that, but I’m thankful they’re getting what’s coming to them. As for Hernandez, it was his own stupidity that did him in. Sending me a note, written in his own hand, that the answers were closer than we realized… He screwed himself.”
“And thank God for that. Otherwise, we never would’ve known he was involved.”
“I just wonder who else knew.”
“You think there’re others?”
“I’d bet my life on it.”
“Seriously?” He shook his head. “How’s that possible?”
“The same way it was possible that Conklin and Hernandez knew. The same reason Ginny McLeod did what she did. It’s about greed, pure and simple. Money makes the world go round, young Freddie, and people will do anything to get more of it, even sell out a friend or allow that friend to nearly be murdered to protect their cash cow.”
“It’s disgusting.”
“Yep, but it’s reality.”
“How can you be so matter-of-fact about fellow officers selling out your dad for money?”
“Because if I truly let myself go there, I wouldn’t be able to do the job anymore.”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
“Karma is a bitch. Look at Conklin and Hernandez. They had it all. Deputy chief and captain, big pensions and all the perks of being high-ranking officers. Now they’re charged with felonies that’ll put them in jail for decades.”
“I want them to lose their pensions too.”
“We’re working on that. The chief has the same goal, believe me.”
“What do you think the FBI investigation will show?”
“That there’s still some rot in our department that’ll need to be weeded out. We’re going to learn things about ourselves we might not like, mostly that we need to do better on a number of levels. Introspection is almost always painful.”
“I want to know who else knew.”
“We may never grasp the full extent of it, so I take comfort that they’re probably shitting themselves, especially with the FBI peeling back the layers.”
“I never thought I’d actually welcome the FBI investigating us.”
“I know. I feel the same way, but that’s a thought we should probably keep to ourselves, especially since the investigation will take a while.”
“True. Have you heard any more about Gonzo’s situation?”
“Nothing more than the chief is talking to the U.S. Attorney about it. He may have no choice but to charge Gonzo, especially since he’s admitted to what he did. That’s another thing we might have to suck up and deal with. As much as I hate this for him, in the end it’s his call.”
“I hate a lot of things lately.”
“You can’t let it make you bitter,” Sam said. “Not if you want to continue to do this job, and I think you do.”
“Of course I do, but it’s infuriating. We’re supposed to uphold the law, not break it. How am I supposed to feel as a lowly detective when my deputy chief and one of the most senior captains of the MPD are charged with covering up the circumstances of the attempted murder of our former deputy chief?”
“You’re supposed to feel furious,” Sam said.
“And then one of the best cops I’ve ever known is going to be charged for something he did in the throes of addiction brought on by trauma on the job. How’s that fair?”
“It’s not. None of it is fair. But it’s life. People are flawed. They do stupid things. They get greedy. They look out for themselves first and foremost. That’s just how it is, as much as we wish it wasn’t. Take our friend Ginny. Look at what she did to her family and friends, what she did to her kids.”
“It’s gross.”
“And for what? So she could take a few more vacations every year and buy more stuff? What good does any of that do her now? She couldn’t take any of it with her.”
“You know what’s bugging me?” he asked.
“What’s that?”
“She spent a lot, but twenty million? There has to be some cash left somewhere.”
“We pulled the financials, right?”
“Yeah, Cam did.”
“Let’s give him a call.”
Freddie made the call on his phone and connected it to her Bluetooth.
“Do I even want to know how you did that?”
“Never mind.”
She ought to tell him to stuff his never mind up his—
Cameron picked up the call. “Hey, what’s up?”
“The LT and I are talking about how one goes about spending twenty million. We imagine that’d take some doing.”
“It would, for sure, and from what I can see, she spent only a fraction of it.”
“Then where’s the rest?” Sam asked.
“A very good question and one the Feds have been chasing for more than a year. The theory is