“It’s more of a query… something you might not want to mention to anyone I asked.”
His tone sharpened. “What’s happened?”
There was the alert cop she knew. “Theoretically speaking, if you had someone who was working for a crime syndicate, but then gave evidence to end them, could a plea bargain be arranged for them to avoid gaol time?”
He made a low sound, displeased but considering. “It would depend on what illegal activities they carried out and how much they helped to put them away.”
She squeezed her eyes closed. “Let’s say they killed a couple of people, but those deaths protected innocent civilians.”
“That’s specific, Nhiari. What’s going on?”
She closed her eyes. Could she trust him? She switched the topic. “Dot isn’t sure whether she can trust Rodney or whether he might be working for the syndicate we’re trying to stop.”
He whistled. “That’s quite an allegation.”
“I know. Maybe Rodney is just being his usual charming self and the things he’s hiding are because he dislikes us so much.”
“You two must bring out the worst in him. He’s one of our best and most people like him.”
She couldn’t imagine it. She shook the image of a popular Rodney out of her head and asked, “How much do you know about what is going on?”
“Not a lot. They keep it as need to know and I’ve been working on my own cases.”
Right. “We have a couple of officers at the station who Stonefish has got to and with Rodney being Rodney, we don’t have a lot of options.”
“You can trust me, Nhiari. I still owe you one.”
She smiled at the memory and then exhaled. He was her only option. “I’ve been working with someone from Stonefish. We almost have enough evidence to arrest the man in charge and stop the entire company, but when it’s all over I don’t want this person to go to gaol.”
“Do they deserve to?”
Could she answer that neutrally? “He’s done things that aren’t great, but his goal has always been to stop Stonefish.”
“Why? Are you sure he’s not spinning you a tale?” It was a fair question and not one asked with a condescending tone.
“They killed his father.”
“Have you proof?”
The question made her stop. She hadn’t thought about getting proof. Hadn’t been in a position to get it. “No.”
“What’s his name?”
She clenched her teeth. No, she couldn’t do it. Not until Lucas was behind bars. “I can’t, Doug.”
“I can do a check on him. Find out what he’s been involved in. Make sure he’s not lying to you.”
“Stonefish have people everywhere,” she answered. “All it would need is for the information to go across the wrong person’s desk and he’d be dead.”
“Fine. Tell me when you can. I’ll do a little digging on this side into the investigation. The others who went up to Retribution Bay with Rodney are back in the office, and one of them is a mate. I’ll chat to him.”
Relief filled her. “Thank you. I owe you one.”
“No, we’ll be even. I’ll call you when I know more.”
Nhiari hung up. In the distance, an ambulance raced down the road from the southern boat ramp and headed into town. Oliver was on his way to hospital and the speed suggested he was still alive.
Closer to her came the sound of the motorbike. Lee was on his way back.
