Chapter Five
She never could shake the early morning habit, and Joey Collins was contemplating going for a run before enjoying her day off. She didn't have the most exciting of days planned but she needed to get all her household chores done, and in a sad kind of way was quite looking forward to spending the day singing along to her iPod as she worked, and was planning on treating herself to a takeaway that evening. She was hunting around for her trainers and had just located the slightly battered items when her phone beeped. She picked up her mobile and froze when she saw that she had a multimedia message from Charlie Buckton. It had been a year since they'd last seen each other, even since they'd spoken. Joey's intention had been to return to Summer Bay after three months at sea. She'd been a little late but she'd come home. Then she'd seen Charlie walking hand in hand along the beach with some guy. Her heart had broken all over again, she'd cursed herself for ever hoping that Charlie might wait for her, that she might want to make things work. So, she'd turned and fled. She'd signed up for six months on the trawler and now she was settled not so far away. She vaguely kept in touch with her brother but she had refused to come home ever again. Swallowing uncertainly, she opened the message. It was a video.
Charlie pulled the trigger. It wouldn't move. Opening her eyes again, she pulled the barrel out of her mouth. Frowning at the mechanism that had got stuck, she set about trying to fix it, which wasn't so easy with tears in her eyes and a tremble in her fingers.
"You can't even kill yourself properly," she said bitterly as she tried to fix her weapon.
Joey's heart surged as she realised Charlie was leaving her a suicide message. Shaking, she pressed the green button in order to call her while she searched around desperately for her jacket and keys. Charlie's words echoed in her mind as the phone rang and she shoved her feet into her shoes.
"Pick up," she begged, desperately hoping she would reach her in time. "Please, please pick up."
Charlie paused when her discarded phone began to ring. She tried to ignore it. This was her moment to say goodbye. She'd almost lost her nerve already and the gun getting stuck had been more than a little frustrating. She was good to go now. It was time to say goodbye.
Joey nearly cried when she got Charlie's voicemail. Hanging up, she gripped the edge of the counter and dialled again.
"Please don't be too late," she said anxiously. "Please, Charlie. Please don't do anything stupid."
Charlie sighed when her phone burst into life again. Taking the gun from her mouth, she picked up her phone. Her heart lurched when she saw Joey's name flash up on screen. She put the gun down and lifted her mobile. This is your last chance to hear her voice, she reminded herself. She stared at her name a moment too long. It rang off.
"Charlie!" Joey said desperately to nobody.
Hanging up, she called a cab. The operator promised that a car would be with her immediately. They'd sensed the state of emergency in her voice. Then she called Charlie again.
The phone rang once more. Charlie had been staring at the message of a missed call for several moments. The shrill noise made her jump. Taking a deep breath, she answered.
"Charlie?"
She had never heard her ex-girlfriend so panicked. She hardly knew what to say.
"Charlie?" Joey said again. "Charlie, are you there? Please talk to me."