Chapter 11: Brother and Sister
"Say something, please."
For around half an hour Francis sat in a coffee shop accompanied by the woman he slept with almost three months ago. She was cute, with bright blue eyes and blond hair which shimmered in the sunlight. Francis couldn't even remember her name until the two had arranged to meet that afternoon. It was Annabel.
"I don't know what to say," Francis eventually blurted out. "Are you sure?"
Annabel nodded. "Pretty sure." She put a hand to her stomach and pulled a sickly face. "Just over eleven weeks, according to the doctor."
The news had devastated Francis, Annabel was the last person he had ever hoped to see once again but to find out she was also carrying his child was something Francis never ever wanted to hear.
"So…uh," Francis didn't know how to continue his sentence.
"I plan on keeping it," she said, much to Francis' disappointment. "I understand if you don't want any involvement but-"
Francis shook his head. "No, that's not what I want. This is equally my mistake as it is you-"
"Mistake?" snapped Annabel. "This isn't just some math exam we failed. Don't call it a mistake."
"Then what should I call it?" snapped back Francis.
"A baby, for Christ sake." She sank back in her chair, her fingers pressed to her forehead.
Francis grew hot with worry and distresses. "I…I can't do this right now," he murmured standing up. "I'll call you tomorrow."
"Francis," she grabbed his arm just before his exit. "I didn't mean for this to happen."
Francis pulled his arm away and marched out of the coffee shop, sweat pouring from his skin. At first he didn't know what to do, in order to clear his head he began to walk down the streets wishing his problem didn't exist. Even though Francis had already taken care of two boys himself to be the biological father of another child wasn't in his life plan at all. Having children had already been scored off his plan, if anything having another child would ruin his life even more. Guilt flooded his gut as he knew how selfish he was being, he felt like some teenage boy who had just knocked up his teenage girlfriend. All that was missing was a cheap reality TV show following him around, as millions of viewers judged him for his incompetence.
After an hour of walking his legs hurt and he found himself looking up at the building where Arthur worked. That morning he felt as if he had mended slightly the relationship between himself and Arthur. He knew that the two exes would never be as close as they once were but that morning they at least made an effort to be civil. With Annabel pregnant, all the civilness would be destroyed. However, he knew he had to tell Arthur, he owed him that much.
Deeply sighing, Francis slowly walked into the office building, dread flooding every fibre in his body. He went up to the woman at reception and asked for Arthur. The woman nodded and took to the telephone on the desk.
"His partner will be here in a second," she said smiling after she hung up the phone.
It took around three long agonising minutes before Toris showed up by the reception desk. He looked at Francis bewildered and scared that he would cause a scene just like the last time he was at the office.
"Uh, Francis?" he said. "I'm afraid Arthur isn't here just now, can I take a message?"
Francis quickly shook his head. "Never mind…I'll…" Francis trailed off and spun on his heel. As he left the office he didn't hear Toris chase after him.
"Francis! Francis!"
Toris was able to intercept Francis in the parking lot.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," Toris said breathlessly, as he ran in front of Francis. "What is the matter?"
"It's nothing,," Francis said, running his hands through his hair. "Really, it's nothing."
"Hey," Toris put his hand on Francis' shoulders in an attempt to comfort him. "Really Francis, what's wrong?"
Arthur had poured himself over all the little shops which sold spirits in the area. Already he had spoken to a handful of shop owners. He looked over their sales list but could find no one who had recently bought large amounts of vodka, gin, or whiskey. It was nearing the end of the day before Arthur finally made a breakthrough.
He came across a small shop near the edge of the city. The liquor store was owned by a large Russian man which, despite his smiley face, Arthur couldn't shake the feeling of unease he felt from the man.
"Hello," said the Russian man, as Arthur entered the store.
Arthur nodded his head and reached into his blazer pocket to pull out his badge. "My name is Detective Kirkland, I spoke to you over the phone this afternoon."
The man nodded and stood up from sitting behind the counter. "Oh yes, I remember. Please come with me." The man gestured for Arthur to follow him into the back room where large boxes of glass bottles were stacked up.
"I was actually going to call the police this evening," he said as they walked into a small office like room.
Arthur looked around and noticed a young woman standing behind some of the boxes, watching both Arthur and the Russian man intently. Arthur couldn't help but he very scared by the girls stare. He couldn't get inside the office room quick enough.
"Really? May I ask why Mr…uh?" Arthur questioned, wondering why the Russian man would have wanted to contact the police.
"Please just call me Ivan," he said, sitting down on one of the office chairs.
"Okay, Ivan. Why were you going to contact the police?" Arthur asked, sitting down across from Ivan.
"For the past few days I have noticed some of our vodka stock diminishing," he said.
The revelation made Arthur's ears prick up. Finally, there had been a break in this case which had haunted Arthur for the past few weeks. Perhaps with Ivan's help he would be able to find out who was killing these girls.
"Go on, Ivan," urged Arthur.
"It's nothing big and at first I thought perhaps it was just people stealing from the store," explained Ivan. "However I went through our security tapes and could no see anyone steal from our vodka supply, the only thing I can think is that it is one of my staff members." The man made a sullen look. "I do not wish to believe that one of my workers could be doing such a thing but it seems to be the only thing plausible. I haven't even said anything about this to the staff."
Arthur nodded his head while trying to put on an equally sullen face, trying to show some sympathy for the man. However, inside Arthur was screaming from achievement. "I'm going to need a list of all your employees and those who deliver your stock."
Ivan nodded and stood up. "I can give you the list via e-mail for tomorrow afternoon."
Arthur stood up and extended his hand for Ivan to shake. "Thank you for your time, Ivan. You have really helped me this afternoon."
Ivan smiled warmly. "I am glad to have helped. Could you see yourself out, I have a few things to do in here."
"Sure, sure," said Arthur, rapidly nodding his head. "If I have anymore questions I will be in touch."
Arthur exited the room with a large smile on his face. Just as he was about to exit the stock room the same woman from before intercepted him at the door frame, her hands were on her hips and a scowl was on her lips.
"What did my brother say to you?" she asked.
Taken slightly aback Arthur quickly mumbled, "I am afraid I cannot talk to you about that."
"Is it about the missing bottles?" she quickly asked. "Because if so you should look into those truck drivers. They keep on giving us weird looks. They think we're part of the Russian mob."
She was speaking too fast for Arthur to really understand or take seriously. "Ma'am, ma'am," he put his hands up trying to stop the girl from saying anymore. "I will look into this but until then can you please allow me to leave."
The girl gave Arthur a look of pure rage and hate, sending a chill up his spine. The woman slowly stepped to the side allowing Arthur to exit. Quickly, he scurried out of the shop and returned to his car. With a new wind leading him through the investigation, Arthur felt like he was making true progress for the first time since he had taken on the case. It felt good knowing that he might soon be close to giving Emma Van Dyk and Bethany Cross the justice they both deserved.
With a smile on his face he returned to his office and found it strange that Toris wasn't there. He assumed that he perhaps left work early, or to get some coffee, Arthur didn't spend too much time analysing it. Arthur took to the white board and wrote a few things down. He knew that if he found out where those missing vodka bottles were going then he'd catch the killer.
As he stood back and looked at the board - now missing the information on Maddie - a chilling thought went into his head. The young woman from before knew about the missing bottles. However, according to Ivan he hadn't told anyone about it.
A/N: Hey look at that I'm starting to update more. This is how I am trying to get forgiveness for my absent for so long. I am also sorry for the shortness of this chapter but I liked how it went and this is where I wanted to end it. If I kept on writing then it would just seem like filler and too much padding.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading/reviewing.