A/N

Hi thank you all for reading my story and reviewing. Love the reviews they make me want to write more.

Purplemonkeyys: read on and you'll find out :), but thanks for reading hope you'll like.

1818: only time will tell :)

Charmedcrazyn14: happy you like it and thank you for your kind words.

Jsco81: she might be or she might not be... time will tell.

Paulinemcc: if your disappointed that Joey ran, then I hope won't get to disappointed by the next couple of chapters... but all good things comes to those who wait... lol

AuthorW: Thank you for your review and I can't reveal if Charlie is going to search for Joey, such information is top secret.

Hope you all like the chapter... enjoy :)

Chapter four

Charlie sat in her office lightly rubbing her fingers over her aching temples wishing her headache would go away, she looked at the pictures in her hand, pictures of the latest murder victim that had turned up that morning.

She had hardly slept the night before, she had spent the majority of the night tending to her sister and the remainder of every spare second thinking about the young girl she now knew as Joey. She couldn't work out why she had run when only minutes earlier she had confirmed she would stay and give her a description of the two guys that had tried to assault her sister.

Placing the cup to her mouth groaning in satisfaction as the hot liquid filled her mouth, easing her throat as the coffee slid down it. She leant back in her chair as she hugged the cup in her hands, enjoying the warmth it provided as her mind rushed back to the previous night once more.

She had returned from her room having called Rachel and informed her of what she knew had happened to Ruby, returning to the lounge to see a dozing Ruby laid on the couch in an empty room. Looking around she called out for Joey, when there was no response she checked the kitchen for her, noticing the door still ajar she stepped outside wondering if the beautiful stranger had simply stepped outside for a breath of fresh air, but was sad to find the garden empty, once more the woman had disappeared on her.

Rachel had turned up a little over five minutes later, lugging her heavy bag full of doctors tools and potions with her, she patted Charlie on her shoulder with her spare hand as she passed her and made her way directly to Ruby's side to begin checking her over.

She spoke to her softly, trying to gain knowledge of how coherent she was, how responsive and alert she was. She examined the bump on her head, noticing the bruising that surrounded it, making it look much worse than it really was. Checking her pupils for dilation she lifted her finger, asking Ruby to follow it and focus on it as she moved it this way and that, drawing it closer to her face before pulling it back towards herself.

Once more she lifted her hand, closing her pinky and ring finger; she left stood her middle and index finger and her thumb. She asked Ruby calmly to tell her how many fingers she had raised and smiled with a soft laugh as Ruby informed her that there were two fingers and a thumb instead of her expected three fingers answer.

Rachel rose from the floor with a smile, she turned to find Charlie hovering behind her waiting expectantly.

"She's fine Charlie, that bumps probably going to give her a bit of a headache for the next few days but it's nothing that two aspirin won't fix, keep an eye on her through the night and if anything changes give me a call, there is a small chance she has a concussion, what with her passing out totally, but it's nothing to worry too much about, just keep an eye on her, keep her full of liquids and give her the daily doses of aspirin till the headache fades" Rachel smiled at the taller Buckton.

After turning down Charlie's offer of a coffee, Rachel had left to allow Charlie and Ruby some peace. Charlie had carried her sister to bed, wondering how Joey had managed to carry her for so long without breaking a sweat, she wasn't exactly the lightest of things to carry.

Charlie had slept in Ruby's bed, so if she had needed her she was at hand, Ruby had woken several times throughout the night, each time she was mumbling in her sleep, whimpering and wincing in pain. Charlie had stroked her hair, soothing her back to sleep, but each time Ruby had mentioned a word which peaked Charlie's interest, Ruby had kept muttering the word vampire, shaking her musings Charlie had put it down to Ruby's recent favourite film 'Twilight' mixed with being spooked by the guys from earlier on in the night.

She ignored the small voice that echoed annoyingly in the back of her mind, telling her that there was more to Ruby's mutterings, the thought alone sent jolts of fear through her body. Telling herself that she was being ridiculous through her exhaustion she relaxed back against the pillows and tried to fall asleep, trying to force the images of Joey from her mind as she slipped in and out of a restless slumber.

That morning she had woken up and wanting to make breakfast for Ruby and herself, hoping the gesture would cheer Ruby up slightly, she was surprised to find Leah already in the kitchen working hard at preparing her favourite meal of the day for her house mates.

Leah had not yet gotten home from her date when Ruby was brought home the night before, VJ had slept at his friends house leaving Charlie relieved of babysitting duty after a long day at work.

"You look tired, tough night?" Leah commented as she smiled at her friend over her shoulder, handing her a freshly brewed coffee.

Charlie had explained to Leah the happenings of the night before in as much detail as she knew, just as she finished up and took a sip from her mug, Ruby entered the kitchen, her hands clinging to her head in some kind of defence from the headache she complained about.

Charlie had been adamant she was taking a day off, she was owed plenty from all the over time she had put in but once receiving a call from the station informing her of a fifth victim, Ruby had ordered her to go to work and make the streets safe again. She could sense the call was important when she saw Charlie's face as she spoke on the phone. She wondered what was going on at the station since Charlie had all this over time, she hadn't heard anything about any crime being committed in the bay recently.

After a lot of persuasion and a promise from Leah that she would sit by Ruby's side at her beck and call, Charlie gotten changed for her shift. She entered the lounge to find Ruby resting on the couch covered by her quilt nursing her head.

"Ruby, why were you alone last night, I thought you were out with Xav" Charlie asked softly as she handed Ruby a box of aspirin and lifted her glass of water closer to her. After swallowing the tablets Ruby glanced at Charlie with sad sorrowful eyes.

"I had a fight with Xav, I got so frustrated at him I walked off and left him, I thought the walk home would calm me down a bit" Ruby admitted ashamed.

"Ruby it's ok, you couldn't have known what was going to happen, just please be more careful in the future, ring me next time and I will pick you up, it's better than being knocked out and attacked" Charlie smiled softly, kissing her sister on the brow she rose from her perch on the couch and left for work.

Charlie mentally shook herself from her musing, forcing her thoughts back onto the case. The crime scene was identical to the other four, she scanned the pictures for any kind of evidence, there had to be something, the scenes were cleared, it were almost as if the bodies had been planted there after the murders, the only thing contesting this theory was the signs of the victims struggles, that and there was no post mortem bruises that suggested they had been moved after their deaths.

She sighed as she glanced at the woman, noticing she once again fit in with the description, she couldn't understand why they couldn't get a break with this case, they were in exactly the same position they were in two weeks ago only now they had more bodies piling up in the morgue. Rising from her chair she decided to see if Watson had found any ID in the victim's personal defects.

As she approached Watson's desk she noticed the smile playing on her lips as she returned the phone to its cradle.

"Good news I hope?" Charlie asked hoping for a reason to smile herself.

"Yeah, I found out who our latest victim is, Amy smith, she is 24 years old and she is a British citizen, they found a key at the crime scene for one of the trailers at the caravan park. She must have been staying there" Watson smiled at her superior, hoping she would be glad that the latest victim at least had a name and her family could be informed, it wasn't much to be happy about but at least she wasn't a Jane Doe.

"Brilliant, good work Watson, why don't you join me, we will go to the trailer and see what else we can find out about this girl, there could be something to break this case wide open" Charlie smiled faintly, her voice full of hope.

Charlie popped into her office, grabbing her coat and her keys she exited again to find Watson stood at the door waiting patiently, desperate to help solve this case and stop innocent women being murdered