Angelo leans against the car, cursing as each of the dead girls is loaded into the ambulances. "What a fucking waste," he grumbles as he relives the previous night.
FLASHBACK
Angelo, Derrick and Martha board the boat, eyeing the two nervous crewmen and woman warily. Martha walks over to them, staring them in the eye. "Where's the merchandise?"
"It wasn't our fault," the Captain says, his voice shaking with fear.
"What wasn't?" Martha asks angrily.
"There was a problem with the engine and the fumes got into their compartment."
Martha feels her blood boiling in fury, "Please don't tell me that the merchandise is dead."
"It wasn't our fault," he pleads, falling to his knees.
"I'm surrounded by fucking idiots." Martha pulls out her gun and hands it to Angelo, "Get rid of them while I check below and don't forget to get the bullets out." Martha hears two gunshots as she reaches the secret compartment below, waiting for the third, she curses when it doesn't come. "Can't fucking take them anywhere," she mutters when she realises what they must be doing to the woman. Checking the bodies for anything which could identify them or where they came from, finding nothing she then searches the crewmen's possessions for any evidence that could lead back to her. Rejoining the others up top, she stands there watching Angelo and Derrick rape the woman, her pathetic whimpering annoying Martha. "Hurry up, we don't have all fucking night."
Angelo increases his thrusts, "I'm nearly there Martha," he pants.
"No, you're done." Grabbing the gun from where he had carelessly left it on the deck, Derrick barely has time to pull out of her mouth before Martha shoots her in the head, Angelo jumping back in shock. "You're done Angelo."
"Jesus fucking Christ Martha!" Angelo pulls his pants up, "You could have fucking waited until we were done you crazy bitch."
"We were here to pick up the merchandise not for you to get your cheap thrills." Staring at Derrick and then at the woman's mouth, Martha's lip curls in disgust. "You stupid fuck," raising the gun and shooting him, spraying Angelo with blood and brain matter.
"Fuck Martha, why the hell did you kill him?"
"Because the stupid fucker didn't use a condom; his DNA is in her mouth. You're just damn lucky that you did or you'd be joining him."
"We could have just taken her with us."
"She was useless to us. Now dig out the bullets and toss their bodies overboard, the sharks should take care of them."
"What about the merchandise?"
"It'll take too long to drag them up here and toss them overboard; besides, there's no way to identify them and there's no one to miss them."
"You still didn't have to kill him," Angelo says, feeling some sadness at his friend's death.
"If he fucked up this time, he would have fucked up again and I wasn't going to take that risk." Martha waves the gun in front of him, "Remember that Angelo, the next time you ignore my orders." Angelo swallows hard, scared by the coldness in her eyes. "Strip your clothes off and pour bleach on them before you toss them overboard."
"What am I supposed to wear home?"
"Hugo has some clothes on his boat."
"I'm not wearing that fag's clothes."
"Then go home naked for all I care." Martha heads back to Hugo's boat, grateful they had left him out of the loop on this one. Pausing to glance back, "Fuck, this is going to cost us big time."
BACK TO PRESENT
Angelo sighs in annoyance at the money they'd lost from having to cancel the next auction because the little bitches had died and it was too late to replace them.
"Hey Rosey, don't forget to clean my clothes before you hand them back," Hugo says as he strolls past, "I hate to think where you've been."
"Fuck you Austin."
"I told you before Rosey, I have my standards," he laughs as he leaves Angelo fuming.
"What do you think killed them?" Charlie asks the M.E.
"At a guess, I'd say carbon monoxide poisoning, but you'll have to wait until I've completed the autopsies to be sure."
"How long?"
"I know you want to catch these people Sergeant, but there's 7 bodies to autopsy; it's going to take a few days."
Listening to the M.E., Watson frowns when she sees the backs of Charlie and Joey's hands touching because they were standing so close to each other, though neither woman showed any sign of noticing. Already curious about the sudden use of first names, Watson can't help feeling uneasy that something was going on, especially as she'd seen her sister holding Charlie's hand on the boat earlier. Shaking her head, Watson dismisses the thought, putting it down to both women being upset by the deaths of seven young girls, knowing it would be some time before she herself could forget what she saw in that small compartment.
"I'll get the reports to you as quickly as I can Sergeant."
"Thanks Doc." Charlie glances around them, finding the docks eerily quiet with the ambulances and most of the other officers gone.
"Charlie, why don't you go home, I'll finish up here," Watson offers.
"Thanks Georgina, I really want to go home and hug my daughter right now. Joey, do you want a lift back?"
"I'm going to stay and help Georgie."
"Oh," Charlie says, trying to mask her disappointment.
"I think your fiancé is getting impatient."
"Huh?" Joey points behind Charlie, who finally remembers that Angelo was still waiting for her. "Oh, right. I'll see you guys tomorrow."
"Joey, what's going on?" Watson asks once Charlie had joined Angelo at the car, her unease renewed by Charlie's behaviour.
"Georgie, you're always at me to be nice, I'm being nice."
"Just make sure that's all it is. Now let's finish here so we can go."
Walking into the station, Ruby moans when she sees it's Angelo at the counter. "Hey Ruby, you here to see your mum or me?" Angelo asks, his smile not actually reaching his eyes.
"Actually, I'm here to see Joey."
"This is a police station Ruby, you can't just come in here and ask to see someone."
"But."
"No buts Ruby, now go home."
"But."
"Ruby, the detective is busy and doesn't wish to be disturbed."
"If it's all the same Constable," Angelo winces at the voice right behind him, narrowing his eyes at Ruby's smile, "I can speak for myself."
"I'm sorry Detective, I didn't want Ruby bothering you."
"I don't see Ruby as a bother, Constable," Joey says, her tone implying that he did. "And I was expecting her. Come on in Ruby."
Ruby pokes her tongue out at Angelo as she walks by the counter. "Keep it up you little bitch and you may find yourself earning a living on your back," he mutters to himself.
"Ruby, what are you doing out of school?" Charlie asks when Ruby nearly knocks her over coming out of Joey's office.
"It's my free period and Joey was helping me with my assignment."
"I thought you'd already interviewed enough officers."
"You, Hogan and Watson are all uniform cops and I just thought that since Joey's a detective, I could get a different perspective. And don't worry mum, I called her to ask if it was ok."
"I hoped you thanked her for her time."
Ruby rolls her eyes, "Of course I did mum."
"Well, seeing that you're here, why don't we go for lunch and then I'll drop you back at school."
"Can Joey come?"
"I don't know Ruby," Charlie says hesitantly.
"Come on mum, I still have a few questions to ask her."
Unable to come up with a plausible excuse, Charlie now waits by her car while Ruby asks Joey, privately hoping that she says no; unsure how she was going to handle sitting down to a meal with Joey when being around her makes her feel both comfortable and uncomfortable. Charlie rubs her thumb over her hand, imagining she could still feel Joey's strong, comforting hand on hers. "Fuck, I'm screwed," she mutters, wishing she didn't have these feelings because she knew that nothing could ever come of them.
Charlie smiles as she watches the two across from her, amazed once again by how different Joey could be as she gamely faced the constant barrage of questions Ruby was firing at her.
"So Joey, tell me about your husband, what's he like, what does he do, what does he think of you being away all the time?" Ruby continues firing the questions, not even giving Joey time to answer, for which Charlie was grateful; the one thing she didn't want to hear about was Joey's husband, for that just reinforced how inappropriate her feelings for her were.
"Looks like you guys are having fun." Martha's arrival startles Charlie out of her thoughts.
"Martha," Charlie says, surprised her step-sister had actually stopped to say something to her.
"Hello Joey," Martha smiles seductively at her.
"Martha."
Charlie stares at Joey and then Martha, hating the way Martha looked like she wanted to eat Joey, "You two know each other?"
"Yes, Joey and I had a lovely chat the other night, didn't we?" Martha says, resting her hand on Joey's shoulder.
Ruby looks at her mother with interest when she notices her sudden stillness and the way she was glaring at Martha with what Ruby thought was jealousy, before quickly dismissing that as just her imagination.
"It was quite enjoyable," Joey says, trying to be non-committal because of their company.
"Maybe I'll see you at the club tonight," Martha suggests as she runs her hand across Joey's shoulder as she walks away.
"Stay away from her Joey," Charlie blurts out aggressively, surprising them all and peaking Ruby's curiosity even more. Charlie takes a deep breath, "Sorry, it's just that my step-sister is trouble."
Joey grins, "So am I. Don't worry Charlie, I can take care of myself." Ruby looks between them, suddenly realising that they were on a first name basis.
Ruby spends the rest of their lunch watching her mother closely, noting that once she had relaxed again, her eyes never left Joey and that when she smiled, her eyes sparkled too, much like the night when she and Joey had stood up to her grandfather. Glancing between the two women, Ruby's unable to read Joey, but her mother's feelings were obvious, at least to her. "No way!"
"What is it Ruby?" Charlie asks, curious about her daughter's outburst.
Ruby cringes when she realises she'd said it aloud. "Oh nothing really, it was just that, um, that girl was wearing the jacket that I wanted," Ruby says rather lamely. "I need to be getting back to school."
"I'll drop you off."
"It's ok mum, I'll just walk to school."
"Just make sure you actually get there."
"Yes, mum," rolling her eyes, Ruby hugs her before giving Joey a hug too. "Thanks for helping with the assignment Joey."
"Just make sure I don't come across as some crazy, hard-arsed, work obsessed loser."
"Of course not, you're nothing like mum," Ruby says cheekily, making sure she was out of her mother's reach.
"Ruby, school, now," smiling with affection at her daughter.
"She get her sense of humour from her father?" Joey jokes.
"Oh no, that's just Ruby. I hope she's not becoming too much of a bother."
"Nah, she's a great kid and she makes a nice change of conversation than just talking to cops."
"You're really good with her."
"That surprises you?"
"Before I would have said yes, but after finding out about," Charlie shrugs, not sure how to speak about Harley without actually saying her name or that Joey had a daughter.
"I get it," grateful for Charlie for keeping her secret.
"Well thanks for bringing a smile to her face, I wasn't sure after everything that happened to her and then May."
"She's a strong kid, much like her mother."
"I'm not strong, I can't stop seeing those poor girls."
Joey reaches across the table, taking her hand, "That doesn't make you weak Charlie. I had trouble sleeping last night and from the tossing and turning I heard from Georgie's room, I'd say she had trouble too."
Charlie squeezes Joey's hand in thanks. "I suppose we should be heading back."
"FUCK!" Joey and Charlie both turn when they hear the loud swearing and crash of plates.
"Is that a new look?" Joey quips as Angelo picks the lasagne off his uniform, the poor waiter running inside for something to clean the mess up.
"What the hell are you doing here Angelo?" demands Charlie, furious at him.
"I think that's fairly obvious Charlie," Joey says, looking at the large window behind him, "He was spying on us."
"I was not you stupid bitch."
"Angelo, that's enough. Now go home and clean yourself up, we'll talk later."
"Charlie."
"Angelo, go home, your uniform is a disgrace." Without waiting for a reply, Charlie walks away.
"You missed a bit," Joey points to a large glob of cheese sliding down his face, chuckling as she follows after Charlie.