Hi, everyone! Sorry I haven't updated for a while but I hope you enjoyed the chapter. This one is dedicated to Esther Anderson herself! Congratulations to her and her husband who have become proud new parents. Esther gave birth to baby Forest on 5th August. Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Four Hundred and Eighty Two
Kerri woke up to the sound of someone retching. She pulled a face and looked around her. Watson was absent from bed.
"Watson?" she asked.
There was more retching. It was coming from the en-suite bathroom.
Pulling herself into her chair, she went over to the door, slightly ajar.
"Watson?" she said quietly.
Her girlfriend looked round at her, pasty and pale.
"Leave me," she said dramatically. "I don't want you to see me like this."
Kerri chuckled softly.
"I have a kid," she said. "I think I can deal with a little bit of sick."
"Not from me," Watson said. "I want you to still find me attractive."
"I will," Kerri assured her. "Now, shall I call in… sick for you?"
"Yes, please," Watson said into the toilet bowl. "I think I might be dying."
Charlie arrived at a very quiet police station. It was unnervingly quiet, actually. Then Robertson appearing, annoyingly loud and obnoxious.
"What's going on?" Charlie asked. "Where is everyone?"
"Food poisoning," Robertson informed her with no compassion. "Apparently someone brought in some home baking yesterday and it didn't go down very well. Or rather, it went down very well and now everyone that ate it is at home bringing it back up."
Charlie pulled a face.
"So Graves is at her hotel, Watson's girlfriend just phoned in sick for her, the list is endless really," Robertson informed her. "Unfortunately, that leaves you as my most senior officer. And I've got two important interviews today. So temporarily…"
He made a point of emphasising the word.
"You're back on the Penn Graham case," he said. "You don't have to do anything. You don't even have to open your mouth. I just need someone else present in the room. Okay?"
He accepted without even giving her a chance to answer.
Will and Lily were at the beach. They'd woken up early and Lily was thrilled to be informed over breakfast that she was getting to spend a whole day of fun with her Dad.
"So… what's going on, Dad?" she asked.
He looked at his daughter's sweet face.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"I mean… what's the plan?" she wanted to know. "Do we like… live here now?"
"I guess… I guess so," he said. "I mean… for a while. Do you want to live here?"
"I want you and me and Mum to live together again," she replied.
He sighed heavily.
"I'm afraid that can't happen," he said.
"Because she left us," she said.
"That wasn't her fault," he said. "None of this is her fault, Lil. It's all mine."
"But you stayed with me," Lily said. "You're the one that's here."
He sighed again. He didn't want his mistakes to make her hate her mother. Gypsy hadn't had any choice but to leave. He'd hurt her one too many times.
"She loves you, Lily," Will said. "She loves you more than anything."
"Then why isn't she here?"
"Because I upset her," he said. "I upset her a lot."
"But that wasn't my fault," Lily challenged. "She could still see me if she didn't see you."
"And she will," her father promised. "She'll always be there for you."
He turned and looked at her and smiled.
"Anyway," he said. "This is supposed to be a day of fun. And a proper day of showing you where I grew up."
"Here?"
"Yes, here," Will said. "This is where I had some of the best times of my life. It's where I met your Mum. It's somewhere I've been so happy. So, do you want to go exploring? And to meet some really cool people?"
"Yes!" Lily said, jumping to her feet. "Let's go!"
"Well, it looks like it's food poisoning," Kerri said, tucking Watson into bed.
"Food poisoning?" Watson groaned.
"Yeah," Kerri replied, stroking Watson's hair.
She was pale and sweaty.
"Apparently half the station have come down with it. Something one of your colleagues brought in?"
"Oh."
Watson flashbacked to some hot food that a new junior officer brought in yesterday. She hadn't even wanted any but she'd wanted to be polite. She made a mental note to be a rude cow in future if this was the cost.
"I feel like crap," she complained. "Literally."
"Well, luckily I'm here to look after you," Kerri said. "I just need to get Danny to school and then I'm here to wait on you hand and foot, okay?"
"Okay," Watson said almost tearfully.
Kerri kissed her fingertips and placed them gently on Watson's cheek.
"See you soon," Kerri said. "I've put a bucket by the bed in case you're sick and you don't make it."
"Oh…" Watson complained.
"But I'm sure you will," Kerri said quickly. "And I'm sure you'll feel much better very quickly. I'll see you very, very soon. Keep hydrated. I've put a glass of water by the bed. Love you."
"Love you."
She sounded pitiful.
Claire and Ruby were having breakfast in the Diner before Claire was due to go to work and Ruby had a driving lesson. She had a free first period and she was attempting to cram in as many lessons as she could, partly so that she could pass her test and partly so that she could spend as much time with Alex as possible.
"I mean, without getting all swept away and obsessive and worrying my parents, he is just so gorgeous," Ruby swooned. "I mean, he's older but not Liam old. So he's mature but not going to cause trouble and be annoying like Xavier was. I mean, he was just constantly making bad decisions and getting into trouble. It was a nightmare. And he's so gorgeous and intelligent and funny. Oh, he told the funniest joke the other day…"
"Oh, you know what, I've got to go," Claire interrupted. "Sorry. It's just my shift's starting in five minutes and I need to get there and get myself organised and everything."
"Oh," Ruby said, a little deflated. "Sorry. Was I waffling on?"
"No, no, you're fine," Claire lied. "I've just… got to go. We'll catch up later, okay?"
She made a hasty exit.
Joey was already at work, as were Alf and Angelo, busily setting up for a day's business. They were surprised when Will and Lily walked casually through the door.
"Hello!" Alf greeted warmly.
"Hey, Alf," Will said.
"And it's Lily, isn't it?" Alf said, walking around the bar to come and meet them properly. "I haven't met you properly yet."
"That's why we're here," Will said. "I'm finally giving Lily a proper tour of the Bay. All the special places and the people and we thought we'd start with you."
Alf beamed. He crouched down and shook Lily's hand, introducing himself.
"Hello," Lily said, shaking his hand formally.
"Would you like to meet my friends?" Alf asked.
Lily nodded and Alf called Joey and Angelo both over to meet her.
Ruby sat in the driving seat of her instructor's car. The lesson had gone well and she was pleased that Alex seemed positive about her progress. He thought that she would soon be ready to take her test. After the incident with Penn when Angelo had taken her out, she had been just about ready to give the whole idea up but now she felt more confident than ever.
"So, um…" she began at the end of the lesson. "Do you um… do you want to go out some time?"
"I uh… I don't think that's a great idea," Alex replied.
Ruby was crushed. Why didn't any guy ever like her? What was wrong with her?
"Ruby, look, I think you're great but it would be unethical to date a student," he explained.
"Well, what if I found another instructor?" she offered.
"And… I already have a girlfriend," he admitted reluctantly.
He had quite enjoyed the crush she so obviously had on him. He quite enjoyed the crushes a lot of his students had on him.
Ruby tried not to be overwhelmed with disappointment. She just wanted to find Claire and cry.
"I think you're great though, Ruby," Alex said. "And you're doing so well with your driving. I meant it when I said you're well on your way to passing your test. I don't want to ruin what we have."
He reached out and touched her hand. A shock of excitement went through her, despite her heartbreak.
"Okay," she managed, just desperate to get out of the car and find Claire. "Well, I'll see you next time."
"Okay," he replied, watching her leave the car and head over to the restaurant.
Alf was sat at table in the corner of the restaurant with Will and Lily. Joey was cooking in the kitchen, pre-preparing as much as she could. Angelo and Claire were setting tables. Robertson and a very reluctant Charlie arrived on official police business.
"What do you want?" Alf asked tiredly, more to Robertson than to Charlie.
"Will Smith?" Robertson asked.
"Yeah, that's me," Will said hesitantly. "What do you want?"
"We'd like you to come down to the station for a chat, please," Robertson said.
Angelo and Claire had both paused. Joey, having heard voices in the main room, appeared from the kitchen, looking confused. Charlie looked at her apologetically.
"Why?" Will asked.
"We just have some questions about the disappearance of Penn Graham," Robertson said.
"I didn't even know Penn Graham," Will protested anxiously, looking at Alf.
"Then I'm sure we're just wasting your time," Robertson said. "Now, if you don't mind?"
"I've got my daughter to look after," Will said, looking at Lily. "We're spending the day together."
"Please don't take my Daddy away," Lily said.
Charlie stepped forward and crouched down in front of Lily.
"Hey," she said gently. "My name's Charlie. What's your name?"
"Lily," the little girl said.
"Hi, Lily. Well, we just need to have a little chat with your Daddy, okay? Nothing scary or horrible. While we're gone, do you think you could stay here with Alf and Joey and these guys? Make sure they're behaving themselves?"
Lily nodded reluctantly.
"And then we'll bring your Daddy right back to you," Charlie said.
"Promise?" Lily said.
Charlie offered her little finger and they pinky promised.
"Good girl," the police officer said. "Thank you."
She stood up.
"Ready?" she said to Will.
"Yeah," Will said, following her out the door.
Charlie and Joey smiled at each other as they passed.
Ruby was a little bemused as she passed Charlie, Robertson and Will on the stairs on her way up to the restaurant. She made sure she held herself together so that her mother didn't worry while she was on shift, especially as the reason she was upset was because of Alex. She didn't want all that drama to play out right now.
Heading into the restaurant, she found Alf and Joey sat at a table with Will's daughter, Lily, who looked a bit upset. Well, no wonder. Will had obviously just been taken in for questioning by the police. Well, she felt bad for Will, she supposed, not that she knew him, but hopefully that meant that they were now looking elsewhere than Alf for Penn's murder. Assuming that that's what they were arresting him for or talking to him about. The presence of Robertson suggested so. That's what he was in town for, nothing else. Although, Charlie wasn't supposed to be involved in that case anymore so Ruby couldn't help but wonder what was actually going on.
But anyway, it was Claire she was interested in right now. She caught her friend's attention and waved her over. Angelo rolled his eyes, wondering if he was the only one actually going to be doing any work today as Claire and Ruby sat down to a table together.
Ruby promptly burst into tears and wailed at Claire about how Alex had had a girlfriend all this time and had never been interested in her in the first place and she had just been wasting her time and making a fool of herself. Claire was sympathetic and gentle, as she always was. Inside, she wondered how many times she would have to endure listening to Ruby mooning and mourning over someone else.
Charlie sat silently in the interview room as Robertson questioned Will. Really, all Robertson seemed to want to know was about his relationship with Alf (very close although he hadn't seen him for years and had recently reunited), his relationship with Penn (didn't know him at all and wasn't sure he had even met him) and whether he knew if Alf had ever threatened Penn (no).
"So, you don't know of any bad blood between them?"
"No," Will said. "Alf doesn't have bad blood with anyone. Alf is the most loved person in Summer Bay. Everyone knows that. Ask anyone. Ask Charlie, even."
Robertson looked back at Charlie who shrugged and nodded.
"We already know there was history between Alf and Penn," Robertson said.
"I don't know about that."
"And Penn was causing trouble for Alf here in his beloved Summer Bay."
"I don't know about that."
"And you absolutely have never heard Alf Stewart threaten Penn Graham?"
"Absolutely not," Will said. "I've never heard Alf threaten anyone."
Robertson didn't believe him but he let it and Will go. Charlie remained silent but she had observed the interview with interest. Will had been particularly nervous for just a witness.
"I mean, why didn't he just tell me he had a girlfriend from the start?" Ruby asked tearfully.
"I don't know," Claire said, although she did have a few ideas that she decided to keep to herself. "Maybe he just thought he should keep his private life private."
Ruby sank against her.
"I feel like such an idiot," she said. "I liked him so much and I was so sure he was flirting back with me but he was never interested at all."
"I'm sorry, Rubes," Claire said gently, putting her arm around her.
"Why doesn't anyone ever like me, Claire?"
Claire sighed heavily.
"Look, he's the one missing out, okay?" she said. "Whoever this girl is, she's not a patch on you."
Ruby looked up at her, her face puffy and red.
"How do you know?" she asked.
"Because nobody could be a patch on you, silly," she told her. "You're beautiful and funny and kind and caring. You're amazing, Ruby and he's an idiot. Especially for leading you on and not just telling you that he was already seeing someone else."
Ruby nodded, feeling a little better.
"So what you need to do now is wipe your eyes, take a deep breath and move on, okay?" Claire said. "He's not worth your tears. You're so much better than this."
"I'm not sure I am," Ruby said sadly.
"Trust me, you are."
"Hey, is everything okay?" Joey asked, approaching them quietly.
"Alex has a girlfriend already," Ruby told her.
"Oh, Rubes, I'm sorry," Joey said, slipping an arm around her shoulders so that all three of them were in a hug. "Well, it was a real dickish thing of him to do to not even tell you that from that start. So you're much better off without him anyway. He's obviously not worth someone as amazing as you, my gorgeous Ruby Buckton."
"See?" Claire said with a rather proud grin.
Ruby blushed. Joey kissed the top of her head.
"I love you both," Ruby said.
"And we love you too," Joey said.
She looked back to where Alf was still sitting with Lily, who was still worried about her Dad.
"Hey, you two don't want to spend your morning babysitting, do you?" she asked.
"Does it mean I get to skip school?"
"Weren't you planning to anyway?" Joey asked. "Being that you're meant to be in class right now?"
"I'm suffering with heartache," Ruby pointed out.
"You've got the morning and then you have to go in after lunch," Joey said. "And you've got to look after Lily. Her Dad's been taken to the station for questioning and she's pretty upset. I think she might have a bit more fun with you two than any of us."
"Sure," Ruby said. "We'll take her down to the beach."
Charlie and Robertson finished their interview with Will. He hadn't given much away, although Charlie had personally taken some interest in his behaviour. She wasn't sure if Robertson had but she wasn't prepared to share her opinion with him. They might be technically fighting for the same thing but as far as she was concerned, they were not on the same team.
"So, what next?" she asked Charlie, as they watched Will scamper out of the station.
"Next on the list is Doctor Sid Walker," Robertson said. "So, let's go get him."
Charlie sighed. Today was going to be a long day.
Ruby and Claire had been busy building sandcastles with Lily, trying to distract her from missing her Dad. They felt sorry for her. She seemed so confused about her parents and what was happening with them both.
"Well, we'd better take you back to the restaurant," Ruby said, looking at her watch.
Joey had promised her lunch and then she knew she had to go to school or her parents might actually kill her.
"Will my Dad be there?" Lily asked.
Ruby looked anxiously at Claire.
"Maybe," the older girl said. "Shall we go and see? And if he's not, we can phone and ask."
Lily nodded. She just wanted her Dad. And her Mum.
Back at the restaurant, Alf was struggling to concentrate. And it was making him feel guilty. Joey was already down one member of staff, as she had sent Claire off with Ruby to look after Lily, who was upset over Will being taken in for questioning. And now he wasn't paying attention to his job. This stupid investigation was now affecting Joey's business and it was all his fault.
"He'll be back soon, I'm sure," Joey said, patting him on the shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. "Try not to worry too much."
"Sorry," Alf said.
"You don't need to apologise to me," Joey said easily.
"But they're only going for Will because he's my friend," Alf said. "All of this is my fault."
"No," Joey corrected him. "All of this is the fault of the person who killed Penn. And a little bit Penn's fault for being such a bas…"
She cut off when Ruby, Claire and Lily walked through the door. Angelo walked past her with a smirk. She mocked glared at him.
"Is my Dad back?" Lily asked eagerly.
"Yeah, he's back!" said an enthusiastic voice behind her.
She spun round to find Will behind her. She leapt into his arms. Joey and Alf were both relieved to see him, as were the others.
"Dad!" Lily said, hugging him tight. "I was scared you were going to go away like Mum did."
"I would never ever leave you," he promised, smothering her in kisses.
He hoped it was a promise he would keep. He had a habit of letting people down.
"What happened, Will?" Alf asked when his friend came to sit at the bar with his daughter.
"Just boring questions," Will said. "Nothing particularly note worthy."
"And you're okay?"
"I'm fine," he said.
He held up his hands.
"No war wounds."
Claire and Ruby approached Joey.
"Any chance of some lunch?" Ruby asked hopefully.
"You're really pushing it today, you know," Joey said, although she didn't really mind.
"We did babysit," Ruby pointed out.
"Yeah…" Joey said.
"I don't mind working through lunch," Claire said. "I am supposed to be on shift."
"Claire, sit your butt down and have some lunch," Joey ordered.
Claire blushed and went to find a table with Ruby. Not for the first time, Joey wished that Ruby would just hurry up and fall in love with her best friend.
"What exactly am I doing here?" Sid asked, both anxious and frustrated.
He was not impressed to have been hauled from his house and brought to the police station to be interviewed about the disappearance of that monster, Penn Graham. Obviously he wouldn't say so but he hoped Penn was dead. The world would be a far better place without him. Summer Bay certainly would be. But whatever had happened to him, it was nothing to do with him and he wasn't happy about anything Robertson might be insinuating. Marilyn had been quite flustered at his and Charlie's arrival at the door.
"We just wanted to know about your relationship with Penn Graham," Robertson said.
Charlie hung back silently. She was only here as an extra person. She wasn't really meant to be part of this investigation anymore.
"I don't have a relationship with Penn Graham," Sid said. "I barely know the guy. I treated him in hospital once or twice but that's about it."
"Yes," Robertson said. "He got assaulted, didn't he?"
"I think so," Sid said vaguely. "I don't really remember to be honest."
"You don't remember?"
"I work in a busy hospital, Detective," Sid said. "To be quite frank with you, I don't remember every patient I see and the details of their cases. I'm sure you understand. You must interview so many people, witnesses and the like. You can't hold onto every person you interact with every day."
"I make it a priority to do so, actually."
Sid shrugged.
"Congratulations," he said. "I don't. I have a very busy life. I have a partner and two children to raise. Maybe you have less to occupy yourself with."
Charlie held back a smirk.
"So, tell me about Penn Graham and Alf Stuart," Robertson said, shifting the subject.
"What about them?"
"What do you know about their relationship?"
"Not much," Sid said. "Penn was a bit aggressive to Alf at times. I don't know why he didn't like him but he didn't seem to. But then, he didn't seem to like many people. One minute he was in a relationship with Nicole and the next he was awful to her. It was like some sick game."
Robertson scribbled something down on a piece of paper in front of him. Sid couldn't help but worry he had said something wrong.
"Tell me," the Detective said. "Have you ever heard Alf threaten Penn?"
Sid flashed back to the night of the vigilante meeting, the night Alf had threatened to kill him. He and the others had heard him clear as day. And the next day, Penn was gone.
"No," he said firmly. "I've never heard Alf say anything like that."
The restaurant was busy when Bianca arrived for lunch and advice, both of the things her friend Joey was most excellent at providing. Claire and Ruby were sat at a table together, which was curious as she was sure Ruby had not been in school all day and should therefore be very unwell at home. Will and Lily, who were making a right nuisance of themselves at Irene's were seeming to be having a nice time at another table. Angelo, Alf and Joey were rushed off their feet serving customers.
"Hey," Joey greeted rather breathlessly. "So, how did it go with Liam? Did you call him back?"
Bianca was always impressed that despite how busy she was, Joey always had time for her loved ones.
"Um… no," she admitted.
"What do you mean, no?" Joey asked.
Bianca could hear the frustration in her voice.
"I'm still with Vittorio," she said.
Joey hit her with the tea towel she'd been using to wipe the bar down.
"Hey!" Bianca protested, grateful she hadn't been unstacking the dishwasher.
"Why didn't you call him? I thought you'd decided!"
"I had decided!" Bianca protested. "But then I spoke to April…"
"April doesn't want you to be with Vittorio…"
"I know but she started banging on about how crap I am and…"
"And you decided to prove her right?"
Bianca glared at her.
"And I got stubborn and… And I wanted to prove that I can stick with something, with someone."
Joey looked at her more seriously.
"Even if it's not the guy you want to be with?" she asked, a tenderness entering her voice.
"I just… I don't want her to think that I screw everything up all the time," she said.
"And I think she just wants you to be happy," Joey said. "We all do."
Charlie wanted lunch. She was hungry and tired and a little grumpy. She was almost envious of Watson who was probably tucked up in bed at home being cared for by her loving better half. But then she thought about her throwing up and crapping herself simultaneously and she didn't envy her very much anymore. She also rather went off the idea of lunch quite quickly.
"Right, you," Joey said, approaching Ruby and Claire's table with Bianca.
"Me?" Claire asked a little nervously.
"No, her," Joey said. "Bianca is going to take you back to school to make sure you get there."
"Excellent," Ruby said sarcastically. "Arriving at school with my teacher. That's going to make me look cool."
"Hey!" Bianca said. "Your super cool, attractive, funny, awesome teacher."
"Yeah, okay," Ruby said, standing up.
"And you'll carry on your lessons with Alex?" Claire asked. "Don't let him ruin this for you."
"I'll carry them on," Ruby promised.
She hugged Claire and said she'd call her.
"Have fun," Claire said.
"And you," Ruby said.
"Oh, she will," Joey said. "She has tables to wait."
"Forensics are back," Robertson said, poking his head around the door to Charlie's office.
Charlie closed the lid of her laptop and took a breath.
"What's the news?" she asked.
"Just as we thought," he said. "The level of blood in that hotel room meant that someone couldn't have survived. This is now a murder investigation."
Next time… Charlie has a 'promotion' at work, Nicole awaits her test results and Dex has a favour to ask of Indi and Romeo…
