Chapter One Hundred and Seventy One

Charlie arrived home feeling tired and stressed. It had definitely not been a good day and the deeper she became involved in Angelo's investigation, she more she regretted agreeing to help. He was irritating her and the whole thing seemed dead in the water. She cringed at her silent pun and found Joey chatting with Ruby and Leah in the lounge. Sinking into Joey's lap, she finally managed to smile when her girlfriend gently began to massage the stress from her shoulders.

"Bad day?" Ruby asked.

"You have no idea!" Charlie complained. "But it's better now. I'm home and I'm happy."

"You don't look that happy..." Leah ventured.

"Give me time," Charlie replied.

"Anything I can do?" Joey asked.

Charlie leant back against her.

"You're already doing it," she said. "Thank you."


The following morning, having talked everything through with Joey, Charlie decided to tackle the whole investigation head on and with aggression. Arriving at work, the first thing she did was pull up the picture of the guy that had terrorised Geoff and Nicole during their outing to the island earlier in the year. Then she picked up the phone and called Hugo, asking him and Xavier to come in and answer questions about the assault that had resulted in Xavier nearly drowning.


"You look happy," Aden commented.

For someone afraid that she, along with her colleagues were about to lose their jobs, Joey was extraordinarily cheerful. He was sure she had even been singing to herself while she worked.

"I have a plan," she told him.

"To save the trawler?" he hoped.

She frowned and shook her head.

"Sorry. I think that's just a matter of time, unfortunately. But I have a romantic night planned for Charlie and I'm hoping it will cheer her up."

She smiled. Aden made a retching noise and called her a sap.

"I am not!"

"You so are!" Geoff put in.

"Like you're one to talk," Aden and Joey remarked in unison.

Grumbling, the youngest member of the crew resumed his work.


"What are you doing here?" Angelo asked when Hugo and Xavier appeared at the police station.

"None of your damn business," Hugo snapped.

He was still in a foul mood. Hurt over the Suzy business, Martha had decided to move out to the farm for a little while in order to clear her head. She had also agreed to collect Bambang from Social Services today, a fact which made Hugo increasingly uncomfortable. All of that, along with Suzy's presence in town, his fear that Angelo might be on to him, the constant look of disappointment from his mother and brother over messing things up with Martha, and a hangover, meant that the dive business owner was in no mood to talk to the man that had shot his cousin dead.

"Charlie called us," Xavier put in.

The last thing he wanted was more trouble. News of Hugo lashing out at Angelo and Charlie last night was already making the rounds via Colleen who had heard Alf mention it to Miles at home. Angelo looked confused. On cue, the Senior Constable appeared and asked Hugo and Xavier to follow her into an interview room. Just as she was about to shut the door, Angelo approached, wondering what was going on.

"Come in if you want to know," she said. "But don't interfere."

Nodding, he obeyed.


Mid-morning, Joey headed off the trawler in order to grab three coffees for her, Geoff and Aden. She hoped Irene wouldn't mind her taking the break while she left the boys at work. But the sea had been rough and the labour had been hard. She thought they deserved something nice before they headed back out. In the Diner, while she was waiting for her drinks, Joey was pleased to spot Alf. She called his name and he approached her, wondering what she wanted.

"I was wondering if I could rent the Blaxland for the night," Joey ventured. "I'll have it back to you by morning."

"Oh, yeah, sure, love," Alf said. "I'll be at the Surf Club all day so come and get the keys when you want them."

"Thanks," Joey grinned.

She turned back to Leah who presented her with her coffees, preparing to make her next request.


"What can you tell us about the man who attacked you down at the boat shed?" Charlie asked.

Hugo was immediately irritated.

"I've already told you! Nothing! I don't know the guy!" he insisted.

"Xavier?"

"I don't know him either," the blonde teenager said. "Sorry."

"Would you recognise him if you saw a picture?" Charlie asked.

Both Austin boys looked unsure. Opening a folder, Charlie presented them with the sketch they'd drawn up earlier in the year during their interview with Geoff and Nicole.

"Sorry," Xavier sighed. "I really didn't see his face."

Charlie looked at Hugo who studied the drawing and then next.

"Yep," he confirmed. "That's him. That's the man that attacked us."


Joey arrived home in a rush, grateful that Aden had offered to drop her off instead of her having to walk. She only had a short space of time until Charlie was due home from work and she wanted everything to be perfect. Jumping in the shower, she washed quickly and then headed into hers and Charlie's bedroom. Drying off, she rummaged in the wardrobe for her pin striped black suit, completing it with a black t-shirt and smart shoes. She dried her hair, applied her make up and then rummaged in the wardrobe again. Finding her favourite dress of Charlie's, a slinky red number, she laid it out on the bed, leaving it with a note to tell Charlie where to go and for what time. Then she packed a bag and headed out to the Diner to collect what she needed from Leah.


Charlie looked at the clock, happy that she only had ten minutes to go before she could go home. She and Angelo had spent much of the day patrolling and making phone calls in a bid to track their now confirmed mystery attacker down but so far, they hadn't come up with anything. Then Angelo had had to go to a meeting with his boss. She suspected that for all his bravado, he had been dreading it. Deciding to stretch her legs, Charlie got up and approached Watson at her desk.

"Hey," she greeted. "Looking forward to your date?"

Watson blushed and admitted that she was very nervous. It had been a long time since she had tried to do the dating thing.

"You'll be fine," Charlie encouraged.

"I don't think so..." Watson worried.

Charlie touched her hand.

"You will," she said. "You're lovely. Any woman would be lucky to date you."

Watson blushed further. While she would never ever do anything about it and held no illusions that Charlie would reciprocate, her boss's beauty was not lost on her. She privately admitted to a mostly platonic crush. But she couldn't help it. Charlie was striking. She was ambitious, admirable, honest and kind. And as far as Watson was concerned, she and Joey were the most attractive couple she'd ever seen.

"Thanks, Charlie," she said.

They both looked up when Angelo stormed into the station looking particularly stressed. Charlie stood up to meet him, asking what was wrong.

"I just got yelled at by my shitty, jumped up boss!" he said unhappily. "He said I wasn't working hard enough and that I didn't care about the case."

Charlie folded her arms, feeling a little smug.

"Well, maybe now you know how it feels," she said, stalking into her office in order to grab her bag and go home.


Joey stood back and smiled, pleased with her work. Everything was set and she was pleased to have time to spare. Knowing that Charlie would have finished work five minutes ago, she expected her girlfriend to show up any time in the next twenty minutes. She hoped it wouldn't be too long. The prospect of a night out on the water with the woman she loved was extremely exciting.


Charlie drove down towards the Blaxland. She'd arrived home looking for Joey and instead found a dress laid out and a note telling her to come and meet her. She'd showered quickly and got changed, eager to find out what Joey had in store. All the while, she hadn't been able to stop smiling and thinking that she must be the luckiest woman on earth to be with someone so sweet and attentive. Parking the car, she climbed out, locked up and approached the boat, which looked empty.

"Joey?" she called.

Two seconds later, all dressed up, Joey appeared. Charlie's smile only got wider.

"What is all this?" Charlie asked curiously.

Joey stepped forward and held her hands.

"It's a night devoted to how much I love you," she replied.


Next time... Charlie and Joey spend the night on the Blaxland and Joey makes a particularly romantic gesture...