Chapter 32

Fabian walked to the nurse’s station and frowned, rapping his knuckles against the surface of the desk.

“Fabian Williams!”

A lanky young man in a janitor’s jumper shot straight up at the sight of him from a chair at the nurse’s station. He had been slouching off, ogling at the busty nurse who was also too engrossed with the man’s busy hands to notice Fabian’s arrival.

“I’m here to see Anson Banks.”

“Oh, but we have orders to restrict the number of visitors…” the same nurse from the day before got up from her chair, soothing her crumpled uniform. It seemed to Fabian that the man in the janitor’s jumper did more than just ogle at the nurse.

But it was none of his business and Fabian was not used to taking ‘no’ for an answer, “Where’s the official notice? I don’t see any.”

The man in the jumper scratched the back of his neck sheepishly and stammered, “Well…uh…Detective Grant said…”

Fabian’s eyes narrowed with disapproval as he looked the man up and down, “Were you the policeman in charge of Anson last night?”

“Y-yes sir. I am. My name’s Kirk Johnson.”

“Well Kirk, can you honestly tell me that Anson never left your sight last night?”

Kirk swallowed uncomfortably and he tugged at the collar of his jumper, “I…uh…”

Fabian did not wait for his answer, instead, he headed straight for the door to Anson’s room and walked in, locking the door behind him, and ignoring Kirk the policeman’s protests.

“Hey! Open up!” Kirk banged at the door as the nurse tried to silence him. She could not afford to have him make a scene.

Fabian turned to face the observation window and raised five fingers, “I won’t take long. Five minutes tops and I’ll be out of here. You have my word. Now shut up.”

Kirk the policeman opened his mouth to protest but the nurse dragged him back to his seat, allowing Fabian to do what he came here for.

“Fabian Williams?”

Fabian whirled around at the sound of his name and came face to face for the first time with Amber Banks’ brother.

It never struck him how similar they would look, but here he was, staring at the spitting image of Amber, albeit a manlier version. They both sported the same set of doleful green eyes and flaming red hair, making it impossible for people to mistake them for anything else but members of the same family.

He remained stone-faced as he walked over to where the young redhead lay, noticing that a foot was cuffed to the edge of the bed frame. Parts of Anson’s long lean legs were still in bandages, and he was wearing a beanie over his head but otherwise, he looked fit as a horse.

“Yes,” Fabian sat on the plastic chair next to Anson’s bed, folding his arms.

Anson blinked uncomfortably, one of his eyes was still swollen and there was a slight cut on his lips, “What are you doing here?”

“I saved your life.” Fabian looked at the redhead straight in the eyes. “I figured you might want to thank me.”

At that, Anson let out a chuckle, “Oh that! Ah yes, I…I owe you my life. I would have died if it wasn’t for you.”

“What did you think I came here for?”

Time for you to spill the beans, Anson.

The young man averted his eyes and looked down at his woolly blanket, tugging at its hems, “I don’t know.” His words came out softer than Fabian expected, surprising him. He had to keep reminding himself that this was Amber’s brother.

Fabian sighed and leaned forward from his chair, placing his hands on the bed’s railing, “I think you do Anson. You know why I’m here.”

Why are you doing this to your sister?

Anson dug his fingers into his palm, something Amber always did when she was agitated. The young man shook his head, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

An awkward silence came between them, stifling the room. Outside, Kirk, the policeman peered from the nurse’s station and looked at them suspiciously.

Fabian’s gaze travelled out the window of Anson’s room where he saw puffy white clouds floating by in the clear blue skies. It was slightly after lunch, and he urgently needed to tend to his work at Virtuex but that would have to wait.

“Anson,” he began after what felt like an eternity of silence, “Your sister is under arrest for the murder of Liam Smith. I’m sure you know that.”

Anson nodded silently, still very much captivated by the texture of his blanket.

“But I’ve been with your sister long enough to know that she can’t even hurt a fly. You know that too,” Fabian continued, his eyes never leaving Anson’s face.

“Yes…” was the redhead’s hoarse reply.

“And you know that she cares for you very much, otherwise she wouldn’t have come to—” Fabian stopped himself short before the words ‘auction’ and ‘escort’ spilt out of his mouth. It didn’t sound right, but before he could even continue, Anson spoke, “Yes, she worked as your maid.”

What?

Fabian blinked and let go of the bed’s railing.

Was that what she told her brother?

 The cold hard truth finally dawned on Fabian. Amber loved her brother more than life itself.

She gave up everything for the sake of his future.

He tensed, inhaling sharply and his hands curled into fists as the gravity of the situation weighed down on him. What he was about to say would make Amber hate him for life, but he had to do it. He couldn’t let her rot in jail. All he cared about was setting her free.

“She wasn’t my maid.”

Anson looked up, confused.

“She auctioned herself and became my personal escort just to get the blueprint.”

A look of horror crossed Anson’s swollen face, “What?”

Fabian nodded solemnly, “She gave up everything for you. Everything.” He emphasized the word ‘everything,’ letting it hang in the air.

Anson continued to stare at Fabian, his eyes unblinking as the truth began to sink its ugly claws in.

Then a knock came at the door and Kirk the policeman popped his head in.

“Five minutes are up,” he motioned for Fabian to leave. Anson stayed motionless as he continued to stare at Fabian, frozen in shock. It was the exact reaction Fabian needed.

He got up, pushed the chair to the side, and before he left, he leaned down to whisper into the redhead’s ear, “Think about it. What have you ever done for your sister?”

***

No sooner did Fabian leave than Kirk the policeman picked up his mobile and called John Grant.

John was at the station, going over the footage from the black box. The footage was grainy at best, but Fabian Williams had been telling the truth. The man in the footage sported the same green eyes as Amber Banks. But that was where the similarity ended. They would have a hard time running the image through the facial recognition program. And because of that, the footage was deemed unusable.

“Detective Grant, Fabian Williams just left.”

John Grant nodded, “Did you have their conversation recorded?”

“Yes sir, I did as you requested sir. I had the room bugged before Fabian Williams came.”

“Good, send me the recording. And Dirk?”

“It’s Kirk sir.”

“Kirk, are you sure you did not lose sight of Anson Banks last night?”

John was not well acquainted with this particular young police officer but he had a hunch that the man was not being truthful.

The hunch was amplified when Kirk’s stuttered response came in a few seconds too late.

“I…uh…no sir. I did not lose sight of him.”