FRAUD: A Romantic Suspense Novel

by R. C. Stephens

  “I don’t know much right now. Mark has been spending a lot of time at an apartment in South Beach.”

  “Oh gosh, he must have a mistress.” My hand cupped my mouth. I felt like I was going to be sick.

  “The apartment doesn’t belong to a woman, Natalia. That is what Nathan’s text message was about. I asked him to check who the apartment belonged to, and he sent me that name. By your reaction, I’m guessing you know Mateo Nunez.”

  “There’s a mistake. Mateo Nunez was Mark’s partner when he had the retail shop. He and Mark took out a bank loan. When things went downhill with the store, Mateo left to go back to LA. He doesn’t live in Miami anymore,” I explained.

  Hayes pinched the bridge of his nose. “Look. Nathan wouldn’t provide bad information. There is something much bigger going on. I’m trying to get Nathan to see that I can help him so he will give me more information. For now, I know your husband spends a good four to five hours a day in Mateo’s apartment. I will touch base with Nathan soon and see what else he found out. Please don’t confront Mark about anything or we won’t get any answers,” he warned. I suddenly felt bad for thinking he was nuts moments ago. What the hell was Mateo still doing in town? And fucking Mark lied again.

  “That’s going to be hard.” I nodded as a chill ran through my body. I’d always had thoughts about Mark having affairs. If he didn’t want me, he must have been getting sex somewhere. At some point I stopped caring what he did.

  Hayes enveloped me in his big strong arms. “I don’t want you to worry, but we need to play this safe. Don’t fight with Mark, don’t say anything that would lead him to know that you know he’s lied to you.”

  I hugged him, and he felt like my life preserver as I held on. “I get it. I should leave. I have to get back to the kids,” I said, regardless of the fact that I didn’t want to let go. My mind was running two hundred clicks an hour. My insides churned. Mark was just one lie after another lie. I only wanted to take my kids and get away from him, from here. If only it were that easy.

  “Okay. I don’t want to text you in case Mark is around. Will you come by Immy’s place tomorrow? She mentioned something about shopping.” He forced a smile.

  I couldn’t think of shopping, but I had to see Hayes. “Shopping on Boxing Day is the worst, but I’ll touch base with Immy,” I answered, shaking.

  “Hey,” he placed his hand under my chin, forcing me to look him in the eyes, “I’m not going anywhere until I know you’re good.”

  “Thank you.” I sighed. “I’m tired and frustrated and . . . scared.”

  He pulled me into his chest and cupped my head. “I know. It will all work out. Just play it normal with Mark.”

  “Yeah, and for tomorrow I was thinking of the beach. I don’t think I can handle a shopping mall packed with people right now. I’m too on edge.”

  “I love the beach. You know that works for me. I’ll mention it to Immy,” he replied.

  “She saw you follow me into the bathroom, you know.” I cocked a brow and watched his cerulean eyes widen.

  “Shite.”

  “It’s all good. She was cool about it.” I grinned.

  “Uh, I don’t think so, and I don’t need Shay kicking my arse,” he said with a lopsided grin.

  “It’s all good, but please, don’t keep anything from me again. I’ve lived with one man who lies and keeps secrets for too long. I can’t go through that. I know you have good intentions, but I need to be kept in the loop.”

  “You got it.” He pressed a kiss to my lips.

  “Bye.” I slipped out of the room the same way I entered, sneaky and unseen.

  As I drove back to my kids, my gut told me I wouldn’t like hearing what Hayes would find out about Mark. Why was Mateo living in Florida when Mark said he had taken off back to LA? Why did he feel the need to lie about his friend? Lies, there had been too many over the years. I was at least grateful to have Hayes in my corner, although I feared what he would find.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Hayes

  My cell rang, and the moment I saw Nathan’s name I jumped.

  “Hey, mate. What do you have on Mateo Nunez?”

  “Taylor, I gave you a name like you asked, don’t push it.” He called me by my surname, his tone curt and unapologetic.

  “Nathan, man, this woman is important to me. There are kids involved . . . if Mark Lopez is any kind of trouble, I need you to help me out. Have you spoken to your superior?” My tone was urgent because once again my gut told me something was very wrong; shite just wasn’t adding up.

  “Fuck no. You’re a citizen, mate, you’re not special services in this country. You don’t have clearance. I can’t share with you,” he snapped, but his tone was more sympathetic than before.

  “My fucking gut tells me Mark Lopez is bad news. I hate to say this, but my fucking gut saved your ass too, if I remember right.” It wasn’t the time to remind him of the roadside bomb we averted because I rode his ass about taking another route, all because my gut told me to.

  “Fucking hell, Taylor.” The Scot in his accent finally prevailed. “I’m going to send you an email that will erase after five minutes. Record the address on a piece of paper, and you will make contact with an agent in Florida.”

  The line went dead.

  Relief washed over me. He was finally going to tell me what was going on; he just wouldn’t do it over the phone, which was understandable. I sat and waited for the email to come through. When it did I jotted the address down and quickly dressed. The address he sent me wasn’t too far away.

  I was standing beside a fountain on the boardwalk in Fort Lauderdale. A man in jeans, a white T-shirt, and sunglasses approached and tilted his chin for me to follow.

  “You Taylor?” he asked.

  “Yeah and you are . . .”

  “Tall, dark and handsome.” Jackass.

  “Right.”

  “Look we don’t need your help, but we would like Natalia Lopez to help us,” he began.

  “What? Fuck no. She has no clue what her husband is up to, and you still haven’t told me shite.” Every muscle in my body tensed at the thought of Natalia helping the FBI incriminate her husband. It would be dangerous.

  “Fine, and if I tell you what’s at stake, would you talk to the wife and get her to cooperate?” he asked. Natalia was a pawn for him, a means to an end. He didn’t see her as a loving mother and all-around good person. He only wanted what he wanted. I didn’t know this guy from Adam. Nathan’s a stand-up guy in the sense that he followed orders well, but he was a heartless bastard too.

  “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on, then we can talk,” I said, realizing I didn’t have much leverage in this negotiation.

  “What’s going on is we’ve been following Rafael Lopez for over a decade. He’s responsible for obtaining drugs in Mexico and arranging transportation into the US. He has seventy men working under him. Mark Lopez is one of them. He’s been selling drugs in the greater Miami area for a while now. He came up on our radar a few years ago. The guy is good, I’ll give him that. Lives a low key life, no fancy cars, simple wife, kids.” This asshole grinned, and it irked me that he’d referred to Natalia as simple even though I realize that there were much larger problems at hand. I got the sense Natalia and Mark struggled financially over the years, but that was a ploy Mark used because he probably made boatloads of cash, dirty money. Fuck, this was so messed up.

  “What do you want from Natalia?” I asked with a stern voice. “She has no clue what her husband is into.”

  “We can see that. He’s been under surveillance as I mentioned.” He paused our stroll and watched me, looking around at people walking past us. As much as he’d told me, there was much more I needed to know. Questions I wanted answered. He was being selective though. I understood.

  “What do you want?” I asked, getting to the point.

  “We want Rafael Lopez; he’s linked to the Panaola Cartel. We know his sandwich bar in California
is a front. They have a lot of apartments and local businesses they’ve been funneling cash and drugs through.”

  “Natalia doesn’t know Mark’s family well. He’s kept her away from them.” She did mention his family to me, but I didn’t know many details.

  “Yeah, well if he cares about her at all, I can’t blame him.” He snickered. “They’re a bunch of sick fucks.” He was a man of few words. It frustrated me.

  “What does that mean?”

  “Their mother helps them launder money too. Does that say enough?” He looked me in the eye, turning my blood cold.

  “What about Mateo Nunez?” I asked because Natalia knew the man.

  “He’s a hitman. Got sent out here to make sure Mark keeps his hands clean.” This guy talked like a fucking robot with no emotion, spewing facts as if real people weren’t involved.

  “Natalia said he was in business with Mark. They had a retail shop together in Miami—”

  “And it went under. Mark owes the bank money. He’s excellent at playing a poor boy, I’ll give him that.” He chewed the corner of his lip, assessing me. My fucking heart beat wildly; Natalia was in more trouble than she realized.

  I steadied my voice, using my training not to show fear over this very messed-up turn of events. “What do you want from Natalia?” I barked, wanting to get to the point of this meeting, the reason he’d met with me.

  “We are close to nailing the Lopezes, but we need more information. We want to make sure that when we arrest them and bring down charges, they stick,” he explained.

  “Of course.”

  “We want to get in her house when Mark isn’t home. We need to know their schedules. I can get a team in there to sweep the place for any paperwork, credit card statements . . . you get the drift.”

  “That’s it?” I asked to confirm there wasn’t more.

  “For now,” he said, and I didn’t like those words.

  “Mark’s been making stops at a gay club on Lincoln.”

  “He’s channeling money through it,” he answered. “You and Natalia need to be clear on a few things before we move forward. Everything I’ve told you today needs to stay confidential. You can share this information with Natalia, but you cannot, I repeat, cannot share it with any of her family members or any of your family members. That includes Shay and Immy White. You need to understand this is a matter of national security, which means if there is a breach and our country is threatened, you become a problem. Getting my drift?” he asked, and I understood his meaning. Natalia and I were screwed if this went south.

  I cranked my neck. “Loud and clear.” I drilled my brain for another way out. “Is there another way? I mean, can you remove Natalia and her kids from the situation and ensure their safety? Witness protection or something.” I figured it was a last resort, even though I knew what was involved. She’d have to say goodbye to her friends and family forever.

  “We can arrange something like that, but we’ve been watching her. She is closely tied to Miami and its people. Will she want that?” He cocked a brow.

  I swiped a hand over my mouth. “Probably not.”

  “Okay you turn around and walk back to your car. Deliver the information to Natalia Lopez. I’ll make contact tomorrow by sundown.” He gave the order, and I walked away like a good soldier.

  How in the hell could I go to Natalia with this news? What would have happened if I wasn’t a prying idiot and Mark simply got arrested a few weeks from now? I played out the options in my mind. Some of them involving the exchange of gunfire, and I knew there was a good chance it wouldn’t have ended well.

  Now to go to Natalia . . .

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Natalia

  There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I should’ve felt relaxed sunbathing while the kids played beside me, Immy, and Shay, but how could I have been when Hayes was here too? In those board shorts, with his washboard abs and glistening eyes as clear as the sky. We’d only kissed. His hands had barely touched my body and still I was thankful Mark had to work today because my nipples were puckered beneath my yellow bikini simply from his presence.

  Immy and Shay both knew about our bathroom tryst Christmas Eve. I knew she told her husband, even though they hadn’t said anything to me. They had those guilty looks on their faces which made me wonder what I looked like. A cross between heated and longing, I’d guess. Having a small taste of the way things would be with Hayes made me crave more. My inner thoughts battled between my actions being justified and completely wrong.

  “Mommy, can I go close to shore to play frisbee with Lewis?” Lily walked up to me with a pout. She knew I liked her close by. Especially on a day like today when bodies covered almost every inch of sand.

  I gave her a knowing look. She knew me well enough to know I wouldn’t say yes. There were some teenagers playing badminton close to shore. I didn’t want them getting trampled.

  “I’ll take them,” Shay volunteered.

  “Are you sure?” I asked. Liam had fallen asleep beside me under the umbrella, but I could leave him with Immy since April was sleeping too.

  “Yeah, relax.” Shay waved me off and motioned for the kids to follow him, and they cheered.

  Hayes lay on a towel a few feet away from Immy, his sun-kissed skin glistening. We’d barely exchanged words besides hello and how are you. Yet every time he looked at me, it felt like he was undressing me with his stare.

  I lay back on my towel and tried to clear my head. Two days ago I felt trapped in my marriage. I was feeling better about life, even though I knew having an affair wasn’t the answer, but we weren’t technically having an affair. Well, maybe an emotional one.

  “I’m going to rent a windsurfer down the beach,” Hayes said, sitting up. “I can’t sunbathe another minute.” His accent drove me wild. I wanted to mock him so he would talk some more.

  “Have fun.” Immy smiled, lifting her eyes briefly from the novel she’d been reading.

  He walked away, and Immy looked at me, raising her eyebrows while giving me a stare that said she wanted me to spill about whatever was going on. I shook my head and lifted a shoulder. I didn’t have a clue what was happening. My head still spun from Hayes admission that he was following Mark.

  She waved me over and patted the chair recently vacated by Shay. I wanted a sound ear to listen. I took a seat beside her, spreading my legs in front of me so they would catch the sun evenly.

  “What’s going on between you two?” she asked with a hushed tone, one hand covering her mouth.

  “I don’t know.” I shrugged. I truly didn’t.

  “Shay has a theory; you two ran off together yesterday. He didn’t believe Hayes went to the Keys.” She lowered her sunglasses and peeked at me over the lenses, assessing me. I hadn’t realized he lied to them yesterday.

  “He was with me,” I admitted. I didn’t lie to Immy, though now might have been a good time to start. Too late now.

  “And . . .” she waited, still holding that assessing glare.

  I used my hand to cover my mouth and speak softly close to her ear, not wanting Liam to overhear in case he woke up. “And he’s amazing. We are so in sync.” I sighed. “I know I should feel guilty, but I don’t feel as guilty as I should.” I was confused, that was for sure.

  “I want your happiness. You know you can’t carry on like this with Mark forever. Break things off with Mark. Maybe he’s all talk and no action. Go to school . . . conquer your dreams. You’ve put your life on hold long enough for that man.” Her words shouldn’t have shocked me, but they did. It was one thing to think something in your mind and another to have your closest friend confirm what she believed was right for you too.

  “I’m scared of Mark. I’m scared of what he’s capable of. Over these last few years, he’s changed. I can’t pin it down, but something is angrier, more volatile about him. We fight, and he gets this wild look in his eyes; I don’t know what to expect.”

  She leaned forward in her chair. “Has he laid
a hand on you?”

  “Not exactly. He’s grabbed me, he’s hurt me. He lifted his hand once, but he never struck.” I blinked away tears. Admitting this out loud wasn’t easy. “I don’t know how to leave him not when he threatens me the way he does. I’m scared for the kids too.”

  “Shit, Natalia, I feel like a useless idiot. I want to help, but I don’t know how. I can offer you a place to stay. I’m at a loss here.” She wasn’t the only one.

  “Hayes has been good. He’s trying to help me. I hate that I need the help right now, but I have no choice,” I admitted. Just as I finished the last words, I saw Hayes walking toward us. He’d left the windsurfer he rented close to shore. My heart inconveniently galloped in my chest.

  “Come.” He motioned to me. It wasn’t a request.

  “Not today . . . I . . .” I stammered. I couldn’t be close to him right now. Not with the unbridled passion that ignited between us. My kids were here. Immy, Shay, and their kids were here. I had to keep my wits about me.

  “I need you to come with me,” he said, his tone soft yet assertive. Something was off. “Please.” He extended his hand.

  I stared at him for a beat. The sun high in the sky behind him created a halo effect, and he looked gorgeous. His unruly caramel curls blew in the soft wind. His cerulean eyes pleaded with me.

  “Go ahead. I’ll keep an eye on Liam,” Immy interrupted, and I was pulled from my daze.

  “Okay.” I remembered not to take his hand right now. Who knew who was at the beach today? Someone Mark knew or I knew? I’d never been this paranoid before, but I hadn’t crossed the line before either.

  He walked across the sand, his strong legs taking fast, wide strides. His arms swaying, his back muscles moving. I could watch him on replay all day. I said hi to Lily as we reached the shore and told her I was taking the windsurfer out for a ride. Hayes didn’t say anything as he prepared the sail.

  “Hop on,” he said, and it was the first time I noticed tension radiating off him like a rope ready to snap. I wanted to wait until we were alone to question him. Besides I completely trusted him. It scared me half to death to admit. My mother’s words rang clear in my mind. You are a bad judge of character. Yet, there was no way I could be wrong about Hayes. Not after all this time and everything we’d shared.