Chapter Three Hundred and Thirty Seven
"Joey!" Charlie called when she spotted her girlfriend helping Xavier, Martha and Gina out of a water tank.
Relief flooded her soul as she raced over to help.
"Thank God you're all okay," she said.
"Did you… did you catch that Killer guy or…?" Martha asked fearfully.
In Joey's arms, she was still trembling as Charlie led them back to the clearing where she had left the car.
"Yes," she said. "I'm just waiting for backup in order to take him to the hospital and then the station. But Hugo fled the scene."
None of them had the energy to even protest that he could have been there at all.
An hour later, Charlie reluctantly dropped Joey off at home and headed to work. She'd already been there all day; the last thing she wanted was to go back there and work through the night. She was exhausted and wanted to curl up in bed with her girlfriend, not interview a potential murderer and be lied to by witnesses she considered to be friends.
"Will you be okay?" Joey asked, knowing just how tired she was.
"Yeah," Charlie replied. "But first thing tomorrow, I'm going through the diary and booking some leave. I can't keep running on empty like this."
Joey squeezed her hand and leant over to place a delicate kiss on her cheek.
"Look after Ruby for me?" Charlie requested.
"Of course," Joey replied.
She kissed her lips and then climbed out of the car, warning her to stay safe. Charlie nodded and watched her enter their apartment building. When she was safely on the other side of the door, Charlie headed off to work.
Tony, Martha, Gina and Xavier all finished at the hospital, having all been given the all clear. Rachel had met them there and everyone was tense.
"Has anyone heard from…?" Martha ventured.
Everyone shook their heads.
"He ran off when the cops showed up," Tony explained.
"They knew he was there though," Gina added. "When I went to speak to Charlie and Joey to get help finding Xavier, they told me they knew."
Xavier clenched his jaw, silently accusing Ruby of rolling over on them.
"Look, let's just get home," Rachel suggested. "It's been a long night."
Joey let herself into the apartment where she was greeted eagerly by Ruby.
"Did you find him?" the teenager asked. "How is he? Is everything okay?"
"Let's just sit down and have a chat," Joey said, suddenly overwhelmed with exhaustion.
She took Ruby's hand and led her to the couch. Sinking back against the cushions, she closed her eyes. Ruby perched close to her.
"Joey, what happened?" she asked.
"He's here," Angelo said, poking his head around the door to Charlie's office.
He had escorted Killer to the hospital for his head injury and they had rushed him through as a priority in order to assist the police. Cleared of any long lasting damage but suffering with concussion, Angelo had brought him back to the police station for an interview.
"Great," Charlie said, standing up and following him into the interview room.
The two police officers sat on one side of the table while Killer sat on the other.
"So, do you want to tell us what you thought you were doing tonight?" Angelo asked, getting right to the point.
"No comment," Killer replied.
Tony had dropped Gina at home and Xavier at the farm with Martha. Gina had claimed exhaustion but, still anxious, Xavier hadn't wanted to sleep. The chances were, if Hugo was going to show up again, it would be at Martha's and he wanted to be there when he did.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Tony asked. "Because we can hang around if…"
"No," Martha said tiredly. "We're fine. We'll call you if… well, you know."
Tony and Rachel both nodded and headed for home, where they fully expected to have to overpay the babysitter.
"I'm so sorry I didn't tell the truth about Hugo earlier," Ruby said, once Joey had filled her in on everything they had all been through that night.
"It's fine," Joey assured her. "I mean, well, we both knew anyway. We knew what you were keeping from us."
Ruby looked down, full of shame.
"You thought you were doing the right thing," Joey said gently. "For the record, in future, the right thing is to always tell us the truth. But we do understand. And I doubt any of this could have been avoided anyway. In fact, if you hadn't told us, we might not have been able to save them. So, thank you."
Ruby nodded and hugged her, apologising again.
"Will Charlie be working all night?" she asked, still in Joey's arms.
"Probably," Joey said glumly. "Angelo took this Killer guy to the hospital and then they were bringing him back to the station to interview the hell out of him."
Ruby sighed and reluctantly pulled away.
"She's going to be shattered in the morning," she said.
Joey nodded in agreement.
"We'll have to do whatever it takes to look after her," she decided.
Charlie and Angelo left the interview room in a state of frustration. The only thing Killer would say was 'no comment'. He wouldn't even confirm his name – not even at the hospital with the Doctor. They felt completely blind in this case so far.
"There's no point doing this tonight," Charlie decided. "Lock him up and we'll come back and deal with him tomorrow."
"Charlie, we have to…" Angelo tried.
"I'm tired, you're tired and he's uncooperative," Charlie insisted. "Do what I'm telling you and then we'll both come back and deal with it in the morning."
Angelo looked set to object but decided against it. Nodding, he headed back in to Killer. Charlie grabbed her stuff from her office and left.
John paused in making out with Jill in his bedroom when he heard a brusque knock at his front door.
"Hold that thought," he instructed, climbing off the bed and headed off to open the door.
He was stunned when Gina waltzed into his apartment.
"Gina!" he said. "What are you doing here?"
"I need you," was all she said.
Martha and Xavier both froze when there was a light tapping at the front door. As a unit, they approached, pulling it open with the chain still across.
"Hugo!" Martha gasped.
She shut the door, took the chain off and opened it wide again, throwing herself into her boyfriend's arms.
"Hugo, I'm so glad you're okay," she said, holding him tightly.
Angelo slung Killer in his cell and locked it.
"You'd better be more cooperative in the morning," he warned. "And I'd advise you to figure out how we can track Hugo Austin down. I know that's why you came here."
Killer merely glared at him. Angelo stalked off down the corridor.
"Can I stay the night?" Gina asked tiredly.
John looked awkward. She had poured her whole heart out to him and even revealed that her 'dead' son Hugo was back in town. He wanted nothing more than to be there to comfort her and make her feel safe. But with Jill in the bedroom, he couldn't.
"I'm sorry," he said.
Gina looked immediately upset.
"I just… I'm so tired and I have a really early start in the morning…"
"That's okay," Gina said. "You could just leave me here…"
"No, I'm sorry," John said. "But can I see you tomorrow?"
Without the energy to object but looking absolutely distraught, Gina left un-consoled.
Charlie was more than a little relieved to arrive home. The apartment was dark and all the bedroom doors were closed. Kicking her shoes off, Charlie left them by the door and walked expertly in the dark towards her bedroom, where she found Joey asleep with a book on her face and the lamp on. Smiling affectionately at her, she stripped out of her clothes and changed into her pyjamas. Moving round to Joey's side of the bed, she lifted the book and placed it on the bedside table, carefully marking her place with a bookmark. Joey sat up quickly and rubbed her eyes, looking and sounding startled and incoherent.
"Sorry," Charlie whispered, kneeling beside her on the floor. "I didn't mean to disturb you."
"I meant to wait up for you," Joey said. "Sorry."
Charlie smiled affectionately at her, kissing her lips tenderly.
"Thank you for trying," she said softly.
"I'm leaving as soon as possible," Hugo stated. "I just need a few days to get back on my feet."
He gestured to his injuries, including a hurt leg that was difficult to walk on, thanks to the battering he'd taken from Killer.
"No…" Martha began.
"I have to," he said. "Things are too dangerous here. I'm a sitting target. And that means you are as well. I have to do right by you all. I know it's late but it's better than never."
John tidied up the lounge and headed back into his bedroom, feeling awkward and wondering how he was going to explain to Jill that their night was over. He paused in the doorway, half disappointed and half relieved that she was passed out, face down on the mattress.
Snuggled up in bed, Charlie let all the tension out of her body. She closed her eyes and focussed on Joey's breathing.
"You were amazing tonight, by the way," the police officer said gently.
"I was?" Joey asked, confused.
"Yep," Charlie confirmed. "You'd make a really good cop."
Joey giggled.
"Especially in the uniform," Charlie added.
She shifted to face Joey, raising her eyebrows suggestively.
"Why do I get the feeling that we're going to be indulging in some role play games soon?" Joey giggled.
"Because we are!" Charlie grinned.
She kissed her passionately and then fell asleep.
Next time… Angelo is critical of Charlie, Colleen finds out the truth about Alf and Marilyn and Ruby and Liam reach an agreement…
