‘It would make sense to Snowie for you to take up his offer.’ Dad nods, almost to himself. ‘And you should. You should say yes.’
Harris’s eyebrows almost meet in the middle. ‘Sarge, I’m telling you cos I don’t wanna be a –’
‘You should say yes, and then you should report to me,’ Dad says.
That’s when I do jump in. ‘Dad.’
‘I’m authorised,’ Dad says to me, ‘and Harris isn’t a minor.’
I hate the sound of this already. ‘Dad, I know you want to make a difference before you retire –’
‘This isn’t about that.’ Dad scowls
‘–and I know you want to cut off the drug supply to the area. But he’s acivilian.’
‘A civilian is what I need.’ Dad turns fully to meet my eyes. ‘He’s street smart, he’s the right age, and most importantly, Snowie’s already asked for him.’
Harris is glancing back and forth between us. ‘Are you talking about me being…’ His eyes settle on Dad. ‘Are you recruiting me for information?’
Dad turns back, nods again. ‘Yeah. Yeah, I think I am.’ He sucks his teeth. ‘I don’t know what to offer you except a token payment when it’s all done and dusted. It’d be like a police reward for voluntary information.’
‘Okay – time out.’ This whole out-of-the-blue concept is making my stomach roil. I may not get how the local drug system works, but I’ve heard enough war stories from Dad to know the risks. ‘Can we just pause for a sanity check? Dad, you’ve told me plenty about the scene in Mildura. It’s notsafe.’
But Dad is focused on Harris. ‘If there’s a bust I can’t guarantee you won’t lose the cash Snowie’ll pay you, because it’s proceeds from an illegal business. But I’ll see to it that you’re recompensed somehow.’
‘Are you for real?’ Harris seems to be having a hard time getting his head around the idea.
I’m having a hard time myself. ‘You can’t let himsell drugsto get information!’
‘Not selling,’ Dad says, shaking his head. ‘Foot-soldiering. Go-between stuff – delivering cash, setting up meetings, passing on info.’ He looks at Harris again. ‘Tell Snowie that’s what you’d prefer to do. Tell him you need to get outta Five Mile, that you’d like to join him in Mildura.’
‘Well the first part’s true,’ Harris mutters.
I jab the table in front of Dad with a finger. ‘Did you hear me say “it’s not safe”?’
Dad frowns at me. ‘He’ll just be a messenger boy, Amie. And if he gives me anything useful, I can pass it on to Ronnie Murphy up there.’ He glances across the table at Harris. ‘The Mildura CO is an old squad mate of mine. But I can’t register you as an informant with the department because there’s criteria, and you don’t meet them.’
Harris squints as he works it out. ‘So it’d just be old-school-copper style.’
‘Yeah. You’d find out as much as you can about the operation, and who’s bank-rolling the whole thing, and let me know.’ Dad leans further. ‘It’s good you told me. But you should think about what I’m offering, too, before you make a decision. Because Amie’s right, it might be dicey. Might not be the safest working environment.’
‘Hey,’ Harris says, ‘I used to work at the quarry blowing stuff up, remember?’
‘It’s not the same,’ Dad says. ‘These are human explosives – a lot more unpredictable. The people Snowie’s dealing with are bad people, I know that much about them. If it gets scary, you can back out.’
I groan, because now Dad and Harris seem to be occupying their own little bubble. Harris looks curious, surprised, and quietly excited. I’mnotexcited. Don’t either of them recognise how dangerous this could be?
‘You’re serious about this, aren’t you?’ Harris says to Dad.
‘Deadly,’ Dad says. ‘If you were younger, I’d say steer clear, I’ll help you find a way out of the mess you’re in. And I’m still happy to help you, either way. But you’re grown now, and you’ve come here and spilled this to me like you want some advice on how to handle it. As a police officer, I’m telling you howIplan to handle it – by getting as much info on this bloody cancer as I can while I still have time, then pulling it out by the root. And if we help each other, then the job’s done faster, and more effectively, and you get some benefit from it.’
‘Harris.’ I nearly grab his hand again. ‘He said think about it. Will you please think about it?’
‘I’m thinking.’ He meets my eyes. ‘I’m thinking you and your dad have done right by me plenty of times.’
‘It’s not about paying us back!’
‘It is for me.’ He looks at my father again. ‘So…I accept Snowie’s job offer and head up to Mildura.’
