Chapter Two Hundred and Eight

Joey was out of the car before Alf had even braked properly. She hurried over to Charlie's familiar blue car but found it empty and locked up.

"Charlie?" she yelled.

Alf appeared behind her, telling her that they needed to approach with caution. Instructing Romeo and Xavier to wait by the car for the police, Alf led Joey into the building, calling for both Hugo and Charlie as they went.


"Hugo, what are you doing?" Charlie demanded, struggling against her restraints.

He remained at the wheel, ignoring her.

"Hugo?" she called.

Still he ignored her.

"Hugo?" she said more urgently.

Finally, he turned and approached, towering over her. Charlie tried not to feel frightened at for far out to sea they had sped.


Martha's hands trembled on the wheel as she tried desperately to out-drive Derrick. But he was still in hot pursuit and despite his head injury, it didn't look like he would be giving up any time soon. Glancing back at Angelo, Martha noticed that he was slowly starting to come round. She was relieved, having feared that without her there to stem the blood flow, he would die.

"Angelo?" she said, returning her eyes to the road. "Angelo, are you okay?"

"What's going on?" the police officer managed, his voice thick with pain.


Alf and Joey trawled the rows of shipping containers, trying to find some sign of life.

"Joey, what on earth do you think is going on here?" Alf asked urgently.

He hadn't wanted to alarm the boys but something bad was obviously going down.

"I don't know," Joey admitted. "But I know Charlie was working on a case and I know she was coming down here. So if Xavier's convinced that Hugo is in some kind of trouble then it's possible that Charlie is too. I can't get her on the phone so I just wanted to make sure."

"Fair enough," Alf agreed.

They turned into the next row and paused when they saw what looked like an open door to one of the containers. They hurried forward, opened it wider and gagged at what they saw.


"Look, you don't have to do this, Hugo," Charlie said. "I know... I know what you're caught up in but if we go back to the Bay then we can work something out. We can..."

"It's too late, Charlie!" Hugo snapped. "I'm in it up to my neck and nobody can save me. The one good thing I can do is save Martha."

"And how are you planning to do that?" Charlie asked.

"If I go back to Indonesia with Suzy, if I give her what she wants then she'll leave Martha in peace and we can all go on with the rest of our lives," Hugo said.

"All of us?" she questioned.

Sighing, Hugo pulled out his gun and sat down opposite his prisoner.

"I'm not going to kill you," he said. "But right now, the only thing linking me to any of this is you and this phone."

He tossed his mobile over the side of the boat. It landed with a splash. Leaning forward, he looked Charlie in the eye.

"If you're not going to kill me, what are you doing to do?" she asked.

"I'm going to delay you until I can safely get out of the country," he told her. "I'm not letting you get in the way of what I need to do."

Charlie swallowed uncertainly.

"Delay me, how?" she finally asked.

In one swift motion, he grabbed her, pulling her roughly to her feet and ignoring that fact that the handcuffs meant she couldn't bend. She cried out in pain until he un-cuffed her.

"Swim," he said.


"You got shot," Martha informed her passenger. "You were trying to save me and nearly got yourself killed."

Angelo sat up abruptly, wincing. He pulled off his jacket and tried to use it to stem the bleeding in his leg.

"Are you hurt badly?" Martha asked, concentrating on the road.

"Just a graze," he said. "Hurts like a bitch."

"If you're not badly hurt then why did you faint?" Martha wondered.

He changed the subject, not wanting to admit that the last thing he remembered was feeling unwell at the sight of blood.

"Where are we going?" he asked, leaning forward in the seat.

"Away from that man!" Martha replied.

Angelo glanced behind him and saw that Derrick was following them.

"Shit..." he muttered.


Watson and Avery arrived at Port Heron, followed by another patrol car. Jumping out, Watson approached Romeo and Xavier who told them that Alf and Joey had already gone inside. Leaving the boys with her two backup colleagues and ignoring Xavier's urgent questions about Hugo, Watson gestured for Avery to follow her inside. It didn't take long to find Joey and Alf. They followed the sound of their panicked voices.

"What's going on?" Watson asked.

Joey was pale and looked like she might vomit at any moment. She stepped aside so that Watson could see into the shipping container. Inside were a number of half dead immigrants.


"You're chucking me overboard in the middle of the night?" Charlie demanded, more annoyed than anything else. "And you say you're not trying to kill me?"

"Keep going in the same direction and you'll be at the island where Angelo and I found the sunken boat before you know it," Hugo told her, still pointing his gun in her direction.

Charlie wondered where her gun was. And her phone.

"Providing a shark doesn't attack me in the meantime," she said.

"It's unlikely," Hugo said. "They generally go for humans that are already dead."

"You only got bitten a few months ago."

He surprised her by laughing.

"You still buy that?" he asked.

Charlie studied his face.

"I was stabbed," he said. "But with the hand in the sand fiasco, it was a good cover."

"Who stabbed you?" Charlie asked.

"I'm not going to tell you any more than you already know," he said. "So, shift."

He gestured towards her with his weapon. Shakily, Charlie began to take her boots off. Then she stumbled and fell to the ground.


"Drive faster!" Angelo said.

"Stop yelling at me!" Martha snapped. "I'm doing my best!"

Angelo growled in frustration as Derrick began to gain on them.

"Martha, would you just...?"

"I'm doing my best!" Martha yelled again, turning to glare at him.

"Martha, look out!" Angelo screeched.

She swerved just in time, managed to avoid hitting a closed road sign. Pulling to the right, Martha and Angelo watched Derrick crash through the bollards, his car overturning again and again and again.


Several ambulances had arrived to take the prisoners to hospital. Watson dared not ask if they would make it. She couldn't bear the answer. They had found blood inside the shipping container but it didn't look like it belonged to any of the refugees. Joey was terrified that it was Charlie's. There was also evidence of a car speeding off and away from the premises.

"I think we should check down at the docks," Joey said out of the blue.

Watson looked puzzled.

"Why?"

"If Hugo's taken Charlie – dead or alive – then he might have tried to make his escape on his boat," Joey explained.

"Well, there's no evidence..." Watson said uncertainly.

"There's no evidence of anything," Joey pointed out. "Please, Watson? I've just got a feeling. Please take me down there? Just to see?"

Watson sighed and then agreed. Telling Avery to finish taking statements from Alf, Xavier and Romeo, Watson led the way to her car.


"Charlie, I'm not falling for it," Hugo said, nudging her with his boot.

She looked to be out cold. He nudged her again, harder this time but she didn't react. Grumbling, he bent down to check on her, worried that perhaps she had hurt herself badly. Before he'd even had a chance to reach out to her, she pushed him hard, sending him sprawling backwards. Leaping up, Charlie wrestled the gun from his hands and stood over him, ensuring that he now knew that she was in control. Both of them were distracted when they heard another boat approach.

"Suzy..." Hugo realised.


Next time... panic spreads throughout Summer Bay, Watson and Joey lead the rescue mission and Hugo and Charlie struggle with Suzy...