Xavier Read online

  “Okay. I can be at your place at two-thirty.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “What do you want to talk about, anyway?”

  She made a face. It wouldn’t be anything fun. “I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

  “Okay. Can’t wait.”

  “Me too,” she said with a sigh.

  “Gotta go, babe. See you tomorrow. Miss you already.”

  “Bye.” She hung up, smiling.

  “Someone’s in the clouds,” Alex said in a sing-song voice.

  She let out a gasp, embarrassed. How much had Alex heard?

  Alex tapped his forefinger on his lips. “Come on, girl. You can tell me. You know I’m good at keeping my mouth shut.”

  “I was talking to my mum,” she said lightly.

  Alex snickered, leaning closer to whisper, “If I’m not mistaken, that was a look of love—and not of the familial variety.”

  She rolled her eyes and walked off, laughing. Love? She wasn’t sure yet but, yeah, she’d been extraordinarily happy lately.

  “I’ll get it out of you one day, Eve,” Alex called out.

  She simply waved at him, continuing to chuckle.

  “Hey, Eve!” Chester called.

  “Hi.”

  “Got a moment?”

  “Sure.”

  “Can we go to the goldfish bowl?”

  She almost laughed. Seriously, there should be more meeting rooms in this place. “Okay.”

  “I have a few good leads that I think are worthy of being presented,” Chester said as they sat, “but I can’t work on them all due to their time-sensitivity. So I was wondering if what you’re working on can be pushed back so you can take over one of mine.”

  Eve smiled at her co-host, even as anger at Aaron threatened to resurface. Here was Chester with more than he could handle, and she’d been given duds. “I’ll be more than happy to take over one of yours. Apart from the current story I’m working on, I don’t have other good-enough leads that would make the cut.”

  “Really?” Chester asked in surprise.

  “Yeah. I’ve been meaning to mention it to you.”

  “What kind of leads has Aaron been giving you?”

  She told him.

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “Nope. I’ve actually been poring through past tip-offs that didn’t get picked so I can work on something with more grunt. I’ve been finding more interesting possibilities there.”

  Chester shook his head. “I don’t understand it. Our ratings are stellar with you on the show.”

  Eve shrugged. “The man still has it out for me. I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes a move to sack me.”

  “He shouldn’t dare,” Chester said angrily. “That man has had run-ins with plenty of good workers in this station—nothing I personally witnessed, but I’ve heard people complain. I think he doesn’t give me that attitude because I’ve been on this show longer than him. Anyway, you should talk to HR, or even Trevor.”

  She shook her head. “I can still handle him. In a way, I want to prove to him that even though you and Trevor pushed him to employ me, I’m my own person who doesn’t need to run to you or Trevor when I’m unhappy. I also want him to see I’m as tough as nails. I think he’s hammering at me so I’ll break and leave. Well, he has to swing a lot harder to dislodge me from the co-host chair.”

  Chester laughed. “You’re one admirable woman, Eve.”

  “Thank you. And I do appreciate your support.”

  “No worries. Hey, before I forget, my wife and I have been wanting to invite you for dinner. Any chance you’re free sometime this week?”

  “Oh, thank you. I’d love that. Um, maybe Wednesday or Thursday?”

  “Okay, I’ll check with Clem which day she prefers. So is your social life going well in your new city?”

  “I’ve met a couple of new friends, but I’m afraid I haven’t had much time for socialising.” Except with Xavier—who’d mentioned taking her to a friend’s party next month.

  “Well, don’t let your job take over your life,” Chester said with a sigh. “Time flies so fast that before you know it, your son is a teenager and he no longer wants to spend time with you.”

  “Aw.” She placed a comforting hand on Chester’s arm. “I’d love to meet your family.”

  “I’ll see if I can get the kid to join us for dinner, but I don’t like our chances. You can bring a date with you, by the way.”

  “Thanks. I’ll let you know.”

  “Oh, wait now. So you’ve met someone?”

  She laughed. “I might bring a friend as a date.”

  “Ah, so is romance a possibility?”

  “We’ll see,” she said with a chuckle. She was bursting to tell someone else apart from her parents about Xavier, and out of everyone she worked with, she trusted Chester the most. The man believed in her and had helped her get this job. But she wasn’t ready to share this particular secret with him.

  They were interrupted by a knock on the door. It was one of the producers pointing at her watch.

  “Hair and makeup,” Eve murmured, nodding her head at the producer.

  “Yes. So we better be quick with this. You’re still working on the Stirlings, right? Any progress with the Barker gym sighting and the other matter regarding Stirling Mortgage Brokers?”

  Eve repressed a sigh. “Nothing new worth reporting for both cases. The Stirlings seem to be innocent and unlucky to be caught up in the Ross Anton case. And the eyewitness who reported the Barker gym sighting appears to be mistaken.”

  Chester frowned. “The new tip-off I got just a few minutes ago is regarding Gerald Stirling. Apparently, he’s involved in some property development scam. This one seems to have a lot of legs.”

  “What?” She stared at Chester in disbelief.

  “Aaron wants it reported for next Sunday, if we can swing it. But I’m already deep into another issue that I don’t want to push back for another time, so I was hoping you can work on this instead of what you’ve got.”

  “Um.” She forced herself to shake off her shock at hearing about the new accusation against Xavier’s father. “I’ll work on it.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Eve nodded. Clearly, Aaron was so desperate for a Stirling segment that he’d given the new lead to Chester. Or Aaron simply didn’t trust her to get any Stirling content ready for next week.

  “Okay, thanks, Eve. I daresay we shouldn’t let Aaron know I’ve handed this to you until you have a full story prepared. If you don’t get anything reportable for next Sunday, I’m happy to cop the flack. But to be honest, I’ll be surprised if you come up empty-handed again. When there’s smoke, there’s fire, and there’s been plenty of smoke swirling around them for a while now. If you need any help or guidance, though, let me know,” Chester added as he walked out of the room.

  “Thanks, Chester,” she murmured, feeling the energy and joy seep out of her body.

  Damn it, why was everybody giving her a hard time about the Stirlings today? Couldn’t they switch their attention to other people?

  Aaron’s voice rang in her head. “Trevor Clarence thinks that because of what happened to your aunt, you have the necessary nose for this role. I’m seriously not seeing it.”

  Her eyes misted, thoughts of her Aunt Tammy filling her head. Her aunt had been too trusting of the man she’d thought was the sweetest guy in the world.

  She inhaled sharply. She had to admit she’d been quick to fall for Xavier.

  Had she been letting her feelings dull her instincts?

  Chapter 16

  “Beautiful, Mum,” Xavier said, rubbing his tummy exaggeratedly.

  Adele laughed. “Glad you liked it. Now that you’ve been reminded of how great a cook I am, maybe you’ll remember to come visit us more often.”

  He forced out a chuckle, feeling the guilt. Things had already been hectic for him as it was with running his gym. Now, with his assignment of protecting Eve, all the free time he had w
as invariably spent either with her or secretly shadowing her.

  “I met someone,” he blurted out.

  Adele gasped. “Really? Who?”

  “Maybe I’ll bring her over one night.”

  “Of course! We’d love to meet her,” Adele said readily.

  Xavier glanced at his dad, who was nodding his approval. Still, his father appeared distracted. Gerald had hardly spoken through dinner.

  “Let me clear up here before we have dessert,” Adele said. “You guys go watch TV and relax. I got this.”

  Xavier picked up some plates anyway and took them to the sink.

  “Xavier,” Adele whispered in his ear. “Go speak to your father. I’m worried that he’s fallen into another bout of depression.”

  He nodded, washing his hands, then followed his father to the media room. Gerald wasn’t there, and he found him in the study.

  He closed the door behind him. “Hey, Dad. How’s it going? You’ve been very quiet.”

  “Oh, just thinking about work.”

  “So what’s been happening with the property development scheme? Are you managing to fix things for your clients?”

  Gerald paled, plonking on his chair as if it took a lot of effort to be on his feet. “It’s… going fine.”

  “Except that I can tell it’s not,” he said with a frown. “What’s going on? How can I help?”

  “You can’t,” Gerald said in an almost-whisper.

  Xavier dragged a chair to his father and sat in front of him, taking one of his hands into his own and squeezing it. “Let me try, Dad. Please.”

  Gerald’s eyes filled and quiet sobs started escaping him.

  Xavier’s own eyes misted. “Tell me, please.”

  It was a long moment before Gerald spoke again. “I’m going to the police, Xavier. I’m confessing.”

  His mouth dropped. “Why? There’s still a few months before your clients find out what’s going on, right? That’s still plenty of time to get things fixed.”

  “No.” Gerald stood up, wiping away his tears. “This has to end soon. I have to go to the police.”

  Xavier narrowed his eyes. “What made you change your mind? You refused to go to the police before.”

  “Well…” Gerald rubbed his neck. “I thought I’d be able to get away with things. But I’d better come clean, as you suggested before, and hope I get off lightly for my honesty.”

  “And you’re going to give up the scheme promoters, right?”

  Gerald’s chest heaved. “They’re gone. Everything will fall on me unless I disappear too. But what’s the point of disappearing? I might as well go to jail. At least you guys can visit me there.”

  Despite his shock, Xavier wanted to laugh out loud. This was ridiculous.

  “Next Monday, I’m going to the police.”

  Xavier stood in front of his father so Gerald didn’t have a choice but to meet his gaze. “Who ordered you to?” he asked in a low, authoritative voice.

  “No one,” Gerald said nervously.

  “Don’t give me that crap, Dad. You know I know this is not you. You know I know this is not your doing. You’re obeying orders to protect us. Who’s threatening you?”

  Gerald gaped at him with wide eyes. “Xavier… No… I did this…”

  “Bullshit. You know I’m right and there’s no sense denying it. You might as well tell me, because I’m going to help you solve this whether you like it or not.”

  Gerald’s eyes moistened again. “Please, son. It’s very dangerous. They’ll kill you and your mum and Holly.”

  “Oh, Dad.” He took his father in his arms and held him tight. They needed more time. He was assured that some IR agents were getting close to finding Barker’s whereabouts.

  “We can’t fight them,” Gerald whispered. “I tried. I thought I’d gotten them off my back, but they’re too evil.”

  Xavier pulled away to look into his father’s eyes. “They’ll never leave us alone if we let them continue running our lives.”

  Gerald shook his head vigorously. “They swore that they’d start killing off everyone in my family if I told anyone about this. To prove their point, they shot a man in front of me, right in my own office, at ten last night.”

  Xavier’s heart jumped. “Who?”

  Gerald dropped on a chair. “I don’t know. But it was horrible. They even laughed while they cleaned up the mess.”

  “Did you personally see Eugene Barker?”

  Gerald sighed resignedly. “How did you know it was him?”

  “Only he could concoct something like this,” he said with a shrug.

  “I’ve only seen him on video calls but, yes, I’ve spoken to him directly.”

  “Do you know if he’s in the country?”

  “I don’t know where he is. But he has a lot of men working for him. Those who originally came when Barker first threatened me aren’t the same ones who turned up in my office last night.”

  “What do they look like?” Xavier took his phone out to record his dad’s description of the perps on the IR app.

  “What are you doing?” Gerald asked curiously.

  “You might forget details later. It’s better that we record it for the police.”

  “Okay.” Gerald described the people he’d seen with as much detail as he could.

  “Did Barker tell you what he wants from you? Why he’s doing this?”

  “He said I was stupid enough to partner with Ross Anton and now I have to pay for Ross’s mistakes.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “From the little I’ve seen of Barker, I think he’s a crazy, soulless megalomaniac who hates being one-upped. He said he knows all about the deal between Ross Anton and the police, where Ross has been pretending that his mouth is zipped regarding their connection. Well, Barker hates that Ross and the police could even think that he wouldn’t realise what’s going on. He’s angry that they’re treating him like an ignorant bastard. So he wants to toy with the police to prove to them again how smart he really is.”

  “And he’s using you so he can do that?”

  Gerald nodded. “He made it so it would appear that I’m right up there with the scheme’s promoter in wanting to dupe lots of people. Then, when I’m convicted and in jail, he’ll release evidence that he’s actually behind it all. I’m to tell the whole truth then, so the authorities will get egg on their faces and he can laugh at their incompetence some more. He’s not scared of outing himself because he believes he’ll never get caught.”

  “He’s bound to get his just desserts sooner or later.”

  “Even if it’s sooner, I’m afraid it’s too late for me. But I’d rather go to jail for a short time while he toys with the police instead of risking your lives. I could never, ever live with it if anything happened to any of you.” Gerald’s voice broke.

  Xavier put a hand on his father’s shoulder. “I promise you we’ll figure it out. For now, act as if you’re still following his orders, okay?”

  “I do intend to follow his orders, Xavier. I’ve already thought long and hard about going to the cops about this. I even came close to doing so a couple of times. But Barker’s been on the run for years and the police don’t seem capable of catching him! You could all be dead before the cops even find him. So I have no choice. I’m going to the police next Monday, and please don’t try to stop me.”

  “Does he particularly want you to go to the police next Monday, as opposed to any other day?”

  “Yes. Actually, he originally ordered me to go to the police this Monday. But one of his guys commented that Your Eyes and Ears won’t be able to cover the story until next Sunday. I guess he wants this broadcast as far and wide as possible. I’m scared of how this will affect our businesses and Holly’s career, but that’s nothing compared to my fear of losing all of you.”

  Xavier frowned. “Did you hear who at Your Eyes and Ears would be reporting on this?”

  “Eve Marrin. They said she should have enough
to do a segment on this for next Sunday’s show.”

  Xavier heart stopped. No way. No fucking way that bastard was going to get to Eve.

  “Remember, Xavier. Leave this to me.”

  “Don’t worry, Dad. And don’t tell Mum.”

  “I don’t intend to.”

  Xavier gave his father another tight hug, kissing him on the cheek. “I’m gonna go.”

  “Why?” Gerald asked sharply.

  “I want to check on a few things.”

  “Xavier…” Gerald said in a warning tone.

  “It’ll be fine. Do you think I’d do anything that would anger Barker?”

  The answer was yes. But he didn’t want to burden his father any more than necessary.

  He said goodbye to his parents and called Aidan from the car to update him.

  “Good work,” Aidan said. “We’ll call you with further instructions.”

  “I want to know how we can extricate my dad from this,” he said insistently. “I joined the Indie Rebels so Barker wouldn’t be able to pull the strings on him. He doesn’t have much time.”

  “There are CCTVs in the area where your parents’ office building is. I’ll send people to check the recordings, see if we can identify the men who went to your father's office last night.”

  “Make it urgent, please.”

  “Yes.”

  He sighed. “I just realised I should have asked my dad for descriptions of the men who originally threatened him. He said they weren’t the same ones from last night.”

  “I’m not surprised. Barker’s team has become very good at recruiting drug addicts and petty criminals. His henchmen scare the living daylights out of them, plus throws shitloads of money at them. Very effective. And Barker doesn’t care if those guys get caught, because most of them know nothing of substance.”

  Xavier shook his head. He could only hope things would be different this time. “I’ll ask Eve if she’s already gotten something relating to my dad’s involvement in that property development scam. She might have very good leads for us.”

  “Xavier,” Aidan said gravely, “you have to let her investigate your dad.”

  “I’m not going to try to stop her, but frankly, I don’t think she’d want to work on this.”