“Because I didn’t hear about it, and neither did Lucas.”
“Are your networks that good?” Tess asked.
“Yes.” It wasn’t bragging. It was the truth. “Martin would have mentioned it, and even if you hadn’t told him, our networks would have heard whispers. No one could keep it quiet for this long.” He glanced around the table, noting the way Jordan squirmed in his seat. “Unless their lives depended on it.” This close-knit group had surprised even him. If it hadn’t been for Jordan taking a coin to school, word wouldn’t have spread beyond these walls.
“Can we trust him?” Matt demanded, looking at Nhiari.
“You tell me. You want to tell everyone the truth about what happened when Clark died?”
Matt’s anger deflated, and he exchanged a glance with Georgie.
“We all know Georgie didn’t shoot Clark,” Brandon said. He raised one eyebrow at his sister. “You can’t lie for shit.”
She smiled, not at all embarrassed. “Clark ordered Lee to shoot us to prove his loyalty to Stonefish. Instead he shot Clark, told me I needed to take the blame short term while he gathered enough evidence to stop Stonefish, and then disappeared into the bush.” Georgie squeezed Lee’s hand. “He saved both of us.”
“That was risky,” Faith said. “Clark was Lucas’s son. How did you know he wouldn’t want you dead?”
“I didn’t. But the choice between Clark and Georgie wasn’t difficult. She deserves to live.”
Matt slid his arms around Georgie as if needing to touch her to reassure himself she was all right. “Damn straight she does.”
“Thank you,” Ed said as he got up to refill the water jug then filled Lee’s glass.
The atmosphere in the room eased a little. Sherlock and Sam sipped their drinks and Amy got another plate of biscuits from the cupboard.
He’d earned a modicum of respect.
“Is Georgie going to be in trouble for lying?” Brandon asked.
Dot answered. “We can argue against any punishment, particularly if we catch Lucas.”
Which brought them right back to the treasure. “He’ll want to steal the treasure before it gets to Perth,” Lee said. “If possible, he’ll take it straight out of the country.”
“Private plane?” Sherlock asked.
“I haven’t seen his up here, but his boat is in the area.”
“There are a lot of places along the coast they could moor and bring the treasure on board,” Sam pointed out.
Nhiari cleared her throat. “There are far too many people here for this discussion.” Her expression was apologetic as she glanced at all the faces. “The less you know about what is planned, the safer you will be.”
A good idea, but, “Before you go…” Lee picked up the bag, which had been lying by his feet.
The military men all stiffened, sharpening their gaze on him and he raised the other hand while he slowly lifted the bag to the table. “Nhiari, do you want to check the contents before you pass it to Darcy?”
She took the bag from him, but the men didn’t relax. Lee waited, watched her eyes widen as she looked inside and then rummaged around in the bag. She glanced at him and then said, “There’s nothing dangerous inside.” She passed the bag to Darcy.
Darcy assessed Lee.
“I can’t take back what I did to the station, but it might help.”
Darcy opened the bag. “Holy shit.” He withdrew the first wad of bank notes.
Faith gasped as she peered inside. “There’s got to be tens of thousands of dollars here.”
“Half a million,” Lee told her.
Darcy looked up. “Blood money.”
