The Betrayal (17 page)

CHAPTER 15

Chloe, from her position in her Honda Civic, took in the sight of Parliament House perched high up on the Hill. While she looked upon the building every day during her commute to her office, it never failed to inspire her.

The sun bathed the building in warm light and glinted off the enormous steel structure that crowned the roof. The rich green grass that surrounded the building covered the steep slope it sat on and looked like it was growing up to meet the sky. It was smooth enough to double as a carpet.

She slowed for the security guards who were perched inside a booth at the entrance to Parliament House and the underground car park. Pressing the button on her armrest, she lowered the window, her security pass at the ready.

Within moments, her credentials were checked. Blinking against the dimness, she pulled her Honda into the first available parking space. The darkness of the underground car park was a little disorientating after the bright noon sunshine.

When the magistrate announced there was sufficient evidence for Declan’s matter to proceed to trial, she’d waited only long enough to offer him brief commiserations and had then made a beeline for her car. Although she was conscious of the necessity of touching base with her superiors and bringing them up to speed, the need to speak with the Minister was more urgent. It was possible he could enlighten her about Eric Stoltenberg and the reason why he’d accessed Declan’s personnel file.

Phoning ahead, she arranged to meet her uncle for lunch in the building’s cafeteria. It had been awhile since she’d seen him and if the situation hadn’t been so grave, she would have been looking forward to the catch-up.

He was already there when she arrived and greeted her with a smile and a warm hug.

“Princess! How wonderful to see you. It’s been too long.”

She returned his embrace and then moved to take a seat opposite him at the small wooden table.

“It’s lovely to see you again, too, Uncle Ronnie.”

“What have you been up to?”

She drew in a breath. “Until now, I’ve been involved in a committal hearing. I’ve come straight from the Magistrate’s Court in Civic.”

“Busy as usual, I see,” he replied with a fond smile.

Chloe shrugged. “You know how it is.”

“Yes, unfortunately I do. Sometimes I wonder what in hell I was thinking when I put my hand up for this job. I go from morning to midnight—and often well after—six, sometimes seven days a week. There always seems to be something that needs to be done.”

The twinkle in his eyes belied the brusqueness in his tone. Genuine affection surged through her. Her uncle looked so much like her father, they could be twins. With only thirteen months between them, people had often mistaken them as such, but unlike her father, her uncle carried an extra fifty pounds.

“You love every minute of your job, uncle. You wouldn’t have it any other way,” she teased.

He sighed dramatically. “Yes, you’re right, princess. I wish your aunt was more understanding. She never stops haranguing me about getting home so late.”

“Perhaps you should surprise her one day. Get home before dinner time. Better still, take her
out
to dinner.”

The Minister smiled and let the comment slide. “What are you having for lunch?”

Chloe scanned the extensive menu in front of her and quickly decided on her usual. “I’ll have chicken, avocado and mayonnaise on a toasted Turkish bread roll, no butter. And a skim latte´ in a mug.”

Her uncle shook his head. “What’s this skim nonsense? You’re fading away to a shadow. I’m the one who should be ordering skim.”

Chloe laughed, but refrained from commenting. Her uncle had always been self-conscious about his weight. Not that it was enough to make him do something about it. Her earliest memories had him larger than life.

He stood and went over to the counter to place their orders. Chloe glanced around her while she waited for him to return. The usual scattering of public servants dressed in dark, conservative suits surrounded her. From all the chatter, they appeared to be making the most of their lunch hour to catch up on office gossip. Her uncle returned, tucking away his wallet inside his suit jacket.

“Thanks for treating me lunch, Uncle Ronnie.”

“It’s my pleasure, princess. We don’t do this half as often as we should.” He seated himself at the table and his expression turned somber.

“Now, what’s going on? I assume you need to speak with me about something more serious than the family’s latest exploits?”

Chloe smiled ruefully. “What gave me away?”

“Well, your office isn’t exactly next door to mine. You’re busy. It’s the middle of the working week. Yet, you’re here. Out with it, princess.”

“You know me too well. You’re right. There is something I wanted to talk with you about.”

“Fire away.”

Chloe took a deep breath. Her pulse picked up its rhythm and all of a sudden, she didn’t know what to say. Then she thought about Declan and the look on his face when the magistrate handed down his decision. The memory of that spurred her on.

“I’ve been investigating a case involving an agent by the name of Declan Munro. There was a brief mention of it on the news last night. Do you know him?”

Her uncle’s expression didn’t change. “I don’t think so. Sandra Callan, my personal assistant, mentioned it this morning at our daily debriefing. She said something about a committal hearing. I didn’t realize you were involved in it. Given that Munro’s under my jurisdiction, I guess the media will be looking for a sound bite from me at some stage.” He eyed her curiously. “What are the charges?”

“Unauthorized access to confidential police files. The agent works in the Child Protection Unit, so you can understand the serious nature of the charges.”

Her uncle nodded and Chloe continued. “Despite Agent Munro’s protestations of innocence, there’s enough evidence pointing to the contrary. His best friend and fellow agent, Charlie Stanford, is the one who brought it to our attention.”

Her uncle glanced surreptitiously at his watch. Chloe plowed on, speaking quickly.

“Stanford’s the prosecution’s main witness. He was also mentioned on the news.”

Her uncle shrugged. “I’m not familiar with the name, but Sandra may have spoken about him this morning.”

Chloe continued. “The committal hearing finished about an hour ago. Agent Munro’s been committed to stand trial. The media will be all over this soon.”

The Minister spread his arms wide, his expression curious. “Naturally, I’m concerned that an officer under my control will be tried for something so heinous and of course, I’ll give a statement to the press, but I have full confidence in our legal system and I’m sure justice will be done. My attitude surely doesn’t come as a surprise to you, princess, so what are you here for?”

Chloe took another breath. “You’re right, uncle. There’s more. Today, I discovered a member of your staff accessed Agent Munro’s personnel file, along with some other files. Coincidentally, it happened about a month before the allegations were made.” She paused and then said in a rush. “I think someone from your office is setting him up.”

His eyes widened in astonishment. “You can’t be serious?”

“I’m afraid so.”

He shook his head. “No, it’s not possible. I handpicked each member of my staff. I would vouch for every one of them.”

Chloe’s gaze remained steady on his. “I understand, but the truth is, someone by the name of Eric Stoltenberg requested access to Agent Munro’s file a month before the allegations were made. It’s been noted in the record book kept by the HR Manager, Marcia Slater. I understand from Ms Slater that Eric Stoltenberg came from your office.”

Her uncle looked mystified. “She’s right. Eric works in my office, but why in the world would he do something like that?”

“According to the HR Manager, Eric said you were putting together a new funding initiative and needed to see the files for some of the more recent recruits. Agent Munro has only been an agent for twelve months.”

“Funding initiative? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Chloe was at a loss. She’d been sure her uncle would be able to clear things up.

“You don’t? B-but…? I don’t understand. What does Eric Stoltenberg do, anyway? Who does he report to?”

“He’s a junior in the office. He works with Sandra. Runs errands, fields phone calls, that kind of thing—a general dogsbody. I guess he ultimately reports to me. They all do.”

“What need would he have to access personnel files?”

The Minister shook his head. “None that I know of and I’m completely mystified that he’d tell anyone he was acting on my behalf.” He cleared his throat. “Leave it with me, princess. I’ll talk to Sandra. Maybe she knows something about it.”

Their meals arrived and they picked up their utensils. Silence fell between them while they enjoyed their lunch. After a few moments, Chloe broke it by asking about her cousin.

Her uncle smiled. “Maria’s great. So independent these days. She’s already halfway through her degree at the Australian National University. It seems like we only see her when she needs a change of clothes.”

A chuckle escaped Chloe’s lips, remembering the days when she was similarly consumed. “Is she still keen on horses?”

“Yes. More than ever. I thought when she started Uni, she’d lose interest, but she’s even worse than you were at that age.”

Chloe smiled at the memory. Horses had been her life a decade ago. “Does she still have my old riding crop?”

“You bet. I saw it the other night when I went to tell her goodnight. It has pride of place on her nightstand, always within easy reach.” He winked.

Chloe laughed and finished her lunch. It was good to spend time with her uncle. She always walked away from a meeting with him thinking nothing was too hard to deal with, after all. She loved that about him—that he could lighten her load without even trying.

When he glanced at his watch again, she swallowed the last of her coffee and bent down to collect her briefcase off the floor.

“Thanks for lunch. I appreciate you making the time to meet with me.”

He smiled. “I’ll always make time for you, princess.”

“Let me know about Eric, won’t you?”

“I promise. I’ll speak to Sandra as soon as I get back upstairs. At the moment, I’m as perplexed as you are, although I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation.”

“Thank you,” Chloe replied, knowing he was probably right, but hoping for Declan’s sake he wasn’t. If there was nothing suspicious about Stoltenberg’s actions, the conspiracy theory lost most of its momentum and they were back to square one.

Even so, that she now believed Declan’s protestations of innocence didn’t surprise her. She wasn’t sure when her attitude toward him had changed, but it was probably somewhere between his arrival in a bright lime-green tie on the morning of their first meeting and the warm kiss he’d bestowed on the inside of her wrist last night.

Either way, she needed to find out who was behind all this. Someone inside the CPU had created the access trail on Declan’s computer. Someone else had downloaded images on his laptop—and deleted them. If Declan hadn’t done it, who had?

She smiled grimly. It was time she had another little chat with Charlie Stanford.

* * *

Declan paced the generous confines of his apartment and did his best to control his frustration. Knowing there was nothing more they could do, Brandon and Tom, along with their wives, had left to return to Sydney. Riley had flown back to Grafton. As the Local Area Commander of a large rural command, he didn’t have the luxury of too much time away from the job. On top of that, his wife, Kate, had her hands full with twelve-month-old twins. From what Declan could recall of them, Daisy and Rosie were more than a little challenging and he understood Riley’s need to return home. Declan appreciated the time Riley had given to him. Riley’s support, along with the rest of their family, had kept him sane.

Clayton and his parents occupied the couch. Varying degrees of concern and strain had etched itself onto their tired faces.

“What did Roger say?” Clayton asked.

Declan turned to face him. “He’s going to review the evidence. See if he can find another angle to pursue at the trial. He told me I had to find out who stole my login details. Without that, I’m fucked.”

“Declan,” his father admonished him quietly, “not in front of your mother.”

Declan looked at the woman in question, his chest tightening with emotion at the shock and disbelief that still lingered on her face. She’d aged overnight.

“Sorry, Mom.”

“It’s okay, Declan. I can understand you might misplace your manners under the circumstances.”

“At least with the magistrate committing the matter for trial, we have a few more months to come up with a strategy,” Clayton said. “Did Roger say anything about when he expected to receive a trial date?”

Frustration surged through Declan anew and he clenched his fists. “No, he didn’t. I have to speak to Charlie. He’s not returning my calls. I rang the squad room. He’s been transferred. No one will tell me where he’s gone.” He paused for effect. “I’m going to ambush the bastard at the gym. He goes there every other day, like clockwork. He should be there first thing tomorrow.”

Clayton frowned at him in concern. “Is that a good idea?”

Anger ignited inside Declan. He turned on his brother. “No, Clayton,” he bit off. “It’s probably not a good idea, but if you can come up with some other way I can force the asshole to explain to me why the hell he perjured himself yesterday, I’ll be happy to hear it.” Declan’s breath came hard. Rage tinged with panic burned from every pore of his skin. He turned away, ashamed of his outburst. The people on his couch cared for him, were hurting for him. That’s why they were here. And he was treating them like shit.

He drew in a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Clay. I didn’t mean—”

“It’s all right, Dec. I know you didn’t.” Clayton ran his hand through his hair. “Christ, I can’t imagine what you must be going through. You’ve devoted your entire adult life to upholding the law and keeping society safe and this is how they repay you.”