Chapter One Hundred and Seventy

Angelo made a beeline for Charlie as soon as she arrived at work the following morning. Watson watched him suspiciously as he followed Charlie into her office and shut the door behind them.

"What?" Charlie asked, a little alarmed by the expression on his face.

"You should have been out with me last night," he said. "I needed you. I mean, what the hell was so damn important that you couldn't focus on work?"

"My relationship," Charlie replied, sitting down at her desk and switching her laptop on.

"Are you um... having problems?" Angelo asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

"No," Charlie replied. "There doesn't have to be a problem for me to want to give Joey some attention, Angelo."

The marine area command officer glared and sat down, his eyes boring into Charlie.

"I asked you to help me with this case because I thought you'd be useful," he said. "I thought you'd care and that you'd want to bring them down. But you only care about yourself and Joey."

"And you only care about completing your mission and having everyone call you a hero instead of a killer," Charlie replied sharply.

Angelo's breath caught in his throat for a moment. He wasn't used to Charlie being so harsh with him.

"Sorry," the Senior Constable finally said. "But it's true."

"I care about the people Hugo's hurting," Angelo said. "Don't you?"

"Of course I do," Charlie said. "The image of those people on that boat is still haunting my dreams. But I don't understand why you're attacking me. I haven't done anything wrong."

"Hugo crept out of the house in the middle of the night," Angelo informed her. "He met up with some mystery woman and they had a huge argument."

"So?"

"So, that's progress, isn't it? It has to be connected somehow."

"Do you know who she is?" Charlie asked, sitting back in her chair and finally offering him her full attention.

"No."

"Well, I guess that's the place to start," Charlie said. "Come back to me when you have something."

Realising he had been dismissed, Angelo grumpily got up and stalked out of the office.


Joey walked to work via the Diner, reminding herself to relish these days at work that could well be numbered. She paused when she saw Martha sitting alone and huddled on the beach. Changing direction, she headed over to see if she was okay. While she didn't really know Martha that well, she felt like they had started to become friends in recent weeks. And Joey very much liked making new friends.

"Are you okay?" she asked, approaching her.

Martha looked up and wiped her eyes. She forced a smile.

"I'm fine," she lied.

Joey offered her a sceptical look and then sat down beside her. Before she could stop herself, Martha began blurting out everything that had happened with Hugo and this strange Suzy woman who had rocked up on their doorstep last night claiming to be Hugo's wife.


Angelo headed out on patrol, hoping that he might find the mystery woman he'd seen Hugo rowing with the night before. Charlie had irritated him to the maximum degree and he was desperate to find something more solid that he could really run with. He knew time was running out and things were reaching crisis point. He had a meeting with his boss the following day and he wasn't looking forward to having to explain why he was no closer to the truth than he had been at their last meeting.


"I honestly think you need to talk to him," Joey said.

She felt a little nervous about advising Martha on a man Charlie and Angelo suspected of being no less than evil. But regardless of what she'd heard and what may or may not be true, the point was that Martha was in pain and she needed help.

"Yeah," Martha said. "I mean, he could have sneaked out to do anything. Couldn't he? Maybe he forgot something on his boat or... or needed to clear his head after Charlie and Angelo dragged him in for questioning. That couldn't have been nice for him."

"Exactly," Joey said, touching Martha's shoulder. "Just talk to him. I mean, I can't say that I've been Hugo's biggest fan since he tried to crack onto Charlie that time but... he clearly loves you. And you love him. So if you just talk, you might be able to work through it. And if not... if he isn't being sincere or whatever, then at least you'll know."

"You're right," Martha said with a happy nod.

She smiled and thanked her, offering a hug. Then she headed off to try and track her boyfriend down. Feeling pleased with herself for having been able to help, Joey skipped off to work.


Charlie and Watson headed out on patrol together, stopping off to get coffees on the way.

"So, how's life as a Senior Constable working out for you?" Charlie asked as she drove through the streets of their town.

"Amazing!" Watson said enthusiastically, making Charlie smile.

She then explained that with her new salary and security, she had gone to the bank to get a mortgage and she was to close on her new house the following week. And that meant that she could finally move back out of her mother's spare room.

"And on top of that, I have a date lined up for tomorrow night!"

She grinned broadly. Charlie giggled.

"Well, things are definitely looking up," Charlie said. "I'm really pleased."

"Well, I'm really grateful," Watson said. "I don't think any of this would have happened without you believing in me."

They looked up when they spotted Martha having an animated conversation with a stranger.

"Do you think she's okay?" Watson wondered. "Martha looks pretty stressed."

Thinking of the woman Angelo had mentioned earlier in the morning, Charlie pulled up beside them and wound down her window.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's fine," Martha said, although she was clearly tearful.

Without another word, she hurried away. Charlie studied the strange woman for a moment but let her go.


At lunch time, Joey, Aden and Geoff headed to the Diner together for lunch where the plan was to meet Ruby, Charlie and Watson. The school girl and then the police officers showed up just as Joey and her colleagues had secured a table. Ruby greeted Geoff with a kiss. Charlie followed suit with Joey. Watson and Aden rolled their eyes.

"How's everybody's day been?" Charlie asked cheerfully.

"Moderate," Aden said, looking through the menu. "Choppy sea. I felt kind of sick."

"Kind of?" Geoff laughed. "You looked absolutely green!"

"Shut up!"

Joey rolled her eyes as 'her boys' began to squabble. She held Charlie's hand under the table and stole another gentle kiss on the cheek.

"How was your day?" she asked.

"It was okay," Charlie said. "We've been on patrol for most of it. And we saw Martha having some kind of altercation with some woman."

"Suzy," Joey concluded.

Charlie just stared at her in confusion. Joey then explained Martha's tale of woe on the beach.

"I think I actually love you even more than I did five seconds ago, Joey Collins," Charlie announced.

"Why?" Joey wondered.

Charlie glanced around, noting that they were in too much company to really talk.

"I'll explain later," she said, squeezing her hand. "But you just did a really good thing."

Joey leant in closer.

"Do I get rewarded later too?" she asked with a cheeky grin.

Charlie guffawed, wondering if either of them really needed any excuse.


Martha sat home alone, feeling sad. Slumped on the couch, she wondered what she ought to say to Hugo when he got home. She wasn't even sure if she'd be able to form words. He had been so adamant that there was nothing between him and Suzy and there never had been. And then Joey had pointed out that even though she didn't really like him, it was clear to her and to everyone that he loved her very much. But now she'd spoken to Suzy again and she was even more confused. The woman had made it clear that she and Hugo were definitely more than business partners. Now, Martha had no idea what to think or do. She looked up when her boyfriend waltzed through the door.


Charlie was looking forward to going home, although she still had a couple of hours of work left to do. Angelo had been thrilled with the news that this mystery woman was called Suzy Sudiro and she was apparently the Indonesian wife of Hugo, who had claimed that their marriage was nothing but a business deal. It leant towards Angelo's theory that this woman was involved in the human trafficking as well and he and Charlie had spent most of their afternoon trying to dig up any kind of information they could. Now, they were patrolling in a bid to try and locate her or Hugo and start asking more questions.

"There's his car," Angelo said, nodding towards the car park outside the Surf Club.

They pulled in beside him and headed into the building, finding the man in question propping up the bar and looking extremely miserable.

"Hugo," Charlie said, taking the lead.

He turned to regard both of them with some contempt.

"Can we have a chat?"

"No," he replied, slurring a little.

Angelo stepped forward and reminded him that with them being police officers, he didn't really get a lot of choice. Then he made the mistake of touching Hugo's arm. Hugo pulled roughly away, his eyes blazing.

"Get your fucking hands off me!" he warned.

Angelo stepped back in surprise but Charlie could see his fists clenched by his sides.

"We just want to talk to you," he said.

"You don't even deserve to be a cop!" Hugo yelled. "You're a murderer! You killed my cousin. You should be rotting in jail, not giving me your crap every day!"

"Well, you're one to talk about breaking the law," Angelo commented, instantly regretting it.

"What the hell is that mean to me?" Hugo demanded, stepping closer.

"Listen," Charlie interjected. "Why don't we just calm things down?"

"And you can shut your face too," Hugo snapped.

"Don't you dare talk to her like that!" Angelo said angrily.

Hugo laughed and finished his beer.

"There's no point trying to play the big hero, mate," he said. "She doesn't want you, in case you hadn't noticed – what with her being a muff diver and everything."

Charlie regarded him with a look of disgust.

"I really think you should calm down before you really get yourself into trouble," she warned. "We'll come back and talk to you when you're a little more sober."

Instructing Angelo to follow her, she marched back out of the Surf Club. Hugo sank back into his chair, meeting Alf's gaze behind the bar and begging him not to give him hassle.


Next time... Hugo identifies Derrick and Joey plans a romantic night for Charlie...