The Betrayal (23 page)

“You have to talk to Stoltenberg and confirm it was the Minister who asked him to access Munro’s file. It appears Stoltenberg was an innocent pawn in your uncle’s game, but let’s make sure. Bring Stanford in again. It’s obvious he was the one who downloaded the images. We need to put more pressure on him to find out why he did it. The Minister must have fed him the login details and Stanford must have been the one who created the computer trail. He left additional evidence on Munro’s laptop. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

Hammond’s expression hardened. “The only other possibility is that Stanford and Stoltenberg are in cahoots and it has nothing to do with your uncle. Despite the evidence that appears to indicate your uncle has a strong motive, it’s possible Stoltenberg accessed the login details off his own bat and provided them to Stanford who then created the computer trail and everything else.”

Chloe looked at him dubiously. “It’s possible of course, but the only problem with that scenario is that neither of those men have a motive. At least, not one that we know about.”

Hammond sighed. “Bring them in and let’s see what we can shake out of them. After that, we’ll regroup.”

* * *

It was late in the afternoon when Chloe eventually made contact with both Charlie and Eric. She’d located Eric easily enough at the Home Affairs Office. Charlie had been harder to find. His superior at the Fraud Squad had told her Charlie was on a rostered day off. Calls to his cell had gone unanswered.

When she’d finally made contact, she’d purposefully arranged the interviews so that both men would pass in the corridor. She wanted Charlie to know she’d spoken to Eric.

She started with Stoltenberg, whose youth surprised her. She expected someone with a little more experience to be working in a prestigious environment such as the Home Affairs Office.

After going through the preliminaries and obtaining his permission to record the interview, she got straight to the point.

“Mr Stoltenberg, do you know an agent by the name of Declan Munro?”

The man nodded. “Yes.”

Chloe’s jaw dropped in shock. Her heart felt like it would thump itself right out of her chest. She did her best to regain her equilibrium and continued.

“When you say you know him, what do you mean?”

Stoltenberg shrugged. “Well, I don’t exactly know him. What I meant to say was that I know
of
him. I saw him on the television a couple of nights ago. Something about a committal hearing.”

Chloe sucked in a breath, her tension easing. She cleared her throat and tried again. “I see. Approximately three months ago, you attended upon the Human Resources Department of the AFP and requested a number of personnel files. Do you remember doing that?”

Eric fingered his cheap, bright orange tie. It was liberally embellished with purple polka dots that matched his lilac shirt. His thin, manicured hand fluttered nervously, but he eventually replied in a voice that was almost steady.

“Yes, of course. It wasn’t that long ago.”

“Good. Do you remember who you spoke to at HR?”

A frown crinkled the smooth, pale skin of his forehead. “An older lady…Mary Slater, was it? I can’t quite remember. I do recall she was very pleasant and most accommodating.”

Chloe nodded in agreement. “Could it have been perhaps Marcia Slater?”

“Yes, you’re right. It was Marcia, not Mary.”

“Do you remember who asked you to access the files?”

Eric’s gaze fell away. His fingers picked at lint on his dark gabardine suit pants. Chloe held her breath and waited.

“It was the Minister, of course.” The lightness of his tone belied the anger in his eyes. He followed his response with a laugh that somehow seemed forced.

Chloe stared down at her notes and once again tried hard to slow her breathing. Despite what she knew, hearing confirmation directly from Stoltenberg that her uncle had requested the files caused pain deep in her heart.

She refused to pay it heed. She’d devoted her life to discovering the truth and she would see this through to the end, even if everything inside her demanded she turn and run the other way.

“Do you know why the Minister wanted those files?”

“He told me he was applying for extra funding for a program directed at AFP agents who had recently joined the ranks. He gave me a list of agents who had been with us for less than a year. He wanted me to check their employment dates to ensure they corresponded with the ones he’d obtained. What I found curious was that the only details he asked me to make a record of was the page containing the computer login details of Agent Declan Munro.”

Stoltenberg eyeballed her, his eyes alight with challenge. It was almost as if he was daring her to ask the next question. Despite the hammering of her heart, she didn’t disappoint.

“And did you?”

“Of course. I aim to please. I photographed the page with my phone and bluetoothed it to the Minister’s computer, just like he asked.” Eric smiled, but even that didn’t ease the tension around his mouth. Chloe shivered. There was more to this than he was saying.

“How long have you worked for the Minister?”

“Nearly a year.”

“And do you enjoy what you do for him?”

Stoltenberg tugged once again on his tie. A smile turned up his lips. “Of course. The Minister’s an easy man to work for. Whilst he can be…demanding, he’s also incredibly generous. Until recently, it was a pleasure to arrive at work.”

Chloe sat forward. “What happened recently?”

Eric pursed his lips in thought. A moment later, he shook his head. “Let’s just say, working there is not quite so exciting anymore.” He shrugged. “I think I’m bored. It’s time I moved on. I’ve put in for a transfer.”

Chloe’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “Really? What does the Minister have to say about that?”

Eric shrugged again and averted his gaze. “He doesn’t know.”

Chloe digested the information and then tried another tack. “Do you know an agent by the name of Charlie Stanford?”

Stoltenberg tensed. His cheeks paled. Anger once again sparked in his eyes. “That useless lump of muscle? Why would you want to ask me about him?”

“So you do know him?”

“Of course I know him. It seems like every time I turn around these days, he’s there. With the Minister. It’s been going on for months.”

Chloe couldn’t breathe. Her chest had tightened to suffocating levels. She gasped and dragged in a breath. Stoltenberg frowned at her.

“Are you all right? Should I call someone?”

Chloe shook her head. “No, no. I’m fine. It’s…nothing. Don’t worry about it. You were saying how you know Agent Stanford; that he’s always underfoot. I’m curious, what does he do for the Minister?”

Eric’s lips curled up in disgust and the anger in his gaze flared brighter. “Nothing, as far as I can tell, but it doesn’t stop him from dropping by every other day, disturbing the Minister.”

Chloe stared hard at him. It was obvious there was no love lost between Stanford and the clerk. She glanced at her watch. If Charlie was on time, he should be waiting for her right outside the door. She gathered the papers together on the desk.

“Thank you for coming in, Mr Stoltenberg. I really appreciate your time. If there’s anything else you’d like to add or anything you remember later, please feel free to give me a call.” Chloe handed him her card that listed her direct line.

Eric pocketed it without glancing at it and pushed back his chair. Chloe stood with him and opened the door. Stoltenberg brushed past her, then froze.

Charlie lounged against the wall outside the interview room. Dressed in a pair of designer jeans and a Nautica polo shirt, he eyed Eric’s colorful ensemble with barely disguised disdain.

Eric flushed under the other man’s scrutiny. Fury glittered in the clerk’s eyes. Chloe eyed the silent exchange with interest. Moments later, all hell broke loose.

“You fucking prick!” Stoltenberg shouted. “You bastard! How dare you! How
dare
you!” The clerk launched himself at Charlie who outweighed the younger man by more than a hundred pounds. Eric bounced off the hard wall of muscle and hit the adjacent wall. Tears streamed down his face, but he paid them no heed.

“You couldn’t help yourself, could you? You had to do it!”

Charlie took a step toward Eric who cowered against the wall. “What the fuck are you talking about?” Charlie poked the other man in the chest and Eric whimpered.

“For Christ sake, you worthless piece of shit. What are you, a girl?” Charlie turned away, his expression full of disgust.

Regaining her composure, Chloe stepped between them, forcing them apart. “Whoa, gentlemen. Take it easy. What was that all about?”

Eric sniffed and swiped a hand across his eyes. “Ask
him.
I’ve had enough. I’m through,” he choked and ran toward the elevators.

Chloe’s mind spun.

What the hell had just happened?
Any thought that Charlie and Eric were in this together had just been blown out of the water. Not that she’d given the theory any real credence, but it was satisfying to have that question put to bed. Not that the alternative gave her any comfort…

Indicating the open doorway with her hand, she swallowed a sigh and followed Charlie into the interview room. He took a seat and she sat down opposite him.

“Thanks for coming in again, Charlie. I hope I didn’t drag you away from anything important?”

Charlie shook his head. “I’m on a day off. That’s why I missed your call. I was at the gym and didn’t hear my phone.”

Chloe nodded. He looked like someone who spent a lot of time at the gym.

“What’s with you and Eric?”

Charlie’s expression turned belligerent. “I already answered your questions.”

She turned her glare on him, suddenly completely out of patience. It was clear Stanford was in it up to his teeth. There was no other way the trail of evidence could have been left on Declan’s computer. She eyeballed him again. “I have more. Tell me once more about Minister Sabattini.”

* * *

Charlie stared at the investigator and his unease intensified. He forced it aside. There was no way the Minister had ratted on him. It wasn’t possible. He shrugged and carefully schooled his expression into one of polite blankness. “There’s nothing else to tell.”

“Agent Stanford, I asked you a question. Tell me again how you know Minister Sabattini.”

Charlie crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against his chair, buying time while his mind spun in frantic indecision.

How much did she know?

If she knew the truth and he lied to her, it wouldn’t go well for him. Then again, if she was clueless and he confessed like a wimpy schoolboy, it would be even worse. He chose to bluff it out.

“Like I told you before, we’ve met a few times. So what? I bet he’s met thousands of officers over his time. He’s the Home Affairs Minister. That’s what he does. He meets and greets.”

“Except that he’s done more than meet you, hasn’t he?” she said.

Fury and disbelief arced through him.
Fucking Stoltenberg.
It had to be. The little asshole knew about him and the Master and he was jealous. It was the only thing that made sense. No doubt the prick had been overjoyed to spill his guts to the investigator.

Charlie drew in a deep breath in an effort to calm himself. Tension held him in a vice-like grip. He wondered again how much she knew.

“Talk to me, Charlie.”

It was the kindness in her voice that got to him. All of a sudden, he was weighed down by depression and disappointment. Yet again, he’d been forced to live a lie, to hide who he really was in order to satisfy someone else’s needs. First his mother’s and then the Master’s.

He’d thought the Master would be different. He’d thought the Master would be happy to parade him by his side—after all, Charlie was young, fit and good looking enough to draw attention.

But it hadn’t worked out like that. The Master had been happy to keep their relationship a secret. In fact, he’d insisted upon it. It wasn’t until about a month after they’d started sleeping together that Charlie discovered the Master was married. He happened to see a photo of a woman and girl on the Master’s desk. It was then that the Master had told him.

Charlie had worked hard at concealing his shock. He’d admitted to the Master that he hadn’t breathed a word of his own homosexuality to anyone since the fateful conversation with his mother all those years ago. The Master had been more than pleased at Charlie’s revelation.

The Master’s attitude had disappointed him at the time, but not enough to dim the burgeoning feelings he had for his lover who so often reminded him of his dorm master.

Now, he stared at the investigator and wished he could read her mind. Regardless of what she knew, he wasn’t ready to blow his cover. He had to assume she was still in the dark. Opening his mouth to reply, he did his best to sound outraged.

“Where do you get off accusing me of things like that? The Minister’s a happily married man. He’s—”

“Also gay,” Chloe interrupted. “Maybe bisexual, if that makes you feel any better.”

Shock ricocheted through him. How the fuck did she know?
Nobody
knew. At least, that’s what the Minister had told him. Not even that prick Stoltenberg would know something like that. She was bluffing. She had to be. He shook his head slowly back and forth, an instinctive denial rising to his lips. “No, you’re wrong.”

“When did you start sleeping with him?” she asked quietly.

He reeled backwards as if she’d struck him and his hands came up reflexively to protect his face. He gasped for air, his chest tight. Leaning forward with his elbows on the desk, his held his head in his hands and tried with increasing desperation to get control of himself.

“Talk to me, Charlie. You’ve been carrying this burden around for way too long. Longer than anyone—even the Minister—could expect. It hasn’t been fair the way he’s made you shoulder the responsibility for all of this, expecting you to betray your best friend, to lie to me, to lie to the court. It must have been so hard for you, Charlie.”

He lifted his head and stared at her, throwing off her sympathetic words and drawing on rage to stiffen his spine. He wouldn’t allow her to break him. The Master was his life, his everything. He wouldn’t let anyone destroy what they had.