Chapter Two Hundred and Ninety
Aden woke with a start. It took him several moments to figure out why he was curled in the backseat of his car. Justin was sitting up but crashed out in the passenger seat at the front. Slowly, Aden adjusted to the situation. Panic then surged within him. He glanced at his watch. Charlie and her team would be out here in two hours. He and Justin needed to find Larry's burial site and hide as much evidence as they could.
Elijah had coaxed Miles out of the house and to the Diner for breakfast. He was concerned about the man that had very quickly become his best friend in the Bay, minus Leah of course. But she was his girlfriend. That was different.
"Hi, Charlie," the Reverend called. "Hi, Joey."
The two women approached, greeting them warmly.
"Would you like to join us?" Miles offered, trying to sound upbeat.
Mostly, he just felt lost.
"Sure," Joey accepted. "Thanks."
"Are you both working today?" Elijah asked.
"Yeah," Charlie said. "Just having coffee before our shifts start. I have a feeling it's going to be a long day."
"How so?" Miles asked, interested.
Charlie looked a little worriedly at Joey for a second before she smiled.
"We've just got a lot on right now," she said.
"Are you still trying to find out what happened to Justin?" Miles asked.
"Yeah," Charlie said awkwardly. "But anyway, enough about work. How are you doing?"
All three of them looked at Miles who shifted uncomfortably.
"I'm fine," he said. "The pills are working. I haven't seen Rabbit for days."
He hoped nobody noticed the way he glanced to his right. Rabbit was standing right there.
Aden dared not take the time to look at or think about his father's corpse. Instead, he focussed on the task in hand. He and Justin had to find a way to get rid of Larry and therefore get rid of any evidence that either of them had been involved in anything illegal. Aden glanced at Justin who was frozen in place, not quite able to pick up Larry's feet and help move him to the car.
"Justin, would you get a grip?" Aden demanded.
"Sorry if I'm not finding it easy to dispose of my father's dead body!" Justin snapped back.
"Maybe now is the time to remind you that if it wasn't for you being so damn stupid and doing whatever the hell it is that you did, then we wouldn't be here right now. So get a grip and help me," Aden said darkly.
"Okay, sweetheart," Joey said. "I hope today isn't too stressful."
They were by the car in the car park and were about to go their separate ways until the evening.
"I hope so too," Charlie frowned.
Joey gathered her into her arms, hugging her tight and kissing her softly on the lips.
"Just do your best," she said. "Nobody can ask for more than that."
"What if my best isn't good enough?" Charlie fretted.
"It will be," Joey assured her. "I have every faith in you."
Charlie smiled in appreciation. They kissed one more time before Charlie forced herself into the car in order to drive to work. She watched her girlfriend wander down the beach in the direction of the bait shop.
Having sent Miles home with Alf, Elijah hovered in the Diner kitchen feeling anxious. Leah was behaving strangely, as if she was upset with him for some reason.
"Have I done something wrong?" he asked worriedly.
"No," Leah lied.
She bustled about the kitchen, looking busier than she probably was.
"Leah?" he said. "Honestly, if I've upset you then please just tell me. I'm not really used to the relationship thing so I'm feeling kind of out of my depth here."
She finally turned to face him, moved by how anxious he looked.
"Are you ashamed of me?" she asked bluntly.
He looked aghast and shook his head.
"Of course not! No! How could you think that?"
"I just... you don't want your colleagues to know that we're together," Leah said, sounded dejected. "And I thought..."
"I just didn't know how serious and public you wanted us to be," he said. "Personally, I'm so happy that I want to shout it from the rooftops. But I didn't want to force you into a position where..."
"I want to be very public and very serious," Leah assured him.
They smiled at each and shared a hug and a mostly chaste kiss.
"Then I will happily tell my colleagues all about you," he said sincerely.
Aden and Justin just about managed to get Larry into the back of the car.
"Shit, we've got to go," Aden said.
He could hear the sound of several cars approaching. The police were right on time. He leapt into the driver's seat while Justin clumsily tried to get in the other side. He stumbled and fell, dropping his phone onto the ground.
"Come on!" Aden hissed. "Are you sure you're in the damn army? You've got the stealth of Barney the purple dinosaur."
"We should have picked him up from home," Charlie frowned.
She had arrived at the meeting place in order to search for what could only be assumed to be Larry's body.
"Call him?" Watson suggested.
Nodding, Charlie dialled Justin's number. As she heard it ring in her ear, she also heard a ringtone somewhere past the trees. She glanced at Watson and they both broke into a run in the direction the sound was coming from.
The moment Justin and his obscenely loud phone got into the car, Aden sped off. Justin had barely shut the door before the car was in motion, tearing away from the woods and onto who knows where. Glancing in his rear view mirror, Aden felt sick as he spotted Charlie and Watson trying to run after them.
"That has to have been them, hasn't it?" Charlie said breathlessly when she and Watson gave up the chase.
"It looked like Aden's car," Watson said, also panting a little.
Charlie shook her head in disbelief. She dreaded to think what Aden, Joey's best friend, had caught himself up in.
"Are you okay, love?" Alf asked.
Marilyn had come to visit him at work but she looked decidedly distracted. They had helped Miles get to his next therapy session with Michael and both were still rather worried about him.
"I'm fine," Marilyn lied. "I mean, well..."
Alf leant on the bar, giving his friend his full attention.
"I might have told Miles something that I shouldn't have," she finally admitted. "I don't think he's well enough to take anything heavy on board so now I feel really guilty. I wasn't off loading. Really, I was just empathising and..."
"Marilyn," Alf interjected when he sensed a ramble.
She apologised and then sighed heavily.
"Mr Stewart," she said, as polite as ever. "I have less than a year to live."
Romeo and Annie walked hand in hand towards the bait shop where Joey had been obediently babysitting his surf board.
"Well now, you look happier than you did yesterday," Joey commented with a smile.
Romeo and Annie smiled back at her and then at each other.
"We've decided to live for the moment," Romeo explained. "We're not dealing with the future and Japan and all that scary stuff. We're just having fun together now."
Joey chuckled.
"I'm pleased to hear it," she said.
She couldn't help but feel a little worried about Romeo getting his heart broken. She didn't know Annie all that well, although she was nicer than she used to be. Joey had got the distinct impression that Annie wasn't all that accepting of the LGBT community.
"We're not worrying about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself," Annie added.
Joey nodded her agreement and handed the surf board back.
"Apparently some spiritual guy said that in some book or... something," Romeo said, accepting the board and looking a little bewildered.
"That would be Jesus," Joey informed me.
Annie nodded and giggled. Romeo blushed and looked embarrassed.
"Yeah," he said. "I knew that. Jesus."
Charlie had tried and failed to get through to Justin and then Aden several times. Her team, including Watson and Angelo were scouring the woods, all a little anxious about what they might find.
"Charlie!" Watson bellowed through the trees.
The Sergeant hurried in her colleague's direction.
"Okay, fine!" Miles snapped. "I'm not taking the stupid pills anymore!"
Michael had badgered him and Miles had broken.
"And why is that?" Michael asked patiently.
"Because I don't want to, okay?" Miles told him. "I don't want Rabbit to go away. I don't want to live in a horrible world where she doesn't exist. She makes my life better. And if the rest of you don't like it, you can damn well lump it."
Charlie felt a little unwell as she, Watson and Angelo stood over what was quite obviously an empty grave.
"It looks recent," Angelo said, pulling a face.
Charlie nodded and sighed.
"Aden, what have you done?" she muttered worriedly. "What have you done?"
Next time... Alf and Angelo argue again, Aden reports his car stolen and Charlie and Joey babysit VJ...
