Chapter Two Hundred and Seventy Eight
"I wonder how it's going with Leah and Elijah," Charlie mused.
It was eight o'clock in the evening and Ruby was still out, having dinner with Xavier and Martha at the farm. Xavier had moved back in with his mother but had left a handful of things at Martha's so he thought they'd combine the collection with a sociable evening. Ruby had agreed that she would phone Charlie to get picked up when she was finished. Summer Bay was generally a safe area but neither Charlie nor Joey were keen on the idea of their daughter wandering around alone after dark.
"I hope they managed to talk things through," Joey said. "I mean, she was pretty clear that she wanted to when she left me but..."
She sighed.
"I guess you never really know how things are going to turn out."
They were interrupted by a hurried knock on the door.
Leah and Elijah were running up and down the road yelling VJ's name. He'd stormed up to his room, having heard their conversation but when Leah had gone to check on him, his window was open and he had disappeared.
"I'm calling the police," Leah decided, hurrying back to the house to get her phone.
Elijah hurried after her, feeling terribly guilty.
"Is there anyone you could try calling first?" he asked, trying to keep up with her. "Anyone he would go to?"
Suddenly, Leah had an idea.
"That was so good, Martha," Ruby enthused. "Thank you."
Martha had cooked for the three of them and was grateful for the company. She missed Liam now that he had moved out and her head was still a mess about Hugo, not to mention missing Jack and feeling guilty about trying to kiss Angelo, the man that had killed him.
"It's my pleasure," Martha said.
"Yeah, thanks, Martha. I'm just going to grab the rest of my stuff," Xavier said, standing up.
The girls watched him go. Ruby turned back to Martha.
"How are you doing these days?" she asked. "Do you miss Xavier and Liam?"
"VJ!" Charlie said in shock. "What are you doing here?"
He hurried into the room and bundled himself into Joey's arms, the moment she appeared. Charlie and Joey glanced anxiously at each other. While Joey hugged VJ, Charlie looked down the corridor leading to their apartment but frowned when she realised that Leah was nowhere to be seen. She turned back to VJ.
"Veej, what's going on?" she asked the tearful little boy.
"My Dad's dead," he said.
Charlie and Joey looked even more concerned. Joey was sure she had only advised Elijah to tell Leah the truth. VJ was another matter entirely. The phone rang.
"Maybe we should go give him a hand," Martha suggested.
There had only been a couple of things left in his room. Gathering them together really shouldn't be taking so long.
"No!" Ruby said urgently. "Um... he's fine. He's probably just saying goodbye to the room or something."
Martha didn't look convinced. She had the distinct impression that Ruby was trying to distract her from what Xavier was doing.
With VJ seated on the sofa with Joey who was trying to talk him down and get his tears and breathing under control, Charlie was talking to Leah on the phone.
"He literally just walked through the door," she explained. "He's okay but pretty upset."
Leah sighed and explained that he had overheard her conversation with Elijah about Vinnie.
"I didn't want him to find out like that," she said sadly.
"I know," Charlie empathised. "Look, come and get him whenever you like."
She glanced over at the couch where VJ looked at least a little calmer.
"Joey's looking after him."
Xavier paced the empty bedroom. He had searched high and low for his box of money but it was nowhere to be found. Panic surged within him. How could he have lost something so important? What was he going to do now?
"Your Mum would only have been trying to protect you, sweetheart," Joey said gently.
VJ sat, still sobbing a little, between Charlie and Joey. Leah was on her way over.
"She lied to me!" VJ said. "All this time, I thought my Dad was dead and he wasn't. But now he is. And I never got the chance to know him when I could have. Didn't he love me? Why didn't he want to stick around and be my Dad?"
Joey put her arm around him, not entirely sure of how to explain. There was a hurried knock at the door. Charlie hurried over to let Leah in.
Ruby's eyes widened as Martha strode over to a cupboard and retrieved the now too familiar box. She hurried after her as she strode into the spare room. Xavier jumped in surprise and turned around, wide eyed.
"Looking for this?" Martha asked, waving the box at him.
VJ nodded a little uncertainly as Charlie, with Leah's permission, explained what it meant for Vinnie to have been in Witness Protection.
"So, he did love me?" VJ asked, looking earnestly at all three adults.
"Of course he did, Veej," Leah said. "He adored you. It broke his heart that he didn't get to be your Dad."
"I just... couldn't he have found a way?"
Charlie shook her head sadly.
"It doesn't work like that, I'm afraid," she said.
VJ sighed heavily and looked at the floor. Then he yawned.
"I think we need to get you home," Leah said, reaching for him. "We can talk about it some more in the morning. I'll answer any question you need, okay?"
VJ nodded. He hugged Joey and Charlie goodbye and followed his mother to the door. On the doorstep, Leah turned to Charlie and Joey who were both seeing them out.
"Thank you," she said. "Thank you both so much."
Martha, Xavier and Ruby sat round the table together, all of them looking anxious.
"Where did you get all this money?" Martha asked. "And why did you lie to me about it being photos and memories of Hugo?"
"I wasn't lying... exactly," Xavier said awkwardly.
Martha looked confused.
"Hugo left me the money before he died," Xavier explained. "Well, I guess he left it there before he tried to skip the country. He asked me to do something good with it..."
"And what good are you trying to do?" Martha asked, her heart racing a little at the memory of the second man she had ever loved.
"We don't know yet," Xavier said, glancing at Ruby. "We've been trying to hide it until we can figure out our next move."
Martha sighed and pushed the box across the table. Xavier accepted it gratefully.
That night, alone in her bed, Leah thought about the day. She was heartbroken that Vinnie had actually died. She might have been telling the world that he was gone already, but in her heart, it had been a great comfort to know that it wasn't the case. Now it seemed like the end of an era. She felt so lost.
With the box hidden back in his wardrobe at home, Xavier struggled to get to sleep. He was relieved that Martha had understood. He doubted anyone else would be. Now, all he could hope was that Colleen would come through for him and inadvertently help him find a good hiding place until he was ready to spend the money on a good cause.
In his caravan, Elijah couldn't even begin to try and sleep. His mind was in overdrive so he was attempting to pray and read scripture instead. Sighing heavily, he gazed out of his small window, wondering what Leah and VJ were thinking and feeling right now.
Ruby was close to drifting off. It had been a long day and she knew tomorrow would be longer. She and Xavier were hoping to hide Hugo's money properly and she knew she would be glad to lessen the burden. Considering what Hugo had done to Charlie, Ruby felt more than a little guilty to be handling his illegal cash. She hated lying to Charlie and Joey. But she wasn't entirely sure what the better option would be.
Martha couldn't sleep. Curled up with a glass of wine, she had indulged in looking through photos of Hugo. She had so many regrets. How could she have been so blind not to know that her boyfriend was an evil criminal? How could he have been so wonderful at home and so terrible at work? How could he have built his life on lies? Had he really loved her? Did he know that she still loved him? How had he felt about himself and his life before he'd been gunned down? The last time she had seen him was an image burned into her memory. It was something she doubted she would ever truly escape from.
Despite himself, VJ had drifted off into dreams about his father. He saw him in the distance but couldn't quite reach him somehow. He wasn't tangible and he kept drifting far away. In his sleep, VJ cried.
"Okay, we didn't quite get the early night we planned," Charlie frowned.
It was eleven o'clock and she and Joey were only just getting ready for bed after a long night of trying to help Leah and VJ. Ruby had also phoned for a lift home later than they had all agreed.
"I am so tired!" Joey complained with a yawn.
Snuggling up into each other's arms, both women fell asleep almost immediately.
Next time... Elijah shares some memories of Vinnie with VJ, Charlie suggests that Miles book an appointment with Michael and Xavier and Ruby make a discovery when they try to hide Hugo's money...
