Chapter Three Hundred and One
It was with some reluctance that Charlie and Joey returned to Summer Bay. Charlie was still anxious about Hugo being alive and out there somewhere and Joey was absorbing her pain. It almost felt like all the work they had done to recover from the events of New Year had been undone and that made it difficult for both of them. At least the nightmares weren't quite as bad this time. Charlie hoped that they would just fade away and her mind would settle. The last thing she wanted was to have to go back into counselling.
On Monday morning, neither Gina nor Xavier went to school. They were still engrossed in what to do about Hugo's money and they had been arguing about it for most of the weekend. Gina wanted to hand it into the police and be rid of the whole situation. But feeling more compassionately about Hugo, Xavier wanted to do what he had asked – something good. Martha was split between the two of them but she was adamant that it should always be Xavier's decision.
As soon as Charlie arrived at work, Angelo made a beeline for her office.
"Charlie, can we talk?" he asked urgently.
"Do we have to?" she replied.
Angelo moved further into the room and sat down without permission.
"How was your weekend?" he asked.
"It was good," Charlie replied honestly. "It was nice to spend time with Dad and Morag and escape the Bay for a little while. And it gave me the chance to start changing my will."
She looked directly at him.
"Who knows when someone might next try to kill me," she said darkly.
Angelo sighed and leant forward in his chair, clasping his hands together beneath his chin.
"When are you going to stop blaming me for what Hugo did?" he asked.
"I don't blame you for that," she said. "I blame you for telling me that he was dead and gone."
"Charlie, you're a cop!" Angelo snapped. "You of all people know how important it is to keep things under wraps."
Charlie also leant forward, resting on the desk.
"I do know," she agreed. "But I also know that if one of my colleagues was relying on him being dead for her safety, I would have had a quiet word and let them know."
"Yeah, well, we all know you have issues with confidentiality," Angelo said sourly. "Seriously, is there anything you don't tell Joey?"
"No," Charlie replied immediately. "There really isn't."
"You know I could have her for assault, don't you?" he warned.
"Go ahead," Charlie smirked. "Go and a file a complaint that you got bashed by a woman. That'll make you look so good!"
"Bit sexist, don't you think?" Angelo remarked.
Charlie merely shrugged and returned to typing on her computer. When Angelo didn't leave, she looked back at him.
"We're done here," she told him coldly.
Having abandoned school for the day, although Gina had eventually gone in, Xavier walked along the beach with Martha.
"You don't really believe that though, do you?" she asked.
"I don't know," Xavier said with a shrug.
He had posed his theory about Hugo still being alive, including the 'evidence' he and Ruby had seen at the Battery.
"But we all thought Vinnie was dead, didn't we? Everyone believed that. And it was all a lie. What if the same thing happened to Hugo? What if the police used him to catch the other people involved? What if...?"
Martha shook her head, feeling lost and confused.
"I'm sorry," she said. "This is all too much for me. I can't even begin to entertain the idea that he could be out there somewhere."
Shaking her head again, she took off down the beach. Xavier considered following her but resisted. Martha clearly needed to be alone.
"Charlie?" Nicole said when she spotted her in the Diner, as usual, grabbing a coffee.
"Hi, Nicole," Charlie said with false cheer.
She knew exactly what the school girl wanted to talk about and she felt immediately uncomfortable.
"Is there any news on what's happening with Aden and Justin?" Nicole asked, getting straight to the point.
"I'm not at liberty to say," Charlie said awkwardly.
"Charlie!" Nicole begged.
"Nicole, I'm sorry," Charlie told her. "Please just make sure you're there for Aden. Look after him as best you can and so will I. But I'm not above the law. I can't help it if..."
She trailed off, unhappily.
"Sorry," she said again. "I have to go."
Joey looked up and her heart lurched when she spotted Aden approaching the bait shop. She had texted and tried to call him so many times but he had refused to get in touch.
"Hey, stranger," she said sadly rather than sarcastically.
"I'm so sorry, Jo," Aden said honestly.
Joey reached out and hugged him, clinging on for quite some time.
Back at the police station, Charlie forced herself to phone Morag. Having run through the case file three times, she knew she had no option but to charge Aden and Justin with conspiracy to commit murder. Whether she believed their explanations or not, a man was still dead and they had both lied and tried to cover up the truth.
"Could you come to support them tomorrow, please?" she asked. "I'll charge them today but the quicker they can get legal counsel, the better."
"Of course," Morag said. "Your Dad has a cold so he won't be up to travelling so just let me make some arrangements and I'll come down tomorrow."
"Thanks," Charlie said sincerely.
She didn't think there was any moment that she had hated her job more. Even when she'd had to charge Angelo with Jack's murder the previous year, at least she'd known he was the one who pulled the trigger. She had no idea what had really happened with Aden, Justin and Larry. She just hoped that they could come up with a reasonable explanation.
"And please send my love to Dad," she added. "Joey and I really enjoyed spending time with you both over the weekend."
"We enjoyed it too," Morag said. "Ross can't stop going on about how happy he is that you've finally found a lovely partner."
"I can't help going on about it either!" Charlie giggled.
Aden and Joey sat side by side on the steps of the bait shop. Warm in the sunshine, Aden had tentatively explained what had happened with himself, Larry and Justin.
"It wasn't murder though," he said quickly. "I know it wasn't. Whatever happened, Justin didn't..."
"I know," Joey said softly. "And I'm sure Charlie knows too. She's been breaking her heart over all of this."
Aden nodded.
"I heard you two took off for the weekend," he said. "Sorry if I've stressed you both out."
"It wasn't just you," Joey assured him. "There's some other stuff going on too."
"What kind of stuff?"
Joey shook her head and said it didn't matter. Aden nodded and sighed heavily.
"I got this all wrong," he said.
"Why did you think burying your Dad's body would help?" Joey wondered. "I mean, it makes you look guilty when you're not..."
"I know," Aden sighed.
He felt completely drained of energy.
"I just panicked," he said. "I wanted to save Justin and I didn't think the truth would help. I guess... well, I guess I assumed the worst and then tried to protect him by covering it up."
"You know, you really should run all your decisions by me," Joey said cheekily.
Aden laughed and nodded.
"You're right about that!" he agreed.
Joey grinned and looked into the distance. A puzzled expression came over her face when she spotted Martha walking, fully clothed into the sea.
"What is she...?"
Martha threw herself into the waves and didn't even look like she was trying to swim. Aden and Joey both darted forward, charging into the water to get her.
Justin sat at home on his own. Aden had gone off to the bait shop to see Joey, having avoided her for too long. Closing his eyes, Justin leant back against the couch cushions. As usual, he replayed his broken images of the accident. He jolted when, in his mind's eye, he saw Larry helping him out of the car. He wondered for a moment if it was just something he had made up, something he had hoped for. But no, it felt different. It felt like a memory.
Aden had raced off to get Alf, leaving Joey and Martha, soaking wet on the sand. Martha trembled and seemed completely incoherent as Joey held her and assured her that everything would be okay.
"What's going on?" Alf asked, charging up to them.
"I'm not sure," Joey said anxiously. "We saw her walking out into the sea and..."
She shook her head, bewildered. Looking around, she wondered where Aden was.
"Justin came to get him," Alf explained. "They've been called down to the police station."
Joey felt sick but tried not to let it show. She turned back to Martha, worried.
"Hugo," was all her friend seemed able to stay.
Joey and Alf's blood turned cold. Moving beside his granddaughter, Alf tenderly took her hand.
"What's going on, Martha?" he asked gently.
"Xavier thinks Hugo is still alive," she told him.
Aden and Justin sat on the other side of the table to Charlie and Watson. Charlie had made a point of not working directly with Angelo, at least for the time being. Every time she saw him, she struggled to keep her cool. And she wondered if she had made a mistake in not pressing charges against him, back when he had been stalking her. If she'd have gone ahead, perhaps he wouldn't be a cop now and perhaps she wouldn't have to have anything to do with him at all.
"Justin Jeffries," Charlie said solemnly. "I'm charging you with murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Aden Jeffries, I'm charging you with conspiracy to commit murder."
Aden went pale and immediately felt sick.
"I remembered something," Justin blurted out.
Charlie glanced at Watson, reading her thoughts. As much as they wanted to believe in them, the sudden memory seemed more than a little convenient.
"What did you remember?" Charlie asked evenly.
"I crashed the car," Justin said. "And I remember trying not to so it must have been an accident. And I remember Dad helping me out of the car."
He closed his eyes tightly, willing himself to remember the rest. Aden stared at him, just as desperate.
"Dad left Aden a voicemail," Justin said, opening his eyes again.
"Did you get a message?" Charlie asked her friend.
"My phones broken," he said. "It's been in the shop for weeks and they gave me this stupid replacement."
"Okay," Charlie said. "We need to get your phone back. And hopefully, we can reach some sort of conclusion."
"He is alive," Alf admitted quietly.
Joey closed her eyes, feeling awkward. Martha stared at her granddad.
"What?"
"I'm sorry for lying to you," Alf said. "But Angelo said it was the right thing to do. You needed to let him go for good and he needed to stay away from you for your own protection."
Martha continued to stare.
"He's alive?" she asked hesitantly.
"He is," Alf confirmed. "He's been living in Witness Protection for months."
At the end of a very long day, Charlie and Joey opted for a bubble bath and a glass of wine each. Leaning back in the tub with Charlie leaning back against her, Joey closed her eyes.
"It's all going to kick off now, isn't it?" she asked worriedly. "Now that Martha knows."
Charlie nodded, keeping her eyes tightly closed.
"I think Summer Bay is about to explode," Charlie said. "And I don't think we have any choice about getting caught up in it."
Joey sighed. She traced wet fingertips up and down Charlie's tummy.
"At least there's hope for Aden," she said.
"Maybe," Charlie said. "If Justin can prove that the whole thing was an accident."
"Will they get into trouble for burying Larry and everything?" Joey asked.
"Even if his death can be put down as an accident then yes," Charlie said. "I can find a way not to pursue anything."
She closed her eyes, enjoying Joey's touch.
"Let's make a pact," Joey suggested.
Charlie shifted a little to look at her.
"What kind of pact?" she asked.
"We don't think about anyone else's problems for the whole evening," Joey decided.
She cuddled Charlie a little closer, her hand moving higher than her tummy and making Charlie shiver with pleasure.
"I think we can manage that," Charlie breathed.
Next time… Larry proves Justin and Aden's innocence, Joey tries to help Romeo get over Annie and Joey has her final exams at college…
