Chapter Four Hundred and Seventy Five
Things just weren't right in the Buckton/Collins household the next morning and everybody could feel it. Conversation was polite but stilted. Nobody was very happy and nobody really knew what to do about it.
"Well, I'm going to go to work," Charlie said, awkwardly rising from the table.
"Have a good day," Joey said without her usual enthusiasm.
Charlie bent and kissed her cheek. Ruby hated to see them like that but she didn't know how to fix it. Things were supposed to be amazing between them right now. They had just bought a house together. How had they suddenly become so fractured?
Charlie sighed and left the house, pretty sure she would not have a good day at all.
Xavier was rather excited that John had offered to continue working on the Mad Max car with him, despite current circumstances with Gina. John had arrived early and the boys were eagerly working on the vehicle together. Today was going to be a good day.
Claire and Ruby met up at the Diner, Ruby with the weight of the world on her shoulders.
"I just don't get it," Ruby said. "I mean, they're soul mates. They never ever fight. Never. I don't understand what's tearing them apart. They always get on. They support each other through everything. Why can't they just find a way through this? Whatever this is."
"I guess they both just feel really strongly about it and neither will budge," Claire said. "Charlie feels ruled by her job and Joey can't get her head around it because she's ruled by her heart and her friendships. She sees Alf like family, like her Dad. And she'd do anything to protect him."
"And to be honest, I agree with Joey," Ruby admitted.
"But you also have to understand Charlie's position," Claire said. "She's got an overbearing Detective breathing down her neck demanding things of her and she has to play by the rules."
"I know," Ruby sighed.
"But she loves Alf too," Claire said. "She'll be protecting him any which way she can, even on the quiet. She knows he didn't hurt Penn. But she has to keep up appearances."
Ruby sighed.
"Can't you just talk to Joey?" she asked hopefully.
"What? My boss?" Claire laughed.
"Fair point," Ruby said. "But you are talking more reasonably than either of them put together. Just so you know."
Claire smile, rather pleased with the compliment.
Gina stood in the doorway watching her son and her ex-boyfriend working on the Mad Max car. Once upon a time, she would have been pleased to see the way they had bonded and the way they enjoyed spending time together. Now it was making her bitter. She didn't like the way that John seemed happy to get on with his life and move on without her when she was still hurting over losing him. It just wasn't fair.
Robertson visited Alf at home, eager to question him again about Penn's disappearance. He offered himself at his most annoying to see if he could get a rise out of him, to see if he would make a mistake in conversation.
"Look, Alf, I don't want to keep hassling you," he said.
"Then don't," Alf replied. "I'm sure we've both got better things to be getting on with."
"So, why don't you just tell us everything you know about what happened to Penn Graham?"
Alf glared at him, fire in his eyes.
"I have no damn idea what happened to Penn Graham. And right now, nor do you. For all you know, he could have just left town. You don't even have a body!"
"With that much blood at the scene, it's a pretty foregone conclusion," Penn said. "You should know that."
"How would I know that? I haven't been to the scene. I don't know how much blood was there. I don't know how or if he died," Alf said.
"So you say," Robertson persisted. "But the thing is, he came to Summer Bay with a grudge against you, that much is clear. Now it's just a case of working out what actually happened between you."
"Nothing happened between us," Alf said. "Nothing."
"You seem pretty down today," Watson commented.
She and Charlie were working through a load of paperwork relating to the Penn Graham case, courtesy of Robertson. They were not grateful for it.
"It's nothing," Charlie lied.
"Come on, Charlie," Watson said. "It's me. You can always talk to me."
Charlie sighed heavily.
"It's Joey," she said. "I just… she's furious with me."
"Why?"
"Because I'm working on this case," Charlie said. "She says I'm betraying Alf. But I can't not work on it. I don't have a choice. It's my job. This is what happens when you're a cop in a small town. Sometimes you have to investigate people you live in that town with. It's not fair but it happens. But she's taking it so personally. It's like she hates me."
Watson reached out and patted her hand.
"I'm sorry, Charlie," she said. "I thought she'd be more understanding. It's not personal. It's work. It doesn't mean you don't love Alf. It doesn't mean you think he did it. If anything, you want to be on his case. If anyone is going to be able to prove he didn't do it, it's someone who loves him like you do."
"That's what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to do my best for him."
"I'm sorry she doesn't get it," Watson said. "She normally gets that kind of thing."
"Yeah, she does. But it's Alf. He's like she Dad she never had."
Watson sighed.
"It's hard for her," she understood.
"I just don't know how to make things right. Normally I can find a way but I just don't know this time…"
"So, is there just no way forward for you and my Mum?" Xavier asked, getting right to the point.
John sighed. He knew the subject would come up at some point but he'd hoped it wouldn't. He just didn't want to keep disappointing the boy.
"I'm still in love with your Mum. I always will be. And I'd get back together with her in a heartbeat – no pun intended. But she doesn't want me," he said sadly.
Xavier couldn't help but hope.
"You just need to apologise for stuffing up," he said. "I mean, I don't think you really did, if I'm honest but sometimes, that doesn't really matter. Even I know that and I'm just a teenager!"
John laughed.
"Just apologise," Xavier instructed. "And then propose properly. Prove to her that you really mean it."
John was doubtful. But it did give him something to think about.
"Ah, Nicole, isn't it?" Robertson greeted when the teenager arrived back home.
"Don't get distracted," Alf warned. "You're here for me, not her."
"Well, I do like a group discussion," Robertson said.
Nicole felt immediately uncomfortable. The last thing she needed was a police interrogation. The only officers she felt comfortable talking to were Charlie and Watson. She knew they knew the truth about people.
"What do you need me for?" she asked hesitantly.
"You knew Penn Graham intimately, didn't you?" the Detective asked.
Nicole knew he was choosing his words deliberately.
"We dated," she accepted.
"Pleasant relationship?" he asked.
"Nicole, you don't have to talk to him," Alf told her.
"Why wouldn't you?" Robertson asked. "Do you have something to hide?"
"No," Nicole said defensively. "And no, it wasn't a pleasant relationship. He was a controlling bully."
"It ended well then?"
"It ended when he made me think I'd been infected with HIV after he pricked me with a needle on the beach," Nicole snapped. "So no, it didn't end well."
"Interesting," Robertson said.
Nicole swallowed. Why had she fallen for that? He was here, fishing for motives to kill the guy and she had just given him several.
"So, where were you on the night Penn disappeared?" Robertson asked.
"Now, I've had just about enough of this!" Alf said. "Nicole was at home, as you well know. She has an alibi. Stop coming in here and upsetting my kids. Get out!"
He ushered him towards the door.
"Also interesting," Robertson said at the door.
"What?" Alf asked.
"Just how protective you are of the people you love," he said. "I mean, exactly what would you do for them if they were being hurt or endangered? How far would you go, Alf?"
Joey was holed away in her office doing paperwork. She couldn't face the public or even any of her employees today. She just felt so low. And lonely. It was ironic really. She seemed to spend all her time supporting other people and listening to their woes but it felt right now like she had nobody to talk to about what was going on between her and Charlie. And she hated what was happening. It made her heart hurt. They never argued. She didn't understand why things were so fractured right now. Was she being unreasonable? Was Charlie in the wrong? There was so much going on in her head that she just didn't understand.
Gina was sat at the table in the kitchen working through some paperwork. It wasn't the most fun way to spend her day but it kept her busy. And it stopped her spying on John and Xavier.
She looked up when she felt a presence behind her. Turning around, she saw John hovering beside her, looking anxious.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"Charlie?" Watson said, knocking on her colleague's door and peeping around it. "Alf Stewart is here to see you. He's anxious to speak to you and not Robertson."
Charlie closed her laptop.
"Sure," she said, standing up. "Is Robertson here?"
"In the office upstairs," Watson said.
Charlie followed Watson out into reception.
"Hey, Alf," she said. "Would you like to go for a coffee?"
Her friend looked relieved.
"I love you," John said.
Gina bristled.
"I've loved you for as long as I've known you," he continued. "And I know you think I proposed out of fear but it's not true. I proposed because I love you and for no other reason. I love you and I want to marry you. I want us to be a family – me, you and Xavier. I want to meet your other son, Brendan. I want to live here with you. I want to grow old with you. I want all of this. Forever. Us. Me and you."
"Why now?" she asked.
"Why not?" he replied.
"I just think…"
"Don't think," he interrupted. "Feel. Love me too."
She sighed heavily, wanting to believe him.
"I do love you," she admitted. "But I lost my trust in you."
"Then find it again," he said. "And when you do, I'll be here. Waiting."
Charlie and Alf sat in a quiet corner of the Diner, as inconspicuous as they could. It was busy but bustling and nobody seemed to have noticed them. Thankfully, Colleen was not on shift.
"So, what's going on, Alf?" Charlie asked, a little anxious over what he might want to tell her.
"I'm worried about Nicole," he told her.
"Nicole?"
"Robertson was round earlier," he said. "He interrogated the poor kid. About the needle, whether she had a motive, an alibi. I don't know whether she's a suspect or whether he was just trying to wind me up. Which he did. I don't want him going after my kids to get to me. That's what Penn himself was doing, Charlie. It's not fair."
Charlie nodded, feeling for him. Robertson wasn't a straightforward cop.
"Do you think Nicole could be involved?" Charlie asked.
"No, of course not!" he exclaimed.
"Is there anything else you can tell me about what you think might have happened?"
Alf sighed and hung his head.
"I genuinely have no idea what happened, Charlie," he said. "If I did, I'd tell you."
She believed him.
"All I know is that he was coming for me," he said. "We had… history."
"What do you mean?"
"Years ago, I had… a relationship with his mother," Alf admitted. "His mother ended up committing suicide. I never knew that. I think he blames me."
Charlie tensed. She wished she didn't know. Alf looked at her pleadingly.
"Please don't tell Robertson," he begged. "It'll just be ammunition. He's desperate for me to be to blame for whatever happened to Penn. And I just didn't do anything. I didn't. I swear."
Charlie sighed heavily and reached out to hold his hands across the table.
"Alf, I know you didn't do anything," she said. "I swear I will do everything I can for you."
Joey had left work early, not able to concentrate on any of the tasks she had to do. Instead, she had run a bath, read a book and tried to relax.
She was just getting out of the bath, towel wrapped around her when Charlie walked through the front door. Sad eyes met sad eyes. The tension broke between them and they fell into each other's arms.
"I'm sorry," they both said at the same time, holding each other tight.
They went into their room, lying down on the bed.
"I'm sorry for not understanding the limitations on your job," Joey said tearfully. "I know you're just doing your best. I know you'd never sell Alf out. I know that. I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry for not being more understanding about how you feel about him," Charlie said. "For all the ups and downs I had with my Dad, at least he was there. Alf is the Dad you never really had. I know that. I know how much you love and need him. I should have been more careful about how I spoke about him. I'm sorry."
They held each other close and kissed, both apologising again.
"I spoke to him again today," Charlie told her.
"What did you talk about?" Joey asked.
Charlie relayed the conversation. She felt Joey's anxiety within her.
"So… what will you do?"
"I… I can't," Charlie said. "I should make what he said official. But he's so scared and I know he didn't do it. I know he didn't. So how would adding fuel to the fire help? I don't know. I just don't know."
Tears overwhelmed her.
"I guess there's no point giving my opinion," Joey said.
"No, I know you think I should be a friend first," Charlie said.
"Yes," Joey replied. "But…"
She hugged her closer.
"I respect you and your job and your position in the community," she said firmly. "You need to do what you need to do and I completely understand that. I do. I promise."
They kissed. Charlie opened Joey's towel.
Next time… Robertson plays Summer Bay residents off against each other, Charlie is in trouble and Will tries to let go…
