 8

The phone call ended and she kept staring straight ahead. This is what she wanted right? How many nights hadn't she lain awake until the early morning, wishing that it would finally be over so that she could go home? It was what she had spent the last two years working for, to catch the ones who were behind it, to get the threat of her back so that she could finally breathe again. Not having to look over her shoulder every time she went out on the street or having to worry about going to sleep and not wake up the next day. So why didn't she feel more relieved?

She had expected to feel like the world had been lifted of her shoulders and run around the room jumping for joy, but it was like all her energy had been drained from her body. There was no easier breathing or jumping, shouting for joy, not even in her head, it was all just blank. Her worst nightmare had set in. The person who was after her, the one person she feared the most had been hiding among the people she loved the most, in the place she loved the most. They had been hiding in her home while getting close with her family, nestling their way into their lives, the one thing she had been trying to avoid all along.

She had somehow managed to let Bianca in somewhat on what was going on and not long after that they were both sitting in Bianca's car on their way to the police station. Curled up in the passenger seat, her knees hugged to her chest, she looked out the window and did her best to not shake out of fear. She wasn't afraid for her own sake, she was scared of whom it would turn out to be. How close they had gotten to her family, what that person had meant to them, if they had been hurt and how. She wanted to know everything, from the reasons why to the actions, and she needed them gone.

The short drive to the station had never felt so long in her entire life, what was supposed to be up to ten to fifteen minutes felt like an hour. She was on edge, just wanting to get answers, but at the same time nervous and not quite so sure if she wanted to know after all. What if it was a disaster and it all went to hell? But despite the misconception of the time they finally arrived at the station after fifteen minutes. Though as she got out of the car it seemed as if she frozen to the spot, she could not find it in her to get her legs to move. Internally she cursed herself for being so weak and such a chicken. She was a cop for Christ sake who had dealt with worse things than being in an interrogation room with a criminal when other people were around. What could possibly happen in building full of cops? It wasn't as if he or she, whoever it was could escape.

With a tug on her arm from Bianca, who took her hand to lead her over to the entrance, she began to move. She couldn't be more grateful to Bianca for coming there with her, it felt so much better and safer to know that she had someone to lean on if it got too much. As they walked into the station they were met by Joyce, her boss, at the front desk and two serious looking men in grey suits. Joyce gave her a tight smile and extracted his arm towards the interview as a silent request for them to go in there.

When she came into the room she was immediately hit with the feeling that her stomach was turning inside out and scrunching up into a knot. Because leaning up against the wall on the far end of the room was Brax, with his arms crossed over his chest and perched on the edge of the table in the middle of the room was Ricky. She could feel both pair of eyes on her as she and Bianca walked further into the room to stand by the wall opposite Brax, but she refused to acknowledge either of them. She kept her eyes firmly on the floor, but just before they were about to start she quickly looked up and met Brax's eyes and she was slightly shocked by the intensity of his gaze. It was piercing right through her, pinning her to the wall behind her and not letting go. Luckily they were interrupted as the door closed behind Joyce and the two men in suits before she turned into jelly.

"The reason you're all here is to clear some things up once and for all. This is Detective Carson and Lewis, they are the leading officers on the case and will fill in some blanks." Joyce pointed towards the two men in suits who were now standing up against a wall with stoic looking faces, not giving away anything that they might have heard what Joyce just said. "To do that we need to talk about your involvement with Adam Sharp Mr. Braxton."

"What more is there to talk about?" Brax's deep boomed through the room. "We already know that Adam took advantage of Jake to get Charlie out of the way, end of story!"
"I'm afraid that it's not it, there's more to it than that." He left it at that and took a step back, only for one of the men in suits to take a step forward and speak for the first time.

"We have had our eyes on Mr. Sharp's business for years trying to get something to stick but he has been managing to slip out of our grip every time. Only one time we actually managed to find something that could lead us somewhere, we managed to find a link between your businesses. We have always thought that you were the one behind everything, avoiding cops and getting of easy. You were never caught and if you did you always found a way out and someone else went instead of you, that's where Adam came in. He was the one pulling strings, getting you off so that you could keep up the front and keep his involvement in your business a secret. So you Mr. Braxton became our new lead." Everyone was standing straight with their ears open, listening intensely to snap up everything that was being said.

"We put a guy in your business who worked their way closer and closer to Mr. Sharp and we got Detective Buckton to dig deeper into the Riverboys history, to find more leads and connections. Everything went fine until the gang war came and went and you decided to go straight because of your involvement with a cop, Detective Buckton. According to our guy, you going straight did not sit well with Mr. Sharp and when he found out that it all was because of a cop of all things, he decided to do something about it."

Everyone's eyes in the room traveled to her because they all knew what happened next, Jake would come knocking at her door and she would end up with two bullets in her abdomen. She even thought herself detecting a tiny hint of disgrace in the officers' gaze, clearly stating how stupid they all thought she was for not listening to them.
"We tried to get her to go into the program as soon as we found out about the threat to her life. But she refused, saying it was her job and she wasn't going to run every time some thug wasn't happy with her for doing her job." His eyes pierced hers and she tried to look anywhere but the three other officers standing in the room. "But when she was shot, we saw no other solution and we took our chance to put her in the program, it lured out Mr. Sharp as he thought he was successful when you was drawn back in, just like he wanted."

They had used her as nothing but bait, to do the dirty work so that they could later on take the credit for catching one of their most wanted criminals. Their want for her to go into the witness program was not for her safety or her family's, it was all just a part of a plan for success. Just as she was going to voice her opinion Brax beat her to it and he did not sound pleased at all.

"So you're saying that you used one of your own, putting her safety at risk, just so that you could catch the bad guy?! Do you have any idea what you have done? Ruby, her daughter went to jail because she was grieving for her mom, I got involved with that dog and he kidnapped my brother, drugged and used Bianca, sent my other brother to jail and kidnapped Ricky and Denny. You broke up our family by making us think we had lost the one person who held us together and for what? Your purpose is to protect people, not use them as a part of a pawn to get a bigger paycheck at the end of the month!" His eyes flew from the man in grey suit and focused on Joyce, who actually had some decency to look slightly ashamed. "And you just stood by and let them do so? You knew Charlie, you knew Ruby yet you did nothing to stop it?!"

Joyce's expression went from ashamed to professional in the matter of seconds. "By the time I found out it was all too late, you all were already heavily involved with Mr. Sharp and if I would have told you everything would have been for nothing."
"And that makes it okay does it?" Brax's voice was filled with obvious disgust that he didn't even try to hide, it mirrored her own feelings. "You took her away from us, the one person that mattered to me and that I was willing to give everything up for and that is how you justify it? How can you even live with yourself, knowing that you have ruined a family and so many people's lives?"

Before Joyce could speak up and defend himself the other man who had not said a word the whole time came forward.
"We get that you're upset Mr. Braxton but we did what we had to considering the situation. Now however we realize that it might not have been the best thing but this is not why we all are here." His voice was stern, leaving no room for arguments and when no one spoke he smirked satisfied and continued. "Somehow though they found out that Charlie was in fact very much alive and in hiding. About seven months ago someone broke into her home and shot her in her sleep, she got out but the one who did it got away and we have yet to really catch them, they weren't quite as obvious as Jake Pirovic. The intruder wasn't as smart as they thought they were, they hid their face from the cameras in the building but not the once in the street. Though at the time we did not know who we were looking for, but after we caught Mr. Sharp a few weeks back we knew somewhat and we found who we were looking for, it was just not who we were expecting. The person we found exiting the building was you, Miss Sharp."

Someone could just as well have shot her there on the spot, the fear had tied up every limb in her body and even though she wanted nothing more than to run out of there she could not move. The person who had haunted her mind over the last couple of months had practically been living her life. She had lived under the same roof and in the same bed as Brax for months, spending time with her friends and taking care of the people she loved. She herself had met her on occasions and not once had she suspected that something was off about her. How could she not have recognized the person who had at one point been hovering over you and pointing a gun in your face?

While she was frozen to the spot along with Bianca, both with their mouths open, Brax had no problem moving. He slammed his fist into the wall he had leaned against, startling everyone in the room. His eyes were wild with fury and his nostrils almost flared with anger, it even shook her even though she knew it was not directed at her.

"YOU KNEW?! You knew all this time that she was still alive and you never said anything? I can't believe this… I forgave you for everything you did for Adam because you came forward and tried to make it right, I chose you despite the fact that my brother's wanted me to let you disappear. BUT THIS?! Of all things? That's just beyond sick! You made me feel guilty for still missing her and not letting you in properly when you not only lied about her being alive, you tried to kill her as well!"

Tears streamed freely down her cheeks as she heard the pain in his voice and down Ricky's as well and her voice broke slightly as she spoke. "I'm so sorry Brax, I-"
"Sorry?! Sorry isn't good enough!" Her eyes hardened at his refusal and hurt ran over her face.
"Adam was right all along! He said that if you were forced to choose between me and her, you would choose her every time. But I let my hurt tell me what to do for once and I dobbed on my own brother to the cops, because of you! How stupid was I?"

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"I guess I better rectify that."

Out of nowhere she had gotten a gun from the back of her pants and had it pointed straight at him. One second he was looking into the barrel of a gun and the next, before he could even grasp what was happening there was a loud bang, a flash of brown and then he was on the floor. The familiar scent hit him and that's when he realized that Charlie had jumped in front of him and taken the bullet that had been meant for him.

He watched out of the corner of his eye as Joyce struggled but succeeded taking Ricky down and dragging her out of the room, but his main focus was on the amazing but utterly stupid woman that was gasping for breath in front of him.
"What the hell were you thinking?!"
"Some people just say thank you when someone saves their life." He could hear Bianca next to him and he couldn't help himself either from laughing at her spunk, despite the circumstances.
"Yeah, well I am done watching you get shot because of me."
"Always the big softy ay?"
"Only for you!" She let out a pained laugh as he leaned down and planted a kiss on her forehead.
"Well I'm lucky she's such a lousy shot. That's the second time she has shot me and only gotten my arm, but damn it still hurts!"

That's when it hit him that he had no idea of where or how badly she had been hurt. He quickly looked her over and found that the bullet had only nicked her shoulder, it was not lethal nor to damaging and she was going to be just fine. Bianca crouched down next to them to use her cardigan to put pressure on the wound so that they could stop the bleeding somewhat. Charlie winched in pain at the contact and she clutched his hand tightly as he soothingly stroked her cheek while talking to her, trying his hardest to make her think of something else put the pain that was slowly mustering all her energy.

The ambo eventually arrived and took her off to the hospital with Bianca accompanying them. He on the other hand got out to his car and drove home and it wasn't until he was on the road that everything actually hit him as he could sort through his thoughts. Sure he had been furious with Ricky just a few seconds ago for what she had done, lying and hiding the truth all this time. But then it had only been about the fact that she had known about Charlie and that she had hurt her, now though he felt the betrayal deep. He had trusted her over and over again despite everything telling him not too, he had let her in and he had fought for her, convincing her to stay whenever she tried to run. Which was probably just a scheme as well since he had never been one who could back off from a challenge. He had done absolutely everything he could to keep her in his life, he had even taken a bullet for her which almost cost him his life.

Thinking about it he just felt so stupid for not realizing something sooner, he had always been the suspicious one when it came to people around him even when it wasn't a business deal. Heath had always been the one easily fooled to trust someone and diving in head first, not him. Adam had been right, he must be loosening his touch because this is something that would have never happened before. Had this been just a couple months earlier and he had found out sooner what Ricky had been involved with he would not have let her back into his house. Then he would have done a thorough search on her before even considering having a conversation with her and probably not even bother with afterwards anyway. But this time he had involved his heart too much, letting down too many walls. Something he should have learnt by now only resulted in pain.

Hitting the steering wheel a few times made him feel a little bit better as he reached home again. He was hoping for an empty house so that he could sweep down things from shelves and tables, to go off in a rage without having to explain himself to his family. But this was not his day and there was no such luck. When he opened the door he was met by cheers and loud voices coming from the backyard and letting his curiosity get the best of him he went out to investigate.

The backyard was full of people not just his brothers, Denny was there and so were her family, Leah, Irene and Mr. Stewart. Judging by the look on their faces and their loud voices he would dare say that they were happy and celebrating something. Kyle noticed him and greeted him with a big grin that faltered after a second as he must have seen the look on his face that must have been anything but happy. At Kyle's diverted attention the rest of them turned around to see what he was looking at.

"Brax!" Casey called as he wrapped one of his arms tightly around Denny's waist.
"What's going on?"
"We're getting married!" He had the goofiest grin he had ever seen and Brax could have sworn that he saw stars glimmer in his eyes as he spoke. Denny wasn't any better either, her cheeks were flushed and she looked up at his brother as if he held the world.

It took a while for the words to really sink in but once they did he could not feel the same excitement that the rest of his family showed. Sure he was happy for them, it had been obvious from the start they were going to last because they were so good with reading each other and both of them knew the meaning of getting hurt. But the funk he was in would not let him truly be glad for his brother, he was not in the mood to celebrate a happy ending when he himself saw none for him. Though instead of showing it he mustered up a smile that didn't appear to fake and went and joined the others around the grill.

"Have you seen Bianca mate? I can't get a hold of her." Ice spread through his body again at the reminder of what had just happened.
"Yeah, she's at the hospital with Charlie."
"At the hospital? Why?"
"Rick-Ricky shot Charlie."
"SHE DID WHAT?!"

After that the celebration was long since forgotten and questions were being thrown at him from every direction. Everyone wanted to know what had happened, when it happened and why, not giving him a chance to speak. When he finally was able to speak they all sat dumbfound afterwards with their mouths wide open, no one really believing what they just heard. They had all known Ricky, some more than others but never had they even imagined her capable of doing what she had just done, that just shows how little you really know someone.

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It had been a week since she had last seen Brax when it all gone down and to say that she was nervous to was an understatement. When he had called earlier today she had not known if she should make up some sort excuse to get out of it or just go along with it but knew she was going to have to face him eventually, might as well get it over with. She was sitting up by Stuart's point basking in the sun while waiting nervously for him to show up, she was fidgeting so much she feared she was going to fall off the wall.

The gun shut wound had been just a grace on her upper left arm, much like the last time she had been shot in the arm by the drive-by shooter. At the hospital they had cleaned and patched it up with a bandage before sending her home with some painkillers and a lecture. Bianca had driven her home and they had just barely gotten through the door and plunked down on the couch when Leah and Irene had come rushing in, firing off fifteen questions per minute. As usual exciting news, any news really, traveled exceptionally fast in this small town. She was positive that the whole town must have known by then, which had been correct. All day people had been dropping by to see how she was, even Casey, Kyle and Heath. But not Brax.

She figured he just needed some time, god knows she needed it and she figured he would need even more time to try and get underfund with things. So she let it be but the more time she spent on her own the more time she had to make things up, her paranoia grew and she came up with different reasons why he had not come to see her. It could be anything from him not wanting her or having the energy to fight for them anymore, since she had technically told him she didn't want him, to that Ricky meant more to him than her and that he was taking her betrayal hard. One thought more ridicules than the other. But then he called and she was finally going to find out the truth and where they would go from here.

After five more minutes of nervously waiting she heard footsteps approaching in the gravel and her heart picked up its pace. The closer they got, the shallower her breathing became and before she knew it Brax was standing in front of her, looking just as tense and out of his element as her. He sat down next to her on the wall where they both just starred at each other not knowing what to say, neither one of them knew where to start. Because honestly what do you say? Start with small talk or jump right in?

"Hi." And small talk it is.
"Hi."
"How's the arm?"
"The arm is fine!"

An awkward silence settled upon them as they both pondered on whether they were going to bring up the hard stuff or let it run out in the sand. Thinking about things now she wondered if it was actually worth it. Their whole relationship had been one hell of a roller-coaster ride filled with lies, deception and an inability to trust each other because of the lies and deceptions. No matter how much they loved each other or wanted to be together something always came in between, making it not the right time or create space between them. It was only the last few weeks that they were generally working and happy but then their problems from the past came back to haunt them and she was claimed dead.

Now that she had returned it was not really any different, she had feelings for him and she wanted to be with him but once again there was obstacles, only this time it weren't thugs and coworkers, it were themselves. They both had believed that the other had betrayed them and in the heat of the moment things that had been kept under lock and key came out, held back feelings, insecurities and reservations. Things had been said with the intention of hurting, neither of them had been wanting to appear weak so they had stricken back with everything they had, they didn't want to be the first one to apologize because they are both two very stubborn people.

Was she really prepared to go through all that again, only this time with new problems, and maybe not even then make it very far? Was it really worth the risk of putting her heart out there even more, only to have it ripped out her chest for good?

"So… What do we do now?"
"We move on Brax, take it day by day like everyone else." She averted her eyes from him so that he wouldn't see the hurt in them from her own words, how they ringed untrue in her own ears.
"Is that what you want? To just give up?!" She detect a little bit of outrage in the midst of all the surprise in his voice. He had clearly not expected her to be so quick to put a stop to things, but why not? She had always been known to do so before.

"Do you really want to do all of this again Brax? Because I don't! I don't want to keep fighting with you or being unsure of you. No matter how much we wanted things to work out there was always something coming between us. Things may seem okay now but what's to say something won't happen in the future? I can't- I won't do this again!" Her voice was desperate, pleading with him not to hurt her, doing its best to convince him that she was right.

"Damn it Charlie! Why do you always do this?! Do you think it was easy for me to watch you walk away again and again because of some screw up? But it doesn't make me want you any less. I had to come home and find you lying in your own blood. I had to watch them turn of your life-support, watch your heart stop. I had to lose you! And I promised myself I wouldn't do that again if I got the chance!" Hearing his story and hearing how he struggled to get out his words moved something inside her. Brax had never been one to utter his feelings, he had never been afraid to show them and actions speaks louder than words, but to actually hear him say it made it so much more real.

"Brax…"
"No, I always thought it was obvious but I was never good with letting people know how I felt unless it was anger. But God, I love you Charlie! It's as simple as that." To hear those words leave his mouth was indescribable, it was something she had only heard on one occasion and that was when they broke up when Tegan showed up in town. She guessed they both could have said it more often but they were emotionally damaged the both of them so they went with what they knew, ignoring it. But now there was no ignoring it.

He was grinning so big she couldn't help but smile herself, he looked so relieved to have said it and put it out there, like it was something that had been bothering him for a really long time. Not finding a proper response or her voice, she just flung her arms around his neck and planted one on him. From there it was just a blur and a burst of emotions. His lips moving with hers, the familiar taste of him along with his hands moving all over her body sent shivers through every nerve in her body. Her whole body turned to mush and if she hadn't been sitting down her legs would have given out.

This time there was no holding back, no reprimand in the back of their heads or the pressure of unresolved issues. It was just them and for once they could just be, not worrying about being caught by bosses or brothers or of someone wanting either of them dead. And for the first time in a really long time the smile on her face was really genuine.

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That's a wrap people, I don't think I will do an epilogue but we'll see. I have come to notice that Charlie and Brax might have been a little out of character but in my opinion, Brax never held back from Charlie. He was the one pushing all the time for them to be together while she was the one pulling away, I find that his inability to show feelings sometimes has come as a result of losing Charlie. So that's why they might be a bit too mushy.

Thank you for all your reviews it's always fun to read them! So let me know one last time what you thought of the whole story and if I captured it right.

Oh and Happy New Year, a little early though only 24 hours left!"

Xx Lexie