Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Two
"I... I... I didn't get up to anything," Ross said uncertainly.
Morag sat down in front of him, looking him directly in the eye.
"Ross..." she said. "If you've got something to hide..."
The retired Detective leapt to his feet and began to pace. He ran his hands through his hair, tense and upset.
"I haven't done anything wrong!" he insisted. "I haven't."
"What do you consider wrong?" Morag challenged, not willing to let him get away with anything but admitting he killed Grant or confirming in the exact words that he didn't.
Charlie focussed on the music playing from the CD Joey had made for her. She ran the interview between Robertson and her father over and over in her head. He was in a care home. It was ridiculous that Robertson would even suspect him. And if he had been trying to gauge Charlie's reaction, she feared she had given him what he wanted. She felt guilty even though she hadn't done anything wrong.
Ruby lay on her bed with her stereo pumping loudly as she attempted to drown out all of her fears. Tears rolled down her cheeks and landed in her hair. What if Charlie went to jail? What if Joey did? What if all this mess drove them apart? What if it was all her fault?
Joey busied herself with making dinner. The homemade lasagne was cooking in the oven and she was contenting herself with doing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen from top to bottom. Charlie had called to say she was going to the city to sit in on an interview with Robertson and her Dad. She hadn't been in touch since and Joey was more than a little concerned. All she could hope was that her girlfriend would be home safely soon.
Ross sat back down and looked directly at his wife. He took her hands and a deep breath.
"I don't think I killed Grant," he said seriously.
"You don't think?" Morag queried.
"I went for a drive. I was stressed. I don't remember anything after that. But when I came back... I didn't look like I'd killed someone, did I?" he asked.
She stared at him, wondering if he was genuinely asking her. He was. She held onto his hands, kissing both in turn.
"No," she said honestly. "No. You just looked... sad."
Robertson arrived back at the station to find Angelo working hard and Watson staffing the reception desk. He approached the male constable, standing over him and folding his arms.
"Yes?" Angelo asked sternly, looking up at him and closing the folder he had been writing in.
"Do you ever do anything but work?" Robertson asked.
"Do you?" Angelo countered.
"I do lots of things," Robertson said.
He never seemed to be fazed by a question. It was irritating.
"So, do you?" the Detective probed.
"I do plenty of things too," Angelo told him. "But I've got a lot on my plate right now so work is my number one priority."
"Work and Charlie?" Robertson probed.
"Work," Angelo snapped, turning back to his report.
Charlie pulled into the drive. Ruby's bedroom light was on and so was the light in the kitchen. Leah's car wasn't in the drive so she presumed she was still at work. All Charlie hoped was that Joey was home. All she wanted was to curl up in her arms and feel, even momentarily, that everything would be alright. Climbing out of the car, she approached the house. Inside, Joey was cleaning avidly and singing to herself. Charlie leant against the doorframe, smiling tenderly at the woman she loved. Sometimes she wondered if her heart was big enough to contain the amount of love she held for Joey. She was sure it spilled over and would continue to flow forever. Still singing, Joey turned to check on the oven. She jumped when she caught a glimpse of Charlie in the door. She clutched her chest, flushed.
"You scared me," she admitted.
Charlie moved into the room and gathered her girlfriend into her arms, apologising.
"How long were you there?" Joey wondered.
"Long enough to fall in love with you for the millionth time," Charlie told her.
Ross and Morag went out for a walk to clear both of their heads. They ran through everything they could about that night and concluded, with a lot of optimism that Ross hadn't killed anybody. Morag hoped she would have noticed and her husband had returned to her immediately. He wouldn't have had time to clean himself up and if he'd have stabbed a man, surely he would have had blood on his hands or clothes. All there had been was dirt. The couple held hands, paused and gazed up at the moon. Morag smiled when she saw a shooting star in the sky. They made silent wishes, both hoping for some kind of peace to all their lives.
Charlie, Joey and Ruby had eaten dinner together and Charlie and Ruby, as usual, were impressed with Joey's culinary skills. Joey, as usual, blushed with all the compliments.
"You really are a good cook though," Ruby said, glad to have something else to talk about.
"It's nothing special," Joey said modestly.
"It is," Charlie agreed, eyeing up seconds. "I count myself extremely lucky to have you!"
"I hope it's not just my kitchen skills you're after!" Joey asked.
Charlie reached out to squeeze Joey's hand.
"Definitely not," she promised.
"Remember I'm here!" Ruby squeaked.
Charlie grinned.
"Just in case you were going to get all sappy and romantic with each other."
"Don't worry, Rubes," Joey said. "We'll save all that for after hours!"
Charlie turned pink and Ruby pulled a mock-horrified face.
Angelo had escaped the station and was driving around on the lookout for anything untoward. He settled down at the docks. The illegal ring he was trying to bring down, relied on Summer Bay being a beach town. He waited night after night for some clue, some kind of activity that would help him bring his mission to a head. Then he could redeem himself once and for all. He could do something good to make up for the bad. And perhaps he could even win Charlie back in the process. If he could prove himself to be the hero of the piece, if he could make her realise that she needed to be with someone like him, not some trawler girl with barely two brain cells to rub together – maybe they could be happy. Not that he had really talked to her. But he was sure if she was bright, she'd be doing more with her life. No, Charlie needed someone who could stimulate her physically, emotionally and mentally and Joey wasn't it. Not in the long term. Angelo was sure he and Charlie would be perfect together if only she would realise it.
Ruby headed up to bed, claiming she needed an early night. The conversation had moved from Joey's cooking to more serious things and while the teenager had handled it all well, she was ready to go to sleep and forget about it. Charlie had volunteered to do the dishes and was just finishing up when she felt Joey wrapped her arms around her waist and her lips press against her neck.
"You can keep doing that if you want," Charlie moaned softly, stretching her neck back and offering more of her neck for Joey to kiss.
The trawler manager obliged, stroking her fingertips up and down Charlie's flat tummy and flicking her tongue out as she gently began to devour Charlie's skin. Charlie rested her full weight against Joey who happily supported her while she continued to tease. Finally, Charlie turned around in her arms, leant forward and kissed her girlfriend. When they parted, Joey gazed at Charlie, noticing the tears in the corners of her eyes. She stroked her face.
"Why don't you tell me all about it?" she suggested
Charlie nodded slowly and led Joey lead her by the hand into the lounge. They sat down together. Charlie promptly burst into tears, offering up all her fears and panic about the world that was falling apart around them.
Angelo found himself sitting outside Charlie's house. He knew he shouldn't be there but somehow he couldn't help himself. And it wasn't the first time. The lights were on. He wondered if Charlie was home and if she was, what she was doing. Her car was parked out front but perhaps she had gone for a walk or for a drink. Whatever she was doing, the chances are, she was probably doing it with Joey. He struggled with the bitterness that rose up inside him when he thought about them as a couple. And he cursed himself for pining for Charlie the whole time he had been away, fighting for his freedom. He'd held onto the image of Charlie and hope that they might eventually have a future. He struggled to accept that Charlie had moved on without him.
Ruby sat at the top of the stairs, anxiously listening as Charlie poured her heart out to Joey. She listened to Joey's words of comfort but could hear the grief in her voice as well as in Charlie's. She couldn't see them but she could picture them on the sofa, holding each other and trying to convince each other that they were going to be alright. Tears streaked the teenagers face as her heart broke for her family. Quietly, she tiptoed down the stairs, just about managing to creep past her mother and the woman who was essentially her step mother, and out of the house.
Angelo ducked down in the driver's seat when he saw Ruby exit the house. He just hoped she wouldn't notice and recognise his car. Hanging around his ex-girlfriend's house at night wouldn't exactly look good. And that Robertson guy was already very suspicious of him. He had obviously looked through his personal file and was building up a picture of the type of man he was. Angelo just hoped he wasn't correct.
Joey kept her arms about her girlfriend as Charlie rested against her. She fought her own tears as she tried to be there for Charlie and make her feel better. But she was worried. She was afraid that she and Charlie or even just one of them would get charged with murder.
"Maybe they'll let us share a cell," she tried to joke.
Charlie just about managed to chuckle. She reached out to hold her partner's hand and attempted to smile.
"Maybe," she said. "We could have a whole Bad Girls thing going on!"
Joey giggled. Her tears spilled over, surprising her. Charlie reached out tenderly to wipe Joey's eyes. She sat up slowly and leant in to kiss her.
"We'll get through this," Joey said, trying to reassure them both.
Charlie nodded and kissed her again. Even when she felt hopeless, Joey gave her the desire and the courage to press on.
Geoff left the Surf Club with the intention of going home. It was strange that he found his house so empty now that Ruby was back living with Charlie and Joey. Aside from the lack of Belle, which he'd just about got used to, the place was still the same. Irene and Annie were there like they had always been. But without Ruby, he felt lonely. It was easy to spend time with her when she had been living with him. It was easy to take care of her, make her laugh, be close to her. But now he needed a reason to speak to her and it was usually in public, which always made Xavier angry. Pausing his step, he studied the figure he had spotted on the beach. It was dark but he could easily recognise her as the girl he had just been thinking about. Running his hands through his hair, Geoff moved forward and gently trod across the sand.
"Hey," he said softly, seating himself beside the girl he was rapidly falling in love with.
"Hey," she replied just as quietly.
Silently, she rested in his arms and took comfort in the fact that he cared so much about her.
