Finally, Sapphire put down her spoon. “You’re correct, Declan. The reason I didn’t mention the money is an interesting one. On one hand, despite being a police officer, I have deliberately withheld information that is pertinent to a criminal investigation. On the other hand, by not informing Aria that you removed and have hidden laundered cash, I have saved you all from being criminally charged.” She stopped and glanced at the people around the room.
“Right,” Declan said. He put his bread roll down. “Well, that was awkward. I don’t know how I fucked that up. But what I meant to ask was, what do we do with that stupid money? Like, can you just call someone and get them to come get it?”
A stillness fell over the room. Then we all burst into laughter at once.
“Fucking hell, Dec, you sure have a way with words,” Cassidy said.
“Apparently.” He rolled his eyes.
After the laughter died down, all eyes turned back to Sapphire.
“We’re all very thankful that you didn’t arrest us,” Mitch said.
“Well, that’s still not out of the question,” Sapphire answered, all serious.
Mitch blinked at her. The room went silent.
Then she giggled. “I can’t anyway. I’ve lost my badge.”
“You what?” Declan said. “When?”
As I finished my stew, Sapphire explained what Aria had done, and how it was standard protocol. Fucking bullshit. Sapphire had done nothing wrong. Guilt by association was pure crap.
If that’s the case, will all of us be caught up in Frank’s bullshit?
“So,” Sapphire said, “at this stage, I’m on leave until further notice.”
“Just like me,” Mitch said.
“Huh. I forgot about that,” I said. “You don’t plan on returning to the SAS?”
He turned to Charlie. “Nope. I’ve got my hands full here.”
Charlie smiled. “Me, too.”
“And what about you, Sapphire? You going to hang around, too?” Cassidy asked, grinning like she’d had too many beers.
I scowled at her. “Bloody hell, Cassidy, will you just ...”
Sapphire squeezed my leg under the table. “The truth is, I have no idea what I’m going to do. I’ve never been unemployed before.”
“Well, maybe you could identify that skeleton in the cave,” Xavier said. “My mother had a hand in that pilot’s death. So, she needs to pay for her crimes, too.”
“Oh, okay.” Sapphire nodded. “I can definitely do that.”
“And there’s my mom,” Cassidy said. “All I know is her name was Sally. I’d like to know more about her.” Cassidy and Xavier shared a look. “And I’d like to find out where she’s buried.”
Sapphire nodded. “I can do that, too.”
“Right,” Declan said. “So back to my earlier question. How do we get that money off our land? ‘Cause I don’t know about you guys, but that kind of money makes me very nervous.”
“How do we even do that?” Cassidy asked. “Do we just call the police and hand over bags full of cash?”
I shook my head. “Not the cops. We don’t know who to trust.” I spun to Sapphire. “Except you, of course.”
“I’m not a cop anymore.”
“You will be.”
