Xavier
Page 10
“Here you go,” Alex said, handing her two sheets of paper. “All of those haven’t been followed up in any way. Good luck.”
“Thanks, Alex. I owe you one.”
“Don’t mention it,” Alex said with grin.
Eve walked away, glancing at the first page. Two words instantly jumped out at her. Eugene Barker.
She read the item, which had been logged five weeks ago.
Owner of Forest Bay Seafood Restaurant at The Entrance said Eugene Barker has dined there. Wants someone to come talk to her. She said EB was with “two gorgeous women in their early twenties” and a “very good-looking, muscular man in his late twenties or early thirties”.
Eve gulped. She knew one very good-looking, muscular man in his early thirties who’d been seen with Barker somewhere else.
She Googled the location on her phone. The restaurant was approximately two hours away from her place. That wasn’t too bad. Perhaps she could even show a photo of Xavier to the restaurant owner and ask if she’d seen him with Barker. That alone could make the trip worthwhile.
In the meantime, she could ask Xavier if he’d been anywhere near Forest Bay Seafood Restaurant in the last couple of months. Good thing she was meeting him for dinner.
Chapter 11
Xavier parked the black BMW sedan along a quiet, narrow street a block from the back entrance of the Your Eyes and Ears studio. Perfect spot. He had a clear line of sight to the gate leading to the employees’ car park.
With the aid of his binoculars, he’d be able to easily determine if a car leaving had Eve. According to the information provided to him, she’d be driving a silver Subaru Liberty.
He had ten minutes to kill, so he grabbed his phone and tapped the IR icon. After completing the security iris-scan, the app opened, and he re-accessed the digital file on his family that he’d been sent “in the interest of full disclosure” now that he was an IR.
He shook his head at the comprehensiveness of the information. It included his, his parents’ and Holly’s birthdates, the addresses of their homes and investment properties, their phone numbers, the number plates of their cars, the names of their closest friends, the places they frequented, and even their estimated net worths.
If Aidan, a full IR agent, hadn’t assured him that the information had helped the IR chiefs in coming to the conclusion that the Stirlings were not criminals, Xavier would be up in arms. In a way, it had given him confidence that the Indie Rebels were indeed very thorough. They seemed truly capable of going head-to-head with Barker’s global crime syndicate.
He looked around the interior of the sleek black BMW sedan, courtesy of the IR team—or its supposed billionaire founder. He still couldn’t believe this car was for his exclusive use. His eyes had bulged when he’d found the key in an envelope in his mailbox the morning after he’d signed the Indie Rebels contract. The note had said he was to use it when working on a case, so that even if someone took down the number plates, it couldn’t lead back to him.
There was also a black American Express card that he could use for IR-related expenses, including, of all things, the hiring of private jets if needed. And while the Amex card had his real name on it, he was assured the personal information linked to it was not his true details.
Impressive. He’d joined a group that had no problems with funding or capabilities. He could only hope he hadn’t sold his soul to the devil.
His phone vibrated with an IR message from Aidan.
Duck down in two minutes’ time and don’t come up until another two has passed.
Why?
Another suspect is heading towards you. Don’t want to risk you being seen. Remember that the windscreen isn’t tinted.
Xavier frowned. Who was this approaching suspect? Did they know Xavier? Did he know them?
He typed his questions, then ducked as instructed. He felt utterly silly and uncomfortable, crouched with half his body on the passenger seat, but he dared not disobey.
An answer came just as he was sitting back up.
Another IR was following the suspect who just drove past you. You don’t know the suspect, they don’t know you. Nothing to do with your assignment.
Why did I have to hide if it had nothing to do with my assignment?
It took a couple of minutes before an answer came.
Just an extra security measure. You ask a lot of questions.
Xavier snickered and messaged back.
There’s plenty more I’m burning to ask. It’s hard to fully trust when I’m being instructed by someone I don’t know.
The response was immediate.
No offence, but it’s hard to fully trust a new initiate.
Xavier laughed. He guessed that was fair.
He could understand the secrecy, even for new agents like him. He bet criminal groups and law enforcement agencies would always want to infiltrate a team like the Indie Rebels. That the IR chiefs had put measures in place to minimise the risk of infiltration was a testament to how seriously they took security. Definitely impressive.
He checked the time and trained his binoculars towards the back gate of the building ahead. Funny how he’d considered this his job the moment he’d signed that contract. He’d already delegated some of his one-on-one clients to his other trainers so he could spend more time protecting Eve.
He was putting a lot of faith in the Indie Rebels, but he didn’t have much choice. His dad was sitting on a time bomb, and the police were still scaring his clients away with their constant visits. The detectives seemed determined to interview all of A to X Fitness’s customers, and doing it in the gym was the easiest way to reach a number of them at once.
A car was exiting the station back gate, and he straightened abruptly, squinting through his binoculars. Ah, there was Eve, leaving for their date. Excitement immediately filled his body.
But he waited still, tapping the binoculars impatiently and itching to get to her. Just a couple more minutes to see if anyone from her work followed.
His wait was shorter than that. A few seconds later, a vehicle exited with more speed than necessary, and it went in the same direction as Eve.
He frowned and immediately started the BMW, trailing the white Hyundai. It could be nothing—maybe the person was simply in a hurry to get home—but better safe than sorry.
The car speakers picked up his ringing phone, and he pressed the answer button on the steering wheel. “Hello?”
“I see you’re on the move, initiate,” a male voice said.
“Aidan?”
“Yeah, how’s it going?”
Xavier grinned. “Nice to hear your voice. You sound younger than I imagined.”
“What, you think a hundred-year-old guy is manning the control tower?”
“Something like that,” he said with a laugh.
“Nowhere near half that age yet. Anyway, what’s going on?”
“Eve’s left the station and is heading towards the city, where I’m meeting her. A white Hyundai left not long after, driving pretty fast. It could just be me being paranoid, but I think the driver could be hurrying to catch up to Eve.”
“Some paranoia is good for what we do. Can you see the car?”
“Yes. It’s just up ahead. And I think that’s Eve a little farther up. There’s a bit of traffic here.”
“Call Eve and ask her for a different place to meet, somewhere in the opposite direction. See if the car follows.”
“Good idea. I’ll do that. Thanks.”
“No worries. All part of my job as mentor to an inquisitive initiate.”
Xavier snickered. “So when do I get to meet you?”
“When you become a full agent.”
“When’s that?”
“It’s up to you to convince the chiefs that you’re ready.” Then the line went dead.
Xavier sighed and called Eve through voice activation.
“Hello, Eve speaking.”
“Hi, Eve. It’s Xavier.”
“Hi.�
�
“Hi. Just wondering if you’ve left work yet.”
“Yes. On my way to the city now.”
“Hey, sorry to do this to you, but is there any chance we can meet at Chatswood or thereabouts? I’m on this side of town with a client and I’m running late. I’m afraid it’ll take me ages to get to the city, and I didn’t want you waiting for too long, so I thought maybe you wouldn’t mind meeting around here.”
“Oh, okay. I haven’t gone far yet. I can turn around.”
“Thank you. I’ll let you choose the restaurant again.”
“There’s actually a place in Chatswood that someone at work said I should try out.” Eve told him which one.
“Yes, I know where that is. Great choice as I’m literally minutes from there. Meet you in, say, fifteen?”
“Okay. I should be there by then.”
“Thanks, Eve. And… I can’t wait to see you again.” He rolled his eyes. Why had he said that? Stupid idiot.
Eve chuckled. “You just saw me earlier today.”
He perked up at the playfulness in her voice. “Was that earlier today? Felt like a long time ago.”
“I’m wearing a cream top, red jacket and black skirt, in case you’ve forgotten,” she said dryly.
“Ah, how you look is one thing I can never forget.” And he meant it too.
Eve fell silent, and he could imagine her shaking her head at herself, just like he was doing. And neither one of them seemed to want to say goodbye.
Finally, Eve spoke. “I… uh… see you soon.”
“Yes. See you.”
He saw her car make an abrupt left turn, presumably to find her way to Chatswood. He chuckled. She wasn’t used to the roads around here yet, so he hoped she wouldn’t get too stressed finding her way to their meeting place.
He eyed the car that had left after Eve and saw the driver trying to change lanes. But the traffic lights were red and the cars behind him were honking their annoyance as there was no room for anyone to move.
Fuck. That bastard was trying to follow Eve. Fortunately, the driver hadn’t anticipated Eve’s move and was in the wrong lane. Now he was stuck in traffic. Thank God for that.
He tried to determine if the idiot was male or female, but it was too dark to tell. And, damn it, he couldn’t see the car’s number plates from where he was.
He sighed. He had to go and follow Eve. Nothing much he could do right now but to report the situation to the IR team.
He called Aidan and updated him.
“Okay,” Aidan said. “The studio has a white Hyundai shared company car. It’s a stand-by vehicle for employees to use for errands or other emergencies. We have access to the log of users, so we’ll see who’s taken it out.”
“Good. Can I wait?”
“Hang on.”
A couple of minutes later, Aidan was back. “Unfortunately, whoever’s driving the Hyundai didn’t log their use. Obviously, they don’t want to be found out.”
“Fuck,” Xavier muttered under his breath. “Shall I follow him?”
“No. Go to Eve. We’ll update you as new info comes in.”
“Copy.”
Xavier turned into a different street, just in case the other driver was still looking at the one Eve had disappeared into. He wouldn’t want his surveillance car to be noticed.
See? He was already learning a lot about not attracting attention. The Indie Rebels were teaching him well.
He sped towards Chatswood, hoping to get to the restaurant before Eve. He hated making a woman wait during a date.
Well, it was more that he had to make Eve believe that he was this infatuated guy who couldn’t stay away from her. His success with this assignment depended on Eve trusting him.
That was all.
He had no other agenda apart from that.
Really.
Even though he couldn’t wait to kiss her again.
But only because he was glad she was safe and sound.
That was all.
Chapter 12
“This is not a date. This is not a date. This is not a date.”
Yeah, Eve, keep going.
She let out a harsh breath. This wasn’t a date. It was an investigation to find out whether there was any truth to what the anonymous woman had said. It was her job as a journalist to find out the truth, no matter how hunky and sweet the relevant individuals were. Besides, Aaron had already warned her that her job depended on this.
Xavier’s caring, handsome face popped into her mind, and her chest compressed. She was usually good at detecting bullshit artists, having honed that skill for years in her job—and she sincerely hadn’t felt one iota of dishonesty from Xavier during their intense, albeit brief time together. She was ninety percent sure the anonymous woman was wrong. Even the police hadn’t seemed to have found anything regarding that tip-off. They’d surely have arrested Xavier by now if they’d found evidence against him.
Right? Right? It wasn’t like she wasn’t being objective. In fact, she could argue she was being fair. The police hadn’t found anything against Xavier. He wouldn’t be free to meet with her otherwise.
Or Xavier could just be smart and cunning, like Eugene Barker, who’d managed to evade law enforcement across the world for years.
“Ah, hell.”
She inhaled, filling her lungs. Her only choice at this point was to be on the fence, regardless of her feelings for him.
Feelings?
No. Attraction. Just attraction. If it was anything more than that, then she didn’t want to know, even if she’d be lying to herself. She simply wasn’t ready to face anything of the sort.
She followed the disembodied voice telling her to make a right at the next set of lights and instantly spotted the restaurant Chester had recommended. Despite her internal turmoil, she found herself getting excited. She was in an unfamiliar place, about to try out a new-to-her restaurant with the best, most gorgeous tour guide she’d ever had.
She rolled her eyes. “Just remember you have a job to do tonight, for heaven’s sake.”
Soon she was parking in the underground car park of a big shopping mall. She hoped the establishment wasn’t full.
She could always mention Chester’s name, since her colleague had said he was a favoured customer of this place, but she didn’t want to be a name dropper just to get a table.
She walked out into the street, looking around to get her bearings. Spotting the restaurant’s sign, she walked towards it.
Her heart skipped. There was Xavier, a little distance ahead of her.
She hurried to catch up to him. “Xavier!”
Xavier turned around. “Hey!”
Soon they were face-to-face. And grinning widely at each other.
She checked out his eyes and was relieved to see them dilated. He really was happy to see her, with no sign whatsoever of wariness. She doubted anyone could fake such a response. After all, the eyes were the windows to the soul.
She let herself relax. “What timing. We got here at the same time.”
“I know. I did hurry so you wouldn’t have to wait for me.”
She smiled, touched at his thoughtfulness. How could a criminal be this considerate and sweet?
The image of the man who’d conned her Aunt Tammy flashed in her brain, and she hastily pushed it away. “Shall we go in?”
Xavier nodded.
The restaurant was indeed full, and Eve smiled at the approaching server. She’d have to use Chester Blunt’s name. Hopefully, it would work wonders.
The waitress gasped, looking at her with wide eyes. “Table for two?” she asked.
“Yes, please,” both Eve and Xavier responded.
“Please give me a second, Miss Marrin. I think we have a nice spot in a quiet corner for you.”
“Thank you,” she murmured, surprised. She wasn’t expecting to be recognised, but she guessed some of the staff were regular viewers of Your Eyes and Ears.
“A fan, obviously,” Xavier said.
She sent him another smile. If it had been her cheating ex, he’d be pouting with a bruised ego. What a refreshing change.
The nice young lady was back, ushering them to a cosy corner that appeared tailored to patrons seeking privacy.
“This is perfect,” Xavier said when they were alone. “I bet you’re used to this kind of treatment back in Adelaide.”
“In certain places,” she admitted.
“Have you ever had bad experiences with fans?”
“A few, but mostly, people have been friendly and respectful. How does your sister handle the attention she gets? It must overwhelm her sometimes, being the superstar that she is.”
Xavier nodded. “She’s has some overzealous fans who just grab her for a kiss or a selfie, or push each other to get to her. But she takes it all in stride. She always says she wouldn’t be where she is without them, so she takes the bad with the good.”
“And have you ever been recognised as Holly’s brother?”
“A handful of times,” Xavier said with a laugh. “They must have found the odd family picture somewhere on the internet. We’ve always been vigilant in making sure that family photos with Holly don’t get released to the public. I don’t like being in the limelight, and neither do my parents. Speaking of my parents…”
Eve looked at Xavier expectantly. She had kind of been expecting this.
“You said you didn’t know I was related to them.”
“I didn’t,” she said quietly.
“So when did you know? You seemed to have found out already before I saw you this morning.”
She glanced down involuntarily. “I’m an investigative journalist, Xavier. I learnt about it during my investigations.”
“When exactly? It couldn’t have been on the day you reported about them, because nothing about our phone conversation before that, nor your text to remind me to watch Your Eyes and Ears, indicated you’d known then.”