Chapter One Hundred and Thirty Seven
"This is delicious, Joey," Charlie said. "You've outdone yourself. Again."
Joey beamed proudly at her and at Ruby who was also very vocally agreeing with her mother.
"Thanks," the chef said. "I try."
"You succeed!" Ruby enthused. "Thank you. I know I don't deserve it."
Joey and Charlie's faces fell as they watched sadness wash over the teenager.
"Of course you deserve it," Joey said gently.
"I screwed you over, Joey," Ruby said. "I'm sorry."
"Look, if you were able to provide Charlie with an alibi, then that's a good thing," Joey said. "It's my own fault that I was alone."
The threesome gazed at each other, opting to leave the fact that Ruby's alibi could well be false, unspoken.
"I just feel really bad," Ruby said, focussing on her food.
"Don't," Joey begged. "Please?"
Ruby sighed heavily and apologised for bringing the mood down.
"Hey, I haven't exactly been Little Miss Cheery today, have I?" Joey pointed out. "Things are hard on all of us at the moment."
Charlie reached out gently and touched Joey's hand.
"So, anyway," Ruby said. "Any exciting and preferably happy news?"
"Nothing that happy," Charlie said. "Poor Martha got humiliated this afternoon."
"How come?"
Charlie explained what had happened with the poster campaign.
"Did everyone know she was a pole dancer once?" Joey asked with a grin.
Charlie raised her eyebrows.
"What's with the interest?" she remarked.
"Nothing!" Joey giggled. "Just... interesting visuals."
"Good interesting?" Charlie demanded, trying not to smile.
Ruby watched them curiously.
"Not as interesting as if you were ever a pole dancer," Joey grinned.
Ruby choked on her food.
"I did not need that image!" she squeaked.
"Sorry!" Joey said, still looking at Charlie a little lustfully.
Charlie gazed back at her. Ruby cleared her throat and they swiftly returned to appropriate conversation again.
That night, with the curtains drawn and the covers pulled up and over them, Charlie and Joey enjoyed kisses and cuddles.
"Can I ask your advice on something?" Charlie asked eventually.
Joey smiled and stroked Charlie's hair.
"Sure," she said.
"I spoke to Angelo today," Charlie ventured, keeping Joey close to her.
Joey frowned a little uncertainly. Talking about Angelo rarely led to anything good. Taking a deep breath, Charlie began to explain everything Angelo had told her about the human trafficking scam and Hugo Austin's involvement.
"He wants me to help him solve the case," Charlie finished. "What do you think?"
Joey leant back against the pillows, pondering. It was a lot to get her head around and from the look on Charlie's face, it hadn't been an easy thing for her to digest either. Charlie sat up and studied her beautiful face.
"Would it involve spending a lot of time with him?" Joey asked.
"I think so," Charlie said. "He seems to spend a lot of nights sitting out on the docks waiting for something to happen."
"And you'd have to wait with him? Spend nights with him?"
"I won't unless it's okay with you," Charlie said firmly. "I care about my job. Of course I do. But I care about you more and I don't ever want to do anything you don't want me to."
She settled down beside her girlfriend, prepared for any decision she might give.
"I think you should do it," Joey decided.
"Really?"
Joey nodded.
"As much as I hate the idea of you spending any more time with Angelo than you have to, I couldn't live with myself if I hindered the operation. I mean, just think of all those people that might be suffering if what Angelo says is true."
Charlie smiled, touched by her compassion.
"It's an important thing to do," Joey said. "Although, maybe..."
"What?"
"Maybe you could wait?"
"Wait...?"
Joey shifted so that she was facing her.
"Charlie, the chances are, I'm going to jail very soon," she said.
"No, Joey, you're..."
"Listen to me," Joey begged. "I'm facing life in prison. So these might be our last few days or weeks together. Maybe you could do a little bit towards the case and then, then when I'm... when I'm not around, well, you could do more of it?"
Charlie gritted her teeth, trying hard not to cry.
"You're not going to prison, Joey," she said, hoping to convince both of them. "You didn't kill anyone. How could you go down for it? It doesn't make sense."
"It's not right," Joey agreed. "But it's a likely scenario and we have to be prepared for it."
Charlie nodded. Tears escaped but Joey was quick to wipe them away.
"Charlie?" she said anxiously.
The police officer gazed at her.
"If the worst does happen, I don't want you to wait, okay?"
Charlie looked horrified. She jerked back into a sitting position.
"What are you talking about?"
"If I go to jail, I don't want you to wait for me. I want you to get on with your life."
"Don't be ridiculous," Charlie snapped.
Joey closed her eyes for a moment before sitting up too and hugging her girlfriend.
"You know what I'm saying makes sense," she said.
"No, it doesn't," Charlie insisted. "And you're not going to jail anyway so it's not even worth thinking about."
Joey hugged Charlie tighter, feeling guilty. She'd thought Charlie might be ready for this conversation but apparently it was too soon. But she knew they had to deal with the facts sooner or later.
"If the worst happens," Charlie said tearfully. "I will visit you every single week. I'll write to you. You can ring me. And I won't stop fighting for an appeal."
Joey kissed her shoulder. She wanted to object to Charlie wasting her life but she couldn't. Charlie was already too upset and she didn't want to make it worse. She reached out and stroked her face, pressing their lips softly together.
"Can we not think about this now?" Charlie asked sadly and quietly.
Joey nodded and gently pulled her back against the pillows.
"How about we just make the most of what we've got?" she suggested.
They leant in for a kiss, immediately entangling their bodies, loving and consoling each other with everything they had.
