Chapter Three Hundred and Seventy Three

Out for an early morning surf, Romeo stood on the beach, glaring suspiciously at Penn, who hadn't noticed he was there. He hadn't noticed because he was too busy flirting with a blonde. The blonde was not Nicole. Heading back home, Romeo was seething at the thought of his friend getting her heart broken again.


Having not had time to go to the supermarket yet, Charlie was horrified to have run out of coffee. Desperately needing a caffeine fix, she, Joey and Ruby had opted to go to the Diner for breakfast instead. Among many benefits, eating out meant that there would be no dishes to wash. An industrial dishwasher for Joey's own restaurant was already on its way.

"Hi Rev," Joey greeted warmly. "Mind if we sit with you?"

Elijah happily gestured for them to sit down.

"What are you up to?" Joey wondered, nodding at the notepad in front of him.

"Oh, I'm just trying to put something together for VJ's careers talk," he explained. "I'm trying to impress him, especially as he took so much convincing that being a Reverend was a proper job!"

Joey grinned.

"It means the world to him that you're doing the talk, you know," Charlie said. "And I gather he wants you to be his real Dad."

Elijah smiled broadly.

"I just hope I can measure up," he admitted. "I don't want to let him down or anything."

"You won't," Joey said certainly.

"You absolutely won't," Leah said, approaching the table to take their order.


Having got washed and changed, Romeo walked to school with Nicole, trying to figure out how to broach the subject of Penn. Trapped in a dilemma, he had no idea whether to tell her the truth about what he had seen on the beach. But he figured the first thing he had to do was find out just how serious Nicole believed her relationship to be.


"Ow!" Marilyn yelped.

Joey leapt to her feet and dashed into her friend's tarot room.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I cut myself on Mr Oddly," Marilyn said, holding up her index finger.

Joey looked at it. It didn't look too bad but in light of Marilyn's circumstances, she suggested she went to the hospital.

"Oh, it's nothing," Marilyn said dismissively. "Just a rusty nail."

"You know this doll has been more trouble than it's worth, don't you?" Joey remarked, wrapping her friend's finger in tissue and holding it above her heart.

"It's giving poor Alf nightmares!"

"I know," Marilyn sighed, although she couldn't help but find Alf's reaction to the doll quite funny.

"Angelo?" Joey called back into the bait shop.

Her reluctant colleague appeared in the doorway.

"What?" he asked in his usual abrasive manner.

Joey was surprised to find that she was really getting used to him.

"Could you drive Marilyn to the hospital, please?" she asked.

"Well, that's not really part of my…"

Joey glared. Angelo sighed and agreed.

"Good boy," Joey teased, sending Marilyn in his direction.

"Don't patronise me," Angelo complained.

"But it's so much fun!" his superior replied.


Charlie and Watson stood over the large table in the evidence room, puzzling over the loot they had acquired from Colleen's caravan.

"Everyone has their own prints on their own stuff," Charlie said. "But Colleen's prints aren't on anything. And the lock on her door looked strange but not so much that we could prove it wasn't tampered with."

"Maybe she used gloves when she was taking stuff," Watson suggested.

Charlie sighed and shook her head. There was something not right about this case at all.


With a free period before lunch, Romeo headed down to the bait shop.

"Where's your apprentice?" he asked, noting Angelo's absence.

Joey grinned. She quite liked the phrase.

"He's taken Marilyn to the hospital," she explained.

Romeo looked immediately alarmed.

"It's just a cut finger," she assured him. "She'll be fine and back in no time. But it was bleeding pretty badly and I thought it was better to be safe than sorry."

"Okay," Romeo said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"So, what brings you here other than my delightful company?" Joey smirked.

It was long established that whenever the teenager was troubled, he made a beeline for her. She just hoped that she was as good at advice as people seemed to claim she was. It was still strange to her to have her opinion be so respected. Her life now was a world away from when she had been growing up.

"It's Nicole," he said.

"You didn't kiss her again, did you?" Joey teased.

He looked utterly stricken.

"How did you…? Does she seriously tell you everything?" he exclaimed.

"Pretty much," Joey said. "So…?"

"I saw Penn on the beach with some girl," he said.

"With or with?" Joey asked.

"I'm not entirely sure," Romeo admitted. "But I know he was flirting with her. And I quizzed Nicole about how serious she was about him and she says it's just casual but I know her feelings are stronger than that. And I know she didn't come home from his van the other night."

Joey nodded thoughtfully.

"What do you think I should do?"

"What are your options?"

"Tell her what I saw or keep quiet," Romeo informed her. "What would you do?"

Hopping up on the counter, Joey chewed her lip.

"Normally, I like to stay out of these things but I have to admit I'm concerned about Nicole and Penn," she admitted. "I can't quite figure out if he's nice or nasty and I'm worried about the risk of him being the latter and hurting her."

"So, you think I should tell?"

"Don't scandalise it," Joey instructed. "Just gently say what you saw, explain that you're not implying anything but that you thought she ought to know."

Romeo nodded and headed out of the shop. He reappeared within seconds.

"Would you come with me?" he asked.


"Who wants to lead this?" Charlie asked.

She and Watson were parked in their patrol car outside the house of the infamous Braxton family.

"Well, you're my superior, Sarge, so really you should…" Watson tried.

"Rock, paper, scissors?" Charlie suggested.

They went for it. Charlie's rock was covered by Watson's paper.

"Best of three?" she asked hopefully.

The River Boys gang came with the territory of being a police officer in the local area but it didn't mean that anything of them particularly enjoyed their interactions with them.

"No way," Watson said. "You're the boss. I'm just here to back you up."

Charlie groaned and hauled herself out of the car. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the back door of the property.


Angelo wasn't in the best of moods, hanging around in the waiting room while Marilyn flirted with Sid. He couldn't even hear them but the body language he could spy through the ajar door told him all he needed to know. Grumpy, he decided that he had to do something to fix his life. Why did everyone else deserve a partner except for him? Why did everyone else get to be happy?

Since he'd been released from prison last year, he'd slept with two women – May and Martha. His crush on Charlie had ruined things with May and Martha had just been a disaster that should never have happened. But now he was free of his feelings for Charlie, he hoped he might be able to start turning things around.


A broad, tattooed man with short hair and a square jaw stood topless in the doorway to his house.

"Can I help you, Constable?" he asked lazily.

"It's Sergeant, actually," Charlie corrected him stiffly. "We're looking for your brother."

"Which one?"

"The one most likely to be in trouble with the cops," Charlie told him curtly.

Darryl 'Brax' Braxton paused for a moment before yelling his brother, Heath's name over his shoulder.

"What have you done?" he demanded.

Heath appeared, also topless, prompting Charlie to privately wonder if they were allergic to clothes.

"I haven't done anything," Heath said.

He peered closer at them both.

"Are you real cops?" he asked. "You look more like strippers."

"We're real cops," Charlie snapped.

Heath held his hands up in mock defeat.

"You could turn into strippers if you like," he said.

"This one's a dyke anyway," Brax said, nodding to Charlie.

"Do you want to get into trouble for offending a police officer?" Sergeant Buckton demanded.

"I thought you were out and proud with that pretty, little girlfriend of yours," Brax commented.

"I don't appreciate being spoken to or about in derogatory terms," Charlie told him. "Now, can we get to the point, please?"

"What is the point?" Brax asked.

"Heath, have you been at the Summer Bay Caravan Park recently?"

"Why would I?"

"Maybe to rob the customers?"

"I didn't do anything like that!" Heath protested.

"Have you got any proof?" Brax asked.

"No," Charlie admitted. "We're just following any line of enquiry that we have. That's our job."

"Well, I didn't do anything," Heath said.

"So we're done here," Brax added.

He shut the door in their faces.


Angelo stood up when Marilyn finally left her side room, still chatting animatedly with Sid. He watched them exchange numbers. A nurse then deliberately barged into Sid and spilt her coffee all over him.

Realising they would be chatting for a good while yet, Angelo sat back down. He was horrified to realise he was actually missing Joey's company. Shaking his head, he decided that hell must have frozen over.


"Have I mentioned that I don't like the River Boys?" Charlie asked as she and Watson headed back to their car.

"It's practically a Yabbie Creek Police Force mantra," Watson replied.

They climbed into the car.

"That Darryl, Brax guy or whatever he likes to call himself, is far too cocky," Charlie decided.

"Trust in karma to bring him down a peg or two," Watson decided.


When Angelo finally returned to the bait shop with Marilyn, Joey was eager to leave him to it, having promised to go to the caravan park with Romeo to speak to Nicole as soon as she could. She just hoped that their interference wouldn't backfire on them.

"Skiving?" Angelo asked.

"Taking flexitime," Joey corrected, although it technically wasn't true. "I'll be back soon. And don't forget you lost the bet yesterday. I did my job on the boat much quicker than you did."

"I did it better though!" Angelo protested.

"Prove it," Joey smirked.

Without allowing him to argue, she dashed out and phoned Romeo.


At the hospital, Sid was growing increasingly frustrated. The nurses had gone on strike ever since one them, a woman he had slept with last time he had lived in the Bay, spilled hot coffee on him. Now, they were all refusing to work with him and Rachel was having to assist him for everything. It was more than a little frustrating.


Arriving at the caravan park, Joey and Romeo both froze when they saw Penn leaving a very pretty girl's caravan.

"Is that the one you saw earlier?" Joey asked.

"No," Romeo said. "It's yet another one."

Before Joey could stop him, Romeo charged towards Penn, demanding to know what the hell he thought he was playing at.


Next time… Penn gets the police to drop the charges against Colleen, the nurses fail to help Sid during a medical crisis and Leah worries that life in the Bay won't be enough for Elijah…