“The last thing I wanted was for you to be hurt, Lara.”
“How about you tell us exactly what you did?” Ed suggested. “So we don’t have to guess.”
Lee nodded calmly although his stomach was in knots. He cared what these people thought of him. “I was put into place to spy on you. Lucas Fitton wanted the treasure, and it was my job to find it.”
“Who is he?” Faith asked.
“He’s the descendant of one of the pearl divers who was on the Retribution when it wrecked off the coast.”
Georgie’s eyes widened and Tess nodded as if it made sense.
“He’s also my uncle.” Lee continued to expand on his role in their troubles. He looked Darcy in the eyes when he said, “I slaughtered all of those sheep.”
Darcy’s jaw clenched. “Why? Why do that and then offer to help us now?”
“I had to kill the sheep to prove to Lucas I was loyal to Stonefish.”
“And were you?” Tess asked.
“No. I want to end Stonefish for murdering my father.”
Nhiari sat next to Lee as he answered questions for over an hour. His ability to stay calm and unemotional impressed her, though it might be to his detriment. She wanted him to show he was sorry for what he’d done. Finally Dot asked, “What did you find on Andrew’s laptop?”
“Stonefish’s financials,” Nhiari answered. “I gave Amani access to it.”
Dot nodded, as if satisfied. “She was working on something for me as well. If anyone can make sense of it, she can.” Dot glanced at Lee. “Is Rodney working for Stonefish?”
“I suspect so. Lucas didn’t tell me, but he knew Martin had killed Andrew.”
She scowled and turned to Nhiari. “What’s your plan?”
“I’m hoping all the evidence we’ve gathered in conjunction with the information on Andrew’s laptop will be enough to put an end to Stonefish’s lines of business. I checked in with Doug.”
She felt Lee’s gaze whip to her, but she kept her eyes on Dot.
“What did he say?”
“That Rodney insisted on coming up here.”
“Maybe we should get Amani to tell Doug what she’s found,” Dot said.
“I’d trust him more than Rodney,” Nhiari agreed.
“Who is Doug?” Lee asked, his tone cold and slightly suspicious.
“A friend from Organised Crime,” Nhiari told him, not allowing herself to feel guilty for not telling him. “I called him the other day when you met Joseph.”
“He could be working for Stonefish.”
Dot shook her head. “When he was a kid, a bikie gang constantly threatened his parents. It’s why he became a cop. There’s no way he’d work for Stonefish.”
“Only problem is, he’s going on leave soon,” Nhiari told her. “He’s going to chat with the other men who came up with Rodney.”
“Call him,” Dot suggested, passing Nhiari her phone.
Nhiari rose from the table.
“We can’t trust anyone,” Lee insisted.
