A/N
Thank you all so much for your kind reviews; they make me want to continue writing on this story.
I would like to dedicate this chapter to a friend, who was my inspiration for this chapter.
Enjoy!!
Chapter five
As the squad car pulled up just outside the main house inside the caravan park, Charlie and Watson got out and began looking around for Miles. After helping him search for Melody a while ago when she had disappeared to the city, they had become good friends. Miles' new relationship with Leah only improved that as she found herself spending more and more time with him.
He was a good guy, always had a big heart and always trying to help others in any way he could, she felt a little sorry for him, he hadn't had the best past.
A few years ago he had lost his entire family in the tsunami, a little while after that he had returned to the bay and had been reunited with his long lost twin sister, the one and only Sally Fletcher. After a rocky relationship with Kirsty he had discovered that she had been cheating on him with the stations janitor, Hugo, a lazy man who had problems dealing with authority, especially female authority.
She couldn't help but feel a little glad that Kirsty had cheated, she never was good enough for him in the first place, what with that and the fact that she knew her close friend had almost secretly held a flame for him for a long time, it was one of those bad things that had to happen in order for a wonderful opportunity to arise, that seemed to sum his life up.
After a few minutes searching they had eventually spotted him working on one of the trailers, obviously trying to get it repaired and liveable in again quickly. Upon hearing Charlie calling out his name he spun around with a mixture of surprise and happiness to be in company of his friend, however when he saw the concern written all over the tall brunettes face, his smile was replaced with concern.
"Hey Charlie, what can I do for Summer Bay's finest?"
"Hey, sorry to interrupt you when you're busy" I was wondering if you could take a look at a picture, we have reason to believe that she has been staying here" Charlie asked sweetly as he jumped down from his ladder and rubbed the grease from his hands onto his jeans.
"Sure, anything to help the law" He smiled as he waited for the photo to be produced.
Watson handed him a picture concealed in a case folder, it was taken earlier that morning by the coroner and showed the victim laid on the coroners table, it only showed her face but the pale complexion and blue lips instantly gave away that she was dead.
Charlie watched his expressions closely, a trait she had picked up from the city upon dealing with so many murders and missing person's cases after she had passed out from the academy, she watched as his face fell, the smile that had just moments ago filled his features was replaced with a sorrowful frown.
"Sure, she's been staying here, her name is Amy something, she's been here about two weeks with her girlfriend Helga Borg" Miles reported sadly, his heart instantly going out to the dead girls partner.
"I can't believe she's dead, I talked to her just yesterday afternoon, she was telling me about going out with her girlfriend for their first anniversary, she was so excited" Miles added sadly, his mind jumping into overload as he tried to imagine what had happened to the sweet girl he had spoken to on a number of occasions.
"Thanks Miles, can you remember which trailer she was staying in, we could really do with taking a look around" Charlie smiled as she rubbed her hand soothingly over his arm, she knew when she was in uniform she was supposed to act accordingly, but she couldn't resist from comforting her visibly shaken friend.
"Yeah she is staying… sorry was staying in trailer nine, last trailer on the right, I'm sure I saw her girlfriend there this morning, she looked a little stressed, maybe this explains it" He glanced at Charlie thankful for her comfort.
"One more question, then we will let you get back to your repairs" Charlie smiled sweetly at him.
"Have you noticed anything odd around lately, anything out of the ordinary or a little strange?"
"Not anything I can think of, sorry… if I think of anything I'll let you know straight away" He smiled warmly at her, hoping that he had helped in some way.
Retrieving the photo from him, they waved him farewell before making their way to the trailer. Watson read over the notes she had taken whilst Miles had been recounting his last spotting of Amy.
"I wonder if this Helga could shed some light on what happened" Georgie asked thoughtfully as she glanced to Charlie.
"Yeah I really hope so, this is it, trailer nine" Charlie stated as she approached the door and rapped loudly on it three times.
"Amy is that you? Finally your home, what happened to you? I've been worried sick all night" The door swung open to reveal a stressed looking woman, she must have been in her mid twenties Charlie guessed. She stood in a pair of baggy cargo pants and a loose black tee, her long blonde hair left loose to flow down her back casually.
The woman frowned when she realised it wasn't her partner at the door, but the police, a stream of panic began to flow through her body as her mind boggled over what the police could be knocking on her door.
"Does this have something to do with my Amy; do you know where she is?" The woman asked in a frenzy.
Charlie let out an audible sigh, she had seen the transformation so many times in her career, the transformation from joy to disbelief and finally to grief, it was the only part of her job that she actually hated, the only part of her job that she wished she could avoid, she would take days of paperwork and filing if it meant she could avoid being the bearer of bad news, she didn't think she would ever become accustomed to it.
"May we come inside?" Charlie asked softly to the young girl, who instantly moved to the side to allow them entrance, Charlie threw a look at Watson who nodded solemnly towards her, instantly understanding that the look meant, here we go again.
The girl motioned for them to sit and sat herself across from them on the bench chair, she could feel herself trembling as she awaited the words from the officers, and she knew what was coming but a part of her prayed that it wouldn't, that it was some kind of mean joke that was being played on her.
"My name is Senior Constable Buckton and this is Constable Watson" Charlie introduced trying to drag out the inevitable, she knew it wasn't fair to the young woman sat opposite her but she needed a few moments herself to prepare giving the woman the worst news she would ever receive.
Charlie glanced into the sad blue eyes staring back at her hopefully, she learned forward slightly taking the girls hand in her own, she could feel the tremble immediately, she could feel the cool hands begin to sweat as she awaited the news.
"I'm sorry to have to ask, but I need you to confirm the surname of your partner" Charlie asked softly, taking a hard swallow as she knew the moment was drawing closer when she would have to break the news to the woman before her. She hated having to ask obvious questions but it was important she asked, there was nothing worse than informing someone that the person they loved was dead only to discover it was a case of mistaken identity.
"Smith, her name is Smith, have you found her, is she ok?" The woman asked hopefully, her throat ached as she spoke from fighting back the tears that threatened to flow.
Charlie glanced nervously to Watson before returning her attention to the blonde woman who sat hanging on her every word.
"I'm very sorry to inform you that Amy Smith was found dead this morning," Charlie stumbled, she watched as each word appeared to slap the woman in the face, causing her features to distort in pain.
"No…. no it can't be true, please tell me this is some kind of mistake" Helga sobbed as she pulled her spare hand to her face and covered her mouth with it, her tears flowed angrily and painfully down her cheeks.
"I'm so very sorry for your loss, if it would be ok I would like to show you a photo, just to gain a positive identity on her body, would that be ok Miss Borg?" Charlie asked carefully, not wanting to upset or distress the woman any further, she watched as she nodded her head sadly.
"Watson reached into her pocket and handed her the photo, she gasped painfully as she reached her fingers out, running them slowly over the face on the photo.
"I can't believe she's gone… this is her… this is my Amy" Helga sobbed.
"I'm sorry that you had to witness that, it must have been quite unpleasant but I'm sure you appreciate that we need to make positive identification, please accept my deepest apologies" Watson soothed as she watched the woman before her cry harder.
"What happened to her, who did this to her" Her voice was a mixture of pain, anger and disgust as she almost spat the words out, part of her needing to know the answers to ease her mind, the other half of her too scared to learn the answers.
"I'm sorry but we don't know the answer to that yet" Charlie murmured sadly, she could almost feel the girls pain herself, she couldn't even begin to imagine what was going through her mind at that moment.
"I know now probably isn't the best time, so please feel free to say no, but would you mind if we asked you a few questions, it could really help with our investigation and help us to catch whoever did this to Amy" Charlie asked hopefully, the girl just nodded sadly.
"Ok, If you want or need to stop at any time just say the word… " Charlie was interrupted as the girl appeared to just fall forward, she jumped back in shock as she watched her fall, Watson on the other hand saw it coming, leaping forward and grabbing her before she hit the floor.
Taking her radio in confusion, Charlie called for an ambulance as she watched Watson lay her on the bench seat she had moments ago just been sat on. They watched silently as the girl lay motionless, after checking her vitals, they settled for just waiting for the ambulance, it was obvious that the distress had finally hit her and caused her to pass out.
As they followed the paramedics pushing the stretcher towards the back of the ambulance, watching on helplessly as they lifted her in, Charlie glanced away for a moment, her breath catching in her throat as she saw the familiar figure walking towards a different trailer, her heart rate increased quickly as she watched on in confusion and awe.
She noticed that the girl seemed to have the same effect on her each time she saw her, she felt like running over towards her and checking that it wasn't just her mind playing tricks on her, she hadn't expected to ever see her again after she had just disappeared like that.
Watson cleared her throat once more, drawing Charlie from her thoughts.
"Senior, would you like to accompany Helga to the hospital and I will follow on in the car?" Watson asked kindly, noticing the distress on Charlie's face, as if in a trance Charlie nodded and handed her keys over before climbing into the back of the ambulance.
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Sitting outside the examination room of the hospital Charlie allowed her thoughts to run over the girl she had caught glimpse of so many times now, there was just something about this girl, she couldn't place her finger on it but every time she saw or spoke to her, her heart beat seemed to race.
She made a mental note, now that she knew where she lived, to visit her, she wanted to thank her properly for helping Ruby and she wouldn't mind finding out why she had ran the night before.
Watson dumped her weight on the chair beside her, passing her a cup of coffee, well it looked like some resemblance coffee, it smelt something like coffee, and she doubted though that it would taste anything at all like coffee.
"Penny for your thoughts Senior?" Watson smiled towards her, Charlie's on duty name and taken quickly.
"What, sorry?" Charlie asked dazed, turning her full attention to her friend and partner.
"You just seem miles away, anywhere nice?" Watson grinned wondering if she had met someone.
Charlie was just about to answer when she noticed Rachel in the corner of her eye, she jumped from her chair almost spilling her 'coffee' all over herself, Watson followed a little slower, both awaiting Rachel's news.
"How is she doing, can we speak to her?" Charlie asked her voice full of concern.
"I'm afraid not, she was in quite a lot of distress so I gave her a sleeping tablet to help her rest for the night, maybe tomorrow though?" Rachel suggested.
Charlie nodded in disappointment; she had hoped to get some answers to all her questions, hoping they would provide a lead to their murder enquiries. She lightened up a little, at least the girl was safe and in good hands, she could wait another few hours to get her answers after all.
"Ok, I'll be back in the morning, thanks Rach" Charlie smiled warmly receiving one in return.
As they left the hospital and headed back towards the station, both officers were silent, lost in their thoughts, hoping that the night wouldn't bring them yet another victim.