It was evening, and Austin stood in front of the large TV in the apartment flat, watching the surveillance camera footage of the building and the street outside. The living room was simple—just a couch, the TV, and a few gym equipment scattered around.
As Austin looked around the room, his eyes landed on a drawer at the far end. Curious, he walked over and opened it, only to find a handgun inside. He reached for it, but before he could grab it, Celeb Winters appeared and shut the drawer quickly.
"A gun is the last thing that should end up in your hands," Celeb said, handing Austin a cup of coffee.
"No matter how much I tried, I couldn't get a gun license. How did you manage to get one?" Austin asked, taking the cup from him.
"Emily helped with it," Celeb replied casually. "And you? With a gun? Didn't three weeks in juvie teach you anything?"
"It was two weeks, not three," Austin corrected, rolling his eyes.
"Same difference," Celeb shrugged, settling onto the couch.
"So why did you call me here?" Austin asked, sitting in the chair next to the couch. He smirked slightly. "Don't tell me you called me just to gossip about Billy's chaotic proposal. Planning to report it to Emily?"
"Are you not even a little worried that I might?" Celeb teased.
"'Come on, if you spill anything, all the dirt we've done will come out. You'll go down with me,'" Austin said confidently.
"Fair enough," Celeb let out a sigh. "But no, I didn't call you here for that."
"Then what?"
"Do you know how strange it was that during the stabbing incidence, Amy did not seem anywhere in the report despite saving the life of Billy?" Celeb questioned seriously and his voice changed.
Austin's jaw stopped moving. He realized the truth. "That's… true. In all the chaos, I didn't even think of it. She literally saved him, but her name never came up."
Celeb leaned back. "I thought the same at first. Maybe she just dropped him off at the hospital and left. But Amy used her ID card for the hospital admission, and she even donated blood for him."
"If she had made a transaction with her card, our team should have tracked it, shouldn't they?" Austin asked, his voice pointed with accusation.
"They should have," Celeb agreed. "But meanwhile, while we were running around looking for the thief, someone managed to delete some crucial leads within forty-eight hours."
"Amy needs to be questioned without delay," Austin declared emphatically.
Celeb nodded and handed him a tablet. On the screen was a file that opened with great detail about Amy.
"Amy Anderson, age 26. She has graduated from Fairview University and served there till she gets employed from Arora University," Celeb summed.
"Her family isn't big—mother died of cancer three years ago and father had separated from her and now she has one brother also. Her brother also lives with her."
"Ethan Anderson, 27 years old, Chief technical officer at Delta tech," Austin read from the file before his eyes widened. "Wait a second. That's Emily's company!"
"Exactly," Celeb nodded. "Amy's background seems perfectly clean. Nothing suspicious. But why someone erased the evidence?".
"Just keep a tab on her for now," Austin advised. "I don't see anything to raise serious alarms yet. And whatever you do, don't breathe a word of this to Billy."
"Unfortunately your brother is not like you to immediately deduce who I am,, Celeb said, setting the tablet down, "he still thinks I am an just an regular neighbor.".
Just then, he glanced toward the television screen. "Oh look, Billy's back from his game."
Austin turned to the footage on the TV, where Billy was at the apartment entrance, chatting with Julie. He had a sports bag slung over his shoulder.
They climbed the stairs together, their conversation carried in a casual, low-pitched tone. "How's job hunting, Miss Julie?" Billy asked.
"Well, I just applied for a receptionist job, Billy," Julie said, her voice laced with frustration. "But things just seem to be going wrong because my ex-boyfriend keeps turning up places I work and creates chaos. And so job hunting is quite a nightmare.
"Ah, don't worry, Miss Julie. This time you'll surely get it. Good luck," Billy said with an encouraging smile.
They proceeded upstairs, and just as Billy was getting to the last stair, he saw Austin and Celeb standing in the hallway.
"Hey, Celeb!" Billy exclaimed, walking up to him with energy in his voice. "Sorry I couldn't meet you earlier. Been busy since I got here."
Oh, I know how busy you've been," Celeb replied with a mischievous grin. "Mr. Professor Proposer," he teased lightly.
"What, even you?" Billy's face turned bright red from embarrassment.
"Professor proposer?" Julie asked, interested.
"Oh, Miss Julie, you haven't heard?" Celeb began to say, but before he could continue, Billy quickly covered his mouth.
"It's nothing, Miss Julie," Billy said hastily, pulling Celeb away as Julie watched in confusion.
After they went a little further, Julie turned to Austin. A memory from two days back flashed in her mind, and she gazed slightly uneasy. "Austin," she said hesitantly. "My ex-boyfriend and his gang haven't been around for two days now. Thank you for that."
Austin raised an eyebrow. "I didn't do anything," he replied nonchalantly.
"Well, someone handled his gang," Julie went on cautiously. "You don't know who it was, do you?"
"It wasn't me," Austin said with assurance. "And even if they wanted to come after me, they couldn't do a thing."
Julie hesitated. "I believe you, but what if they target Billy instead?"
Austin looked over at Billy from across the yard and gave Julie an assured look. "Don't worry. No one's going to touch Billy."
Meanwhile, Billy had pulled Celeb away. "Why'd you go and say that to Julie?" Billy demanded, agitated.
Celeb grinned. "What can I say? Everyone needs to know the epic love story of Mr. Professor Propose!"
"Come on, just drop it," Billy begged, exasperated.
"Okay, okay, I was just messing with you," Celeb said, raising his hands in mock surrender.
Billy let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, but why didn't you show up for the game today?
"Had some work to take care of," Celeb replied.
"Oh yeah, how's your little sister doing?" Billy asked casually. At the mention of his sister, Celeb's face lit up with pride.
She just started high school this year, and she got into a top school on a full scholarship. As her big brother, I couldn't be prouder," Celeb said, his voice soft with affection. "Here, look at these pictures from her summer vacation. We had a great time together." He pulled out his phone and showed Billy some pictures.
"I'm glad she's doing well," Billy said, smiling. "She's lucky to have you. She seems happy."
"I was very happy when she regained her health. She's the only family I have," Celeb said, his tone unusually gentle as he stared at one of the photos. "I'd do anything for her."
"You really love your sister, man," Billy said, patting Celeb on the back. "I miss my sister's constant scolding. She's something else," he added with a soft chuckle.
On the other side of the city, Emily sneezed into a tissue while sitting in her office cabin. "Someone might be thinking about me in bad way," she murmured.