I'm going to try out updating twice a day to see if my energy and pain levels can withstand it. The next update will be the first chapter of a new story called 'Closure'. Love, IJKS xxx

Three Hundred and Forty One

Detective Eaves stopped in the car park to Yabbie Creek Police Station. He had been waiting a long time for this day and there was no way he was going to leave unsatisfied.


"Hello, ladies," said a sleazy voice, interrupting Charlie and Joey's kiss.

The women pulled away, half embarrassed and half annoyed. Darryl 'Brax' Braxton leant on the counter at the bait shop and leered a little.

"Please," he said. "Don't stop on my account."

"What do you want?" Joey asked coldly.

The last thing she wanted to deal with right now was a River Boy. The expression on Charlie's face said that she felt the same.

"Some bait and rods, please?" Brax said easily. "This is a bait shop, right? Not some lesbian sex show?"

Joey stood and dumped what he would need onto the counter. He paid cash and turned to leave, pausing at the door.

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation before the make out session started," he commented. "You know, I'm in the business of loaning people money if you're interested."

"I'd rather be poor," Joey replied without even the slightest hesitation.

"Well, the offer's there if you want it," he replied with a shrug, exiting the building.

Joey glared as he left and then sank against Charlie.

"I really hate the River Boys," she admitted.

"They're very big pains in the arse," Charlie agreed.


After school, Ruby and Xavier sat awkwardly on the beach together. They had been avoiding their issues and each other for a while now and both of them knew the time had come to face up to the situation.

"I'm really sorry about anything I've done to hurt you," Ruby ventured.

"Going off with another guy or ratting my brother out to your Mum?" Xavier snapped back bitterly.


"If the bank's only concern was that you've not stayed long term in a job, there's way around it," Charlie ventured.

She knew she had to be getting back to work but she didn't want to leave her girlfriend so down.

"How?" Joey asked, her eyes faintly lighting up with hope.

"I could get it for you," Charlie said.

Joey looked confused.

"He already liked the idea for the restaurant," Charlie explained. "If he just needs stability to secure the loan, then we could get in my name, couldn't we?"

"We could…"

"If you're happy with that," Charlie added. "I mean, this is your thing. I don't want to take over. It's just a case of paperwork really. You'd still own the business and…"

Joey cut her off with a kiss.

"This is our thing," she whispered. "And if you'd be prepared to take the loan out on my behalf then I would be eternally grateful."


"I haven't 'gone off' with anyone, Xavier," Ruby said. "There's nothing going on between me and Liam. I don't know why you can't accept that."

"Because I've seen the way you look at him!"

"And as for Hugo, I had to tell the truth," Ruby continued, ignoring his complaint. "And if I hadn't, who knows what would have happened? You, Martha and Gina could have died if Joey hadn't found you."


Elijah followed Leah around the house a little helplessly as she tidied.

"You really don't have to do this," he said. "We could still cancel."

She whirled around and gripped his hands, looking him directly in the eye.

"No way," she said. "I'm making a good impression on your parents if it's the last thing I do."

Elijah opened his mouth to reply but she had already resumed tidying.


Charlie arrived back at the station rather later than she expected. She provided Watson with coffee who directed her to the office she shared with Angelo.

"Detective Eaves has arrived from the city," she said. "Angelo's in there with him now, briefing him. I thought you might want to join them."

Charlie nodded and gestured for Watson to follow her. She was as much a part of this case as they were now.


With Charlie's permission, Joey sat down with her original loan application and began to draft changes so that she could put it into Charlie's name. She just hoped that the bank wouldn't see through it, or if they did, that they wouldn't mind. She was touched by the commitment her girlfriend had to her and to their future. Once upon a time, Joey had never thought anyone could believe in her even a fraction of the amount Charlie did. She hoped she would never stop feeling lucky and never start taking her life for granted. As far as Joey was concerned, every single second of life was to be appreciated.


"Joey would have found us anyway," Xavier said sourly. "It wasn't you telling them that Hugo was around that made them come and find us. It was the fact that we'd gone missing. So don't start trying to take credit for it."

Ruby sighed. She rubbed her temples.

"I couldn't keep lying to my parents, Xavier," she said. "It wasn't right. I know he's your brother and you love him but he's put you all in a dangerous situation."

"A situation made worse by the cops sticking their nose in!" Xavier exclaimed. "Do you know they raided the whole farm and then my house this morning?"

"No," Ruby said quietly. "But I do know they're protecting you. You might think they're causing trouble for you but they're trying to do the right thing. Hugo shouldn't be able to just walk away from what he's done."

Xavier lost his temper.


Leaving Charlie and Watson to continue trawling through the evidence they'd obtained from the farm, Angelo drove Eaves out to the farm to interview Martha. They were all longing for the conclusion to the case. It had dragged out for too long and cost too many people too many things. Angelo was adamant that it would all be over by the end of the night, no matter what he had to do.


Xavier sat back on the sand, utterly exhausted from shouting. Ruby had listened patiently, very aware that not all of his anger was directed at her. She shifted and looked at his face. She felt compassion when she realised he was crying. Carefully, she gathered him into her arms.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"I could deal with all of this stuff, Rubes," he said, his voice a little muffled by her hair. "But I can't take losing you."

"You're not losing me," Ruby tried. "If you'd just forgive me for what you think I've done wrong…"

He drew away and looking into her eyes.

"There's really nothing going on between you and Liam?" he asked.

"Nothing," Ruby confirmed.

"Or are you working on some kind of technicality like you did with Geoff?" he asked, his voice calm and accusatory. "You weren't technically with him when you were still with me but it was obvious how you felt about him."

Ruby swallowed, not entirely sure of what to say. She didn't want to lie but she didn't want to hurt her boyfriend either.

"Ruby?"

"I have feelings for him," she ventured quietly.

"I knew it!" Xavier snapped, slamming his fist on the sand and making her jump.

"But that doesn't mean anything is going on between us!" Ruby added quickly. "Xave, it doesn't have to matter…"

"Of course it matters," Xavier replied. "Of course it does!"


Having finished work, Joey had gone home. Charlie was working for a few more hours so Joey planned on using the time wisely. She reapplied to the bank for the same loan in Charlie's name and hoped that this time, it would be fruitful. She also began looking around online for potential venues for her new business. A loan wasn't going to be any good if she didn't have a physical place to start.


Hugo hid anxiously in the other room as Martha spoke to two police officers. He recognised Angelo's voice of course and he hated him more than ever as each day passed. But the other voice was also triggering a memory he couldn't quite reach.

"We'll do whatever it takes to bring this man down," the man said gravely. "It'll be a lot easier for all concerned if he hands himself in."

Hugo leapt up from where he had been perched on the bed with his palms resting on his forehead. He knew the voice. It belonged to a cop they'd paid off to keep quiet about and assist them with human trafficking. It belonged to a very dangerous man.


"Xavier, I love you…" Ruby tried desperately.

Xavier merely shook his head.

"You don't," he said.

She opened her mouth to protest but he quickly interrupted.

"Maybe once upon a time, you did," he said. "But everything changed last year. You hooked up with Geoff and you and I should never have even bothered to try again. I was deluded to think it could work but the truth is, you were just filling time until someone better came along."

He stood and brushed the sand off his jeans.

"Well, I'm not going to be used by you anymore, Ruby," he said sternly. "We're through."

Denying her the right of reply, he stormed off. Ruby dissolved into tears.


Angelo left Eaves to interview Killer, hoping that he might get somewhere with him. So far, the only words that had left the guy's mouth were 'no' and 'comment'. It was driving Angelo crazy and he no longer had the patience for him. He hoped that Eaves would have more success.

"Knock, knock," he said, poking his head around Charlie's office door.

Charlie and Watson both looked up from where they had been cataloguing evidence for most of the day.

"How did it go with Martha?" Charlie asked.

"She's not giving anything away," Angelo said unhappily. "How's…"

He was interrupted by a gunshot ringing out through the station. All three of them froze momentarily and then burst out of the office and down the hall to the interview room. There, they found Detective Eaves injured and Killer dead, having been shot and left to die on the floor. Angelo ignored his phone when it started ringing as he, Charlie and Watson attempted to deal with the casualties. Little did he know that it was Martha calling with vital information.


Next time… Joey consoles Ruby and Martha tells Charlie the truth about Detective Eaves…