Chapter One Hundred and Seventy Three
Charlie and Joey woke up happily to the morning sun. Stretching, Charlie forced her eyes open, although she could have happily stayed dozing in Joey's arms.
"Sorry I didn't manage to bring any coffee," the skipper said. "But I reckon we can head to the Diner on our way back home."
"In a suit and an evening dress?" Charlie laughed. "We'd look like proper dirty stop outs."
Giggling, Joey kissed her and assured her that she had already taken care of that. She moved to kiss her again, double checking that she had had a nice time.
"I had an amazing time," Charlie confirmed.
She cupped Joey's face, gazing lovingly into her eyes.
"I love you," she said.
"I love you too," Joey replied. "And I'm looking forward to spending every day of my life showing you that."
They kissed again, immediately getting carried away.
It was lunch time before Charlie and Joey finally arrived back in the Bay. In the day clothes and clean underwear that Joey had packed for them both – along with toothbrushes and everything else they could possibly need – they headed to the Diner to get breakfast and coffees. They had only just sat down when Hugo trudged in, ordering a strong coffee of his own and looking terribly hungover. The couple watched him immediately get tackled by Gina and Xavier.
"Someone's in trouble," Joey remarked.
Charlie nodded.
"He was a bit of an arse yesterday," she said. "I don't know what's going on anymore."
She shook her head.
"But," she added. "Today is my day off and I don't have to think about Hugo or Angelo or any of that mess."
She reached across the table and lifted Joey's hand to her lips.
"All I want to focus on is you."
Joey smiled. She was definitely happy with that.
Charlie excused herself to go to the bathroom before she and Joey left for home. Joey remained at the table. Their people watching activities had definitely been interesting this morning. Gina and Xavier had told Hugo off for something and then when both of her boys had left, Gina had had a rather intimate coffee with John Palmer. Suddenly, Xavier burst back into the Diner, hurrying up to his mother and demanding to know what was going on. Joey watched him race back out of the Diner. Gina hurried after him. John stood up, embarrassed that people were looking at him. Spotting Joey, he approached.
"Enjoy life while it lasts," he hissed. "Because your trawler days are numbered."
He jumped when Charlie appeared behind him.
"Do you know that threatening people is a criminal offence?" she said.
"I wasn't threatening anyone," John lied.
"You're lucky I don't pull you in for questioning right now," Charlie warned.
"On what grounds?" John laughed. "For upsetting your precious little girlfriend?"
"For being a corrupt councillor for starters," Charlie said. "I'm pretty sure I won't have to dig very far to get something on you."
"Risk it if you dare," John said.
He turned and left. Charlie sank into a chair beside Joey.
"Well, my good mood is officially over," she said unhappily.
Joey forced a smile and squeezed her hand.
"Let's just forget about him," she said. "I don't want him to spoil our lovely weekend, okay?"
Nodding, Charlie stood up and they headed home together.
Monday rolled around and neither Charlie nor Joey were eager for work to start again but they knew it was something they had to do. As much as they would have loved to do nothing but spend time with each other, that wasn't something that paid the bills.
"Okay, well have fun," Charlie said, dropping Joey off at the docks.
"I'll try and cope without you," Joey said dramatically.
Chuckling, Charlie leant over and kissed her. After a few lingering moments, Joey got out of the car and headed towards the trawler. Still smiling, Charlie watched her go and then headed into work.
"Jo, is there any news on the trawler?" Geoff asked a little anxiously. "Like, do you think we're going to lose it?"
Joey sighed and shoved her hands in her pockets.
"I don't know," she said. "To be honest, I think we're going to lose it. I just don't know when."
"Is there anything we can do to save it?"
"I wish there was," she said. "But other than somehow getting John off the Council, I don't know if we have a card to play. And for some reason, he seems to have it in for me so... Sorry."
Aden stepped up beside his friend and put his arm around her.
"It's not your fault, okay?" he said. "Whatever happens, we'll deal with it."
"Okay, I sort of have good news," Charlie announced, approaching Angelo at his desk.
He looked up expectantly. Charlie tossed a report down in front of him and explaining that although they couldn't identify who the fingerprints belong to, the prints from the log book in Hugo's shed and the prints on the message they found in Bambang's toy, were the same.
"Okay, we seriously need to find that guy who attacked Hugo and Xavier," Angelo said.
"I'm not sure what else we can do," Charlie said, feeling a little sensitive in case he was blaming her for not having found him. "We've got posters of him all over town. We've got officers patrolling for him round the clock."
"Cool down," Angelo said, holding up his hand in defence. "I'm not criticising."
"Makes a change," Charlie remarked.
"What's pissed you off?" Angelo asked. "You were irritatingly happy this morning."
"Well, the shine of my perfect weekend had to wear off sometime," Charlie sighed.
"What kind of perfect weekend did you have?" Angelo asked, not sure he really wanted to know.
Part of him wanted to ignore the fact that on her downtime, Charlie was blissfully happy with Joey but part of him felt, on the odd occasion, inclined to torture himself with whatever nuggets of information he could get.
"None of your business," Charlie said, looking disgusted that he'd even asked.
He was about to protest that he thought friends talked about personal lives when Watson approached to tell them that it looked like Hugo had caught the man who attacked him.
Joey arrived home from work to find Ruby already doing her homework at the dining table.
"Big assignment?" she asked.
Ruby nodded and glanced up at her. She finished her sentence and then sat back, sighing heavily. Joey came to sit beside her, asking if she was okay.
"Yeah, I just dropped the ball on my English homework and now it's due tomorrow and it's not even nearly finished," the teenager said unhappily. "I'm such an idiot. I just... I thought I had more time to do it. And I've been busy with..."
"Geoff," Joey concluded.
Ruby nodded, sighing again.
"Such an idiot," she complained.
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Joey said, patting her affectionately on the shoulder. "When I first fell in love with Charlie, I barely had time to remember my own name because I was so besotted. That rush of a new romance always blots everything else out. But you'll be okay."
Ruby smiled, thanking her for the encouragement.
"Have you eaten properly today?" Joey asked, standing up.
Ruby looked a little guilty and then said she didn't have time.
"Yeah, okay, I can excuse you forgetting a little about school work because of Geoff but there is no excuse for not looking after yourself, especially now," Joey scolded. "You keep on working and I'll make you something, okay?"
"Okay," Ruby agreed. "Thanks. And um... Joey?"
Her step-mother turned back to her.
"Have you actually left that besotted feeling behind yet?" she teased.
"Cheeky!" Joey laughed, heading back towards the kitchen. "But you're right. No. I haven't."
By the time Charlie was finally ready to leave work – an hour later than planned, she was feeling mildly pleased with herself. It appeared that the man who had nearly killed Xavier, the same man who had once terrorised Nicole and Geoff, had tried to steal Bambang earlier that afternoon. Hugo and Martha had made up and taken their foster child fishing. Derrick had approached and tried to make off with the child but Hugo had tackled him and called the police. Charlie and Angelo had then spent the rest of the afternoon interviewing him. So far, he wouldn't talk but they had enough to hold him with for now – not least the fact that his fingerprints matched the ones found on the log book and the coded message in Bambang's toy. Both officers were certain that he was connected to the human trafficking ring, although both were also puzzled by Hugo's involvement. If he was working with Derrick then why would he hand him in like that? Why would he identify him and drop him in it? That was the part that made no sense and without revealing they suspected his involvement, they weren't in a position to ask. Still, Charlie was pleased with her work for the day, and eager to get home and relax. She also had a day off the following day, which she was desperately looking forward to. The weekend just hadn't been long enough as far as she was concerned.
Next time... Charlie and Joey visit Ross, Ruby collapses at school and Aden is horrified by the arrival of his new housemate...
