Thank you for all the reviews and stuff yesterday. I had a bit of a meltdown because of this bug I'm struggling to recover from so you all helped me with your messages! Love, IJKS xxx

Chapter Two Hundred and Seventy Six

It was the middle of the night when Aden and Justin headed out of the house and drove towards the site that Justin had been found by Marilyn on her way into Summer Bay. Charlie's revelation about Larry had triggered some memories. Larry had most definitely been in the car. Justin had picked him up. And although he didn't know what had happened next, the presence of Larry's blood and the absence of his body was leading to one, unhappy conclusion.

"Can't you sleep?" Joey asked through the dark.

Charlie had been tossing, turning, sighing and shifting for the past hour. She had too much on her mind.

"Am I keeping you up?" she asked. "I'm sorry."

Joey shifted onto her side and managed to just about make out Charlie's face.

"It's fine," she said. "But what's on your mind?"

"It's Aden," Charlie admitted.

"Aden?"

"And Justin."

"They were pretty weird with me earlier today," Joey recalled. "What's up with them?"

Charlie chewed her lip. Technically she wasn't supposed to discuss police business with her girlfriend but really, it had never stopped her. There weren't a lot of people she would trust that much but with Joey, she knew she would always be safe.

"I think there was more to Justin's accident than meets the eye," she said.


Aden and Justin roamed through the woods.

"You must have been further out than the police thought," Aden mused. "Otherwise, if there was something to see then they would have found it by now."

Justin nodded mutely. He shoved his hands in his pockets and sighed, wondering what on earth might have happened that day. The brothers kept on walking through the dark.


"You don't think Justin did something to Larry, do you?" Joey asked, aghast.

Charlie sighed and snuggled up a little closer to her girlfriend.

"I hope not," she said. "But the story doesn't make sense. The blood tests showed that Larry was involved with the accident in some way. And I know Aden lied about speaking to him yesterday. Nobody has heard from him in weeks. I don't think the boys were even aware that he was out of jail."

She sighed again and closed her eyes unhappily.

"I don't mean to criticise but... how come this has all been left for so long?" Joey wondered. "Justin's been in town for weeks."

"I know," Charlie said, still unhappy but not annoyed. "I stupidly gave the case to a couple of junior officers that I thought could handle it. But it looks like they're jobs-worths who haven't really bothered to investigate. They didn't even pick up the blood results from the hospital."

Joey managed a smirk through dark.

"Are you're gonna come down on 'em like a tonne o'bricks?" she asked.

Charlie laughed.

"I am," she said. "Once I've got a handle on the case myself. I just feel really awkward."

"I don't really know Justin," Joey said. "But Aden is a wonderful man. It won't be awkward. He'll be honest with you and you'll figure it out."

"But he lied to me today," Charlie pointed out.

"That was probably just him trying to protect Justin without knowing why," Joey said. "You watch. He'll do the right thing, even if it's hard."

Charlie smiled and stroked Joey's hair.

"I love the way you always see the good in everyone and everything," she said.

"Except Angelo," Joey giggled.

"Except Angelo!" Charlie agreed.


Aden felt unwell as he and his brother stood over the decomposing body of their father. Turning away, Justin threw up in the bushes. Aden fought several waves of nausea and stepped forward, his mind racing over what to do next.

"I did this," Justin said softly, wiping his mouth and wishing he had a bottle of water.

"We don't know that," Aden replied. "It could have been an accident or..."

"It could have been murder," Justin said. "I mean, what if he'd confessed to me about what happened to him as a kid the way he did with you? We all know how you reacted."

Aden bit his lip so hard that he could taste blood. Memories hit him and he tried to shake them away.

"What are we meant to do now?" he asked nobody in particular.

"Well, I guess we have to call the police," Justin said. "Maybe that Charlie chick you spend so much time with."

Aden jolted and looked horrified.

"If we call the police, you'll get jailed for something you might not have done," he said. "No. No, we have to bury the body."


Still unable to sleep, Charlie happily accepted Joey's kisses. She sighed contentedly as Joey's lips pressed tenderly against hers. Her body tingled as Joey's hands began to wander beneath the blankets. Joey shifted and trailed her warm lips down Charlie's neck, nuzzling into the part of her shoulder that always seemed to drive her crazy.

"Something tells me we're not going to get any sleep tonight," Charlie murmured.

Joey rolled on top of her, propping herself up on her elbows and studying what she could see of her girlfriend's face. She smirked.

"Are you complaining?" she asked, slipping one hand along Charlie's tummy and down to her thighs.

"Definitely not complaining," Charlie replied.

Kissing her one more time, Joey set to work.


Morning light was beginning to shine through the trees when Aden and Justin finally stepped back from the grave they had dug and then filled in. Both boys still felt sick and it had been a struggle to bury their father without proper tools. But time had been of the essence and panic had fuelled their decisions. Now, exhausted and with decidedly scratched up and muddy hands, they looked down at their father, now hidden in the dirt. Silently, they walked back to the car.


"I can't believe we have to get up in two hours," Charlie complained.

The sun was peeping in through the curtains and neither she nor Joey had achieved anything even remotely resembling sleep. But neither of them minded either.

"We should totally have a sick day," Joey said, snuggling into Charlie's arms.

"Like you'd do that to Alf!" Charlie giggled. "And I don't think I could then morally criticise my team for slacking."

Joey sighed dramatically, conceding that she was right.

"We should probably attempt to sleep," she said rather grumpily.

Charlie offered her a wicked grin before flipping her onto her back. Joey shrieked and giggled in surprise as Charlie pressed their bodies gently together.

"With only a couple of hours to go, there's probably no point..." the police officer said, kissing Joey's neck.

Joey moaned and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend.

"I think you're right," she decided. "Very, very right."


Next time... Joey advises Elijah to tell Leah the truth about Vinnie, Aden and Justin get caught up in their lies and VJ gets some bad news...