Sorry I wasn't around yesterday. Father's Day. Difficult. Well, you know the story. Anyway, here is the next chapter of A Different Way and I will follow with Be With Me. I hope you enjoy it. IJKS xx

Chapter One Hundred and Two

Charlie awoke with a heavy heart but a determination not to let anything get in the way of bringing Grant to justice. She dropped Joey off down at the docks and headed straight to work without even bothering to stop for her usual coffee on the way. Ruby's doubt had hit her hard the night before but she was determined not to let it get her down. Soon enough, Ruby would have no choice but to believe the truth.

"Are you okay, Charlie?" Watson asked, a little taken aback at the beverage-less Senior Constable.

"Yep," Charlie said with a smile. "I'm fine, thanks. How are you?"

Watson continued to look taken aback. She hadn't seen Charlie smile in quite some time. Angelo also noticed and was eager to join the conversation and perhaps get a little of Charlie's attention.

"I'm pretty good," Watson said.

"Good," Charlie replied pleasantly.

"You're in an unusually good mood today," Angelo commented.

"Are you saying I'm usually moody?" she asked.

"No!" Angelo said, backtracking so quickly that Charlie and Watson both laughed. "You've just been pretty stressed lately."

"Well, I decided to fix my life instead of complaining about it," Charlie said.

She headed into her office to start work.


"You've been in an exceptionally good mood all day," Aden commented as he, Geoff and Joey were drawing back into shore.

Joey had moved to lean against the side of the boat, taking happy breaths and gazing out at the sea. She smiled warmly at him as he stepped up beside her.

"I feel like things are really working out," she said. "You know... for Charlie."

"That's good," he said, knowing what Joey's girlfriend had been through all this time. "Your trip to the city went well then?"

Joey nodded.

"It was great. We started making some headway into where to go next, how to bring about some justice. And..."

She blushed.

"It was so nice to reconnect with her."

"I bet!" he said with a dirty laugh.

She hit him playfully in the chest but couldn't help but giggle. Being with Charlie made her feel like the luckiest woman on earth. She thought she was absolutely perfect and the most beautiful person she had ever met. Joey was extremely aware that a lot of people probably found her attractive. Hugo in particular sprung to mind. When they were out, she often saw people checking Charlie out and it made her proud to be the one who got to be with her. Charlie said people checked her out too but she wasn't entirely sure she believed it.


Charlie drove home and hurried to her room in tears. Gone was her delightful happy mood. She'd hurried out of work in a state. Angelo had noticed and gone out after her, catching up with her at the car and offering comfort. She had pushed him away and headed home. Now, she was weeping into her pillow and hoping that she'd be able to pull herself together before Joey got home.

"Charlie?" Joey called out.

Too late, Charlie sighed as she continued to cry.

"Charlie?" Joey said, appearing in the room.

She hurried forward and onto the bed, worriedly pulling Charlie into her arms.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" she asked.

"They won't press charges," Charlie sobbed.

"What?"

"Claire and Claudia. They've changed their minds."


The following morning, Charlie dropped Joey at work again and stopped off at the Diner for a coffee. She grabbed an extra two for Watson and Angelo. On her way out, she spotted the distinct figure of Grant in his car, watching the tide. She swallowed and hurried to her own car, driving as quickly to work as the law would allow.


Ruby was keeping a low profile. She knew she had hurt Charlie badly the other day. They hadn't been in touch and she dared not approach Joey. She was sure that if they spoke, Charlie's girlfriend would have no problem giving her a piece of her mind. And she was starting to think she deserved it but felt so torn between what she thought she believed and what she wanted to hear.


Charlie sat at her desk, trying to decide whether she was about to make a big mistake or not. Faced with her hope being taken away now that Claire and Claudia were backing out of the plan, she was sure that she was stuck with Grant forever now. If she had the capacity, she would blame Ruby for bringing him back into their lives but she couldn't bring herself to find her daughter as anything but blameless. But what she really was worried about was Grant poisoning her against her. She had spent sixteen years living at a remove from Ruby. She hadn't been able to be the loving mother Ruby had deserved and needed. She'd let her down. And the thought of that man, that evil, horrible man, driving them apart forever was enough to break her. Taking a deep breath, she stashed the tazer that Angelo had been playing with earlier into her bag. Then she stood up and set off to find Grant.


Ruby stopped off at the Diner with Xavier, Annie and Nicole. She was keen to take comfort in her friends and boyfriend although she still felt that the only person her truly understood her now was Geoff. But she had to make the effort with Xavier. She had to be true to him. Looking up, she froze when she saw Geoff, Aden and Joey entering the room. Joey's eyes found Ruby's and she came over and asked if they could talk.

"Sure," she said uncertainly, getting to her feet.

She exchanged glances with Geoff and took comfort in him before she left the table with Joey. Aden took her place and began chatting to Nicole. A little less comfortably, Geoff also joined them and hoped he wouldn't get into any kind of argument with Xavier. Across the room, Joey demanded to know what the hell Ruby thought she was doing by accusing Charlie of crying rape.

"That's not what I meant!" Ruby insisted.

"What the hell else could you mean by telling her that she misinterpreted events and that the rape that destroyed her sixteen years ago didn't happen?" Joey asked incredulously. "I mean, have you even listened to a word we've said? Did you hear what I told you before you ran off and went to find that man?"

"My father," Ruby corrected.

"Your sperm donor," Joey snapped.

Ruby swallowed. She still wasn't used to seeing this side of Joey and she was unnerved that she seemed to so easily bring it out in her.

"I didn't mean to upset Charlie," Ruby said.

"Well, you did."

"I saw her from a distance yesterday and she seemed fine," Ruby pointed out. "Full of the joys of spring, actually."

"She was covering," Joey told her.

"Hello, girls," Colleen said pleasantly as she entered the Diner in order to start her shift. "You must be pleased that your parents have made it up, Ruby."

"What?" Joey and Ruby asked in unison.

"Senior Constable Buckton and that Grant fellow," Colleen said. "I just saw them in the car together."

Joey and Ruby both broke into a run just in time to see Charlie's car disappearing into the distance.


"I'm glad you finally came to your senses," Grant said smugly.

Charlie tried not to glare at him as he gazed out of the window. It made her skin crawl to be in such close proximity with him and she hated that he was sitting in Joey's seat. Taking a deep breath, she jabbed him with the tazer until he fell unconscious. She put it down and stepped on the accelerator, eager to get to their destination as quickly as possible. She ignored her ringing mobile.


"No answer," Joey said anxiously as she hung up, having left a voice mail asking Charlie to call her.

"Maybe we should go to the police," Ruby suggested.

Joey shook her head. From the distance she'd seen things, she was sure that Charlie had been the person driving, which suggested that she was the one in control. As much as Joey didn't want to accuse her of anything, she couldn't help but fear that Charlie was about to do something terrible. Calling the police could only get her into trouble.

"Joey?" Ruby asked worriedly. "What are you thinking?"

Joey chewed her lip and sank against the outer wall of the Diner.

"I don't know," she said. "But we need to figure out where they've gone."