It was all still a bit of a blur for Charlie. One minute she had been crying out in agony as the knife sliced into her and the next, her assailant was pulled away from her and she was in Joey's arms on her way to the hospital. Now, a few hours later, she was lying in Joey's arms in their bed.

"I thought having a baby was painful," Charlie mutters. "The cut may not have been all that deep but Jesus, did it hurt like a bitch."

"The knife had been coated in salt to increase the pain and I think the idea was to inflict as much pain for as long as possible with shallow cuts before they killed you, which is why they waited for you to be conscious before they started."

"At that moment, I really thought I was going to die." She snuggles closer against Joey, taking comfort in her warmth. "I do remember bits leading up to it, like Alf surprising us at the door, but what happened afterwards, I'm still fuzzy about. With the drug and the light, I didn't even realise that it was Colleen who was cutting me," she stops for a moment. "After the way Colleen reacted when Alf appeared at the door, I thought she was as startled as I was."

"It was probably all part of the act. From what we've managed to piece together so far, Alf had been watching you ever since Martha had died, just waiting for the right moment to come after you. When Colleen realised you were alone in the house with only Graves, she signalled Alf who was waiting just to the side of the door, then while you were distracted by him, Colleen jabbed you with a needle, knocking you out."

Charlie rubs her arm where a small circular bruise was forming. "I do remember feeling a pain in my arm."

"While you were carried to the car, Graves came out of the shower. When she saw the cake on the floor, she called out for you and when you didn't answer, she ran to the door just in time to see the car driving away. She called for backup while she followed you."

"How did you get here so quickly?"

Joey smiles wryly, "I was already on my way home so when Graves called me, I pretty much broke all the road rules to get here and I managed to arrive just as backup did." She rubs her hand along Charlie's back. "I heard you cry out in pain moments before I burst through the door."

"I've never been so happy to hear the sound of a door crashing open."

"I was so scared that we were going to be too late," Joey says, her voice full of emotion.

"You saved me Joey, you, Graves and the others, you saved my life."

"Graves would have come in after you but she saw the other two men there."

"It's ok, she was off-duty which meant she was unarmed; she wouldn't have stood a chance on her own against all of them."

"Maybe you could tell her that, because she's kind of getting down on herself."

"I will." She sighs, shaking her head. "It's still so hard to believe that Alf and Colleen were the masterminds.

"Along with Madge Wilkins."

"I thought she was a blackmail victim."

"We all did but as it turns out, she was involved in the whole thing. I guess the blackmail was just a cover in case she got caught out. With her job in the council, they were able to arrange deals with businessmen who wanted planning permits for areas previously zoned as residential."

"God, here I was thinking she and Colleen were just a couple of old biddies who devoted their time to gossip."

"They played their parts to perfection, especially Colleen. Everyone believed she was just a gossip, a woman who couldn't keep anything a secret. It was a perfect cover for the real Colleen. She even had me fooled." Joey chuckles, "I certainly never suspected her of being a lesbian."

"What!" Charlie bolts up, staring down at her lover. "Is that a joke?"

Joey grins, "Nope. She and Madge have been lovers for the better part of 50 years."

"But they were married, to men."

"They were from an era when it was expected for them to marry and they never would have been accepted as lesbians, so they married but stayed lovers."

"My god, all the homophobic things I've heard Colleen say, even before you arrived."

"Like I said, she played her part to perfection, same with Alf."

"I guess now we know how Martha got involved."

"Colleen said she recognised a kindred spirit in Martha early on and talked Alf into bringing her into the family business."

Charlie shivers, "What an awful family business."

"Certainly not one you'd like to be passed along the generations. Charlie, Colleen's said that Morag had no knowledge of what her family was up to, but she's going to have to be investigated."

"I realise that and I guess part of me hopes she wasn't involved. Having a step-mother who could be involved in all of that just doesn't bare thinking about."

"I actually believed Colleen when she said Morag wasn't involved, but considering the others were, there's no avoiding the investigation."

"Did Colleen say why they did all of this?"

"The money. About 15 years ago, Alf lost everything."

"I never knew that."

"No one did. He managed to hide how bad things were while he and Colleen worked out how do get the money back. Around that time, a friend of Alf's let slip about the amount of money he was making by bringing things in on his boat and after some convincing from Alf, he introduced Alf to the one in charge."

"Who was it?"

"His name was Michael Jones."

Charlie frowns, remembering that name. "He's been dead for years, he was killed in a break and enter not long after I became a Constable. I never worked on the case, but it was put down to some drifter who was assumed to have left town."

"After a few years of seeing how lucrative the business could be, Alf and Colleen decided they wanted a bigger cut and so had one of their own men kill Jones."

"Who?"

"Rosey's mate, Robbo. With Jones out of the way, Alf and Colleen decided to expand the business to include underage girls."

"Why girls though?" Charlie asks.

"Because Alf had a penchant for young girls."

"Oh god, he was paedophile?"

Joey nods. "He never dared to touch any local girl, so he went elsewhere and when they started to bring in girls themselves, with every new group that was brought it, Alf kept one for himself."

Charlie shuts her eyes. "He killed them, didn't he?"

"Once they became too old for him."

"When he's found, I'm going to make him pay."

"The place you were taken to had been one that Rosey had found. They'd taken it over because it had been abandoned and had a basement." Joey pauses, staring at the ceiling for a moment. "Alf was found in the basement, he'd been shot in the back of the head."

"They killed him?" Charlie says, shocked by the news.

"Madge killed him, that's why Colleen has been so helpful to us. She broke down when we told her what had happened to her brother. She told us that Martha's death hit Alf hard and he wanted out, once he'd gotten his revenge on you of course. I guess Madge decided the only way to leave the organisation was in a body bag."

"God, that must have been a total betrayal for Colleen, to have her lover murder her brother."

"After nearly 50 years together, in the end, it was Colleen's love for her brother over her lover that made her decide to confess and put Madge right in it. With Colleen's statement, along with the evidence we found at the house, we should have enough to convict everyone involved in this whole sordid affair and to rescue even more of the girls."

"That is good news. Oh god, I just remembered, she said her Lancey was arriving."

"Her what?"

"Colleen's son, Lance."

"Her house, like Alf's is being searched as we speak, so I'll make sure someone stays there to keep an eye out for his arrival."

"He's such a gentle soul, this will destroy him."

"Is there any chance he'd be involved?"

"I never thought his mother would be involved in something like this, but I can't see Lance ever being involved in this. Just in case though, it wouldn't hurt to look into him."

Annoyed at the constant itching of her wound, she scowls at Joey when she takes her hand and holds it.

"Don't scratch it."

"I can't help it."

"Believe me, I know how annoying it can be but you'll only make it worse."

Resting her head back on Joey's chest, she sighs. "We need a holiday."

"How about once this is all over, we take your boat up the coast," Joey suggests. "I have plenty of leave I can take and I'm sure you must have accumulated some."

"I have."
"Then why don't we take a couple of weeks off and do it."

"What about the kids?"

"School holidays are coming up so we arrange the trip for the same time and they can come with us."

"I can't imagine Ruby being happy to leave April and her friends to be stuck on a boat for two weeks."

"They don't have to be with us the entire two weeks. We can spend a week together, then I'm sure Georgie and Hugo can keep an eye on them while we take the boat further up the coast for the second week," Joey says, liking the idea more. "Charlie, after everything that's happened, I think it would do the both of us the world of good to get away from here."

"It really does sound wonderful and I like the idea of spending time together as a family and some time alone."

"Then let's do it."

Smiling at Joey's enthusiasm, Charlie agrees. "I have a feeling we'll be spending quite a bit of time on that boat."

"I do love the water." She glances down at Charlie when she feels her yawn. "Why don't you get some sleep," she suggests softly.

"It is getting hard to keep my eyes open," she murmurs.

"Then sleep." Joey smiles when in a matter of minutes, Charlie was asleep. Thinking of how close she'd come to losing her, she leans down, kissing the top of her head. "I love you Charlie." She holds her closer, closing her own eyes.