And here is your final extra update of the day. I had one of the best days of my life yesterday. I made some real progress with my disability and while I can't even begin to describe how overwhelmed I am, I thought I'd express my joy by posting a celebratory chapter! I hope you enjoy it. It's all about justice... Love, IJKS xx

Chapter Twenty-One

It was the end of the week. All the evidence had been heard and now the jury had retired to consider their verdict. Charlie, Joey and Eve all sat in a line in the corridor feeling tense. Joey tapped her feet impatiently and felt like her heart was going to explode from sheer anxiety.

"Let's go to the cafe," Charlie finally said, leaping to her feet.

Joey looked unsure but reached out and gave Charlie her hand anyway, allowing her to pull her up. Eve stood too, deciding that eating was a good idea. Joey retained hold of Charlie's hand as the police officer led the way to the second floor of the court.

Angelo sat opposite Ken and attempted to explain his side of the story.

"So, if it wasn't your fault, how did police property end up broken and my Leading Senior Constable injured?" Ken asked.

Angelo sighed heavily.

"We had an argument," he said. "You know what Charlie's like..."

"No," Ken said. "What's Charlie like?"

"Argumentative."

"Is this to do with the leave she requested this week?"

"Sort of," Angelo said. "Ken, she's undermining me at every turn. Ever since we broke up..."

"You've been letting your personal life interfere with work?" Ken challenged.

"She has," Angelo said. "I'm just trying to get on with the job."

"Then why did you deny her leave? On paper, there was no reason why she couldn't get the time off. It's not like we don't owe her about a year's worth of overtime."

"It wasn't convenient," Angelo lied.

He'd denied it purely to be vindictive.

"Regardless," Ken said. "How she end up underneath a desk? Because I've got witnesses saying that you attacked her."

"I didn't," Angelo lied.

"In fact," Ken said, sitting up. "I've been look at your file for most of this week and it looks to me like you've been dishonest, unethical and eager to cut corners ever since you came back to Summer Bay."

Charlie, Joey and Eve sat at a corner table. Joey was playing with, rather than eating, a sandwich. Charlie studied her face and wished she could just click her fingers and make everything better. Still, at least the jury might do that instead. It had been a long time coming for Joey to finally be free of Robbo and everything he had done to her.

"So, Charlie, have you lived here long?" Eve asked, opting to distract Joey with at least listening to conversation if she wasn't capable of speaking.

"A couple of years," Charlie said. "I moved over from the city. But I like it here. I think I'll be sticking around for a while. How about you?"

"I'm born and raised," Eve said. "Although I went travelling for a few years. Came back home three years ago."

"And do you guys work together?" Charlie asked.

Joey nodded. Eve grinned.

"She's my boss!"

"I bet she's a good boss," Charlie said, gazing at Joey adoringly.

Joey blushed and sipped her juice.

"She is," Eve confirmed. "And she's been super happy and easy going for the last couple of weeks!"

Joey looked and felt like she wanted the world to swallow her up. She glared at her friend who smiled back at her.

"It's true!" Eve said.

"Shut up!" Joey hissed.

Charlie watched and smiled, not quite daring to hope that it was her who had been making Joey happy. She desperately wanted to make her happy.

"Tell me about Hugo Austin's escape," Ken instructed.

Angelo blanched.

"Why?" he asked. "It all went down in my report. You know what happened."

"Do I?" Ken asked. "Because honestly, it all strikes me as a little bit suspicious. You were right there and yet somehow, Hugo and Martha managed to disappear, never to be seen again. Does that make sense to you?"

"I gave chase, Sir," Angelo lied. "But they outran me. They already had a getaway plan. I couldn't help it."

"And what's this about stalking Charlie?"

"Excuse me?" Angelo squeaked.

"I've got a report here that says you were found climbing a tree several months ago in order to spy on her."

"Fucking bitch!" Angelo snapped angrily, picturing Charlie and hating her.

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry," Angelo said. "She just... I swear she's out to get me, Sir. She's making up lies."

"Is her therapist making up lies too?" Ken asked. "Because she gave me his number and he confirmed what had happened on the phone. He said you lied about who you were, bought a boat from him and attempted to befriend him on false pretences in order to find out about his relationship with Charlie."

Angelo swallowed and took several breaths.

"It wasn't like that," he said.

"And you've been publically criticising her to various locals," Ken continued. "Do you really think slander is befitting for a Sergeant?"

"It's not slander if it's true," Angelo said darkly.

"Look, this is the way I see it. You killed Jack Holden."

Angelo opened his mouth to object but Ken cut him off.

"You cut a deal to get out of paying for that. Call it making up for what you did or whatever you want but you escaped prison and that's not something a civilian would ever be able to do. You returned to the police force on the basis of lies. You contributed to bringing down this human trafficking ring but you were far from the hero of the piece. You made a great many mistakes and even assaulted Hugo Austin on the course of your quest. You've brought your personal life into work with Charlie and now, quite frankly, it looks like you're embarking on some kind of vendetta against her. You've essentially assaulted her, you've followed her, you've made life at work hard for her. You've damaged police property. And I have no doubt that there is more to this escape story with Martha and Hugo than you're letting on."

Angelo stared at him, wondering where all of this was going, although he doubted it was somewhere good.

"The long and the short of it, Angelo, is that I don't trust you. And I don't want a Sergeant on my team that I don't trust. I'm launching an official investigation into every single thing you've done since you returned to work last year. And if I find all the evidence I think I'm going to find about your less than honest actions, you're fired."

Joey took a deep breath as her lawyer led her into the room that had been her home away from home all week. The jury were back and ready to tell everyone whether Robbo was to remain in jail or be set free. Charlie and Eve sat on either side of her, waiting with baited breath. Now was the moment that Joey's life would change for better or worse.