“A to X Fitness. Xavier’s always there because he owns it. To be honest, I used to enjoy going to that gym because… Well, he’s just hot and I didn’t mind catching a glimpse of him every once in a while. But I refuse to go there now.”
Eve blinked as realisation set in. “So Holly’s brother that you’re talking about is this Xavier?”
“Yes. She’s only got one brother. Xavier.”
“Okay, I didn’t know that,” she said, shock threatening to overtake her.
“Right, well, like I said, this other guy came in, and I kinda froze because I instantly recognised him. They hurried into Xavier’s office without looking around, and Xavier closed the blinds. Lucky they didn’t notice me.”
“Who do you think it was with Xavier?”
“Eugene Barker, the guy who escaped—”
“Eugene Barker?” Eve couldn’t keep the disbelief from her voice.
“Yes. He came in wearing a hoodie and sunglasses, even though it was still dark—but he took them off as soon as he walked in.”
“Are you sure it was him?”
“Well, I’ve only seen the man on TV and online, but I remember paying close attention to what he looked like just in case I ever bumped into him somewhere. I mean, what’s the point of the police showing the public photos and videos of criminals on the loose if we won’t be able to recognise them on the streets, right? So, yeah, I’m pretty sure it was Eugene Barker.”
“Have you seen him again since?”
“No. That was the only time. I never went back to A to X after that. In fact, I didn’t even exercise that morning. I changed back to my uniform and left immediately. I rang the police and told them about it. At first I worried they might not believe me, but I know I should do the right thing as a good citizen. Then last night, your show featured Ross Anton and Holly’s parents. It occurred to me that maybe her whole family’s crooked and they’re getting away with it because of Holly. Mind you, I’d like to think Holly’s innocent, because I really like her. Anyway, that’s why I decided to call you too. The police might not tell the press about Xavier, and I wanna know what happens to him.”
“I’m glad you did,” Eve said, glancing at Aaron waiting outside the fishbowl, impatiently motioning to ask if he could come in. “Is there anything else you want to share with me?”
“No, that’s it.”
“Okay, thank you so much for calling. We’ll work on this.”
“When do you think you’ll report about it on TV?”
“A lot has to happen in the background before we can consider going public with something like this. But I’ll keep you updated.”
“I guess you have to worry about being sued and things like that, huh?”
“Yeah, we do. Are you sure you don’t want to give me your name? I’ll keep it confidential.”
“Sorry, no.”
“Okay. Thanks again for calling us. I’ll definitely follow up on this.”
“You’re welcome. And it was nice talking to you.”
“And you. Bye.” Eve hung up and reluctantly nodded for Aaron to come inside. She wished she had more time to fully process what she’d heard. For now, her training and experience were kicking in. In the world of news reporting and public affairs, things moved very fast, and only those who could remain on the roller coaster survived the industry.
“I wanna hear the whole thing,” Aaron grunted, crossing his arms and not sitting down.
Without a word, Eve replayed the recording.
“Hm,” Aaron murmured after it finished, rubbing his chin.
“There’s a possibility she’s not legit,” Eve said, “although she came across as believable. Regardless, we’ll never be able to verify if it was indeed Eugene Barker she saw talking to Xavier Stirling, unless we somehow got our hands on CCTV footage from the area.” Every cell in her body hoped the woman was severely mistaken—or simply lying.
Aaron put his hands on his hips. “If she’s telling the truth, then I want us to eventually break this news. This could be huge. One thing for sure, the police won’t share anything with us. Considering the players involved, they’d be keeping a tight lid on this. I think you have to do some clever investigating, Eve. You like working out at the gym, don’t you?”
Eve suppressed a sigh. In other words, he wanted her to play undercover reporter in Xavier Stirling’s gym. “Yes. Frankly, though, the likelihood of me getting away with it is nil. My face was on TV last night, reporting about Xavier’s parents.” She wasn’t about to let him know she’d already met Xavier.
“Agreed. But that’s not what I’m thinking about. You could befriend Xavier, which would be easy since you’re a TV personality. Business owners like the thought of being able to get free publicity. Get him complacent. Get him talking. Find dirt that can fill a bucket and poke holes where we can slot our heads into. Are you up to that?”
Eve’s heart raced. Was she up to it?
But Aaron’s last sentence was decidedly challenging. This man was going to take any and every opportunity to boot her out of the Your Eyes and Ears co-host chair.
Aaron sensed her hesitation and smirked. “Veronica’s been very good with these things. If this is out of your league, let me know right now. I only need to make a phone call to have someone else take your place for next week’s show.”
Eve breathed deeply. She had to make a decision now. “I’ll do it.”
“Good. Get it done. Your job depends on it.”
Eve glared at Aaron’s back as he left the room. What an asshole. She’d prove to everyone else that she was the best person for the job so that Aaron wouldn’t have a choice but to agree with them, or look like the dick he really was.
But, God, what had she gotten herself into?
No wonder Xavier had been quiet about last night’s show and her return to Sydney. No doubt he’d been shocked at seeing her on TV.
Could he actually be a criminal, or at least protecting one of the world’s most wanted?
She shook her head. No. The Xavier she knew was decent, respectful, funny. He couldn’t possibly be involved with Eugene Barker.
Her Aunt Tammy flashed in her mind, and she covered her face with her hands. Tammy had thought her conman boyfriend was the kindest, nicest man in the world too. And Tammy had known that man for much longer than she’d known Xavier.
She stood, shutting the door to her heart that Xavier had managed to pry open. She couldn’t let her strong attraction for him get in the way of her job.
If Xavier was indeed harbouring or working with Eugene Barker, then she’d be the first one to report about it.
Chapter 8
Xavier banged his laptop closed. Why was the news so full of Eve Marrin all of a sudden? Didn’t people have anything else to talk about but the new co-host of Your Eyes and Ears and her sensational report about his parents’ company?
He glanced at his phone. He still hadn’t returned Eve’s call from yesterday morning. But what was there to talk about? She had to know by now who he was. He’d rather she left him and his family well alone.
“Excuse me, Xavier.”
Xavier looked up from his laptop and smiled. Behind the gym’s receptionist were Detectives Swanson and Harris. “Detectives! What a surprise.”
“Shall I get you something?” Rochelle asked the visitors. “Coffee? Tea?”
“No, thank you,” Swanson answered.
Rochelle nodded and closed the door behind her.
Xavier gestured for the detectives to take a seat. “I haven’t seen you guys in a year. I take it you have important news?”
The detectives glanced at each other, unsmiling and remaining on their feet.
Xavier frowned. He doubted these coppers would waste their precious time visiting him unless what they had to say was either very good or very bad. Judging from their expressions, it was the latter.
“We’d like to have the security video recordings for this place.” Harris said.
“Why?”
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“When was the last time you saw Eugene Barker?” Swanson asked.
Xavier’s jaw dropped. “What? I haven’t seen him at all. I’ve never even met him. What is this about?”
“Someone said she saw you meeting Barker here yesterday morning.”
He let out a shocked laugh. “Are you kidding me?”
“We want the recordings, Xavier,” Harris said authoritatively.
“I’d give them to you but, as you might have noticed, I don’t have security cameras in here. I don’t think my clients would appreciate being recorded while they’re working out.”
“What about the one by the entrance? We noticed it’s broken.”
“Someone vandalised it the other night,” he said slowly, realising it might not have been random. “I’ve called to have it fixed, but it won’t be done until tomorrow morning.”
“Convenient,” Harris said sarcastically.
“Are you seriously suspecting me of being friends with Barker? I’m not. You know I’m not.” How could they even think that? He’d help looked for evidence against Ross Anton. He’d always been on the right side of the law.
Swanson took a step towards him. “Xavier, we already checked other CCTVs in the area. A man matching a witness’s description was seen heading towards the direction of your front entrance yesterday morning. Give it up.”
“There is nothing to give up!” he said, frustrated. “You have to show me those videos with Barker in them. Was he seen entering my gym? Who did he talk to? How long did he stay? If Barker has been anywhere near my gym, then I sure as hell want to know too.”
Both detectives’ gazes shifted downwards.
Xavier narrowed his eyes. “You don’t know for sure that he went in here, do you?”
“We want the recordings of your front camera before it got bashed,” Harris said, his initial bravado petering.
“And you said a man was seen heading here matching the description of a witness, not that someone saw Barker heading here. Are you even sure it was Barker?”
“The more you cooperate, the better, Xavier. We can get a warrant, but we won’t be as discreet about getting the recordings from you then.”
“I’m cooperating. You can have all the recordings you want. You can interview all my staff, even my clients. Because if someone said Barker was seen around here, then either Barker was casing the joint or I’m being set up. But I can guarantee you I’ve never met the man, much less spoken to him. Anyway, what time did they say I met with Barker? They must have mistaken one of my clients for the criminal.”
“Four-thirty in the morning.”
Xavier laughed in relief. “I didn’t get here until eight yesterday, Detectives. I usually don’t get here until eight every working day. One of my staff opens up the gym at five in the morning. We don’t open earlier than five.”
Harris crossed his arms. “You could have come here early to meet with Barker, then closed the gym again before five so no one would notice. Unfortunately for you, there was a witness.”
“So show me the proof. I can guarantee you you won’t find any, because I wasn’t here at four-thirty yesterday morning.”
“So where were you?”
“At home. Still asleep in my bed.”
“Can anyone confirm that?”
“No. I live alone.”
Harris smirked. “Again, convenient.”
“Seriously? Has it ever occurred to you that Barker might be setting me up?”
“For what reason?” Harris countered with arrogance.
“I don’t know. Because of my family’s Ross Anton connection? Anyway, isn’t that your job to find out?”
Harris stared at him, unmoved. “Isn’t it strange that your parents hadn’t known a single thing about Ross Anton’s criminal side, considering they’d worked very closely with the man for a good length of time?”
“What are you suggesting, Detective?” he asked coldly.
“Just musing,” Harris said with equal iciness.
“Is it your job to muse or to find out the truth?”
Swanson let out a sigh. “So where can we get the recordings, Xavier?”
Xavier sent Harris a deadly glare before grabbing his phone. He called up the details of the security firm that managed his alarms and the security camera by the front entrance, then handed the phone to Detective Swanson. “I’ll tell them to give you everything you ask for.”
Swanson nodded as she shared the contact details to her phone.
“We’d like you to call them right now and tell them to expect us,” Harris said.
Xavier did as he was told, all the while looking straight at the cops. One thing had become clearer to him. He couldn’t rely on the police to keep him or and his family safe against Eugene Barker.
He’d been considering something since his conversation with his dad three nights ago, and with this new development, it was time to take that step. It used to be an unthinkable move, but now it was his only option.
Xavier checked his watch, grateful that it hadn’t taken him long to go through the strict process of being admitted as a visitor to the Silverwater Correctional Facility.
The visiting room was still quiet, having only just reopened for afternoon visitations. Only two other people were waiting around for their loved ones.
He went to a table away from them and sat on one of the metal stools around it. When he tried to move the seat, he found it was bolted to the floor.
A door on the far side opened and Ross Anton walked in, wearing prison greens and smiling wide at seeing Xavier.
Xavier responded with a little smile of his own, surprised at the physical change in Ross. The man’s eyes were sunken and he’d definitely lost more than a couple of kilos. There was an air of vulnerability about him—a far cry from the ostentatious pre-convict Ross.
“Hello, Xavier. Good to see you.” Ross shook his hand.
“How are you, Ross?”
Ross let out a dry snicker. “Surviving.”
Xavier glanced around surreptitiously. “Any of Barker’s men on the inside bothering you, like you feared?”
“If any of them happened to have a visitor today and see me with you, I’d probably get a couple of good ones here.” Ross tapped his stomach. “So far, though, they seem to be buying the story that I haven’t ratted Barker out. Either that or Barker’s biding his time. So why are you here? You must be desperate for something.”
Xavier smirked. Yeah, he was desperate. Being here today could give the police further reason to suspect him of being friendly with Barker, but he was running out of options. He wasn’t going to sit and wait for something worse to happen to him and his family. “Tell me about the Indie Rebels.”
Ross snickered. “Told you the puppet master’ll get to you eventually. Who exactly has he targeted? You or your parents? Or both?”
“Doesn’t matter. Tell me about this group.”
“Honestly, I don’t know much. But I learned about them from Aldo, one of Barker’s henchmen. I happened to be having dinner with him when he received news that the puppet master’s orders to set someone up for something dodgy had failed spectacularly. Instead of their intended victim being charged for a crime they wanted to hang around his neck, the police captured one of Barker’s right hand men.” Ross chuckled. “I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere near Barker when that news reached him. It would have been a nightmare for the person who stuffed up, if not deadly. Anyway, Aldo speculated that the Indie Rebels were responsible for it. Never heard of the group at that point, so Aldo showed me a website containing information on some high-profile criminal cases that have been solved. To both our surprise, the article on the front page, uploaded just a few minutes before we visited, had the title Indie Rebels 4, Puppet Master 0. The article simply said that Eugene Barker is losing his touch, then it encouraged anyone wanting to contact the Indie Rebels to send a message via the contact form on the website. I tried contacting them once, but I never got a response b
ack. Maybe they knew of my connection with Barker.”
Xavier stared at Ross in disbelief.
“Barker’s taking them seriously, because he’s issued a worldwide directive that anyone believed to be an Indie Rebel automatically goes straight to the top of his hit list. Point is, even Barker himself has no idea who the Indie Rebels are.”
“Really? Wouldn’t someone as powerful as Barker have hackers on his payroll who could easily track down the owner of that website?”
“That’s what I said. But apparently, they’re not easily hacked, just like the most secure government sites are not easily hacked. Barker’s team has been trying for a long time since Barker found out about them through Google Alerts. He’s set up alerts for his name and nicknames, so one of them led him to this website. Apparently, he went berserk when he saw the first article, titled Indie Rebels 1, Puppet Master 0, especially since one of his henchmen had gotten convicted only a couple of hours beforehand.”
“Wow,” Xavier murmured.
“And rumour has it that the police have also tried to uncover them, to no avail. While the Indie Rebels are considered a vigilante group, they haven’t actually committed anything that would give the police the right to subpoena anyone for anything, much less round them up and shut them down—if they can ever find them, that is. They don’t kill criminals. They track them down, gather evidence, then contact the police anonymously with a tip-off.”
Xavier narrowed his eyes at Ross. Could he trust this man?
Ross let out a dry laugh. “I don’t blame you for not trusting me, but see for yourself. Go to their website.”
Ross recited the sequence of letters and numbers comprising the Indie Rebels’ web address, and Xavier memorised it.
“I’ll think you’ll be impressed,” Ross said. “What you’ll read there is information about solved and closed cases they’d been involved with. It’s a smart move. It gives people confidence in them, and they avoid giving law enforcement agencies a reason to go after them by not putting up articles on open matters.”
“So if these Indie Rebels are so good, why haven’t they gone after Barker himself?”
Xavier Page 7
