Exposed: A Jaded Regret Novel

by L. L. Collins

  Kale grinned. “Easy. I saw her in a cheerleading skirt.”

  I laughed, and it felt damn good. “Seriously. I forgot you were a horny teenager when you two met.”

  Kale shoved me. “Shut up, fool. No, I was young and stupid, but the second I saw her, I knew.”

  “No shit. Seriously? Even as a teenager?”

  Kale nodded. “Seriously. I knew she was it.”

  “That’s exactly what I felt the second I started talking to Natalie. Even though I didn’t meet her for months after we became friends, I just knew.”

  “When you know, you know. Us Pierson men don’t mess around with the women we love.” Kale sighed. “Dad was the same way with mom, you know. So, what do you say we wrap this shit up? I miss my woman.”

  We both laughed again. Despite the circumstances that surrounded us, it was awesome to spend so much time with my brother. “Thank you for being here. It means so much to me.”

  “You’re my family. Of course, I’d do anything to help you, and anyone you love. Plus, hanging out with Jaded Regret is super cool.”

  I rolled my eyes. “They’re just regular people.”

  “Uh, yeah. Regular people who kick ass at music.”

  “Truth. They do rock.”

  Kale rolled his eyes. “Let’s get some sleep. I have the feeling the next few days are going to be long and tiring.”

  I hugged my brother and walked down the hall to Natalie’s room. I closed the door behind me and walked to her bed. When I laid down, her smell permeated my nostrils. I pretended I could feel her nestled in my arms, her soft skin touching mine. She was stroking her hand down my bare chest like she liked, and she tipped her head back, and I could see her sparkling green eyes and her rosy pink lips.

  “I miss you,” I said into the air. “Get better for me, love. Come back to me.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Kai

  Kale paced back and forth, talking rapidly into his phone. Hearing one side of the conversation stressed me out. The band and I stood anxiously awaiting whatever news got him all fired up. It had something to do with the bank because he was asking location and time.

  Kale “deposited” the money in the account two days ago, and since then I hadn’t slept a wink and neither had anyone else, waiting to see what would happen. I was worried about Beau, but April said he was okay. She often took him to the other room and when he came back, he was still quiet and terse but calm.

  “This is fucking killing me,” he whispered next to me.

  “I know. Me too. It kind of sounds like they’ve got a lead, though. Maybe even a location?”

  Beau nodded. “I hope so.”

  Kale hung up the phone and turned to the seven of us. “There was an online inquiry about transferring the funds to another bank.”

  “Shit.” Johnny stood. “What does that mean? We can’t find this person?”

  “No, that doesn’t mean that at all,” Kale said. “The bank denied the transfer, thanks to us. That means if they want the money, they’re going to have to go into a branch. The account is flagged, remember? Anyone who talks to this person will tell them they have to go into a local branch and speak to a manager. The second that happens, they’re apprehended.”

  “So we still wait,” Bex said. “Fuck, I can’t handle this.”

  “We wait, but it’s getting closer. This person’s making a move. It’s what we’ve been waiting for. They want the money for something, and they’re going to go and get it.”

  “What if they know something’s up?”

  Kale shrugged. “It’s something we have to take a chance on. That greed will override any unease they feel from not being able to get the money transferred. Now that the online transfer has been denied, it’s only a matter of time.”

  “This is new behavior,” Ziggy interjected. “They’ve never asked for it to be transferred before. That can mean a few things. Either the person is out of the area and can’t get to this bank, or they have a feeling something is up.”

  I blew out a breath. “I don’t like either of those options.”

  “We know this M.O.,” Kale said. “Don’t worry. This thug is coming out of hiding to get the money. If they’re not in the area, they will be soon. There are branches of this particular bank all over Florida, but most of them are in the Southwest area. The others are more few and far between, and there aren’t any outside of the state. I would bet money they surface very soon.”

  The urge to hear Natalie’s voice was overwhelming. I knew she couldn’t talk to me and even if she could, this wasn’t something I could tell her about, but every cell in my body screamed for her.

  I wondered how she was feeling and what her day was like. I didn’t want her to be anxious or scared, much less upset or angry. I prayed she was eating and doing what she needed to in order to come home.

  “She’s okay,” April said, sitting down next to me.

  “How did you know what I was thinking?”

  She smiled. “You get this faraway look on your face every time you think about her. I’m worried, too, but we have to believe in her and know she’s one of the strongest people I’ve ever known.” She looked over at Beau. “Both of them are.”

  “I know she is,” I said.

  “It’s best that she’s not here right now, in all this craziness. Can you imagine how stressed she’d be with this mess?”

  “So true. I wouldn’t want her to have to deal with all this, either.”

  “By the time she’s out and is strong enough to deal with all she has to come to terms with, this will be over. Whoever this is will be behind bars, and we can tell her she won’t have to worry about what secret she’s been hiding or what this person has threatened her with for years.”

  “I can’t help but wonder what the secret is,” April whispered. “What could it possibly be, Kai?”

  “I don’t know. I think you’re right that it more than likely has something to do with Beau or their life before Jaded Regret. But you know Natalie doesn’t share things like that, any idea I had would only be a guess.”

  “What if it is their mother?” April looked over at Beau again, who was tapping his fingers on his legs while talking to Johnny. “How will he react?”

  I knew the trouble Beau went through a couple of years back when he found out Robbie was his son. I knew he was in a much better mental place now than he was then, but I didn’t have an answer for her.

  “I’m sure if it is her, he and Natalie will deal with it together.”

  April nodded. “I hope so. I’m so scared what this will do to them. They’ve come so far to go backward again.”

  Hours went by and everyone got antsy, tired of standing around waiting for the phone to ring. The band decided to go to the studio to play, the only escape for their minds. The only way we got Beau to go was to promise we’d call him immediately with anything we heard.

  I was working, or attempting to. I had a few things to schedule and organize for some of my other bands, including finalizing contracts and schedules for Fatal Knockout’s tour with Jaded Regret. But I was too distracted to get much done, between my thoughts of Natalie and figuring out who was trying to extort her for money and if they would catch them.

  Kale and Ziggy worked silently on their computers, only talking every once and a while about things I didn’t understand. Every time his phone rang, I snapped to attention.

  “Seems like we’re done for today,” Kale said at about four in the afternoon. “The bank is closing, so no chance they are going to get the money today.”

  I groaned in frustration, scrubbing my hands over my face. I needed a shower, a shave, and a good night’s sleep, but I doubted I’d accomplish the last one. Not while Natalie was suffering and this person was still out there.

  “I know, brother. It’s frustrating as hell for us, too. Tomorrow’s a new day.” Kale shut his computer and stood. “Zig, let’s go get some food. I’m starving. Want to come, Kai?”

  “No
.” I stood too and headed for Natalie’s bathroom. “You two go ahead.” I needed a moment, or a thousand, to try to come to terms with waiting another day.

  “Yes!” Kale shouted. He shoved his chair back and grabbed his phone. “Let’s go, Zig.”

  “What’s happening?” I stood, too, my heart racing at the thought something was finally going to happen after five days of waiting.

  “We have someone at a local branch trying to withdraw the money,” Kale announced. “We have a team already in route to apprehend the person, but we need to go.”

  “Can I go?”

  “You can ride with us, but you have to stay in the car.”

  “I’m going, too.” Beau gave up on practicing with the band today, too anxious to do anything other than wait with me for something to happen. It was finally time.

  Kale nodded, understanding. “I’m not kidding when I say you must stay in the car. No funny business or I could lose my job.”

  “Understood,” we both agreed.

  The four of us ran for the car, and Kale squealed the tires as he pulled out in the blacked out cruiser. Ziggy gave directions on where he needed to go.

  “This person is here?” I realized what he said minutes later.

  “Yes. At a local branch here in town. We’re less than five minutes out.”

  Beau looked out the window, tapping his fingers on his leg again. I wanted to ask him if he was okay, but I didn’t dare. He picked up his phone and started texting, I assumed to April and the band.

  The urge to grab the phone and talk to Natalie overwhelmed me. In two days, I could talk to her on the phone. I knew I couldn’t tell her anything that happened today, but that was okay. I just needed to hear her voice.

  It was the longest five minutes of my life when we screeched to a halt in front of a bank. Several police cars already sat outside, their lights flashing.

  “Shit.” Kale threw open the door and rushed out, followed by Ziggy. Beau and I exchanged a glance. Whatever was happening, it wasn’t good. We watched as they approached the officers and the other agents. They talked tersely to one another, hands flying and expressions fierce.

  “I don’t like the look of this,” Beau said.

  “Me either. If this person was just in there getting money, it should be easy, right? They should already have them.”

  “Which means that’s not what’s happening.” Beau’s fingers tapped on his phone, sending a message to April.

  I gnawed my lip, trying to keep myself from bursting out of the car and asking what was going on. But I promised Kale, so I wouldn’t.

  Let him do his job.

  I saw another agent get on a phone and start pacing the parking lot, gesturing with his hands wildly. The other officers marked off the parking lot, not allowing anyone through to the bank.

  “No one is coming in or out,” Beau muttered. “This is a hostage situation.”

  My mouth dropped open. “What? How do you know?”

  Beau shook his head. “Watch all of them. They’re making a plan to get into the bank or to get someone out. If this were simply detaining a person, we wouldn’t still be in here. This would be over.”

  “I know. I want to bust out of this car so badly right now and find out what’s going on, but I promised my brother.”

  “It’s only that promise keeping me in this seat,” Beau said. “I want to burst through the bank doors and take this person down myself for what they’ve done to my sister all these years.”

  “I know. Bursting in there isn’t going to do any good, Beau. More than likely, this person has a gun. That’s why they aren’t going in. They were tipped off when the money wouldn’t transfer. Something bad is going down.”

  “That’s why this person came here to our town,” Beau said. “This is on purpose. They’re trying to tell us this isn’t over.”

  “But it will be.” I pointed to the team. “They won’t stop until it is.”

  Just then, Kale turned back to look at me. His face was blank, and his back was straight. Something was about to happen. A large truck pulled into the lot and what looked like a SWAT team piled out in full armor.

  “Oh God,” Beau whispered.

  We were frozen in silence, waiting with bated breath as the guys got in position around the bank. Kale and Ziggy stood by one of the vehicles, talking into walkie-talkies. They appeared calm like it was just another day in the office, though I assumed they were anything but.

  Shots rang out from inside the bank and the agents all started scrambling, shouting at one another as they changed the plan. The doors blew open, and the SWAT team moved in.

  “Shit, shit, shit, shit,” Beau repeated. We both sat up in our seats, watching the scene in front of us unfold like an action movie.

  Except this wasn’t fiction, this was life and death. Kale wasn’t going into the building, and for that, I was grateful. If something happened to him…

  Ambulances careened into the parking lot, and my stomach dropped to my feet. The agents moved around the asphalt like ants disturbed in their hill, and more police officers showed up on the scene.

  “I can’t catch my breath,” Beau gasped.

  “I know,” I whispered. “This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

  Ambulance workers started rushing toward the building, rolling stretchers. “If they’re letting them in, that means two things.”

  “Yeah. Someone’s hurt, and they’ve apprehended a suspect,” Beau said. “Holy fucking shit.”

  “You got that right.” My legs bounced, and my fingers twitched. I almost couldn’t contain my need to get out of this car.

  Within seconds, a stretcher rolled out of the bank, carrying a middle-aged woman dressed in a suit. There was an oxygen mask on her face and a bandage around her arm. Another one followed, carrying a man in a suit with an injury to his leg.

  “I don’t think either of them was the person we’re looking for,” I whispered.

  “I don’t think so, either.” I glanced over at Beau’s face, and it was as white as the gauze around the victim’s bodies.

  Before we had time to process anything else, two SWAT members walked out with a woman between them, her hands cuffed behind her back. Her head was down, and her blond hair covered her face. She wore a pair of faded jeans and a T-shirt that looked like it had seen better days. I was dumbfounded this was the person who’d caused all of this.

  “It’s a woman.” I knew I stated the obvious, but I didn’t know what else to say.

  Beau’s eyes were glued to the form as they dragged her to a waiting car. Before I could stop him, he was out of the car and running toward them. I couldn’t let him go and not try to stop him, so I opened the door and followed him.

  Kale spotted the movement and headed straight for us, trying to stop Beau from getting to the woman. I knew I’d have hell to pay for this, but I couldn’t let Beau get attacked by all the agents and then arrested.

  “You fucking bitch,” Beau growled as he reached them. The agents turned at his outburst and Kale stepped in front of him.

  “Beau.” His tone issued a warning that stopped me in my tracks. My brother was no one to fuck with, and I figured neither were the guys looking sternly at the two of us.

  But Beau didn't hear a damn thing, his gaze still blazing at the woman. At the mention of his name she lifted her head and looked directly at him. Her lips curled into a vile sneer, and her eyes narrowed on him.

  “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the miserable fuck up.” She laughed, but it sounded maniacal. “What the fuck did you do to yourself? You have money now. You couldn’t look any better?”

  Kale looked between the two of them. “Beau? You know her?”

  Beau’s nostrils flared and his fists bunched. A vein pulsed in his neck and his dark eyes flashed. He looked like he was about to lose his shit.

  Beau knew who this woman was.

  “Beau.” I purposely made my voice low, remembering how April got him to calm do
wn and listen. Beau didn’t move or answer either one of us.

  “You’re the worthless piece of shit now. I’ve made something of myself, and all you can say you’ve done is blackmail my sister for money for years? Now who’s better off dead, you or me? How fucking dare you do this to us. Why couldn’t you just leave well enough alone? You left us. You deserted us. So why do you think you get to have our hard earned money? And what shit are you holding over Natalie’s head to keep giving it to you?”

  My stomach rolled and my chest constricted. It was his mother. She was the one extorting her daughter for money. I mouthed mother to Kale, and he nodded, having put that together himself.

  His mother cackled. “Don’t you wish you knew.”

  Beau set his jaw, his fists so tight they turned white. He was teetering on the edge of control. I couldn’t say I blamed him, but I didn’t want anything to happen to him. It wasn’t worth it.

  “It doesn’t matter,” I whispered to him. “She’ll be locked up for attempted murder, extortion, and probably a host of other charges from this stunt today. She’ll never bother Natalie again.”

  “Let’s go.” Kale grabbed her arm and steered her away, realizing he needed to diffuse the situation. “Go lock her in the cruiser. Kai, get Beau in the car.” I almost laughed. He was insane if he thought I could even budge Beau right now. I was rather sure Beau could push a semi at this point.

  She turned her head back to Beau as they dragged her away. “You look just like her. I knew you would.”

  “I hope you rot in prison you worthless piece of shit. I never want to see your face again.” The words shot out of his mouth, his teeth clenched and his face red.

  She cackled, shouting as they pulled her away. “You deserve to rot in the ground, just like them. I should’ve outed you a long time ago.”

  Beau’s eyes narrowed, and he stepped forward, my hand on his arm nothing more than a nuisance. “What?” He followed the agents, so I followed him.

  “Stop,” Beau commanded the agents. Kale nodded at them, and they quit moving. “What has Natalie been paying you for? What mattered so much she didn’t want you to go to anyone and talk?”