Martin glared at him.

  Angie wanted to defend Jack. The evidence had seemed to indicate Martin’s involvement. When a police officer was suspected of wrongdoing, all normal investigation procedures went out the window. But in hindsight Jack had jumped to conclusions.

  ‘We’re not talking about this now,’ Martin snapped. ‘Just get out there.’ He looked over his shoulder at Angie. ‘Any movement?’

  ‘No. That doesn’t mean they’re not walking around, only that they haven’t shifted far.’

  Martin’s phone rang. ‘Rogers,’ he barked. ‘Yeah, get eyes in the air as soon as you can. We want an ambulance out there as well – in fact, send two. More officers on the ground. Send everyone you can. Have you got the warrant for Superintendent Natasha Biggs’s house and office?’

  There was a silence, and Martin dropped his head into his hand, rubbing his forehead. ‘I hope you’re joking.’ Another silence. ‘What the hell? Okay, well, fix it. Find one who will. We need to get into her house and see what’s there.’

  Jack glanced over at his boss. ‘Can you make sure they list Eric’s and Iris’s mobile phones and Eric’s diary on the warrant. We need to find them if we can.’

  Martin pulled the phone away from his ear and looked questioningly at Jack.

  ‘We’ve never found their phones,’ Jack explained. ‘They weren’t in the car and I’m sure that Eric’s diary will have the answers to this mess. We need it.’

  Martin relayed the message and hung up. ‘The judge they approached won’t sign off on a warrant. He reckons it will be death to his career if he does this to the super.’

  Angie exchanged glances with Tim.

  ‘She hasn’t kidnapped Molly,’ Martin said. ‘Molly went willingly. That’s the reasoning. But that’s not why, of course. It’s the fact we’re chasing the bloody super. Everyone is going to run scared in case we’re wrong.’

  Angie shook her head. ‘We’re not wrong,’ she said. She stared out the window trying to work out what she’d missed. All she’d seen was a caring godmother, if a bit standoffish, but that was normal for people in high-pressure positions. They never let anyone get too close.

  ‘How did we miss this?’ Tim asked, echoing her thoughts.

  ‘Because it was the superintendent and she’s above reproach,’ Martin said. ‘Everyone in high positions should be – it’s what we assume.’ He glared at Jack. ‘Well, what most officers assume.’

  And just like that, Angie could see that the respectful relationship Jack and Martin had shared was gone. Their trust shattered. They wouldn’t be able to work in the same station once this investigation was over. She wondered how it would affect her and Tim and the rest of the team.

  Jack stared straight ahead. Angie wanted to break the tension in the car; they all had to pull together now.

  ‘Jase said on the phone just now that he’d been pulled into her web,’ Angie said. ‘He basically admitted to being corrupt too. It seems he kept the information on Tash in case he ever needed it.’ She looked back down at the tracking app. No movement. ‘He also confirmed that he was in the house before Sammi’s murder was reported,’ Angie finished. ‘Molly’s statement of a man coming into the house and bending over the body was correct. It was Jase.’

  ‘Seriously?’ Tim replied. ‘Why didn’t he call it in?’

  ‘He was on duty and supposed to be on the other side of town following up on a B and E. Instead, he’d been following Tash. Gathering more dirt on her. He was going to make an anonymous report, but then it came across the radio, so he didn’t get the chance.’

  ‘Do you know why he was following Tash?’ Jack asked.

  ‘Tash had been paying him to leak information to the media about a different case – a drug ring – and to remove a key piece of evidence from storage before it went to court. She had him by the short and curlies after that and he was protecting himself.’

  ‘Why the hell wouldn’t he . . .’ Martin shook his head. ‘Doesn’t matter now.’

  ‘Like he said, he made some mistakes he wasn’t proud of. Not calling in Sammi’s death was one, and that’s why he wants to clear his conscience before he dies.’

  ‘Scum,’ Martin said, seething. ‘A disgrace to the force.’ His phone rang again. ‘Yes?’ Pause. ‘Good. Get over and see what you can find. Send as many officers as you can. Turn that joint upside down. Yes. Okay. Hold on.’ He held out the phone towards Angie. ‘Give them the coordinates that you’ve got.’

  Taking the phone, Angie did as she was instructed. ‘Any updates, I’ll let you know,’ she said. She handed the phone back, her heart thumping. Molly and Tash had been gone for over two hours now and they were at least an hour behind them. They needed to get a move on.

  ‘Okay, they’ve found another judge who’s willing to sign off on the warrant,’ Martin said. ‘Let’s see what she’s got in her house and office.’

  ‘How long will it take for PolAir to get eyes on them?’ Angie asked. ‘Will they get there before us?’

  Jack looked at the clock on the dash. ‘We’ll be there before them,’ he said, his voice tight.

  Angie checked his expression from the back seat. His jaw was clenched. Not only was Jack dealing with being wrong when it came to Inspector Martin Rogers, but he had personal issues with Zara too. Not a good mix going into a high stakes’ altercation like they were about to. Tash wouldn’t come quietly. Her history proved that. The charges were mounting against her: the deaths of Eric and Iris, possibly Sammi, depending on what they could prove beyond reasonable doubt; and a whole lot of new questions from what Jase had told her about historical corruption.

  How different Tash and Sammi were, Angie mused. Could Sammi have known what her friend was up to? Hadn’t they been to primary school together? ‘I’ve just had a thought,’ Angie said quietly. ‘Martin, did Sammi and Tash partner together at work?’

  ‘I have no idea. I only worked out of Newcastle for a few weeks. But I think Tash was in a different squad from Sammi,’ Martin said, frowning.

  ‘Can we get some background on both women?’ Angie asked. ‘Where they trained, who they worked with, that sort of thing? I’m wondering how come Tash was corrupt and Sammi wasn’t. It said in Jase’s pages that someone had started a rumour that Sammi was tampering with evidence, but it was never proved – and there’s that file about it in her case notes that wasn’t ever lodged on the system.’

  ‘Sure, get on the phone and see what you can find out,’ Martin said.

  Angie and Tim both started to google Tash and Sammi, looking down at their screens as the car took a long, wide bend, then straightened up again. ‘Do you know what academy Sammi went to?’ Angie asked.

  ‘I have no idea,’ Martin snapped. ‘How many times do I have to tell you, I hardly knew either of them.’ He turned to Jack. ‘How far to go?’

  ‘Ten minutes,’ Jack said.

  Angie checked the tracker. Molly was still in the same place.

  Tim looked up. ‘I’ve got Sammi attending the academy in Newcastle. She graduated in 2000.’

  ‘So it must be the same for Tash,’ Angie said. ‘Molly told me they went through together.’

  ‘What?’ Martin turned in his seat. ‘No, that can’t be right. The super graduated well before me and I finished in 1999.’

  Another silence filled the car.

  ‘That can’t be right,’ Martin repeated. ‘Ring them. Talk to someone. Check again.’

  Tim pressed a button on his phone, then asked to speak to whoever could help him with enrolments in the late 1990s and 2000s.

  Tapping at her own screen, Angie researched Tash. ‘Tash’s LinkedIn professional bio says she graduated from Newcastle in 1995. Tash must have lied about that to Molly, and Sammi isn’t here to contradict her. Isn’t that a cliché; the dead can’t speak.’ Angie caught Jack’s eye in the mirror. ‘What else has she lied about?’

  CHAPTER 33

  Fear shot through Molly and her eyes widened. ‘What did you say?’

  ‘That was the question I asked your mother, years ago now: do you know how to keep a secret? But she couldn’t. Wouldn’t. She was an interfering busybody with a torn pocket for a mouth. Just like you.’

  ‘Look, the heat must have got to you,’ Molly said, looking around the empty bridge. ‘You’re not making any sense. I think we need to get you into the shade and some water.’ She went to take Tash’s arm, but Tash shook her off. ‘Come on, you need to get into the shade.’

  Tash shook her head. ‘Oh no, I’m making perfect sense. She was such a tattletale, your mother. Had to do everything by the book. Didn’t know how to bend the rules.’ She sneered at Molly. ‘You don’t get anywhere in the police force when you’re a woman if you don’t bend the rules. And you, well, you’re so naive. I think you deserve to know the truth after all this time. The truth sets you free, isn’t that what the shrinks say? You should know that after seeing Janet for as long as you have.’

  Molly put her hands on the railing. They were shaking slightly. ‘What truth? Tash, you’re scaring me now.’

  ‘Why your mother was killed.’

  The words reverberated around Molly’s head. ‘Why was she killed? If you know why, how come you’ve never said anything? Did Eric know too?’

  ‘I’m just putting it together now,’ Tash said. ‘So it was Jase Miller who rang your father. More fool him. Stupid little dogooder reckoning with his conscience after all these years. I thought I had him covered, but obviously I didn’t.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘Eric and Iris came to visit me in Perth, looking for advice because Eric had got some information and he wanted to get the case reopened. He knew enough but not everything.’

  Molly tried to edge away, but Tash reached out and grabbed her arm, her long nails digging into the flesh. ‘Please let go,’ Molly begged.

  ‘You see, back in 2005 I’d been working my arse off. Giving tip-offs to bikies and organised criminals about raids, but in turn making sure I was in the right place to arrest them when they least expected it. I was about to get a promotion, but then this self-righteous constable – Sammi bloody Walker – confronted me about it.’

  ‘I’m so confused. Weren’t you best friends?’

  Tash smirked. ‘Do you really remember me being in your life before she died? You’re always asking for photos and I just keep promising but never delivering.’ Tash leaned towards Molly. ‘Let me enlighten you. There aren’t any.’

  Molly wanted to protest. None of this could be true. She felt as if the world were swirling below her, the cement pathway fluid and moving, her axis tilting.

  Tash was so close to her face now, she could feel her breath. ‘We weren’t friends from primary school. I didn’t know her until she turned up at the police station I was working in. She caught me in the evidence locker one day and after a while put two and two together.’ Tash huffed a smile. ‘Sammi would have made a good detective if she’d wanted to but she didn’t have enough drive. Anyhow, I tried to get her to join us, but no, she didn’t want a bar of it.’

  ‘Us?’ Molly whispered. ‘Us?’

  ‘Jase Miller. We were working together.’ Tash leaned back now and swiped away a dribble of sweat that was running down her cheek. ‘He tried to befriend Sammi. Took her out a few times. Tried to get her onside.’ Tash shrugged. ‘But Sammi wasn’t interested.’

  Molly reached around to the back pocket of her jeans and tried to slip out her phone without Tash noticing.

  ‘It was easy enough to lie to you,’ Tash continued. ‘Sammi had some sob story about her parents being killed in a hit and run when she was a kid, and that’s why she wanted to be a cop. There was no family to swoop in and claim you.’ She spread her arms out. ‘So, in swept your fairy godmother. I did a good job, didn’t I?’

  Molly felt her knees buckle. ‘No.’ She wished she could find another word, but her brain had shut down. She had to get to the car. She had to set off the alarm on the tracking app Angie had put on her phone.

  ‘I set up Sammi. I made a call to her phone from one of the guys I was working for, one of the bikies, so it looked like she was speaking to them, then told Internal Affairs about it. Started the rumour around the cop shop, then later I leaked it to the press so that there’d be a reason for her murder. Premeditated, I know – but hey, it worked.’ Tash laughed. It was a mean, harsh sound. ‘I wasn’t going to let her ruin everything I’d worked so damn hard for. Especially after I’d come from nothing.’

  ‘That doesn’t make any sense,’ Molly said. ‘Maybe if she’d died by suicide?’

  ‘Ah, from the mouth of babes,’ Tash said. ‘You don’t know anything about the criminal world. They’ll kill you at the drop of a hat. The fact that Internal Affairs was going to look into her would have been enough to have her killed. And now here you are, following in your mother’s footsteps, about to ruin everything just like Eric. I didn’t know who it was who’d squealed to Eric when he came to Perth, asking about reopening the case. But I knew that was it for him and Iris.’

  ‘Jesus, did you hurt them? Please tell me you didn’t!’ Molly begged.

  Tash rolled her eyes. ‘I followed them back to Kalgoorlie and made a gentle suggestion just after they stopped to refuel at Southern Cross that Iris should drive. Of course, I didn’t want them swapping drivers where they could be seen, so I made sure they stopped at the parking bay not far out of town. From there, I persuaded them easily enough. Guns do that.’ Tash laughed meanly. ‘But unfortunately it seems like this isn’t going to go away. I’m sure Angie and Jack will be devastated when they find you at the bottom of the dam with a broken neck and a suicide note. Makes a whole lot of sense really; you’ve been through so much.’ Tash touched Molly’s shoulders. ‘And then I’ll have to visit my old mate Jase.’

  Across the still air of the dam ripped the sound of a siren and squealing tyres, then Molly heard the words: ‘Police! Stop where you are.’

  Tash laughed. ‘Is that you, Martin?’

  ‘You leave her alone, Tash. Step away from her.’

  ‘I don’t think so. This won’t end the way you want it to.’

  ‘Step away from my daughter!’

  CHAPTER 34

  Angie watched Tash turn in slow motion, a gun in her right hand. She couldn’t work out where that had come from. Only seconds before, she’d been empty-handed and facing Molly.

  Angie knew there wasn’t a clear shot. She looked for Jack. He was nowhere to be seen, but Tim was to the right of Martin, Angie to the left. They all had their weapons drawn.

  Molly was trying to edge away from Tash, but the superintendent had her left hand on her arm, gripping her tightly.

  The surprise on Tash’s face was real. She started to laugh. ‘You’re her father? I never knew that! Ah, well that makes sense. Two weaklings getting it together.’ She pushed Molly in front of her, the gun trained on her temple. ‘There you go, Molly, you wanted to know who your father was. Here he is.’

  ‘Put the gun down and walk slowly towards me,’ Martin said, adjusting the grip on his police-issued Glock. ‘Put your hands where I can see them.’

  Cocking her head to one side, Tash looked from Molly to Martin, then back again, realisation dawning on her face. ‘A secret love child. Torrid affair at work, huh? Or maybe it was just a one-night stand? Either way, crossing work and pleasure.’

  ‘Put the gun down,’ Martin said again.

  ‘No wonder Sammi never gave you up. When did you find out?’

  ‘Let her go, Tash,’ Martin warned.

  Movement caught Angie’s eye from behind the deep wall of the dam. Jack was running to the other side out of Tash’s line of sight.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Tash said. ‘I haven’t come this far for everything to fuck up now.’

  Martin let out a laugh that surprised Angie. ‘You don’t really think you’re getting out of this, do you? There are officers here, more on their way and we’re going through your house and office right now. You’re done. There’s no way out this time. We’ve told everyone.’

  Tash was silent as she looked around. Her eyes locked on Jack as he jumped up the rocks and landed on the other side of the walkway. Both escape routes were blocked now. Neither Molly nor Tash had a way out.

  Molly looked as if she was about to faint. Angie had to get her off that bridge. She took a few steps forward. ‘Tash,’ she called. ‘I’m coming out to get Molly. You know she hasn’t got anything to do with this. She’s just here by association. You need to let her go.’

  Tash shoved at Molly and backed her up against the railing. The drop to the rocky ground below was about a hundred metres. No one would survive a fall like that. Not with the jagged rocks that would impale a body.

  ‘She’s not going anywhere,’ Tash said. ‘If you take me, you’ll have to take her too.’

  ‘Come on, Tash,’ Angie said. ‘It doesn’t have to be like this. Let Molly come across to me. You know that will stand you in good stead afterwards.’

  But Tash was still pointing the gun at Molly. Angie saw Tash’s mouth moving but couldn’t hear her words. Molly shook her head and tried to back away again, but her back was right against the railing. There wasn’t anywhere else to go other than over.

  Angie saw Tash indicate for her to put her foot on the bottom railing.

  ‘No,’ Molly yelled. ‘I won’t.’

  ‘Get over, you little bitch,’ Tash yelled back. ‘You’ve been a thorn in my side for all this time. It ends now.’

  Angie started to run, just as Jack started from the other side.

  Tash crouched and let off a shot towards Jack. He didn’t slow down. Tash turned towards Angie and let off another shot.

  Angie came to a halt.

  But it wasn’t the bullet flying her way that made her stop running. It was the look on Tash’s face.

  Angie saw something there. A decision.

  As Jack hurtled down the bridge, Tash held up her hand and tossed the gun away from her.

  It took only seconds.