‘What about Robert Keller?’
Ethan appeared just then, behind Annabelle.
‘What can I say? He was a drug user and couldn’t resist temptation. At least he remembered Patsy. I wasn’t even there when he injected himself. You can’t tie me to his death. I’m just a reporter they happen to trust.’
‘Actually, that was one of your mistakes,’ Ethan cut in. ‘Because you weren’t there when he injected the drugs, you were unable to take the plastic bag that contained the heroin. We’ve found a set of prints, and I think when we take your fingerprints, we’ll have a match.’
Anya remembered him taking something from Keller’s locker and putting it in his pocket. Ethan had quickly grasped the situation.
Reichman remained defiant. ‘You can’t charge me with anything.’
‘Wrong again,’ said a new voice. ‘Second-degree homicide and supplying illicit drugs are just for starters.’ Linda Gatby was accompanied by two police officers.
‘Why write those filthy articles blaming the victims, when your own sister had been one?’ Anya demanded.
The reporter’s eyes flared. ‘Those women were never victims. They chose to be with those players and they deserved everything they got. Patsy had
no
choice. They attacked her and she didn’t even know what they did to her. Those boys have everything they ever wanted and didn’t truly deserve any of it. I wanted to take it from them when they couldn’t fight back. Just like they did to my sister.’
They escorted Reichman to the ground’s security centre. ‘I want Masterton,’ she screamed. ‘Get Bentley Masterton
now
or I’ll tell the police everything.’
Anya moved towards Ethan. ‘How did you know about Annabelle Reichman?’
‘Linda phoned me on her way here, assuming I knew about what you’d found out about Annabelle. Why didn’t you tell me? Do we have a problem with trust?’
‘No,’ Anya replied quickly. ‘It’s only now that I fully appreciate how damaged Annabelle is. Her thoughts about the other victims are so twisted. She really meant everything she wrote.’
Suddenly, Ethan had become pale.
‘Are you all right?’
He was sweating.
‘Can we go back and sit down?’ he asked.
Anya put her arm around his waist and helped him to some empty seats nearby.
From the roar of the crowd, they became aware of a commotion on the ground. A stretcher was being carried onto the field.
‘Who is it?’ Anya asked one of the crowd behind them.
‘Liam McKenzie. He got kneed in the head when he was on the ground and he hasn’t moved.’
For Pope to allow a stretcher, the injury had to be undeniable. The doctor was beside McKenzie, shaking his head and talking into a handset.
Coach Ingram clutched his head with both hands. The commentator announced they had just received word that McKenzie had suffered what appeared to be a neck injury and was unable to feel his arms or legs. He repeated the words for even more dramatic affect.
Ethan sardonically groaned, ‘Oh, no.’
‘Do you think Annabelle Reichman had anything to do with what just happened to McKenzie?’
He shook his head. ‘I thought about what Lance said about the good guys winning today. At the beginning of the game he got in an altercation with the opposition, words were exchanged, and after that McKenzie started getting some heavy tackles.’
‘So?’
‘What would make footballers target a single player?’
Anya was puzzled for a moment, then it made sense. ‘You think Lance said something to the opposition. You think he told them McKenzie was gay, knowing what they’d do to him on the field. And because Pope kept him playing even with a head injury, he was more at risk.’
‘Live by the sword, as they say.’
They left the game and headed back to the hotel.
That evening, news of Alldridge’s arrest and McKenzie’s quadriplegia filled the news.
A
nya arrived at Lyle Buffet’s penthouse in a deep violet dress she had bought specially for the occasion. Inside, she was greeted with a hug by Lyle and then by the other guest, Linda Gatby.
Ethan sat in a lounge chair, pillow behind his back. She bent over and kissed his cheek before he had a chance to get up. He was still pale but at least Lyle would order him to rest, and maybe he would actually listen.
‘Thank you for coming,’ Lyle said. ‘That’s the most colour Catch’s had in his cheeks since being in hospital.
‘Who wants to eat?’ Lyle showed them to an oak table. The lights of the city sparkled all around. They were served a sumptuous banquet of quail, fish, caviar and Peking duck.
Anya sincerely hoped this wasn’t their host announcing his retirement. Instead, he sprang out of his chair to answer the door again as dinner came to an end. Anya and Linda talked about cases, while Ethan’s face gave nothing away but a self-satisfied smirk.
As dessert appeared, Bentley Masterton entered the room, accompanied by Kitty Rowe. Anya assumed the best part of the evening was over.
Bentley was obviously taken aback by her presence but, ever
the showman, smiled and greeted them all like long-lost friends. Kitty made no attempt to hide her distaste at their presence.
‘I thought we were finalising our business,’ she said.
‘We are,’ said Lyle. ‘So let’s get this over with. The sale of the Bombers.’
Anya glared at Ethan. She didn’t feel she should be present but he would not meet her gaze. He seemed to be avoiding it. Linda was clearly nonplussed by events and continued to select morsels of dessert for her plate. ‘Don’t mind me,’ she said, picking up a handmade chocolate truffle.
Anya felt like Alice at the Mad Hatter’s tea party.
‘We brought contracts,’ Bentley said.
Lyle put up his hand. ‘No need. I’ve made a couple of changes.’
Bentley and Kitty shifted in their seats.
‘Now, you, Bentley, will hand over your share of the Bombers to me, which will leave Kitty with one-third, for which I am prepared to make her a generous offer.’
The media mogul’s mouth opened and Bentley guffawed. ‘Hand over? You mean you’ll sell to me, you crazy old man. Remember, I’m doing you a favour by buying you out.’
‘Yes, of course,’ Lyle nodded, ‘but I’ve had an assessment of the club’s worth and I’m afraid it’s worse than we anticipated.’
‘We all know the club’s been haemorrhaging money, despite being last year’s champions.’ Ethan now joined the conversation.
‘No wonder with these sex scandals,’ Bentley retorted. ‘You wouldn’t invoke the morals clauses in the contracts, you pay the price.’
‘Actually, we have paid a heavy price,’ Ethan continued, ‘but not for that.’
Linda Gatby wiped her mouth with her napkin. ‘Fascinating when you get talking to people, the things you learn. In a global financial crisis, lots of people are suffering. But not everyone.’
‘For God’s sake, will someone get to the point,’ Kitty demanded, gulping half a glass of wine in one mouthful.
Linda clasped her hands together. ‘I had a fascinating
conversation with Annabelle Reichman, whom I believe you know, Bentley.’
He scratched the side of his neck. ‘Of course I know who she is. I’ve been briefed all about her.’
‘She certainly knows you, Bentley. Actually, she claims you ordered Garcia to bash Ethan outside the Vlada club.’
Bentley scoffed, ‘That’s ridiculous. How would I possibly have known where he was? And I had no reason to.’
Linda was toying with her prey. ‘That is true. But you believed you did at the time. You thought Ethan was investigating your financial involvement in the Bombers.’
It looked like Bentley’s blood pressure had suddenly plummeted. He was more gaunt than Ethan. As far as Anya was concerned, dinner had just got far more entertaining.
‘Do you recommend the torte?’ she asked Linda, who reached across to place a piece on Anya’s plate.
Lyle seemed to find his appetite at the same time.
‘Now, where was I? That’s right. Bentley.’
‘How can you take the word of an insane criminal over mine? I’ve never been so insulted.’
‘Stick around,’ Lyle said. ‘You ain’t seen nothing yet.’ He pulled out a file and Linda passed it on to Ethan.
‘These are the financial statements, along with copies of pay slips to club employees like the At Risk Children. Actually, there were no pay slips because the children aren’t paid, are they, Bentley?’
That neck seemed to be aggravating him. He wouldn’t stop scratching. Kitty remained silent.
‘Which was a problem when it came to them doing you favours. The two you asked to plant drugs on Roman Bronstein lacked a work ethic and snorted the stuff themselves. They replaced it with talc and other household powders. Seems they didn’t have a lot of faith in your paydays, so took it in kind.’
Anya was thrilled. The head trauma research was back on, and Bentley was open to civil and criminal action. He might even end up funding the research, thanks to his own stupidity.
Annabelle Reichman had downloaded the software onto Anya’s phone, but she said someone else owned it. That’s how Bentley had found out about Roman Bronstein. He had listened to her conversation with him and Harrison Leske.
The club’s financial problems made sense. Bentley had to have been milking money from the club from the moment he had bought into it. His church employees would have paid every invoice submitted without question, and despite charging the club thousands each time the stadium was cleaned, the staff employed by his company would have received a small portion of that amount. The rest he pocketed. That type of fraud was easy if he employed the staff. He was defrauding his own club. The gold nugget ring suddenly seemed even more obscene, Anya thought.
‘You should eat something,’ Linda said. ‘You look a little peaky. I should probably mention that while you’ve been here, the police have executed search warrants on both of your homes.’
Kitty Rowe stood and left immediately. Bentley followed suit.
Lyle laughed and the mood became infectious.
‘How did you find out about Masterton?’ Anya wanted to know.
Linda replied, ‘Annabelle Reichman wanted the charges dropped. In exchange, she would hand us Bentley. She used his own spyware on his phone as insurance in case anything went wrong. He thought he was using her to spy on Anya.’
Ethan explained further. ‘A forensic accountant double-checked the financial records and confirmed the embezzlement. Explains why the Bombers were losing so much more money than some of the other teams.’
Anya asked what would happen to Reichman. ‘She’ll be charged with supplying drugs to Keller, but we really can’t prove she killed Janson. Negligent homicide is unlikely to stick, and what jury would blame her?’
So Lyle would get his club back and Ethan would be employed by the Bombers again. Plus Linda had a high-profile scalp to her name.
‘How’s Kirsten Byrne doing?’ Anya wanted to know.
‘Surprisingly well. She has decided to testify, and Lyle has kindly offered to pay all her legal fees – including the wrongful dismissal case and for any counselling she may need. Now she has choices and it’s a good way to empower her after what she went through. I think she’ll be okay.’
Anya noticed the old man had turned a deep shade of crimson. In a way, she was sad to leave these people she admired and respected.
Lyle Buffet walked around the table and handed her an envelope. ‘This is a bonus for you and your family.’
She opened it. Inside were two first-class tickets to LA for Martin and Ben, and a week at Disneyland followed by a cruise, two cabins included.
‘How did you know?’
‘The reporter had transcripts of your phone conversations,’ Lyle said. ‘I took the liberty of giving your son the family holiday he seems to want so much.’
Anya didn’t know what to say. Ethan remained silent.
She checked the dates on the tickets. Ben and Martin were already on their way.
T
he next afternoon, Anya headed down to the lobby with her bags. She was still smiling over the email she’d just received from a very different Hannah back in Sydney. In it Hannah had described her new boyfriend from church and how well he treated her. She went on to explain that through the therapy she had undertaken following the rape she had learnt how a man should treat her. Love was a behaviour, not just something spoken. Up until now she’d had no idea what being loved really meant or felt like. She had thanked Anya for bringing out the truth, as it had given her a better life than she otherwise would have had.
Anya felt excited about Hannah’s new life, and was reminded again why she had chosen this profession. She had always wanted to help bring closure, and make a positive difference. Emails like this made it all worthwhile.
As she checked out, she noticed Ethan sitting quietly on a nearby lounge chair.
She walked over to him.
‘You forgot something,’ he said, pulling himself to his feet. He pulled out a tourist brochure and unfolded a map-sized panorama of the observation deck at the top of the Rockefeller Center. On one side was the daylight view; flipping it over showed the night vista.
She smiled. ‘Thank you.’ She reached over to hug him, careful not to squash his ribs or hurt him. His face was still bruised, but he brushed his cheek against hers and kissed it, lingering for a moment.
‘If you come back, I’ll think about having that genetic test,’ he whispered.
She let go and breathed out. ‘How’s Lyle doing?’
‘He’s talking to the league about studies on head injuries. Pope retired this morning and Rosseter’s back on the payroll. Seems you made an impression on him too.
‘Buffet’s decided to settle with Terri Janson and is changing the team line-up. There are a lot of great guys on that team. Good, honest men who deserve to be ambassadors for the game. He’s decided to reward them and get rid of the bad apples.’
Anya checked her watch. She had just enough time to get to the airport.
‘I have to go.’
‘I know.’
‘Take care,’ she said. ‘You know my email.’
‘And phone number, address, and tax file number. Do you want me to go on?’
She couldn’t help grinning. ‘Look after yourself,’ she said. ‘And keep up the hope.’