Xavier

by Miranda P. Charles

  “Sure, son.”

  Xavier’s brows furrowed even more. That didn’t sound convincing at all.

  They sat at the dining table in the open-plan room.

  “So how exactly are you feeling?” Xavier pried as he dug into his burger.

  Gerald shrugged. “Just lethargic… tired. I must be coming down with something.”

  “Mum said you didn’t want to go to the doctor’s. She’s getting really worried, you know.”

  “I’m sure I just need to rest.”

  “I think it’s better to get a check-up before whatever it is gets worse.”

  Gerald smiled, and Xavier’s heart thudded hard at the wistful, resigned look his father gave him.

  He put his burger down and eyeballed Gerald. “Cut the crap, Dad,” he said quietly. “Tell me what’s going on. I won’t let you get away with any more excuses anyway, so you might as well save us time.”

  “I told you, I’m just not feeling too well.”

  “You know what I’ll do if you don’t tell me the truth, right? I’ll sniff around and play detective until I find out what’s wrong. One thing I’m sure about is it’s not your physical health.”

  “Xavier…”

  “I’ll check with Detective Swanson myself where they’re at regarding that note you got.”

  “No,” Gerald said sharply.

  “It’s to do with that threat, right? Please tell me.”

  Gerald gaped at him, then slumped in his chair. He stared for several seconds at his hands—interlinked on the table—before meeting Xavier’s eyes. “Trouble’s coming my way, so I’ve been trying to get my affairs organised so you, your mum and Holly could get on with things if something ever happens to me.”

  The air left Xavier’s lungs. “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve… I’ve defrauded some clients. I encouraged them to borrow money so they could buy into a new property development that will never be finished. It’s set up so the scheme could declare bankruptcy, making it look like it was just a failed venture, so the perpetrators can’t get caught. The investors will never get a single cent of their money back.”

  Xavier stared at his dad in disbelief. “No way.”

  Gerald gulped visibly. “I’m sorry.”

  “Why, Dad?”

  Gerald lifted his shoulders. “Greed? I should have known better, of course. But it’s too late now. It’s done. Fortunately, the clients won’t know for several more months, when the scheme is due to fail.”

  “Well, then, fix it before shit hits the fan! Did you get paid to do it? Who’s responsible for all this?”

  Gerald scratched his head with both hands, his gaze shifting upwards as if he was looking for answers. “Um… yes, they paid me, but the money’s gone. I used it to clear a debt from my own investment gone bad. Your mother doesn’t know. I don’t want her involved in this at all.”

  Xavier narrowed his eyes. It hardly seemed possible. His parents were brilliant business people who’d been running a successful company for twenty years. They’d always kept a close eye on their numbers. They had business smarts, which they’d passed on to him. No way could his dad have bought into an investment that had gone so badly that it had forced him to do something despicable.

  No. This all sounded like bullshit. Unfortunately, another plausible explanation scared him more. “I think you should go to the police and cooperate with them. Don’t wait until the rug is pulled out from under you.”

  Gerald shook his head vigorously. “No, Xavier. No.”

  “You can help them catch the scheme masterminds. They sound very organised, and they’ll do it again and again. I’m sure the police will cut you a good deal, especially if you approach them first.”

  Gerald kept on shaking his head.

  “You can call your lawyer and go to the police. Like you said, the scheme’s not due to fail for several more months. You’ll be saving other people from being victims.”

  “No! We’ve survived the fallout from Ross’s arrest. We won’t survive this, if it leaks out. The media all around the world will have a field day reporting that Holly Stirling’s father is a criminal. All of us—you, Holly, your mother—not just me, will be affected if I don’t fix this quietly.”

  “And how do you plan to fix it quietly?”

  “I still have time to find money to pay the clients back.”

  “How much are we talking about here?”

  “Close to a million.”

  Xavier exhaled harshly. “See, this is what I don’t get, Dad. You’re not exactly strapped for cash. And you could easily liquidate one of your properties if you need a big sum. Why did this happen at all?”

  “Sometimes people just do stupid things, son. But do you understand why I can’t go to the police? Why I have to fix this quietly? Holly’s a superstar.”

  “But you can be a hero if you report the matter and help the cops put some scumbags behind bars.”

  Gerald ran a hand over his face. “No. I don’t want to take that risk. You have to let me deal with this myself.”

  “I can’t leave you to deal with this alone.”

  “You have to. I don’t want you getting involved.”

  “Sorry. You can’t stop me.”

  “But there’s nothing you can do! Please, Xavier. Don’t complicate things.”

  “Who’s behind the scheme?”

  Gerald shook his head.

  “Tell me the name of the project. At least tell me that.”

  “No. I said I don’t want you to get involved. I just need time to figure out how to extricate my clients from that blasted scheme. They don’t deserve any of this.”

  “I really don’t understand—”

  “Just leave it alone, please.”

  Xavier’s brows furrowed at his father’s tone. Gerald hadn’t sounded guilty or apologetic; he’d sounded… forlorn, as if there was no hope left. Yet, he was rejecting ways to avoid the fall when there was still time and opportunity to turn things around. It didn’t make sense.

  Then he remembered what Ross had said about Eugene Barker.

  “Dad.” He waited until Gerald was looking him in the eyes. “Some bastard is forcing you to admit to something you didn’t do, right?”

  The look on Gerald’s face before he caught himself gave Xavier the answer.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Gerald mumbled.

  Xavier leaned back on his seat. Whatever was going on, it was clear someone had scared the hell out of his father. And his best assumption was that their family’s safety had been threatened.

  “Please, son. Leave this with me. I’ll fix it all.”

  “Okay. If you promise to keep finding ways to get yourself out of this.”

  Gerald exhaled loudly. “Thank you.”

  Xavier picked up his burger. This wasn’t the time to continue interrogating his dad. He’d only get lies meant to protect the family. He’d have to figure out another way to get the truth.

  He could only think of one person who could make Gerald fearful enough to either commit a crime or admit to one. Eugene Barker. Ross might have uttered prophetic words on the day of his arrest, when he’d said Gerald and Adele could be in danger.

  What was more, Ross had also been right about one other thing. Police in several countries had failed to catch Eugene Barker for years. How the hell would they be able to help his dad when they hadn’t been able to nab one of the most wanted criminals in the world? They’d probably put Gerald in jail, considering his dad appeared ready to admit to a crime. So, no, he wouldn’t push his dad to go to the police at this time.

  They ate in silence, lost in their own thoughts.

  Then Xavier remembered that Eve had told him to watch tonight’s episode of Your Eyes and Ears. She’d even texted earlier to remind him. She’d been so secretive about why, but she’d sounded excited.

  He sighed. He missed the woman. He wondered when exactly she’d be back in Sydney.

  “Wanna watch TV?” he asked his d
ad.

  “Sure.”

  Xavier walked over to the coffee table and grabbed the remote. He pushed the on button and the screen came alive.

  His mouth dropped. Your Eyes and Ears was already on, and it was playing a year-old video of Ross Anton being escorted into the law courts.

  “One year on,” said a female reporter whose voice sounded eerily familiar, “one question is still being asked by a number of Stirling Mortgage Brokers’ clients. How much of their personal and financial information was accessed by Ross Anton while he was with the company? Despite repeated assurances by Gerald and Adele Stirling that Ross Anton never had access to their clients’ confidential information, a number of them remain sceptical.”

  “Fucking hell,” his father muttered. “Change the channel, please.”

  But Xavier was frozen in place, his heart thumping in his chest. This reporter couldn’t be Eve.

  But Eve’s face suddenly appeared on TV, standing outside his parents’ office building.

  “What these clients are most fearful about,” Eve said as she looked at the camera, “is that their private information could right now be in the hands of unscrupulous operators connected with Mr. Anton, to be utilised at any time for nefarious purposes. While the long-held squeaky-clean reputation of Gerald and Adele Stirling enabled Stirling Mortgage Brokers to survive this scandal last year, even until now, nothing but the Stirlings’ word backs up their claims that critical client information was never accessed by Mr. Anton. Understandably, these clients remain very nervous, and they’re angry that there appears to be nothing they can do until something undesirable happens.”

  The TV screen split into two, with one half showing Chester Blunt sitting behind the news desk in the studio. “What I find amazing, Eve, is that Gerald and Adele Stirling came out of this relatively unscathed. Yes, they are well-respected and have been for many years, but could the Holly Stirling factor be somewhat responsible for that? Could the fact that they’re the parents of one of today’s most loved pop artists have been conflated with being trustworthy, whether they’re deserving of it or not?”

  “Xavier, change the channel, please.”

  “Sorry, Dad.” He hastily pressed a button, and a game show came up.

  He chucked the remote on the couch, still in a daze. Eve was the new co-host of Your Eyes and Ears? That was the job she’d applied for?

  His breathing shallowed.

  Had Eve known who he was all along? Had she befriended him—slept with him, even—to get information about his family?

  No. That couldn’t be. They hadn’t talked about his family or his work because she hadn’t wanted to talk about hers until she’d come back to Sydney. But had she been trying to butter him up all this time so she could get information from him?

  For what, though? She was already reporting about his family without him having helped in any way.

  He shook his head. Nothing was making sense.

  He snatched his phone from the dining table and went to the Your Eyes and Ears website. What the hell was Eve’s surname?

  Marrin. Eve Marrin. She used to be the news anchor for the top-rated evening news in South Australia.

  Well, he hadn’t known that.

  He raked his hair, casting his mind back on their incredible weekend together. Eve had appeared genuine. And she had never once asked a question that could have led to anything regarding his parents’ connection with Ross Anton. Could all this be just a big, unfortunate coincidence?

  He glanced at his dad, who looked utterly dejected as he put a couple of fries in his mouth.

  Xavier shook his head. Coincidence or not, one thing was for certain. He couldn’t date Eve anymore. An investigative journalist like her shouldn’t be around his family right now.

  Chapter 7

  Eve walked into the studio, checking her phone. She’d had such a whirlwind of a time since getting back to Sydney two days ago that she hadn’t had a chance to see Xavier yet. She’d rung him twice and he’d rung back both times but hadn’t left a message. They just kept missing each other’s calls.

  But had he gotten to watch Your Eyes and Ears last night? She’d wanted to tell him she’d be on it before the show, but Aaron had been playing the card of “mystery co-host” to the public, not announcing who she was until her first appearance last night. Aaron had claimed that her low profile around the country could be a detriment if they’d advertised her as being Veronica’s replacement. He hadn’t believed anyone would want to tune in to watch an “unknown” woman replace the popular Veronica Lee.

  Hrmph. Hadn’t Aaron been to South Australia? Rude man. She would have told him off if she wasn’t nervous as hell that he could be right.

  Eve could only pray that the ratings hadn’t dipped last night. And she hoped that Xavier’s lack of reaction meant he hadn’t actually watched the show, not that he’d gotten turned off that she was the new co-host.

  “Congrats, Eve,” Aaron said dryly, appearing from nowhere.

  Eve gave the program director a startled look. “For what?”

  “Well, we remained number one in our time slot last night, but more pleasing, our viewership actually increased. It’s higher than Veronica’s farewell show the week before.”

  Eve couldn’t help but grin at the thrilling news. “That’s great.”

  “Now,” Aaron said with a smirk, “I believe it’s mainly because of two things. One, we did a great job promoting last night’s show with the mystery co-host angle, and two, people are still very much interested in Ross Anton because of his connection to Holly Stirling’s family.”

  Eve kept the smile plastered on her face. Clearly, this man still wanted her out. Luckily, she had three months to prove him wrong.

  “Hey, guys.” Alex, one of the administrative assistants, approached them. “A viewer’s on the phone wanting to talk to you, Eve. She said she has a tip.”

  “On what?” Aaron asked with a frown.

  “She claims to have information that Holly Stirling’s brother is as dodgy as Ross Anton.”

  Eve’s brows rose. Wow, that was a big claim. Not that she knew who Holly’s brother was. She’d hadn’t had the chance to do more research into the rest of the Stirling family as she’d been too busy.

  “I’ll talk to her,” Aaron said.

  “Well.” Alex scratched the back of his neck. “I already said that, but she insisted on Eve. She said Eve’s the same age as her. I don’t know why that’s important, but…” Alex shrugged. “Anyway, she said she’ll contact other news outlets if Eve can’t talk to her.”

  “Well, find out what she has to say, then,” Aaron barked at Eve. “If there’s dirt on Holly Stirling’s brother, I want to know about it. That’d be a fresh angle no one has covered yet.”

  “Where can I take the call?” Eve asked Alex.

  “I’ll put her through the phone in the goldfish bowl.”

  She nodded. “I take it she hasn’t given her name yet?”

  Alex shook his head. “She wants to remain anonymous. By the way, you were a hit last night. Our social media pages are full of comments from viewers saying how much they like you as Veronica’s replacement.”

  “Thanks, Alex,” she said with a grin. Did you hear that, Aaron?

  “Go talk to her,” Aaron said grumpily. “And update me straight away.”

  “Sure.” She went to a nearby meeting room called the goldfish bowl by the network staff due to its small size and all-glass walls. She shut the door and picked up the ringing phone.

  “Good afternoon,” Eve said in a bright, friendly voice. “This is Eve Marrin from Your Eyes and Ears. I believe you wanted to speak with me?”

  “Hello, Eve. I’m glad you’re free to talk to me. I watched the program last night, and I think you’re approachable. I mean, I don’t know you, of course, but you seem very approachable. And caring.”

  Eve smiled. “Thank you. You don’t mind if I record this conversation, do you? So I can refer back to it later?�
��

  “No. That’s fine. I don’t plan to give you details of who I am anyway. I want to remain anonymous because I’m scared. I told the police that too.”

  Eve put the phone on speaker and pressed the record button on her phone app. “Okay. I get wanting to remain anonymous if you’re scared. So you’ve spoken to the police?”

  “Yes, to tell them also that I think Holly Stirling’s brother is as dodgy as Ross Anton.”

  “And you’re scared of Holly’s brother? Or of Ross Anton?”

  “I’m scared of Holly’s diehard fans! Imagine the hate I’ll get from them if they find out I’m badmouthing her family. I’ve seen how riled up they got on social media when some people dared suggest that Holly’s parents could be Ross Anton’s partners-in-crime. I don’t want the hassle of all that, but at the same time, I’m all for justice. The Stirlings can’t be allowed to get away with anything just because the world is in love with Holly. That’s just not fair! So I think the public should know about her brother. And since Your Eyes and Ears is everyone’s favourite public affairs program, I decided to share this with you. You were great on your first show yesterday, and I liked you instantly.”

  “Thank you. So what do you want to share with me?”

  “Well, I work at a hotel in the city, and sometimes I’m on an early shift, starting at six in the morning. When I don’t feel lazy, I go to the gym as soon as it opens at five. Yesterday, I got to the city earlier—at four-thirty—because I stayed over at a friend’s and he gave me a lift first before starting his taxi driving shift. Anyway, I knew the gym was still closed, but I had to pass by it on my way to the hotel, where I was gonna kill time. But I saw that the lights at the gym were on, so I walked to the door. To my surprise, it opened—it was one of those automatic sliding doors, you see. I figured they must have adjusted their opening times, so I went straight in. No one was around yet when I went to the change room to change to my exercise gear because I was wearing my hotel uniform. Anyway, I was coming out of the change room when I noticed a guy arriving. Xavier was already out there to greet him.”

  Eve’s heart skipped. “Wait. Which gym are you talking about?”