Bonnie looks at the money again.
“That’s your children’s future sorted,” says Tony.
“But I didn’t earn it,” says Bonnie.
“It’s your bag,” says Felicity. “They gave it to you.”
“We have to report it, though,” says Bonnie. “I’m sorry. It’s illegal.”
“I don’t think money can be illegal,” says Felicity. “Not all by itself.”
Tony nods. “It’s not like it’s a bag full of drugs. That’s illegal.”
“That’s illegal,” confirms Felicity.
“But it belongs to someone?” says Bonnie.
“A man called Mickey Moody, in fact,” says Tony. “Currently under arrest for murder.”
“Yes,” says Felicity. “And now it belongs to you. He couriered it over to your house, didn’t he? And there’s no note asking you to return it?”
“And Mickey Moody was happy to see you risk going to jail in Brazil for the next ten years,” says Tony.
“Precisely,” says Felicity. “He has other things on his mind. I don’t suppose he’ll miss this.”
“But what would I do with it?” Bonnie asks. “I don’t want it. I want to work.”
“Then work,” says Felicity. “Fly around the world with your mum and your kids, build your brand, spread some happiness.”
“But I don’t know how,” says Bonnie.
“Then I’ll be your agent,” says Felicity.
“You’ll be my agent?”
“We can learn together, and earn together, can’t we? And I can funnel this money through my accounts while we do?”
“Won’t someone notice?”
“Well, I’ve had a good year,” says Felicity. “The taxman won’t bat an eyelid.”
Bonnie looks at them both. “But it’s wrong.”
Tony nods in understanding. “But there’s an old saying, Bonnie. Two wrongs make a right.”
“I think…” starts Felicity, looking at Tony, then lets it go.
“Okay,” says Bonnie. “Okay, then. But I’ll be working for it?”
“You will,” says Felicity. “And I’ll charge you ten percent, every penny of which will go to the families of Andrew Fairbanks, Bella Sanchez, and Mark Gooch.”
“So you’ll end up with nothing?” Bonnie asks.
“I was stupid,” says Felicity. “I should have known something was going on. And people died because I didn’t want to look too closely. That’s on me, I’m afraid. It’s like when I didn’t check Sue Lawley’s contract properly in 1983 and she read the news for free for the first year.”
“What will I tell my mum?” says Bonnie. “And my kids?”
“You’re going to work hard for the next few years,” says Felicity. “And you’ll get paid for it. Just a little more than the going rate, that’s all. No one will ever know. And when the money runs out, we’ll see where we are. If you make it, you make it, and if you don’t make it, at least you tried.”
“It just…” says Bonnie. “It just doesn’t seem right.”
“Bonnie,” says Felicity, “show business is full of people with rich parents. They can afford to struggle for a few years, knowing they have money behind them. Now, you don’t have rich parents, but you have just been given a bag containing one million pounds.”
“And tax-free,” adds Tony. “The best money of all.”
“Bonnie,” says Felicity, “I’ve been in this business a long time. I’ve seen talented people fail, I’ve seen morons become millionaires. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. You need hard work, you need self-belief, and you need luck. You work hard, don’t you?”
“So hard,” says Bonnie. “But I don’t have self-belief.”
“You got on the train to come to see me, didn’t you?”
“Well…”
“That’s self-belief.”
“And then,” says Tony, “you were handed a bag containing a million pounds in untraceable bills belonging to a man who will never ask for it back.”
“And that,” says Felicity, “is luck.”
