by Chris Taylor
“You are a beer girl,” he teased, a grin tilting the side of his mouth upwards.
Heat rushed through her and her cheeks flamed with embarrassment. She was inordinately grateful for the room’s lack of lighting.
Declan’s smile faded and his expression turned serious. “All of these questions you’re asking—does this mean you believe me when I tell you I didn’t access those files?”
His gaze searched hers. She saw the uncertainty that warred with hope in their green-flecked depths. She nodded, her eyes not leaving his.
“Yes, I believe you. I think I always have, but the evidence dictated otherwise. In the end, I took the only way out I knew. I chose to have the system do its work and let the courts decide.”
“What a perfect world you live in,” he mused.
Chloe shrugged. “Perfect or not, it’s my world. I’m an IA investigator. I have to believe, above all else, that justice will be served and that the truth will prevail.”
Declan’s lips twisted in a grimace. “I wish I could be so idealistic.”
Irritation surged through her and she sat up straighter in her chair. “Don’t patronize me, Agent Munro. I don’t know what happened to make you so cynical, but don’t foist your preconceived notions on me. You know nothing about me.”
“I was referring to my own experience. But you’re right, I don’t know much about you. We could change that,” he murmured, his gaze lingering on her lips.
Chloe gasped at the heat in his eyes and tried not to let it affect her. She might as well have tried stopping a tsunami.
Desire ignited a path of need deep inside her and she was reminded of how long it had been since she’d been intimate with a man. She could barely remember the details, but the wanting was still the same. It hadn’t changed.
Declan must have seen something in her eyes, or maybe he heard the tiny whimper of need that escaped her parched lips? Either way, her hand was suddenly engulfed inside the warmth of his.
He drew her fingers up to his mouth and pressed his lips against the soft skin of her wrist. She watched his progress in fascination before reality crashed into her. She pulled back as if she’d been branded.
“Please. Don’t.”
His gaze held hers. “I like you, Chloe. And I think you like me. Now that we’ve established we’re no longer on opposing sides, what’s wrong with that? We’re both adults. What’s wrong with getting to know each other a little better?”
Chloe’s mind struggled to keep up with how quickly things had changed. Yes, she found him attractive, but they were in the middle of a committal hearing. She’d given evidence for the prosecution. He was the defendant. There was a real chance his case would go to trial.
What was she thinking?
She was shaking her head even before the words formed on her lips. “I’m sorry, Declan. I-I… No. This is not a good idea.”
Bewilderment clouded his eyes. “I thought you said you believed me?”
Chloe pursed her lips. “I did. I do. At least, I think so, but that doesn’t change anything. I can’t just waltz into the courtroom and tell everyone Charlie Stanford’s lying and by the way, can you please let the defendant go? Be serious. The allegations are still on the table. The evidence is still there. Good evidence. Solid evidence. With, or without Stanford. The computer records don’t lie. It’s the reason I recommended the laying of charges in the first place.”
Declan groaned in frustration and thumped the table with his fist. “Then what the hell can we do? I’m not going to sit back and let some overambitious prosecutor convince the court to commit me for trial for something I didn’t do. Who’s to say that a jury won’t look past the obvious and convict me? Would you sit by and let them send me to prison?”
Chloe hunted for her purse, now eager to bring their meeting to a close.
“Of course not. But it’s not that simple. You, of all people, know that. We need to find out who’s behind this. It’s becoming obvious this is bigger than Charlie Stanford. You’ve admitted you can’t think of a single reason why he’d do this. There must be more to it and we need to be discreet. If whoever is responsible for this gets wind that we’re onto them, we might lose them and whatever tracks they’ve left behind.”
“So, we just sit back and take whatever comes?” he said angrily.
“Yes. At least, for now.”
“Easy for you to say. It’s not you being led to the dock in handcuffs. It’s not your face being splashed all over the national papers.”
Chloe drew in a breath. He looked so desolate. Against her better judgement, she reached across the table and took his hand and squeezed. His gaze bored into hers.
“Do you trust me?” she asked.
It took him eons to answer and when he did, his response was grudging. “I guess I don’t have a choice.”
She withdrew her hand and sighed. That would have to do.
CHAPTER 14
Chloe glanced at her watch and hurried inside the elevator. It was a smidgen past eight-thirty in the morning. She’d deliberately chosen the time to reduce the chances of running into other staff members who worked in the AFP’s Human Resources Department. It also meant she’d be able to conduct the interview and still make it to court before the second day of Declan’s committal hearing commenced at ten.
She’d arranged an appointment with the manager of HR on her way into the AFP building and was grateful Marcia Slater was an early starter. The woman had expressed polite curiosity at her request, but Chloe had been quick to keep the conversation to a minimum. At this point, she didn’t know who was involved in framing Declan and until she did, she had no choice but to treat everyone as a suspect—or at the very least, an accomplice.
The elevator reached the seventh floor and slid open with barely a sound. She stepped into the carpeted corridor. Frosted glass doors lined either side of the hall. About halfway down the corridor, she stopped at the floor-to-ceiling window with the words “Human Resources” stenciled in neat script. She pushed open the door with her shoulder.
The large open-plan office was filled with partitioned desks and looked much as it did when she’d last been there more than six years ago, on the eve of taking up her career with the AFP.
A couple of people sat in front of computers and two more employees stood in the doorway to what Chloe recalled led to the tea room, steaming cups of coffee in their hands. They chatted together in low tones.
An elegantly attired older woman with perfectly coiffed silver hair approached Chloe with a smile of welcome.
“Senior Investigator Sabattini?”
Chloe nodded and briefly shook the woman’s proffered hand.
“Yes. You must be Mrs Slater.”
“Please, call me Marcia. Follow me; we can talk in my office.”
The woman turned and with quiet efficiency made her way across the room and into an enclosed office. Chloe trailed behind her.
The glass windows surrounding the office looked out onto the plethora of partitions and afforded the HR manager with an excellent view of most of the occupants in the room. Marcia Slater was someone who liked to know what was happening in her domain. Chloe felt reassured that the woman would be able to help her.
Taking a seat behind a scrupulously tidy desk, Marcia indicated one of the empty chairs across from her.
“Sit down, Senior Investigator Sabattini and tell me what I can do for you.”
“Call me Chloe, please.” Chloe sat and tugged a legal pad and pen out of her briefcase. Leaning forward, she eyed the woman solemnly.
“I’m in the process of conducting a very sensitive investigation into the actions of one of our agents. I can’t impress upon you enough, how important it is that our conversation remains absolutely confidential. Do you understand?”
“Of course. I would assume any IA Investigation requires complete confidentiality. What is it that you want to know?”
“One of the agents involved in the investigation is Declan Munro. He�
�s been with the AFP for a little over a year. I’d like to see his personnel file.”
“Declan Munro? Well, he’s certainly popular all of a sudden,” the woman replied with a smile.
Chloe’s heart skipped a beat. She fought to keep her voice casual. “Why do you say that?”
“It seems like it was only the other day someone else requested access to his file.”
“What a coincidence. Do you know who asked for it?”
Marcia frowned in thought. “I’m sure it was someone from the Minister’s Office. I remember thinking it was a little strange. It’s not often someone from the Hill pays us a visit down here. I assume this has something to do with the court case. I saw it on the news last night.”
Chloe drew in a breath and forced her pulse to slow, unwilling to allow the woman any hint of the importance of what she’d just shared.
“Would you mind retrieving the file for me, please?” Chloe asked.
“Of course. It won’t take me a minute. All of our personnel files are stored on site. I’ll be back shortly.”
“Thank you,” Chloe managed, exhaling in a rush as the woman left the room.
Unable to sit still, Chloe stood and paced, her thoughts barely keeping up as she sifted through the possibilities. To discover her instincts were on the mark was little consolation. If someone from the Home Affairs Office was involved, this was way bigger than even she had imagined. The office was headed by an elected Minister who had the Prime Minister’s ear—or so it was rumored.
A niggle of disquiet filled her with unease. Surely this couldn’t be coming from the top? What could the Home Affairs Minister possibly have to do with a new agent like Declan Munro? From all accounts, he was an exemplary officer and he hadn’t been in the system long enough to have trodden on anyone’s toes.
Had he?
The Home Affairs Minister had jurisdiction over the thousands of people employed by the Australian Federal Police across the country and those stationed overseas. It was an enormous responsibility and she could only imagine it would be quite often a stressful task. He was constantly under scrutiny from the media for the success or otherwise of his troops and his job security was only assured until the next election.
Chloe didn’t envy his position, but she knew that if anyone could carry off the role with efficiency and the minimum of fuss, it was current Minister for Home Affairs, Ronald Sabattini.
Her uncle.
Marcia’s return startled Chloe from her thoughts. The woman held a slim manila file. Chloe swallowed her disappointment. It was obvious it contained very little.
Marcia took her seat behind the desk and handed the file to Chloe, a slight frown marring her features.
“There’s not much inside. I must admit, I thought when I retrieved it for Eric there was a little more in it than that.” She shrugged. “I must have been thinking of someone else.”
“Who’s Eric?”
“Eric Stoltenberg. He works in the Minister’s Office.”
Chloe took the seat opposite Marcia and flipped through the file. The usual employee documents were inside. Tax file number declarations, superannuation details, bank details, next of kin contact details and computer login details. Her heart thumped.
Computer login details.
There they were, just as Declan had said, written in what she presumed was his handwriting. She forced thoughts of the discovery aside and focused on what Marcia had said.
“So, it was Eric who recently requested this file?”
“Yes, I checked the record book when I retrieved the file for you.”
Chloe raised an eyebrow and looked at her expectantly. Marcia hastened to explain.
“I keep a record of all of the files that are taken out of our filing storage and who has requested them. Whilst I don’t allow the files to be taken off site, personnel with the proper authorization are allowed access to employee files and can view them at their leisure in one of the empty offices on this floor.”
“Are people allowed to copy things from a file?”
“Yes, but they need to come to me to do it. The photocopiers are all controlled with codes. It’s easier for them to bring the item to me and have me do the copying. This system also enables me to keep a little control over who is copying what, and when.”
“I see. I assume it’s possible that things could be copied by hand without your knowledge and without removing anything, is that true?”
The woman frowned. “Yes, I guess so, but why would they waste time doing that?”
“How does someone get proper authorization?”
“Well, of course, in reality it’s only a handful of people who have it. I’m sure you understand not everyone has access to our personnel files. Generally, it is someone from the Pays Department and occasionally we get a request from the Legal Department, mostly in relation to a family law matter, or from someone like you, who is involved in an IA investigation.”
“How often do you get a request for access to a personnel file from the Minister’s Office?” Chloe held her breath and waited for the answer.
Marcia shook her head, looking perplexed. “Not very often at all, actually. I guess that’s why I remembered it. Eric said the Minister was putting together a new funding initiative and needed to look at some of our recent recruits. Declan Munro’s file wasn’t the only one he looked at.”
Chloe made a note of the names of the other agents Eric had accessed. “Did he ask you to copy anything out of any of those files?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I remember because after requesting so many files, I was sure he’d want something copied. I made myself available, expecting him to ask, but he didn’t. In fact, he was only here a few minutes and then he returned the files to me and left.” She shrugged. “I wondered at it because he couldn’t have possibly have gone through all of them in that time, but I assumed he must have been called away for something more important.”
“How long ago was he here?”
“It didn’t seem that long ago, but I checked the date when I looked at the record book. It was three months ago.”
“And has he been back to finish what he started?”
“No, he hasn’t.”
Chloe made a few more notes on her writing pad and then packed it away in her briefcase.
“Would you like to have anything copied from the file?” Marcia asked, indicating the folder still in Chloe’s hand.
Chloe shook her head and handed it over. “No, but thank you for meeting with me this morning. You’ve been very helpful.”
Chloe stood and held out her hand. Marcia took it and returned the brief pressure.
“If there’s anything else I can do for you…?”
“Thank you. I appreciate the offer, but that will be all for now.” Bending, Chloe retrieved her briefcase and headed toward the door. Through the glass windows, she could see more employees at their desks, holding take-away cups of coffee and other beverages in their hands. Turning back, she offered Marcia a smile.
“I’ll see myself out. Thank you again for your time.”
“My pleasure. I hope you found what you were looking for.”
Chloe refrained from answering. With a polite nod good-bye, she left the office. Looking neither left nor right, she made her way past the partitions and into the corridor. If she hurried, she’d still make it to the courthouse before the committal hearing ended.
* * *
Declan glanced around the courtroom and tried not to let his disappointment show.
She wasn’t there.
He’d thought after all they’d shared last night… He’d even kissed her, for Christ sake. Okay, it had only been a kiss on the wrist, but he thought they’d had a connection—enough at least that she’d be here this morning to show her support.
Maybe the kiss had been a mistake? She’d certainly appeared shocked when it had happened and had left shortly afterwards. If the kiss was the reason for he
r no-show, he was regretful, but he wasn’t going to wish it hadn’t happened.
She was all he’d been able to think about. Her keen intelligence, her sense of justice, her passion when she argued for something she believed in. Then there was the way she looked, the way she’d tasted. It had kept him sleepless until the early hours of the morning. He’d woken to the sound of his alarm, in the throes of a fantasy that involved far more than hand kissing. His cock had been rock-hard and he’d had to settle for a quick pull in the shower to relieve the tension that had settled heavily in his balls.
It was crass, but he couldn’t help it. He wanted her, pure and simple. Niceties, be damned, he wanted to bend her cute little ass over the back of his leather couch and fuck her hard and fast. He wanted her writhing and moaning beneath him, begging him for more. At least, that’s how it had gone in his dream.
With a sigh, he turned back to face the bench and waited for the lawyers to assemble.
* * *
Chloe eased open the door to the courtroom and slid into the nearest vacant chair. Declan’s family was seated where they’d been the day before. A cluster of journalists filled the back row, more than there had been the day before. It stood to reason: The committal hearing was due to conclude today. Gazing across at them, she was surprised and pleased to see Savannah, notepad and pen in hand, waving surreptitiously back at her.
Chloe acknowledged the greeting and then focused on the broad back of Declan Munro.
He wore another dark suit that emphasized the width of his shoulders. A snowy-white shirt collar was visible just below his hairline. Although his face was turned away, she could see the tension in his shoulders and wished she could ease it.
She’d purposefully steered away from all thoughts of his kiss and had been determined to brush the memory of it away, at least until after the hearing was over. While she’d done nothing illegal by meeting with him, it may have been a little unethical and it was certainly not something she wished to advertise, especially not while his position under the law was so tenuous.
