Keeping her eyes closed, Charlie snuggles closer to the comforting warmth of Joey beneath her head, frowning when she feels a weight pressed against her back. She raises her head, finding Joey's eyes on her. "Ruby had a nightmare that you were murdered," whispers Joey. "She just needed the comfort of knowing you were ok to get to sleep."

"I didn't even hear her come in."

"Considering the ordeal you went through yesterday, it's not surprising you slept so heavily. Go back to sleep."

Her eyelids still feeling heavy, Charlie closes her eyes, the soothing beat of Joey's heart beneath her head bringing sleep quickly.

Waking a few hours later, Charlie notices straight away that she was now alone in bed with Joey. Opening her eyes a crack, she grins at the sight in front of her. Raising her head, she has a quick look to see that Joey was still sleeping. Keeping her touch light, she gives a soft tug on Joey's top, further exposing the breast that had been in her line of sight.

Joey wakes up to a pleasant tingling sensation. Looking down, she finds Charlie smiling up at her as she sucks the nipple into her mouth. "Jesus Charlie," she moans, gasping when she feels Charlie's teeth lightly graze her nipple.

Grinning, Charlie moves her attention to Joey's mouth, their lips meeting in a long, languid kiss that left both gasping for breath when they were finally forced to break.

"Your lip," Joey murmurs.

"Is fine." She runs her hand gently down Joey's cheek. "Make love to me Joey."

"Are you sure?"

"It feels right this morning."

Joey grins, flipping Charlie onto her back and moving over her. "Charlie, are you sure you're ready?"

"Yes, damn it," her impatience making Joey chuckle.

Leaning down, she brushes her lips over Charlie's, lingering a little longer the next time before pulling her head back. "I just thought of something."

"Now!" Charlie stares at her incredulously.

"My door doesn't have a lock."

"Then they're going to get an eyeful if they barge in," she cups her hand around the back of Joey's neck, "Now shut up and make love to me." She curses when Joey resists having her head pulled down.

Joey smiles down at her gently, "We do this my way Charlie. Slow," she kisses her softly, "Tender," the trail of her feather light kisses as she moves downward, driving Charlie wild "and with love." Charlie groans when she feels her nipple disappear into Joey's mouth.

Charlie closes her eyes, her body revelling in Joey's tender ministrations, marvelling at how much love and tenderness Joey put into each stroke and kiss on her breasts, amazed at the feelings such tenderness elicited. Her eyes fly open in surprise when the incredible sensations and emotions become too much, her back arching as she climaxes without Joey having entered her.

"Oh god," she groans, collapsing back onto the bed as Joey's mouth finds hers again. She moans against the tenderness of Joey's lips on hers, their lips the only contact as Joey moves her weight off her.

Joey continues to kiss her gently, her hand making light patterns across Charlie's skin. Feeling that Charlie was completely relaxed, she slowly moved her hand downwards, her hand pausing over Charlie's sex when she feels her flinch against her touch.

"Charlie?" She asks for permission to continue.

Charlie gazes into the soulful brown eyes, her brief fear at the memories of yesterday lost as she drowns in the love she sees there. "It's ok now Joey, I want you inside me."

Keeping her gaze on Charlie's, Joey enters her slowly, relaxing when Charlie closes her eyes and starts to raise her hips against her hand. Capturing Charlie's mouth again, she keeps her thrusts gentle, bringing Charlie again and again before she cries out one last time.

"Enough," she pleads, her chest heaving hard as she tries to catch her breath.

"How are you feeling?" Joey asks softly.

Rolling so she could snuggle against Joey, she sighs contentedly as a blissful tiredness washes over her. "Like I'm the most loved person in the world," she says dreamily. "Being with you feels so natural and right, as if this is where I was always meant to be."

"I feel the same way."

"I suppose we really should be getting ready for work though."

"No, you're going to get some more rest, then we're going to have some breakfast, then we're going to shower and then we are staying home."

"Is that an order?"

"Yes. Charlie, you're taking the day off."

"I can't just sit at home."

"You can't be involved in the investigation and we can go for a walk later if you want, but we are going nowhere near the station today."

"Then can we just stay in bed?"

"If that's what you want."

"And can you tell me what you know?"

"Everything I am able to tell you."

"Ok then, I'm just going to rest my eyes for a minute."

Joey smirks when she hears the gentle breathing that indicated she was asleep.

A couple of hours later, Charlie rolls onto her back, stretching, her body still feeling the after affects of their lovemaking. She smiles when Joey enters with a tray, the aroma of coffee making her mouth water. "Oh god, coffee, please," she sits up, holding her hand out.

Chuckling at her desperation, Joey hands the mug to her.

Sighing happily after the first sip, she smiles wryly. "Sorry, this is probably the latest I've ever had my morning coffee."

"It's not that far from noon."

"You're kidding!"

"I guess I'm just so damn good," she teases, climbing onto the bed beside her.

"And up yourself."

Joey brushes her lips over Charlie's. "You were the one begging me to stop."

"I concede to your expertise." Their lips meeting in a slow kiss. "God, if we're not careful, it'll start all over again," Charlie murmurs.

"And that's a bad thing?"

"I can barely walk now," Charlie jokes.

"Again I ask, is that a bad thing?"

"You're not going to distract me Joey."

Joey sighs, settling back against the headboard. "First though, I've been on the phone to Georgie and Graves while you slept; the autopsies are back in on both bodies. O'Malley was killed the day he was last seen. He was dead before he went into the water and the M.E. believes the blunt force trauma was inconsistent with rocks, but because there was so much other damage caused by the fall, a good attorney could argue he had hit a rock on the way down and that's what killed him before he hit the water."

"Shit."

"He's ruling it inconclusive at the moment."

"Shit."

"There is some good news though. O'Malley's sister was found at a friend's place. She lied because she was scared. Rosetta had turned up on her doorstep and told her what he would do to her if she didn't do as she was told." She paused. "And then he demonstrated by tearing her clothes off and threatening to rape her."

Charlie squeezes her eyes shut. "Is she prepared to make a statement?"

"He was a cop here, so she refuses to come back, but she gave the officers where she was a statement. She also gave them an affidavit that her brother had left in her safe keeping should something happen to him."

"What sort of affidavit?"

"It was dated the day after Moreland's murder. Rosetta had found out about O'Malley's gambling debts and offered to help him out. They were friends, so he accepted, then before he knew it, Rosetta was calling in a favour, then another and then another."

"What sort of favours?"

"He covered for Rosetta on shift when he needed to be elsewhere."

"Like the night Trevor was killed," she guesses.

"He dropped Rosetta off just down the road from where the murder took place. When the call came in later, he realised what Rosetta had done."

"I don't suppose he saw anyone else there?"

"No."

"Who is working with Angelo, Joey?"

She takes a breath before revealing the name. Rather than be shocked that Martha was involved, Charlie just shakes her head, willing to believe her sister was capable of anything. "We still don't know who pulled the trigger."

"If we can place Martha there with him, they both go down for murder. O'Malley also mentioned his suspicions that Jack Holden's death wasn't an accident."

She looks at Joey, "You always suspected that it was deliberate, why?"

"That's one of the things I can't go into just yet, but with the affidavit and the sister's statement, we can still try to prove O'Malley was murdered, despite the inconclusive autopsy."

"What about Annie?" closing her eyes as she says the name, still unable to believe that she had met such a grisly end.

"Charlie?"

She shakes her head. "Sorry, I was just thinking of Annie. She was never friends with Ruby but I still saw her around town all the time so it's still a shock."

"Unfortunately there are some sick bastards around. The M.E. can't place her death accurately, only that it was sometime in the last couple of months. She had been badly beaten and raped."

Charlie looks away as Joey continues.

"She died of asphyxiation, most likely due to a pillow or something being held over her face. Semen was found on her body but it was too degraded to get DNA, however," Charlie looks back at her with interest, "the M.E. found some still viable DNA inside her, but so far there's no match."

"Fuck."

"We just need a suspect and then we can link him to her murder. There was also evidence of long term abuse."

"Oh god," Charlie brushes away a tear. "All this time I expected her to either have been dead or run off with some guy, but not this."

"No one ever wants to think that this could happen Charlie."

"Where do you think she's been all this time?"

"Charlie, this is still an ongoing investigation, so I can only tell you what I'm able to."

Charlie listens with growing horror as Joey reveals the extent of their crimes. When Joey finally stops, Charlie takes a moment to recover from hearing the sordid details, memories of the dead girls on board the Maru, the death of the crewwoman and the lost crew flashing through her mind.

"How could anyone use underage girls as prostitutes," she shakes her head in disgust and disbelief as she thinks of all the other girls like Annie.

"We know they keep some around to use as prostitutes in brothels, but others are sold to individual buyers or groups for their own use."

"Oh god," Charlie covers her mouth, feeling nauseous.

"Do you want me to stop?"

Charlie shakes her head.

"We also suspect that they provide the girls for an online porn site, or more likely, they film the girls and then sell the videos to the sites."

"Can't they shut it down?"

"It's not that easy Charlie. The people behind these sites cover their tracks, make it hard to locate where the site is even originating from and by the time it's found, it's gone and another site starts up somewhere else."

"Was Annie featured in any?" She asks in a soft voice.

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Do you think Angelo did that to Annie?"

"I don't know if he actually killed her but if she was a part of the ring, then he and Martha are just as responsible for her death."

Charlie closes her eyes, taking a deep breath. Opening her eyes, she looks at Joey. "And Martha really drugged you?"

"We thought she'd try something with one of us and I didn't want Graves in that position, so I made sure I was the one who was seen out and alone. And the second time was part bad judgement on my part and part believing I could get something out of her, but that was never going to happen."

Charlie leans over, pressing her lips against Joey's.

"What was that for?"

"Being forced to sleep with that bitch and for nearly losing you."

"I don't blame you for being jealous after Martha blurted it out like she did. I just wish I could have told you the truth earlier."

"I understand the position you've been in Joey."

"I still hated keeping it from you."

"It's ok Joey. So if they blackmail people who can be a benefit to them, is there anyone local that I should know about?"

"There is one council member who we know has been blackmailed into approving planning permits."

"What about my officers?"

"O'Malley, Moreland."

"Trevor!" Charlie cries out in shock.

"He was dirty Charlie."

"OMG, I just remembered something that Angelo told me, only I didn't think he was serious. Just after you'd interviewed us, he said that if any cop was dirty, it was Trevor and he thought you'd just made up the bit about a notebook."

"The notebook is real. It was a record of payoffs Moreland had received. Unfortunately, he only listed dates, times and amounts, no names. He did however list cops he thought were in on it as well. I think in the end though, he was seeing things that weren't there because we've actually cleared most of those who were listed."

"Do you think that's why he was killed?"

"He kept the record for some reason, maybe he tried to blackmail them or they were scared he was going to blab."

"I was on the list, wasn't I?"

Joey nods, "And my sister."

"I suppose being engaged to Angelo made me suspicious, but suspecting Georgie is absolutely ridiculous. And the others?"

"They will be picked up the moment Rosetta and Martha are arrested."

"I don't like the idea of knowing there are corrupt cops in my station."

"Neither do I. Cops like Angelo and the others are the enemy in our midst, their actions endanger us all and all that we believe in."

"When you first arrived, I thought you were the enemy, yet here I am," she leans over, her lips finding Joey's again. "Completely and utterly in love with you."

"I certainly never expected to find love when I came here."

"Joey, there is one thing I really want to know. How do you even know all this?" Joey just shakes her head. "And you can't tell me any more than that, can you?" Joey shakes her head again. "Not even how you got Trevor's notebook?"

Joey smiles, "You can keep asking but until the arrests are made, I really can't give you any more details."

"Fair enough. It's going to drive me nuts, but I understand."

"You do understand why I kept my knowledge of Martha and Rosetta from you, don't you?"

"I know that it's necessary to keep some investigations under wraps, even from other cops and I think if you had told me earlier about these two, I may have lost it totally and gone after them myself." She smiles wryly, "That's what you were worried about, wasn't it?"

"It was a lot for you to take in."

"I'm still not sure if I have taken it in."

"I wanted to trust you Charlie, but when it comes to reactions, especially when there are children involved, I just," she shrugs helplessly.

"You did the right thing by keeping it from me Joey. I may have been having stronger doubts about Angelo, but until I saw for myself yesterday the monster he truly was, I may still have found reasons to deny the truth." Charlie narrows her eyes, "There's something else, isn't there?"

Joey closes her eyes, nodding. "It's personal this time."

"You don't have to tell me."

"If we are to be together, it's something that you need to know. It's about Harley."

Charlie leans over the loo, emptying the rest of her stomach as Joey holds her hair out of the way.

"Oh god," she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Come on, let's get you up off the floor."

"I'm sorry, everything just suddenly hit me."

"It's ok, it was a lot for you to deal with." She leads Charlie back to her room, gently laying her down on the bed, climbing in behind her, holding her close to her as she drags the covers over them.

Charlie clutches at Joey's arm around her middle. "Please don't let go."

"I won't," Joey promises, her heart breaking at the pain in Charlie's voice. She kisses the back of Charlie's shoulder, "I'll never let you go."

"My god Joey," she says after a few minutes of silence, "She's Angelo's daughter."

"No, Harley was Riley's daughter and she's my daughter; never his."

"Does Harley know?"

"Only that he was a bad man. No one knows except my family, Graves and Dex."

"Dex?"

"Graves needed to know everything, including the reasons why I hated Rosetta and I couldn't expect her to keep it from Dex." She chuckles, "Actually, she can't really keep anything from him."

"Should you have been involved in the investigation, considering your personal connection?"

"I've conducted this investigation the way I've done every other."

Charlie rolls over so they were face-to-face. "Can you really say you haven't been influenced?"

"Maybe I hate Rosey more than any other suspect I've ever had, but I haven't done anything differently to any other case and Graves has been right by my side to make sure everything is done the right way. Charlie, believe me, I will do nothing to jeopardise this case."

Charlie nods. "Riley must have been a strong woman to have been able to get through the pregnancy and choose to raise her."

"Riley never held the way she was conceived against her. Her eyes always lit up whenever she was around Harley and she only ever saw herself in our daughter." Joey smiles, "She used to joke that Harley was more like me than her."

"I don't know what Riley was like, but Harley's so much like you in attitude, I can tell she is your daughter."

"I would have told you earlier, but she's my little girl, I couldn't..." Charlie places a fingertip to her lips, silencing her.

"Joey, I'd do the same to protect Ruby. I just wish I'd seen the truth about Angelo earlier."

"He's been at this for a long time and has fooled everyone."

"He fooled me Joey, I shared a bed with him, had him inside my body, yet he fooled me."

"Charlie, you loved him."

"And I allowed it to blind me."

"I know I made a bid deal of that Charlie, but guys like Rosetta are masters at fooling people into seeing them as someone different and you haven't let your former feelings prevent you from doing your job."

"I let it interfere in yours, I even called your supervisor."

Joey grins, "I'll let you in on something Charlie, complaints to my supervisor are common when I'm investigating, especially from other cops working on the case. When it comes to the job, I expect people to do it and I'm not subtle in my criticism."

Charlie snorts, "I felt that first hand."

"It's just the way I work Charlie, I'm not fussed about who I piss off to get the job done but it doesn't mean that I don't respect the people I work with, I'm just quicker on the criticism than the praise."

"I guess now though, it's just so easy to see Angelo for what he is that I can't believe I missed it."

"Now, sure, but before I started prodding him, I bet he was charming."

Charlie nods. "He was charming, loving and attentive, though he was always selfish in the bedroom, I still felt loved."

"Then don't feel too bad Charlie, because that's who he was, at least with you."

"It's just that I'm a cop, I see people like him all the time."

"Not like him. If my sister didn't know he'd raped Riley, even she may have been conned by him."

"I was wrong about you too, though and I misjudged you badly."

"No you didn't. Charlie, I know I'm not the easiest person to read or understand, that I keep things to myself, but what you've seen is the real me, the good and the bad."

Charlie caresses her face. "I love the good, not so keen on the bad, especially if it's directed at me."

Joey grins, "It's all me Charlie, and just remember, that I love you like crazy," she nuzzles along Charlie's neck, "even if I'm moody or bitchy," she continues her path, "I love you." She captures her lips. "I want to be with you, make a family with you."

Charlie leans away from her. "Family, as in?"

"As in us and our daughters."

"Oh."

"What did you think I meant?"

"Sorry, it's just that Angelo and my father were always on at me about having kids and I'm really not sure if I want any more children."

"I'd love to have more kids Charlie, but it's not a deal breaker if we don't have any more."

"Really?"

"We have two kids between us and Georgie's is on the way and with our careers, that's more than enough. I would never pressure you to have a baby unless you were the one who really wanted to be pregnant."

"Did you want more with Riley?"

"We both did but the thought of being pregnant again freaked Riley out."

"In case I'm mistaken Joey, but you're a woman, couldn't you have a baby?"

"We looked into that but tests showed that I'd have problems carrying a baby to term so we decided not to risk it. We just loved the daughter we already had and in the six years we were together, that was more than enough."

"I love you so much and I just don't want anything to come between us."

"Charlie, I promise you that I will not leave you or pressure you in anyway if you don't want to have a baby." She kisses her. "I love you," she kisses her again, "I love my daughter," and again, "and I love Ruby. I'm more than happy Charlie, with what I already have."

"What will you do once you've arrested Angelo and Martha?" she asks suddenly.

"My life is with you Charlie, of that I am certain."

"Just so you know, I'm willing to follow you anywhere."

Joey looks surprised. "This is your home Charlie, all your friends are here."

"You are my home Joey, wherever you are and you know something, the idea of being pregnant to Angelo never appealed to me," smiling when Joey snorts. "Even when I loved him, but maybe my problem has been that I just haven't met the right person." Joey's eyebrows rise. "I'm not saying I want to get pregnant, just that I'm not so averse to the idea like I once was."

Grinning, Joey rolls on top of her. "How about we practice, just in case you change your mind?"

Charlie chuckles, "Better get started then."

Opening one eye when she feels the bed move, Charlie mumbles, "Where are you going?"

"I'm just ducking into the station."

"I thought we were to stay away today."

"No, I just meant you." She dresses quickly and kneels on the bed. "Dex and Ruby are home now and I'll be back as soon as I can."

Charlie loops her arm around her neck, not letting go as they kiss again. "Charlie, the sooner I go, the sooner I get home."

"Just hurry up."

"Why don't you go back to sleep."

"Done enough of that." She yawns, letting Joey goes as she stretches. "I should really speak to Ruby about yesterday."

Joey brushes her lips over hers. "I promise, I'll be back as quickly as possible."

"You'd better."

Pulling up at the station, Joey gets out of the car and walks toward the station. Remembering she'd left something in the car, she heads back. Reaching the car, she senses something behind her. Spinning on her heels, she has a moment to see Angelo before his fist smashes into her face, sending her falling backwards against the car. Dazed, she tries to fight back, so he hits her again, her body falling to the ground, her head hitting hard. Looking down at Joey's unconscious body with disdain, Angelo stomps his foot on her hand, hearing the satisfying sound of bones breaking. "You won't be sticking that in my fiancée again," bringing his foot down again and then again for the extra thrill of it. Grabbing her keys and handcuffs, he goes to toss her phone when he notices the wallpaper image on it; one of her and Charlie smiling at the camera, their happiness obvious. Smashing the phone against the ground, he takes out his anger, kicking Joey again and again and again and again until he suddenly remembers how exposed they were there. Rolling her roughly onto her stomach, he pulls her hands behind her back, snapping the cuffs on as tightly as possible, all the while ignoring the blood and swelling of her shattered hand. Dragging her into a sitting position, he's afforded a view down her top. "I wish we had time right now for me to make you regret fucking my fiancée." Picking up her unconscious body, he dumps her unceremoniously into the boot of her car. Getting in, he drives away.

Looking up in anticipation when the front door opens, Charlie sighs.

"Sorry to disappoint you Charlie," Graves grins.

"I thought Joey would have come home with you." Charlie starts to worry when Graves looks at her blankly. "She went to the station a couple of hours ago."

"I haven't seen Joey all day."

"Then where is she?"

"I'll call the station."

Charlie paces anxiously while Graves was on the phone in the kitchen. "Come on, come on," she mutters impatiently.

"Mum, Joey's going to be alright, isn't she?"

"Of course Ruby, I probably misheard her, that's all."

They both turn when they hear Graves end her call. "Well?" Charlie demands.

"No one's seen her or her car, but a phone was found smashed in the parking lot at the station," she swallows hard. "Along with blood."

"Oh god," Charlie's legs give way as she collapses onto the couch. "What did Georgie say?"

"I couldn't get a hold of her."

"Graves, what the hell aren't you telling me?" her anger making her stand and confront her.

"Georgie hasn't returned from patrol and she's not answering her radio or phone."

Next chapter, more secrets are revealed and someone is betrayed.