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Back The Snakes Save as PDF
Chapters (42)
  1. Title Page
  2. About the Author
  3. By the Same Author
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. PART ONE
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. PART TWO
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. PART THREE
  29. 21
  30. 22
  31. 23
  32. 24
  33. 25
  34. 26
  35. PART FOUR
  36. 27
  37. 28
  38. 29
  39. 30
  40. 31
  41. Acknowledgements
  42. Copyright

She had been embarrassed out of her childhood hopes, if not their political successors, but now, with the hard-shelled red plastic treasure chest in front of her, she backslid, helplessly, into fantasy. Hungrily, she pictured stuffing envelopes of cash through letter boxes, running rampant on a spree of altruism. And in that moment, for the first time in her life, she understood how rich she was, and how very much richer she had yet to be. The small box of money in front of her was a fraction of the wealth she had at her disposal. It wasn’t the love of money that was the root of all evil, only the love of it above other things. Like fire, it could be a good servant. If she could be disciplined, not be seduced, or let it master her. If she were strong enough not to be corrupted. If she were vigilant, and did not let it rule her. She was elated, she found she was quivering with it. She asked herself if what she was feeling was temptation and decided it was not. Why should the corrupt have a monopoly on wealth when the world needed it so badly? She looked down at the money and placed her hand on it again, and felt its promise. She had trained and worked to give something to the world, but she made so little difference. She was a good person. She knew she was good. She could help. She didn’t believe it could be wrong. She dared imagine justice.

28

28

The money sat between them on the bed. They both looked down at it.

‘Do you think it’s stolen?’ he said. ‘Like, maybe your father is into something serious we don’t even know about?’

‘No. It was just him and Alex, playing with matches. He’s like the boss of a drug cartel slipping a gram of coke into his sock at the airport. He loves risk. He’s always loved it.’

‘But Alex couldn’t pay the bills in cash, they couldn’t spend it, so – what? Does he launder it? Bea, that’s not like tax avoidance schemes you hear about, that’s criminal.’

‘Did you think he was just hard-working and lucky? Do you know the people he associates with?’

Dan felt Griff diminishing before his eyes. ‘I don’t get it,’ he said. ‘He’s got everything.’

They both looked down at the box again. It was like sharing a bed with live explosives. It had a character, as if they weren’t alone.

‘We need to put it back,’ he said. ‘Where’s the top of this thing?’

She reached for it and handed it to him. He held it, poised, and looked at the money beneath the plastic.