Good afternoon, everyone. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Love, IJKS. P.S. Please don't be mad at me for this one! xxx
Chapter Four Hundred and Seventy Four
Alf had hardly slept. All he could think about was Penn and what had happened to him. Looking tired and dishevelled, he came downstairs to find Miles.
"We need to talk," he said. "About Penn."
Miles nodded and the two of them slipped outside to the back garden.
"About the meeting we had," Alf said. "We need to talk about what we said. What we talked about with Sid and Angelo."
"Yeah," Miles agreed. "We don't want the police to get the wrong idea."
Alf sighed heavily.
"I'll call them," Miles decided.
Alf nodded.
"I can't sleep," he said.
"I'm struggling," Miles admitted. "What… what do you think happened?"
"I don't know," Alf said.
Over breakfast, Charlie and Joey were worried. Ruby hadn't stopped talking about Alex, her driving instructor. They couldn't say it out loud, at least not in front of her, but they were scared that it was a case of Liam Murphy all over again. Why couldn't she ever just like somebody a normal amount? Why were her crushes always so intense? They couldn't help but worry about her all the time.
Alf and Miles met Angelo on Sid's doorstep and the three men knocked to come in. They sat awkwardly in the lounge.
"So," Sid said.
"So," Miles tried.
"We need to get our stories straight," Angelo said.
"We didn't do anything wrong," Alf said hotly.
"I don't mean it like that," Angelo said. "What I mean is that we need to agree that our meeting was all talk."
"It was," Sid said. "We wanted Penn to leave town. We didn't like him. We didn't like the effect he was having on you, Alf, but none of us would ever have hurt him."
"Of course we wouldn't!" Miles said.
"Absolutely not," Alf said. "We never would."
"None of us have ever hurt anybody before," Sid said.
Angelo looked down anxiously.
"I mean, not on purpose," Sid corrected himself.
"So, we're agreed?" Miles said. "We met up. We talked. We separated. Nobody arranged to do anything to him. Nobody made a plan. And nobody did anything to him."
"Agreed," they all said.
Robertson appeared in Charlie's office.
"I want you to put together a file on Alf Stewart."
"Excuse me?" she asked, the words sticking in her throat.
"I want you to put together a file on Alf Stewart," he repeated, pronouncing each word slowly.
"Why?"
"Because I think he may have murdered Penn Graham," he told her. "Obviously."
"Of course he didn't," Charlie argued. "Alf wouldn't hurt anyone. Except maybe a fish."
"Why would you say that?"
"Because he loves fishing," Charlie quipped.
Robertson managed a small smile.
"Because he's your friend and you don't want to see justice done?" he asked.
"I do want to see justice done and going after Alf isn't the way to do it," Charlie argued.
"Just make up the file, Sergeant Buckton," Robertson ordered.
Charlie sighed.
"I'll get to it after lunch," she told him, standing up and heading out of the station.
"Go and warn him," he called dramatically. "That's really good police work!"
Joey was busy at the restaurant when Charlie arrived, looking stressed.
"Hey," she greeted. "What's up?"
"I need food and love," Charlie told her.
"Well, you're in luck because I can provide both," Joey replied.
She gestured for her partner to follow her into the back and to the office. Charlie gladly obeyed and once they were safely away from prying eyes, they fell into each other's arms.
"What's up?" Joey asked.
"Just… work," Charlie sighed, falling into a chair and reaching out for Joey to sit on her lap.
"This Penn investigation?"
"Yeah," Charlie sighed. "Robertson wants me to put together a file on Alf…"
"On Alf? That's ridiculous," Joey said. "He won't have anything to do with this."
"I know but Robertson is my senior so I have to do what I'm told."
She was shocked at the way her partner was now glaring at her.
"Since when were you so weak, Charlie?"
"Joey…"
"I thought you were a cop meant to protect the community?" she said. "You're supposed to be out there looking for whoever hurt Penn, to find out what happened to him. Why are you going after Alf?"
Charlie stepped forward and tried to reach for Joey's hands but she didn't want to know.
"I am," she tried. "But there are guidelines I have to follow."
"No, Charlie," Joey said bitterly. "You know what this is like. You know what that man tried to do to us when Grant was killed. He would have gone for either of us if he could have. And now you're being his lackey to attack Alf. How could you?"
"I'm not, Jo!"
"You are!"
Charlie looked and felt desperate.
"I thought better of you."
Joey pushed past her and left the office.
Things had become more and more awkward between Romeo and Indi since the incident with the letter but finally, Indi had broken the ice and begged her boyfriend to meet up with her and he had reluctantly agreed. They had met up at a remote part of the beach where they could be alone and were less likely to be interrupted by their friends. This way, they could talk properly and hopefully work things out.
"So," Indi tried. "How… how have you been?"
"Great," he said flatly. "You?"
She sighed.
"Great," she said quietly.
She sighed again and stared out to sea.
"I've missed you."
He was silent for a while.
"I've missed you too," he admitted.
Charlie was having a horrible afternoon. She had gone to see Joey to get some love and support and all she had got was rejection and judgement. And it wasn't like Joey at all not to understand or to hear her out. It really, really hurt.
And it didn't help at all that she still had this stupid, awful file to put together. She felt conflicted and treacherous. It wasn't like she wanted to put the file together. She didn't believe for a second that Alf was responsible for anything that might have happened to Penn. But she couldn't just point blank refuse to do her job either.
She knew for Joey things like this were black and white, moral issue. But this was her job. She couldn't just make a judgement call on who she thought was innocent or guilty and refuse to investigate them if she didn't think they had committed the crime. It just didn't work like that.
But putting the file together put her relationship in jeopardy. And also an important friendship. It devastated her. But she knew she didn't have a choice, however much it hurt.
"I did completely the wrong thing with the letter," Indi said honestly. "I saw it and I just got so scared. I immediately had all these images of you packing up and going off to spend the holidays in Japan with Annie and forgetting all about me, of you falling back in love with her. And my heart was just broken. I was so scared. But I still should have been honest. I'm so sorry, Romeo."
He was touched by her admission.
"Honestly," he said. "I did consider going over there."
Her heart sank.
"But only after what happened," he told her. "I would never have gone otherwise."
"Really?"
"I wouldn't have even considered it before."
He thought about taking her hand but changed his mind, feeling nervous. He looked into her eyes instead.
"Indi, my life is here with you now," he told her. "I don't want to be anywhere else or with anyone else."
"Not even Annie?" she asked anxiously.
"No," he assured her.
"It's just… you were still so in love with her when we met."
"And now I'm not," he said. "Now, you're the person that I'm in love with."
At the restaurant, Joey was struggling. She felt bad for being harsh with Charlie but she was still upset with her as well. She felt like Charlie was in a position to make a stand against Robertson, that vile man who was wading into the lives for a second time, trying to disrupt and upset them all over again. Her need to protect Alf was overwhelming and she didn't understand why it wasn't the same for Charlie. She was frustrated with her for not wanting to do everything in her power to save him and felt like she was sacrificing him for the sake of falling in line. It just wasn't fair.
"Don't think I don't know you're holding back with this," Robertson said.
He had spent the last half an hour reading through Charlie's file on Alf. It had included a brief account of his history with the victim, Penn Graham. And a lot of information on his good character and standing within Summer Bay.
"And that this report is weighted," he added.
"I don't know what you mean," Charlie said.
"This report would never stand up in court," Robertson informed her.
"You didn't ask me to write a court document," she said. "You asked me to write down everything relevant that I knew about Alf Stewart. That's everything I know."
Her superior did not look impressed.
"Well," he said. "I'll go and see him now then. Thank you for your work."
Charlie sighed heavily and watched him depart. She hoped she had done the right thing.
Indi looked startled. She just stared at Romeo, her mouth hanging open just a little.
"You're… you're in love with me?"
A smile formed at the corners of his lips.
"Yes," he said. "I am. I'm in love with you."
She couldn't stop smiling at him.
"This um… this is where maybe you tell me you feel the same?" he said hopefully.
"I do!" she said. "I do. I love you too!"
She hugged him tightly. Suddenly everything felt okay again.
Alf felt immediately tense when he opened the door to Detective Robertson.
"How can I help you?" he asked.
"Well, now, that's a lovely greeting," Robertson said in his usual irritatingly pleasant voice. "I'd love to sit down to a cup of tea and chat all about your relationship with Penn Graham."
Charlie arrived home for the first time she could remember with a sense of dread. Normally, she was excited to arrive back, eager to take Joey into her arms. But today, Joey was not pleased to see her. And Charlie didn't know what to do to make it right.
"So?" Joey said.
She was chopping vegetables in the kitchen.
"So…"
"Did you make your report?"
"Yes…" Charlie ventured, approaching her in the kitchen.
"Congratulations for throwing the nicest man on the planet under the bus," Joey snapped.
"Jo, I didn't," Charlie said.
"Of course you did!" Joey yelled at her.
Charlie was taken aback. Joey never yelled. She was so gentle.
"I didn't. Joey, I did everything I could to make sure Robertson knows exactly what Alf is like, that he could never do anything to harm anyone, not even a prick like Penn."
Joey didn't look moved.
"Jo…"
"You should have refused," Joey said. "You know he'll use anything against him."
"Joey, I can't just refuse to do my job," Charlie pleaded.
"What if it was me?" Joey asked.
Charlie looked taken aback.
"What?"
"What if it was me?"
"Well…"
"Could you 'not do your job' then?"
"I…"
"Well then. Admit it, you've sacrificed Alf because you fundamentally don't care. And it's not fair."
"I do care," Charlie said. "I just, I have to be honest. I'm doing everything I can for him, Joey. I promise. I love Alf. You know I do. I'm on his side. I'm fighting for him. I swear to you."
She reached out to hold Joey's hands. They touched briefly but somehow the spark seemed to have gone.
Next time… All is not well in the Buckton/Collins household, Robertson continues to harass Alf and Alf opens up to Charlie…
