Chapter Forty Five

Stephen

We were all hanging out in Clint and Mia's backyard, the guys and I. Clint was rolling up a few for us while the girls, Mia and my sweetheart, had gone inside. They were giving us some space to talk to Benji and Dave without dragging Felicity and Maddie into it.

Once Clint was done, he tossed each of us a blunt.

David - Thanks, man.

Stephen - Appreciate it, bro.

Benji - Cheers, dude.

Clint - Man, this takes me back to our college days.

Benji - Back? When did you ever grow up?

Stephen - Hahaha.

Clint - Just because some of us are still good-looking, you jerk.

Benji - Of course, I'm still handsome. I'm still hooking up with beautiful women while you three got hitched.

Stephen - Benj, you're the same age as us. No need to make us sound like old men.

David - And what do you mean by women? I thought things were going well with Maddie?

Benji - They are. I've asked her to move in. Figured having sex on demand would be better than having to call for it.

Clint - Hahaha, you're full of it, man.

Stephen - Hahaha, yeah, you are. You found your perfect woman, didn't you?

David - Hahaha.

Benji - Shut up, jerks.

Benji - So, why the trip down memory lane? I'm curious about how Barcelona went.

Clint - Yeah, we know. That's why we asked the girls to take Felicity and Maddie inside. We didn't want to drag them into it too.

David - Thanks for that, bro.

Stephen - We waited because I didn't want you to deal with this right now, Dave. Your new family should be your priority. Plus, I wanted to let things cool down a bit and, well, let Chad sweat it out.

Benji - You're a cruel man. No wonder you have so many enemies.

Stephen - Haha, shut up, jerk. It keeps you employed.

Benji - Hahaha.

Clint and I took the time to explain what we had learned. Of course, Dave, Clint, and I all knew not to let Benji know that we were aware of Mike's death and how it happened. Despite him being one of our closest friends, he's also a cop, and we didn't want to put him in a moral and ethical dilemma.

We filled them in on the extent of the corruption and why Chad felt trapped.

We filled them in on the evidence Chad claimed to have and was willing to hand over.

And we filled them in on what we had agreed to do if this evidence proved useful and we could put an end to it all.

We sat in silence for a moment, letting the guys digest everything we had told them.

Benji - Yeah, you're going to need to roll me another one to process all this.

We smiled, understanding exactly what he meant, and started rolling up for all of us. We sat back and took a few puffs, thinking about our next move.

Benji - Okay, so here's what we do... And this is just off the top of my head, so I'll need to look into it more before we proceed.

I want you guys to get someone else to go to the locker and collect this so-called evidence. I don't want any of you near it. I don't want your fingerprints on it, and I definitely don't want to see any of you on CCTV at Union Station, got it?

We all nodded.

Benji - Don't touch it under any circumstances, okay? Once your guy has picked it up, I want it delivered to my office. I'll handle it through the proper legal channels. No more messing around. You guys chose to leave your old lives behind. Focus on your families now.

Benji - Once I've got it and had some of my guys look into it, I'll talk to a few people at my firm that I trust. I want to get some professionals we use, specifically specialists in their fields and forensics, to assess this evidence and make sure it's legit.

Stephen - I'd appreciate that. While this might be our only way out, I still don't entirely trust Chad not to be setting us up.

Benji - That's exactly what I'm thinking. He's lied, he's stolen, and he's on the edge. People do desperate things in those situations.

Clint - And then what, mate? If it's legit, what's next? And obviously, we know what happens if it's all a setup.

Benji - If it's a setup, then I'm going to leave it to you guys. Do what you have to do, but I can't be involved in that. You know I consider you all as brothers, but I also have an oath to the courts.

Stephen - Mate, honestly, you don't need to explain. It changes nothing between us, okay?

Benji - I do need to remind you all that this could still end up in court depending on how things go when I implement the next part of the plan. If it does, I need you to listen. And I need you to prepare the girls for that too. This is new to them, especially Trinity. Listen fully before responding, think carefully about what they're saying so you don't incriminate yourselves.

David - How so, mate?

Benji - For example... They're saying this Mike guy is now dead, right? But they have no evidence of that, none of them really know, right?

We all nodded, because while we knew he was dead, they didn't.

Benji - So if they ask who was the last to see him, what would you say?

Stephen - I would say the four of us - Chad, Dave, myself, and Clint were all there, along with six guys who worked in my warehouse helping me with my stock.

Benji - See, that's exactly it. You answer generically like they questioned. However, if they asked who was the last to see him alive, what would you answer?

David - I would say I can't answer. I didn't know he was dead.

Benji - Perfect! Remember this, you need to make sure you don't say anything to implicate yourselves in any way as being the last ones to see him "alive" as they're saying, or in any case before he disappeared.

Benji - The fact we have evidence to show he was a dirty cop, not once but twice, will help to show cause he's probably just gone into hiding, which is what I suspect is the case. Anyway, once I've had all this evidence reviewed, I'll have a better idea of how deep this corruption runs and where to go next, but if it ends with the Captain, I know my next move.

Stephen - Which is?

Benji - We take this to the Chief of Police and we assist in bringing them all down.