I was a bit excited today because I had another letter printed in 'Inside Soap' magazine and I got away with mentioning Joey! They titled it 'Out of Character?' and put in a pic of Charlie.

My letter read: "I was sad to hear that Esther Anderson is leaving Home and Away, but can hardly blame her. Charlie has gone from a strong, independent woman to someone who sacrifices her morals for her boyfriend. She was at her best during her romance with Joey Collins."

They replied with: "I love Charlie and Brax as a couple – shame it won't last!"

I don't know what they've be watching but even if they don't agree, I was pleased they printed it! I have quite a little portfolio with that magazine now. But anyway, I just wanted to share it with you so you get an extra update as well. I hope you like it. Love, IJKS xxx

Chapter Three Hundred and Ten

"Mum, I'm so sorry for everything that happened," Hugo tried.

Gina had let him into the house but she looked far from pleased to see him. It wasn't quite the homecoming he had dreamed of.

"Tell that to all those refugees you abused," Gina snapped. "Oh wait, you can't – most of them are dead."

Hugo was wounded by the hate in her eyes but silently knew he deserved it. He had just hoped that Gina would respond to him in the same delighted way Xavier had. But he had known it would be too much to ask. Gina didn't look at the world with the same naivety, a quality that meant his brother got regularly taken advantage of.


Charlie and Joey arrived at the Surf Club where they had arranged to meet Angelo and share any information they'd gathered. They found the policeman already sitting at a table with a soft drink, although he looked very much like he wanted something stronger.

"What did you find out?" he asked immediately when they sat down.

"Hi, Charlie, hi Joey, thanks for all your help..." Joey said sarcastically.

Angelo merely glared at her and repeated the question.

"Martha swears blind that she hasn't seen or heard anything from Hugo," Charlie said, willing the tension to dissolve. "The last time she saw him was when she was tricked into believing that he'd been shot dead right in front of her."

Angelo couldn't help but catch the venom in Charlie's voice and he wondered if she would ever be able to understand and forgive the necessary lies he'd had to tell. He still wished that so many things had turned out differently.

"What did you find out?"

"I found out that Gina is really pissed with me," Angelo replied.

"I can't imagine why," Joey remarked.

"Look, if you're not going to help then just shut the fuck up!" Angelo snapped.

"And if you don't shut up and apologise, you're on your own," Charlie snapped back, ever protective of her girlfriend.

It was one thing for her to be helping Angelo with his latest fiasco, even if she wasn't technically on shift, it was still her job. But Joey was helping them out of the goodness of her heart and Charlie was not about to put up with Angelo being rude to her.

"Sorry," Angelo mumbled. "It's just a stressful time right now."

Joey resisted another retort. Getting into yet another argument with Angelo wasn't going to help matters.

"And I'm convinced that Hugo's hiding out at Gina's place," he added.


"I just came back to check that everyone is okay," Hugo explained.

He and his mother sat side by side on the sofa but the tension could be cut with a knife.

"Well, we're not," Gina snapped. "We've all been falling apart since you 'died' and then just as we were putting ourselves back together we found out that we'd been the victims of yet more deceit."

Hugo looked fearfully at Gina.

"Would you prefer me to be dead?" he asked in a weak voice.

She was struck by just how childlike he sounded. Her heart broke a little but she fought her own compassion. Hugo had dragged them all through hell, not to mention the countless other lives he had ruined. She was not about to grant forgiveness for any of it.


Charlie and a very grudging Angelo, who insisted she could walk, dropped Joey off at home before heading out to see Gina at home. Time was of the essence and if Hugo really was staying with his mother then they doubted he would be hanging around too long. Hopefully, with the element of surprise, they might be able to catch him out. And Charlie also hoped that rather than giving him a get out of jail free card this time, justice might actually be served. If Angelo thought she had compassion for the man who had nearly killer her, then he was sorely mistaken.


"Does anyone else know you're back in town?" Gina asked.

"Xavier," Hugo said.

Gina looked alarmed. She wanted to protect her youngest son, not have her eldest drag him into all his mess.

"I saw him heading toward the Old Battery, where I've been hiding out for a little while," Hugo explained. "I couldn't stop myself from approaching him. I just couldn't. He's my brother. I love him."

"Well, it's a same you didn't think about..."

Gina was cut off by an urgent knock on her front door.


"Xavier, calm down!" Ruby begged.

Having waited for an hour, Xavier and Ruby had both given up on Hugo. But while Ruby was trying to convince them both that there was a reasonable explanation, Xavier was quickly going out of his mind. She chased after him as he headed down towards the hiding place in the hope that Hugo was there. A million scenarios charged through his mind as he panicked about what might have happened to his big brother.


Hugo hid quickly, his heart racing as he debated which would be worse – a visit from one of his old associates or a visit from the police. Gina tried to regulate her heartbeat as she braced herself to open the door. Angelo in uniform and Charlie in plain clothes stood there.

"Can we have a word, please?" Charlie asked politely.

"Well, it's not really a good time," Gina replied, attempting to stall for time.

Angelo craned his neck to look around the apparently empty room.

"You don't look all that busy," he noted.

"I have a headache," Gina said bitterly. "There's this arsehole of a cop that seems to have spent the last year and a half making the life of my family hell. I'm feeling a bit stressed."

Angelo swallowed, struggling to take the hate in her voice.

"We won't be long," Charlie assured her calmly. "It's just that... well, we gather you've heard that Hugo has been in Witness Protection."

Gina bristled and folded her arms, making herself a little wider in a bid to block the door. She hated Hugo more and more for putting her in a position where she was basically aiding and abetting a criminal.

"Yes, thanks for being so upfront about it," Gina said bitterly.

Charlie shot a glance at Angelo. The last thing she wanted to do was take the blame for decisions that had had nothing to do with her. If she had been asked about the whole Witness Protection thing in the first place then she would never have agreed. Hugo was a criminal who deserved to rot in jail, as far as she was concerned.

"Could we come in and talk?" Angelo tried.

"Look, it's been a long, difficult day," Gina said tiredly. "Could you not just give me one night of peace? Come back in the morning – as early as you like. But please, just let me rest."

Her voice appealed to Angelo's compassion, as well as Charlie's.

"Okay," he agreed. "We'll be back tomorrow."

He and Charlie were about to turn away when they heard someone sneeze. Angelo whipped back round and Gina looked guilty.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Xavier, I suppose," Gina said mildly.

She was even scaring herself with how easy she found it to lie.

"Who else would it be?"

"Would you mind if we took a look around?" Angelo asked.

"Go for your life," Gina said, still blocking the door. "If you have a search warrant."


Ruby had left Xavier at the Old Battery. He had been in no state to listen to him and she had no desire to hang around the dingy old place in the dark. Unfortunately, now, as she began to walk home, she felt the weight of the situation on her shoulders. Hugo Austin was alive and out of Witness Protection. He was back in town and being hunted by both criminals and police. And Ruby's mother was a police officer. Therefore, she ought to go home and tell her everything she knew. On the other hand, Xavier was her boyfriend. If Ruby spilled the beans to Charlie then he would know instantly that she had betrayed him. And then she would lose him.


Hugo emerged from where he had been hiding at the back of the house.

"Did you have to sneeze?" Gina demanded.

"I've been living rough for weeks," Hugo snapped. "I can't help it if I've caught cold."

"Well, maybe if you hadn't broken the law and ruined hundreds of innocent lives then maybe you wouldn't be living rough now!"

"You know what?" Hugo said. "I'm going. Coming here was a mistake. I just didn't think that my own mother would wish me dead or in jail."

He charged towards the door but Gina yelled for him to stop.

"You don't think Angelo's out there waiting for you?" she said.

Hugo paused, annoyed with himself for not thinking. He turned a little sheepishly back to his mother.

"Wouldn't that make you happy?" he said. "You obviously hate me."

"I don't hate you, Hugo," Gina sighed. "I just... I don't understand what you've become."

Hugo rubbed his temples and perched on the edge of the sofa. Gina came to sit beside him.

"I don't understand how any of this happened either," he said sadly. "One minute, I was having a laugh in Indonesia, trying to get over everything that had happened with the accident and everything. Then I hit financial trouble and got involved in the people smuggling. It was just small stuff at first but I discovered I had a talent for it. Flash forward a few years and I've become the kind of man I never wanted to be."

Gina nodded thoughtfully, hanging on his every word.

"Then I came here," Hugo ventured. "I wanted to build a relationship with Xavier and... and I fell in love with Martha. And I knew for sure that I wanted to get out of my old life. I tried so hard to remove myself from it. Half the reason everything went down the way it did was because Suzy was trying to force my hand. She wanted me to go back with her and take up the reins again. But I just wanted to be here with my family, run a dive business... be a good man."

Gina was surprised when she realised he was crying. Tentatively, she put her arm around him.

"I'm glad you're not dead," she said.

Both of them laughed at the absurdity of the sentence. Hugo gazed into Gina's eyes, longing for forgiveness.

"I will never understand what could drive you to do the things you did," Gina said. "You hurt people – and not just the refugees. What about poor Charlie? You nearly killed her."

"I really wasn't trying to..."

"Do you know she's only just got out of therapy after what you did?"

"No," Hugo sighed. "I didn't know that. And if I ever had the chance to apologise, I would."

"I'm not sure it would help," Gina admitted. "But... I want to help you, Hugo. What can I do?"

"You could let me crash here for the night?" he asked hopefully.

"One night," Gina said. "But you can't hide out here forever. You can't keep running. You have to make a decision about what to do next and you have to make sure it's the right one."


"Are you sure there's nothing wrong?" Joey asked worriedly.

Ruby had arrived home a few minutes ago and she looked terrible.

"I'm fine," Ruby lied. "Just... it's been a long day."

Joey gestured for her to join her on the sofa. Ruby sighed heavily and slumped into the seat.

"What's happened?" Joey asked.

Ruby was struck by just how genuinely worried she looked. She debated whether to tell her what was going on or not. She, Charlie and Joey had a long established rule of communication and honesty. But wouldn't the police knowing that Hugo was back in town make everything worse?

"Nothing," she said unhappily. "I just... Xave and I aren't getting along so well."


Angelo and Charlie had hung around the property for a little while before giving up and deciding to call it a night.

"We'll come round first thing tomorrow," Angelo decided. "If he's there then we'll make sure to catch him out."

"Yeah," Charlie sighed, feeling suddenly tired.

Angelo drove towards Charlie's apartment in order to drop her off.

"Thanks for your help today," he said.

"No problem," Charlie said. "I'll pass your thanks on to Joey, shall I?"

Angelo glanced at her.

"Yes," he said, surprising them both. "Please do."


On his way back from the Battery, Xavier had run into Martha who had gone for a walk to clear her head. Feeling sorry for both of them, Xavier had opted to take her back to Gina's for a hot chocolate and a chat. He had decided to wait until he got home before he revealed that he had actually sat down and had a conversation with his brother.

"Mum, we're..."

Xavier's voice cut off when he saw Gina sat on the sofa with Hugo. Martha bumped into him, unaware that he had stopped walking so abruptly. She stared at Hugo and he stared right back at her. Then she fainted.


"Do you think she knows something about Hugo?" Charlie asked worriedly.

She and Joey were tucked up in bed together, neither of them able to sleep. Joey sighed heavily and traced her fingers across Charlie's palm.

"I don't know," she said. "She told me she'd had a row with Xavier but... it just looked like more than that. She looked like she'd seen a ghost."

Charlie immediately met her girlfriend's eyes.

"Maybe she did," she said.


Next time… Gina refuses to let Angelo and Charlie search her property, Ruby and Xavier argue and Nicole turns to Joey for help with missing Aden…