Chapter Thirty Two

Trinity

Trinity - (Phone call) Lachie, can we call you back in ten minutes? We need to get up and gather everyone. It might be easier if we’re all here for this conversation.

Lachie - (Phone call) Sure, I’ll call you back in fifteen minutes, okay?

Stephen - (Phone call) Perfect, thanks mate.

Stephen and I start waking everyone up, explaining that Lachie will be calling back with an update. We all get sorted, head downstairs, and start brewing coffee while we wait for his call. We plan to put it on speaker so everyone can listen in. We had just returned to the table when Stephen's phone started to ring again.

I settle into my husband's lap, wrapping my arm around his neck as he answers the call and puts it on speaker in the middle of the table.

Stephen - Hey Lachie, everyone’s here now.

Lachie - Morning all, sorry for the early wake-up call.

Benji - You'll be sorry for more than that, you prick.

Lachie - I’m guessing this is about Maddie?

Benji - Who would have guessed, an FBI agent guessing correctly for once.

Lachie - Sorry mate, you know how these things work.

Benji - You know how my fist works too.

Lachie - You realize you just threatened an FBI agent.

Benji - You realize I’m an attorney and know provocation laws.

Lachie - Hahaha, you have an answer for everything, don’t you?

Clint - If you two are finished, I’m fucking tired, just putting it out there.

Lachie - Oh shit, my bad. Congratulations guys on the new addition.

Mia - Thanks, Lachie.

Clint - Cheers, Lachie.

Lachie - Well, I’ll get straight to the point, shall I?

Benji - That’d be a first for you.

Dave - Hahaha, you really aren't going to let this go anytime soon, are you?

Lachie - He’s like a pitbull with lockjaw.

Stephen - Hahaha.

Lachie - Ok, so as I was saying to Stephen and Trinity before, when I quickly rang, Ballistics conclusively matched the bullets extracted from Maddie to young Detective Grounds.

Benji - I’ll take great pleasure in making sure he spends the rest of his days in gen pop with some of our country's finest.

Lachie - Just hear me out first, man. He was arrested and picked up by us last night on First Degree Murder, as no one other than us knows Maddie is alive, and premeditated and attempted murder given you were the intended target, Benj. What happened next though, none of us really expected given the modus operandi of these assholes.

Clint - Which was?

Lachie - He turned on them straight away. He wants to cut a deal to save himself.

Benji - No deal, Lachie, or I’ll kill him myself if I see him on the streets again and you can lock me up. I don't give a fuck, he does not walk.

Lachie - Hear me out first.

Benji - No! I’m telling you now, Lachie, NO FUCKING DEALS. I WANT THAT ASSHOLE BEHIND BARS.

I grip Stephen tight as Benji grabs his coffee mug and hurls it at the wall, shattering it, before he storms out of the room.

Maddie - Excuse me, I need to go check on him. Can someone fill me in later?

We all nod as Maddie heads off upstairs after Benji.

Lachie - Is he okay?

Stephen - He will be. He’s still processing everything, mate. It’s been a tough time for him.

Lachie - Understandable. It was fucking hard doing it to him, mate, like you wouldn't believe, but I’m also getting pressure from above me. The bureau wants them all and wants a public example made out of them.

Stephen - So you were saying about Detective Grounds?

Lachie - He says he has a lot of evidence he can provide to turn state witness that the biggest ring leaders in this are the Chief and Captain and the fish is rotting from the head, so to speak. In exchange, he wants a reduced sentence and his solicitor is asking for protective custody given many in gen pop would be previous criminals he would have assisted in arresting.

Trinity - Is the evidence he has credible?

Lachie - We’ve gone over some of the technical components and our tech team has been able to establish the communication logs are directly linked to the chief's main cell.

Clint - But is it incriminating? We’ve been down this road before and we got duped which led us to here.

Lachie - It’s enough to implicate him as having knowledge, but not enough to conclusively put him as the one who orchestrated this.

Dave - That isn't enough though, is it?

Lachie - It’s enough to get us started on escalating the investigation and obtaining warrants. We’d like to send him back in, but working for us this time. Obviously, there will be strict measures in place and he clearly understands if he fails to deliver then he will be taking the hit for the crimes he is currently facing as well as be charged with the corruption ring also.

Mia - Honestly, what are your thoughts?

Lachie - I think given what they did with their own officer sending him into your home, this could be a sly way to get our own intel. This was their method, will they be expecting us to do it to them in return? Probably not as right now their focus is on you all and where you are. Not who might be investigating them. And of course, if Grounds breathes a word of it, the deal is off the table and we will drag them all in as there would be sufficient cause for collusion then if he ran back and told them.

Dave - Are you sure there is though?

Lachie - We already have our own man in the station, that’s how we were able to act so quickly in isolating Grounds as the shooter.

We all look at each other, digesting what Lachie is saying.

Stephen - Lachie, we tried it our way and we did the best we could. The only next option I had was to put a bullet in each of their heads myself. So if you believe this is the best possible avenue for us to escalate this and get closer to arrests then I’m prepared to back your judgment and speak to Benji about it once he settles down.

Mia - We made a decision to put our trust in you, Lachie, so I trust in what you’re saying.

We all agree and convey this to Lachie.

Lachie - I appreciate you making this process easier. That being said, there’s one more thing you all need to know.

Stephen - Okay.

Lachie - Unfortunately, this news is not as good as the previous.

Trinity - What do we need to know now?