Chapter Two Hundred and Seventy Five

Charlie had phoned ahead to let Alf and Marilyn know that she was bringing Miles home with a broken ankle. She'd taken him to the hospital where a Doctor had fixed him up but more than anything, Charlie was concerned with her friend's state of mind. He had avoided all discussion on the subject but the police officer was utterly convinced that he had been talking to himself earlier in the day. Had Rachel been on duty, she would have mentioned it. But without the security of discussing the issue with someone she knew, Charlie was puzzling over how to play things.


Joey had gone for a walk along the beach and bumped into Ruby and Nicole. Typically, Nicole had been fretting about Aden and also typically, Joey had got embroiled in 'share my pain'.

"Things just feel so fragmented at the moment," the blonde sighed, not noticing the look that Ruby and Joey exchanged. "I mean, I'm really caught up with school and my internship and he spends almost all his time with Justin. It's like we can't find the time to be together anymore."

"Have you talked to him about it?" Joey asked.

"Well, that would be the obvious thing to do so... no," Nicole replied with the hint of a smile.

"I think that should be your next move," Ruby said. "Right, Joey?"

"Right," the bait shop manager agreed. "Having said that, I was planning on visiting him tomorrow so I could also give him a nudge. The boy doesn't have that much self awareness really. He can only seem to concentrate on one thing at a time!"

Joey smirked, making the teenagers laugh.


"Rabbit is my daughter, Amber," Miles explained awkwardly.

Off the clock, Charlie had remained with him, Alf and Marilyn, patiently waiting for an explanation over his recent erratic behaviour.

"I thought..." Alf began, trailing off quickly when Miles looked up.

"She died," Miles confirmed. "But she's here. She's been here for months."

"Like a spirit guide or something?" Marilyn asked, trying to be helpful.

"Maybe," Miles agreed.

Charlie and Alf exchanged worried glances.

"I don't know why she's hanging around but I'm not unhappy about it," Miles said. "I woke up on the beach at the beginning of the year and she was just... there. And she's been here ever since. I know nobody else can see her. I know none of this is probably even real. But I'm happy for the first time in a long time. So yes, you can all think I'm mad and accuse me of talking to myself but she's a huge part of my life and she's staying."

He glanced behind him and nodded for emphasis. Nobody else in the room could see the exchange between Miles and his imaginary companion.


"So, everything's good with you and Xavier?" Joey checked.

Her step daughter beamed at her and nodded. Things were going great, actually. They were even better than they had been the first time around and Ruby was thrilled about it.

"Show off," Nicole teased.

"She can't help it!" Joey giggled.

"You're a show off too, by the way!" Nicole remarked.

"As if!" Joey denied.

Nicole groaned and flopped back on the sand.

"You two with your blissfully happy relationships..."

She shook her head and tutted. Joey reached back and hauled her into a sitting position.

"If you and Aden spent as much time being happy together as you do falling out of sync and struggling, you'd have the most awesome relationship in the world!" she pointed out.


That night, Charlie and Joey lay in bed side by side. Charlie had explained everything that had happened with Miles and Joey's mind was reeling to say the least.

"What are you going to do about it?" Joey wondered.

Charlie sighed heavily and closed her eyes. She rolled onto her side and snuggled up to her girlfriend, catching hold of her hand on top of the covers.

"What can I do?" she asked. "I mean, it's not really a police issue except for the vandalism. I don't really feel qualified to deal with this. How do you tell someone that they have to say goodbye to their child for the second time?"

Joey sighed and kissed the top of her girlfriend's head. In all honesty, she had no idea what to do either.

"Maybe you should talk it through with Rachel?" she suggested. "I mean, she really is qualified for things like this, isn't she?"

"Yeah," Charlie sighed. "Yeah, she is."


It was Monday morning and Charlie and Joey were both reluctant to go back to work after an all too short weekend together. On the plus side, they now had their new apartment exactly the way they liked it and it was feeling more and more like home.

"What does the day look like for you today?" Joey asked, as she, Charlie and Ruby had breakfast together.

"Just boring school," Ruby complained.

"How's your project going?" Charlie asked.

Her daughter looked a little confused.

"The one you're doing with Xavier," Charlie elaborated. "About the history of the Bay?"

"Oh! Yeah... um... it's going well," Ruby lied. "We're working hard."

She plastered a smile on her face and tried not to look too shifty. The last thing she needed was for Charlie's cop instincts to take over and figure out that she was hiding something.

"And what about you?" she asked Joey, deflecting attention.

"Bait shop," she replied. "And lunch with Leah because someone is working all the hours God sends this week."

"I just want to get the case wrapped up," Charlie said with a small pout. "It's important."

She'd decided over the weekend that the team investigating Justin's accident had been slacking and not getting very far. So, as Sergeant of the station, her plan was to take over the case and try to figure out exactly what happened on the day that Marilyn found him in the middle of the road.


At work, Charlie was up to her eyes in paperwork. She was frustrated by the lack of care that the officers in charge had taken with the situation and she knew she would have to pull them in for reprimanding sooner rather than later. For now, she had taken the case on herself and had hoped to partner Watson just as she had approached her with a request for leave so that she and Monica could go away together. Charlie was happy for her, although less happy that the next in line for a working relationship was Angelo. Things had calmed down between them and even Joey had managed to be civil to him the other day but Charlie still felt a little strange around him. She couldn't comprehend what he had been thinking when he had been following her around. Sighing, she picked up the phone and called the hospital.


Over lunch, Joey was thrilled to hear that VJ had now taken so nicely to Elijah that he had even allowed him to walk him to school that morning.

"That's definitely good progress," she enthused.

Leah couldn't stop smiling.

"At the risk of jinxing it, I am so happy right now," she admitted. "I feel like everything is falling into place."


"Sergeant Buckton," Charlie said by way of answering her phone.

"Charlie? It's Rachel," the Doctor replied. "I gather you called about the blood traces from Justin Jeffries' accident?"

"Yeah," Charlie replied putting down her pen and sitting back her chair.

"They came back this morning," Rachel explained. "Sorry for the delay. I thought they'd already been given to you."

Charlie frowned and kicked her door closed before getting comfortable.

"I don't think I had the most efficient officers on the case but Angelo and I have taken it over now," she said. "What did the results say?"

"Well, my suspicions were right," Rachel revealed. "The blood didn't all come from Justin."

"So there was someone else involved?"

"Yes," Rachel said, sounding a little awkward.

"Any idea who?" Charlie asked hopefully.

"Larry Jeffries," Rachel replied.


"I suppose Charlie told you all about what happened with Miles yesterday," Alf said, having come down to the bait shop to see Joey and set himself up for an afternoon's fishing.

"Yeah, she did," Joey said, gathering up everything her boss would need. "She was pretty stressed about it."

Alf nodded grimly.

"He's holed up at home with this broken ankle," he said. "And he's having animated conversations with thin air. I just don't know what to do with him."

"I thought it might be a good idea to talk to Rachel," Joey said. "Charlie said she would but she's been rushed off her feet with work all day so maybe you could?"

Alf nodded, an accepted the fishing gear she handed over.

"I think you might be right," he said.


"All I'm saying is that I don't understand how you can claim to have a fully functional relationship when you never see the girl!" Justin remarked.

"Look, just focus on the game instead of constantly analysing my life," Aden complained.

The brothers were holed up in the lounge, battling each other in a video boxing match. They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Aden hesitated, not wanting to lose the game. The knock came more abruptly. Hitting pause, Aden opened up.

"Charlie!" he said in surprise.

He stepped back when his friend, in uniform, continued to look very serious.


Having spoken to both Alf and Charlie, Rachel finished her shift at work and headed over to the caravan park in order to speak to Miles. Settling down on the sofa with him, she struggled under his stare.

"Before you start," he said. "I am not giving Rabbit up."


"Well, I don't really understand how that's possible," Aden said anxiously.

He glanced at Justin who also looked on edge as Charlie explained that it looked like Larry had been involved in the accident.

"Justin, do you remember anything more about that day?" Charlie asked.

"Nothing," Justin replied, struggling with sudden flashes of memory.

"And have either of you heard from Larry in the last few weeks?" the police officer continued.

Justin was about to say no but Aden interrupted.

"I spoke to him on the phone yesterday," he lied. "He's fine."

Charlie studied his face. She thought she deserved better than being lied to by her partner's best friend. There was definitely something dodgy going on.

"Okay," she said reluctantly. "Well, if either of you hear anything then make sure you call."

With that, she turned and headed back to her patrol car. With three hours left on shift, she was desperate to get home.


"It's just something to think about, okay?" Rachel said.

She'd patiently listened to him rant about wanting everyone to stay out of his business. He didn't appreciate the way everyone seemed to want to take Rabbit away from him.

"Noted," he said sourly, returning his eyes to the television screen.

"Miles..."

"I'm not interested in counselling, Rachel," he insisted. "I'm happy exactly as I am."


Joey was puzzled. Having finished work, she'd popped round – as arranged – to see Aden. Then the plan had been for Charlie to finish work and collect her from the house. But Aden had been behaving strangely and pretty much thrown her out of the house. Something definitely wasn't right.


Hanging up the phone, Charlie sighed heavily. She sank back in her chair and rubbed her temples, struggling over what to do with this most recent piece of information. Larry had been let out of jail on parole weeks ago. But apparently aside from Aden, nobody had seen or heard from him since.


Next time... while Charlie and Joey get amorous, Aden and Justin bury their father's body in the woods...