A/N
Hi everybody. Thank you so much for all your kind reviews, they really do make me wanna continue writing on the story.
I dedicate this chapter to the very sweet and lovely Purplemonkeyys.
Enjoy!
Chapter seventeen
As Charlie walked from her car to the station, ready to start another long day of work, she heard the beeping sound of her mobile telling her she had received a text message. She took out her mobile and looked at the screen. Her face instantly lit up with a huge smile when she saw Joey's name on the screen. She stopped walking and opened the message.
'Hi C. I miss u 2... A lot... There are only 3 hours 50 min till I'll see you again... I'm counting down the minutes... See u later... be safe. xoxo J.'
Charlie couldn't help but laugh at the text. She looked at her watch and quickly replied.
'Hi J... actually it's only 3 hours 45 min now... can't wait... miss u... xoxo C.'
Charlie put the phone back in her pocket, looked up at the police sign over the station and sighed at the thought of another very long day at work and then walked into the building.
Back in her office, Charlie sat reading through the reports from the nightshift when Watson knocked and put her head round the door. "Sorry Senior, but I have a phone call for you. It's Irene Roberts. She says that you know what it's about"
"Yes, sure, put her through Watson" Charlie said looking up from the case file she was reading.
She felt a bit guilty for not having called Irene right away to hear how Aisling was doing. Her phone rang and she instantly picked it up. "Senior Constable Buckton speaking. Hi Irene, how is Aisling doing?... that is good... ohh you're both ready to come in now... okay... well give me 30 minutes and then I'm ready to talk to her... of course you are more than welcome to stay with her while I talk to her... good Irene, then I'll see you in half an hour"
Charlie hung up the phone and went out to Watson to tell her about what had happened to Aisling the night before and to prepare an interview room for them.
Half an hour later, Charlie sat in the interview room with Irene and Aisling. Aisling was very quiet. She sat nervously biting her nails looking down at the table, while Irene sat beside her with her arm around her shoulder to comfort her.
Charlie looked at the girl and instantly felt like she needed to protect her. She reached out and took hold of her hands, not caring about looking professional. "Aisling are you okay? We can do this later if you're still too shook up"
Aisling looked up at Charlie and shook her head, instantly feeling comforted when Charlie took her hands in her own "No, I'm just a bit nervous, I've never been in a police station before"
Charlie smiled and squeezed Aisling's hands "Aisling you've got nothing to be nervous about, I just want to hear a little about what happened to you last night and then get you to look at some photos to see if you can recognise the guys that were hassling you... ok?"
Aisling relaxed a little, let out a little sigh of relief and nodded to Charlie to indicate that she was OK to continue.
Charlie pressed record on the camera and started the interview. "The time is 10.15 Thursday September 6th 2009. Senior Constable Buckton interviewing victim of an attempted assault Miss Aisling O'Sullivan. Okay Aisling, first of all can you tell me what happened to you last night?"
Aisling tensed at the thought of what had happened the night before, she didn't know how to begin and she just sat looking nervously between Irene and Charlie.
Charlie could feel Aisling tense up and start to become nervous again. She squeezed Aisling's hand again and gave her a reassuring smile. She then let go of her hand to pour her a glass of ice water. "Aisling it's okay. Just take your time and start at the beginning"
Aisling took a deep breath, looked at Irene and Charlie again who both gave her reassuring smiles, before she started telling them about the incident. "I was walking home from Nicole's, a girl I had been visiting. We had just been talking and watching a movie together. It was a really, really nice evening, time just flew by and before I knew it, it was late. I started walking home alone, the weather was really bad so I was hurrying along and took a short cut and walked down to the beach to walk along the boardwalk to get home faster"
Aisling took a break to gather herself and calm her nerves a bit. She took a sip of the water that Charlie had so kindly given her. She sighed and grabbed Irene's hand before she started to recount what happened next, which still scared her so much.
"I was walking then all of a sudden these two scary looking guys came out of nowhere and started following me and asking if I wanted to have some fun with them. They were both laughing. Their laughs were so scary and sounded so evil. I still can't get the sound of them laughing out of my head" Aisling said with tears running down her cheeks.
She wiped the tears away with her hand and continued "I said no and started to walk faster when one of the guys walked up beside me and started to tell me about all the fun I could have with him and his mate and that I should come with them. I once again said no and then he grabbed my arm and pulled me around towards him. With a big grin on his face, he told me that I couldn't get away from them, so I should just come with them"
Tears started to fall down Aisling's cheeks again and she started to shake. Irene quickly put her arm around her, stroking her back, comforting her until she was ready to continue. She handed her a tissue so she could dry her eyes. "Here you go love. Just take your time before you continue."
Aisling took the tissue, looked up at Irene and gave her a small, grateful smile to let her know she was okay again before she continued. "He let go of my arm and reached out to grab my shirt like he wanted to rip it open... but then something really weird happened, as he reached for my collar he saw my golden cross necklace and he pulled his hand away and squealed and backed away"
Aisling pulled out her necklace from under her shirt to show it to Charlie and to comfort herself a bit. She had gotten the necklace from her grandmother as a gift before she left. Whenever she felt lonely or lost she would hold the necklace and think of home and she would instantly feel better and feel like they were all with her in spirit. Feeling comforted she continued to talk. "I don't know what happened to me but I just took advantage of it and turned to run away. I saw your car and ran down to it hoping that someone was inside and luckily you were."
Charlie smiled back at Aisling thinking to herself that it was lucky she was there. She really didn't want to think about what would have happened if she hadn't been sitting in the car. She was sure that Aisling would have been the next victim if she hadn't been there yesterday and she would have been sitting looking at her photo on the wall of her office instead. Her thoughts then returned to the night Ruby had been attacked. If Joey hadn't been there then Ruby could also have been one of the pictures hanging on the back wall of her office. The thought of Ruby being hurt like that sent chills down her spine, making her visibly shudder. She was now more determined than ever to catch Joey's brother and his friends. Her train of thought was interrupted by Aisling talking again. "That was all that happened to me and I am so happy that you were there to help me, thank you so much."
Charlie smiled "You're welcome Aisling. These guys, do you think you would be able to recognise them if you saw a picture of them?"
Aisling swallowed, she didn't really want to see the two guys again, but she would never forget what they looked like. "Yeah sure, I don't think I'll forget them ever, they were so creepy"
"Okay Aisling, I have some photo albums with pictures of some guys, do you mind looking at them to see if you recognise any of them?" Charlie asked, hoping that Aisling could ID one of the guys, because that meant that her worst fear would be unfounded.
"No I don't mind" Aisling replied simply.
"Good, I'll just go get them okay" Charlie said standing up. Half way out of the door she turned around "Do you guys want a cup of coffee or tea while you sit and look through the albums?"
Irene looked up "Coffee would be nice. Thanks Charlie"
Charlie smiled and looked at Aisling "good and you Aisling?"
Aisling looked up and smiled back pointing at her glass of water "No thanks, I'm good"
Charlie returned with the photo albums under one arm and a cup of coffee for Irene in the other hand. She gave the coffee to Irene and put the albums down on the table. "Okay here they are, just take your time Aisling and look through them and if you recognise anyone then you or Irene just call me okay? I'm in my office. I'll check back in half an hour"
Aisling nodded and took the first photo album and turning the first page, started to look at the pictures.
Charlie sat down at her desk, rubbing her temples. She was already tired and the day had barely even started yet. It was going to be a very long day. She just hoped that lunch time would come soon so she could see Joey, she really missed her. She looked at her mobile and saw she had received another text from Joey.
'Hi C... still missing you like crazy... 2 hours seems like an eternity... xoxo J.'
Charlie smiled. Every time she got a text from Joey, or even just thought about her, she got this tingling feeling of happiness inside that she hadn't felt in a very long time. She missed her terribly and the thought of not seeing her very much because of the case frustrated her a lot. Sighing, she hit the reply button.
'Hi sweetie... I miss u 2... and 2 hours does seem like a long time... I'll try to see if I can get out of here sooner for our lunch date... if you're okay with it?... xoxo C.'
She had barely put the mobile down before she got a reply.
'Hi C... that would be lovely... cause I don't think I can wait 2 hours to see u... just let me know when and I'll be there.... xoxo J'
Happy and with a smile extending from ear to ear at the thought of seeing Joey sooner, she quickly replied.
'Sure thing... I'll let u know... miss u... xoxo C'
Half an hour later Charlie had read through some of the case files piling up on her desk. She looked at her watch and walked back to the interview room. As she walked in, she noticed that Aisling wasn't looking at the pictures anymore and sat talking to Irene.
"Hi again guys, so any luck?" she asked looking at Aisling while sitting back down in front of her.
Aisling shook her head. "No, sorry, I've been looking through all of the photos and they aren't in the albums"
Charlie sighed, she had hoped that Aisling would have recognised someone, at the moment she was the best, well, only lead to the case."Okay, are you absolutely sure Aisling?"
"Yes, I'm one hundred percent certain that the guys are not in the albums" Aisling said pushing the albums back to Charlie.
"Okay. Well thanks for your help Aisling and if you think of anything then don't hesitate to call me okay? Now let me show you guys out" Charlie said taking the albums in her hands and rising to show them out.
"Well the thing is, I've just been talking with Irene and the thing is that I'm pretty good at painting and drawing and I could make a sketch of the guys for you if that would help" Aisling said quietly, not sure what Charlie would think of the idea.
Charlie looked from Aisling to Irene. Irene just sat smiling and nodded "Charlie, she is a brilliant painter. I've seen some of her work and it would be just as good as a photo"
Charlie looked back to Aisling "Are you sure?"
Aisling smiled "Yes I'm sure and I really want you to find these guys so they don't hassle anybody else"
"Okay this would be a big help to us. What do you need to do it?" Charlie asked excitedly, still not believing that she might be getting their first official break in the case now. She couldn't tell her superior and colleagues that she knew who the killer was and how she knew. She wouldn't do that to Joey.
"Well I need some paper, pencils, an eraser and a little time" Aisling said simply.
Charlie smiled "Of course, I'll get it for you right away and you can stay in here as long as you like" She turned and walked out, calling for Watson to get her to find what Aisling needed.
Forty-five minutes later Charlie had talked to Watson about the missing bodies' case and read through the reports on her desk. One of the reports gave her an eerie feeling. A young couple had been reported missing, they had gone out for a moonlight walk last night and never returned. She couldn't help thinking that it was perhaps related to the case, but a couple didn't fit the profile and no bodies had been found. She hoped that for once her intuition would be wrong.
She heard a knock on the door just as she closed the last case file "Come in" she yelled.
The door opened and Irene popped her head through the door. "Charlie love. Aisling is finished with the sketches now, they are really good if you ask me, even though I haven't seen the guys myself."
"Ok let's go look at them" she replied, standing up walking towards Irene.
In the interview room Aisling sat quietly looking at her two drawings laid out on the table in front of her. She felt really satisfied with the result herself. She hoped they could help Charlie find the guys so they couldn't harass any more people.
Charlie came in with Irene behind her. She looked at the sketches laid out on the table in front of Aisling and she was really impressed. Aisling had managed to get so many details into the drawings that they almost looked like photos. "Wow Aisling you are really good. These sketches are really good, it's almost like looking at a photo"
Aisling blushed at the praise, she wasn't used to getting praised for her work like that. "Well... ehhh... they are alright, considering the time I've spent on them" She said trying to sound modest.
"No Aisling they are really good. I haven't seen the guys myself but these sketches look so real" Charlie said holding the sketches up in her hands.
"Thank you so much for your help Aisling. If you think of anything else or just need to talk then feel free to contact me okay? Irene's got my number" Charlie said smiling at Aisling.
Aisling rose from her chair, smiling back at Charlie "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind"
Charlie followed them out of the station, thanking them for coming, before turning back to work. She went into her office to start a case file and write about Aisling's statement. But she couldn't concentrate; she kept looking at the sketches. She needed to know if these were the same guys that Joey had told her about. She stood up and went to make a photocopy of the sketches before going back to pick up her jacket, hat, keys and mobile. She told Watson that she was going for lunch and then following up on a lead, before walking out to her car, texting Joey as she went.