Chapter Six

"Sorry about the uniform," Charlie said as she drove Joey to the hospital. "I came straight from work."

"That's fine," Joey replied. "I'm just grateful you're doing this for me."

"At least I'm not in a patrol car, hey?"

"Yeah," Joey agreed.

"Everything is going to be okay," Charlie assured her.

"I hope so."

"All this is just a precaution."


One hour later, it was all over. Rachel had delivered the good news they wanted and Joey dissolved into tears of relief. She felt like all she did was cry these days. It wasn't like her. She had never been a crier before now.

"Is there somewhere I can go to fix my face?" she asked.

"Sure," Rachel said kindly. "Just through there."

She pointed to a bathroom across the hall. Joey headed towards it, leaving Rachel and Charlie alone. Rachel desperately wanted to ask what the situation was but she knew there was little point. Charlie wouldn't tell.

"Hey," Charlie said awkwardly. "Do you remember this girl?"

She took out Robbo's ex-girlfriend's case file. Rachel recognised her instantly.

"Yeah, she was beaten and raped some months ago. She said it was a stranger but I was sure it was the boyfriend. Why?"

"Was this the boyfriend?"

Charlie flipped to a photo of Robbo, aware all the time that Joey could return at any moment. Rachel nodded.

"Yeah, that's him. What's this all about?"

"I just think that he's at it again," Charlie admitted.

Rachel nodded, thinking of Joey and frowning.

"I did make a report to one of your colleagues at the time but it never got followed up," Rachel added.

Charlie sighed.

"If I manage to follow it up and need you to make a statement at any point, would you be willing?" she asked.

"Of course," Rachel said.

Charlie shoved the file back in her bag when she heard the door handle turning. Joey appeared looking a little less tear-stained. She had a brave smile on her face.

"Ready to go?" Charlie asked.


Charlie was driving Joey home when she had an idea. She felt strongly that Joey had a case against Robbo now and she wanted to propose it to her but she wanted to do it right.

"Hey, would you like to come round for dinner?" she asked.

Joey looked surprised.

"To my house," Charlie said. "Tonight. Now."

"Oh, I'd love to but my brother doesn't like me to go out in the evenings," Joey declined.

"I'm sure he could cope for one evening," Charlie coaxed.

Joey looked at Charlie's pretty profile as she concentrated on the road. She was hardly in a position to turn down the offer of such nice company. And it really would be nice. Charlie had been a gift to her. She protected her from her fears and made her feel safe. For brief moments, she even made her made her feel happy.

"Maybe one evening he could cope," Joey agreed.

"Excellent," Charlie said, triumphantly.

She turned left, changing direction and heading to her own place.


Joey perched at the kitchen table while Charlie fussed with the food.

"This is a lovely place," Joey commented, feeling shy of her own modest house.

"My housemate, Leah owns it," Charlie said. "She lived here with her husband, who passed away last year. Now it's her, her son, VJ, me and my little sister, Ruby."

"Right," Joey said, trying to make a note of the names.

It sounded a little complicated.

"Have you lived here long?" she asked.

"Since June last year," Charlie said. "I got a transfer from the City and Ruby followed me when she got thrown out of boarding school."

Joey raised her eyebrows. Charlie caught the look.

"She's better behaved that she sounds. Usually."

Joey chuckled.

"How about you?"

"My behaviour or how long have I lived here?" Joey asked.

"Both!"

"I'm moderately well behaved and I've lived here for ten years."

"Ten years? I would have though I'd have noticed you by now."

Joey shrugged.

"Well, I tend to keep myself to myself."

"And you live with your brother?"

"Yeah. Our parents died in a car crash a couple of years ago so I just stayed. It feels kind of pathetic to be twenty four and never have left home but it was never the right time," Joey explained.

"There's no rush," Charlie said brightly.


The meal was nice, although Charlie felt a little paranoid about her cooking skills. Leah was the chef in the house. Still Joey seemed happy enough and had expressed delight over not having to cook for an evening.

"Listen, Joey, I know you don't want to talk about this," Charlie began awkwardly.

Joey's face fell.

"It's just, I feel like we have a really strong case against Robbo."

Joey dropped her fork.

"No, Charlie," she said firmly.

"But…"

"No."

"Just hear me out," Charlie begged. "Please?"

"I am not pressing charges."

"He raped and assaulted an ex girlfriend of his," Charlie said.

Joey stared at her.

"He what?"

"An ex girlfriend of his. He beat her up and he forced her to have sex with him some months ago. I found the case file. If I can get her to talk to me, she could back you up."

"That's not proof that he did it to me," Joey said.

"It'll still strengthen your case."

"There were no witnesses. What if he just denies anything happened?"

"Well, he might but… don't you think it's worth a shot?"

"No, I don't."

"Joey…"

"Charlie, please just leave it."

"What about the next girl he hurts?" Charlie asked.

Joey looked down at her plate. She picked up her fork and used it to play with her food unhappily.

"You could help put him behind bars where he belongs."

"He'll come after me if I press charges, Charlie," Joey said.

She didn't want to let her new friend down but she couldn't do what she wanted.

"He won't. We can put out an AVO against him so he won't be allowed to go near you."

"A piece of paper won't stop him."

"If he does go near you, he'll go straight to jail," Charlie insisted.

Joey shook her head. Nothing Charlie could do would be enough.

"I'm going to try and interview this girl anyway. I won't mention your name but if you would come on board that would really help to get this guy put away," Charlie said.

Joey started eating again, offering to think about it. That was all she could do for now.