First thing the next morning, Joey stops by the diner before work. Ignoring the stares from the other customers, Joey walks up to the counter, "Can I have a coffee and slice, please."
"Sorry, we're all out."
"Excuse me," Joey asks, not quite sure she had heard right.
"We're all out of coffee and slice."
Joey glances at the shelves of food in front of her, "Looks like there's more than enough."
"Const. Risotto and Sgt Buckton are a wonderful couple, they don't deserve to be treated like murder suspects."
"They are murder suspects."
"And we're out of coffee and slice."
"Are you refusing me service?"
"I can't serve you if we have no coffee or slice."
"What is your name?"
"Colleen Smart."
"Well, Colleen, I'd like to speak to the manager."
"She's out."
"I'll be back later then."
"We still won't have any coffee or slice; not for you." Colleen leans closer to her over the counter. "This is a small town Detective, we don't like it when people come in here and try to cause trouble."
"I'm not here to cause trouble, Colleen, I'm just here to find out who murdered yet another police officer." Joey smiles at her, "Do you have a problem with me bringing the person or persons responsible for that to justice?"
"Of course not, I have a problem with you accusing Const. Risotto and Sgt Buckton."
"Really, and why is that?"
"Const. Risotto and Sgt Buckton are lovely people; there is no way they would ever hurt anybody."
"Tell that to Jack Holden," Joey says quite loudly, "Oh, that's right, you can't, because that lovely fella Risotto killed him; you can't get more hurt than dead, can you."
"I'd like you to leave."
"A word of advice Colleen, don't get in my way." Joey holds her hand and fingers like a gun at Colleen, "I wouldn't want you to get caught in the crossfire when I bring your lovely couple down." Feeling a little better for wiping that smile from her face, Joey gives Colleen a slight nod of her head and leaves the diner, taking note of the whispers that followed her every step.
Leaving the diner, she sees Angelo and Charlie walking towards her, holding hands.
"Detective Collins, lovely morning, isn't it?" Angelo smirks at her as they walk past her.
"Fuck off arsehole," she says, not even bothering to keep her voice down.
Joey hadn't gone very far when an angry shout comes from behind her. "Hey, you!"
"What the fuck is it about this place," Joey mutters, turning and finding herself confronted by a teenage girl.
"Why don't you lay off my mum!"
Joey tries to keep the smile off her face as the girl stands toe to toe with her, glaring up at her. "You must be Ruby."
"My mum is one of the most honest cops there is, how can you even think she would have killed Trevor."
"Easy, she and your step-daddy had a reason to want him dead."
"Angelo is not my step-father."
"Yet." Noticing the narrowing of Ruby's eyes at the mention of Angelo as her step-father, Joey files that away for future use. "Look Ruby, I'm only here to do my job."
"Well you suck at it," turning on her heel, Ruby storms away, leaving Joey chuckling. "The kid has spunk, I'll give her that; too bad her mother has none."
"Joey, who was that," Graves asks as she comes strolling up to her.
"Wow, this town really is small."
"What?"
"Never mind. That," nodding her head towards Ruby, "was Buckton's kid."
"No wonder she looked like she wanted to deck you."
"She certainly has guts, that's for sure." A certain aroma grabs Joey's attention as she notices the cup in Graves' hand. "Where did you get that coffee?"
"From the diner," she informs Joey as she takes a long sip.
"You actually got served?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I?"
"Because when I tried to order, there was no coffee."
"I guess your reputation has preceded you and mine hasn't." A slight tilt of her head tells Graves that Joey doesn't believe her. "Ok, so I just happened to order at the same time as Buckton and I guess the old bat wasn't game to refuse my order in front of her."
"I'm really starting to hate this town."
"I'm not overly fond of the place myself, what with all the whispers and stares."
"So why are you here and not at the station like you always are?"
"Turn your mobile on and you'll find quite a few personal messages."
Taking out her phone, Joey flips it open, cursing when she sees the battery is flat. "Damn, I'll have to call from the station."
Charlie pauses outside the partly open door as she hears Joey speaking to someone. "I love you too. I'll be home soon, I promise." Joey hangs up as she notices Charlie hovering. Realising it was too late to pretend she hadn't heard part of the call, without waiting for permission, Charlie walks into the room and sits down opposite her, "Hubby missing you?" she indicates toward the phone.
"My private life is none of your business, Sergeant."
"But mine is?"
"You're a suspect in a murder investigation; every part of your life is my business, now what do you want," Joey asks impatiently.
"Manners really aren't your strong suit, are they?"
"That's a good one coming from you; eavesdropping and then coming in without even knocking."
"The door was open."
"Get to the point Sergeant, I have murderers to put behind bars," her stare reminding Charlie exactly what she thought of her. "Well Sergeant?"
"Your rudeness."
"Excuse me?"
"This morning, outside the diner, you were extremely rude to Angelo when he was just being nice to you."
Joey bursts out laughing, "You have got to be kidding." Noticing how her response had infuriated Charlie nearly makes Joey laugh again. "Are you here as a Sergeant or to fight your fiancé's battles, because need I remind you, the two of you were off duty at the time."
"There is no excuse for that sort of behaviour Detective, whether Angelo and I were on duty or not." Charlie stares back at her, "I want you to apologise to Angelo."
"No fucking way," Joey says as she sits back in her chair, looking very much at home and relaxed.
"You really are one of the rudest, most insufferable women I have ever had the displeasure of meeting."
"Why thank you Sergeant." Grinning nonchalantly at her, "Now I can see where your daughter gets some of her spark from."
"My daughter?" Charlie asks confused before she realises the detective has been speaking with her. Standing up angrily, Charlie leans on the desk, "Stay the hell away from my daughter."
"Yep, definite family resemblance there," Joey says, not in the least bit concerned at Charlie's threatening posture. "You can relax Sergeant, Ruby came to see me."
"Why would she do that?"
"Because she loves you and wanted me to know that I suck at my job."
Charlie's lips twitch, feeling a sense of pride in her daughter for standing up to her. "Just so we're clear Detective, my daughter is off limits unless I am there by her side."
"I have no reason to interview your daughter at this time."
Charlie relaxes her pose as she stands up straight, "So I take it you won't apologise for your behaviour this morning?"
"I have nothing to apologise for."
Charlie stares at her for a moment longer, "Detective, I don't want to keep having to come in here to speak to you about your behaviour."
"I am who I am Sergeant, if you don't like that or can't handle it, that's not my problem, now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do," dismissing Charlie with a wave of her hand, she puts her head down over the pages in front of her, ignoring Charlie completely. Biting her tongue, Charlie storms out of the office, slamming the door behind her. "I really am going to have to do something about that door," Joey mutters as she goes back to her work.