Chapter 29

Liam knelt on a knee next to where Amber lay helplessly, trembling from both fear and pain. An obscene grin spread across his thin lips as he sat on top of her once more; the weight of his body pressing on her and to an extent began suffocating her. Amber fidgeted and tried to push herself away from him with her legs but to no avail. For some reason, her vision kept alternating between stars and tunnels and it felt as if a ton of bricks balanced precariously on her head.

“You know Amber, you’ve been a very naughty girl. I asked for you to do one thing. One simple thing and yet you still failed me.”

He shook his head and tsked as he ran a finger along her cheeks. Amber whimpered and tried to kick him, but he held her under his weight.

“You’re such a disappointment….and here I thought that your brother’s life meant more to you than having Fabian fuck you,” his finger trailed down her neck and to the top of her tee where he savagely ripped it open.

No, please…tears sprung from her eyes as she struggled wildly, ignoring the burning sting of the rope cutting into her wrists.

“I should have just stabbed your brother along with Rodriguez that night.”

A sneer came as he slapped her hard across her face, causing her head to roll to the side like a paper doll. She could feel blood pooling in her mouth but the sting from the slap was nothing compared to what came next. Liam started to disrobe himself, revealing his pale lean frame. The man was in need of a protein shake but though he was smaller in size compared to Fabian, he was still many times stronger than Amber.

She shook her head in fear, trying to wake herself from the blanketing darkness.

“You’re a monster...” she managed to spit out the blood in her mouth. Liam returned her accusation with a thin smile, “You have no idea.”

Then he leaned near to face her, his eyes crazed with hatred, “And do you know what this monster is going to do?”

At that moment Amber realized that there were worse things than dying.

No……

Liam laughed manically and began to tug at her jeans and Amber screamed.

Just then, the front door burst to an open…

***

“Mr. Williams, in one hundred meters, please turn right.”

“Mr. Williams, you have missed the turning point. Please make a U-turn at—”

“Shut up V.”

“Mr. William’s you are veering off course.”

“I know what I’m doing,” Fabian snapped as he tore into a secluded lane. He had been to Liam’s residence many times before, back when they were still on good terms with each other and even though the road was dimly lit, Fabian could still remember the shortcut to Liam’s house like the back of his hand.

It seemed only like yesterday when they were the best of friends, often working into the wee hours of the morning just to perfect their craft. Or rather, Fabian would be working while Liam cheered from the sidelines. Their ascension to success came swiftly with the launch of V. Perhaps the fame and fortune that came too early for them corrupted Liam, for the first cracks in their partnership appeared soon after. Liam started to party even more; granted, he was better in PR but the fact that he laundered their profits in the name of ‘entertaining’ potential clients did not sit well with Fabian. And just before VX2 was launched, Fabian found that Liam had siphoned a ridiculous portion of Virtuex’s fund for his personal expenditures. That was the last straw. Enraged, Fabian kicked Liam out of the company and the two had become sworn enemies ever since.

Back in the present, Fabian swerved dangerously along the dimly lit narrow lanes that lead to Liam’s house, and on the way, he almost had a heart attack when a figure donning a black cap suddenly dashed across the road. Fabian swore and immediately slammed into his brakes, bringing his car to a sudden screeching halt and narrowly missing the jaywalker.

“Damnit!” he honked at the figure who made a mad dash into the bushes by the side of the road.

He revved his engine once more, bringing his car at a breakneck speed to Liam’s residence.

“Redd!” he yelled, rushing out of his car.

I’ll kick that son of a bitch’s door down if I have to, he swore to himself as he raced up the steps that lead to the door. Behind him, he could hear the distant sound of a blaring siren. He pounded on the door, yelling, “Open up! Liam! I know you’re in there! Open—”

To his surprise, the door suddenly creaked to an open and right in front of him stood Amber. Her hair was in a disarray and her shirt was torn. There was caked blood on her nose and mouth, and she stood there in a daze as if she was seeing through him.

Fabian sucked in his breath and grabbed her shoulders, checking her face and body for other signs of wounds. But there were none. Relieved that she was safe and sound, he pulled her into his arms and embraced her tightly.

“Redd, I thought I lost you…”

At his voice, Amber stirred in his arms and looked up at him through her dark long lashes, “Fabian?”

“Am I dreaming?” she asked in a whisper, her voice trembling.

He cupped her face and kissed her head gently, “No, no, I’m here….” Then slowly he released her and looked past the door and into the house. He couldn’t see Liam. Did the bastard run away?

“Where’s Liam? Did he hurt you?”

Amber blinked, going back into a trance and Fabian had to shake her shoulders to snap her out of it.

“Redd?”

Something isn’t right. Where’s Liam?

The blaring of the siren became louder and behind him, a black Wrangler came to a halt and out hopped two men. One of them was Detective Grant.

“Amber Banks?” John Grant ran up to them, panting.

Fabian’s eyes narrowed as his gaze shifted to the cops. He hadn’t expected backup to arrive that soon. But why were they addressing Amber instead?

John’s colleague pulled out his gun, rushed past the trio and ran into the house. Fabian heard the man swear upon entering, “Holy cow! Fuck! John! Forensics now!”

The blonde detective gave Amber an odd look before he too followed his colleague’s footsteps into the house. Fabian heard him swear too. “Bloody fuck! Shit!” It sounded like the two men were trying to out cuss one another.

Seconds later, the detective stepped out to the front door where Fabian was still holding protectively onto a trembling but otherwise very quiet Amber. The detective’s mouth pulled into a thin line as he bent slightly to look Amber in the eye. Fabian grip on Amber tightened, “She’s hurt, we need to send her to the hospital.”

The detective shook his head and raised a hand to silence Fabian before holding onto Amber’s gaze. His voice came out soft but firm, “Amber Banks, can you tell me what happened in there?”

Amber, who had been staring at the ligature marks on her wrists the entire time finally looked up.

“Yes,” her voice was hoarse. She swallowed and a single tear slid down her cheek, “I killed him. I killed Liam Smith.”