Riveted: Drawn Series Book 1

by M. A. Stone

“Okay. That’s perfect. Seeing as how her last name is Carmichael, which could be the number he was calling. It would make sense if he is dating her. I am going to go to the address that I have and see if I can dig up any information in regards to the withdrawals. Since you have worked at the shop, have you noticed anything strange?” he asked.

  “Aside from my brother’s behavior, I did have my truck vandalized. At first I thought it was his girlfriend, but I also know the neighborhood is less than stellar. Also, his truck and mine are similar, so I also thought maybe it could have been a scorned one night stand seeking revenge,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

  “It could be connected to the break ins at the shop too. I am going to look into all of this. Hopefully, my contacts come back with the information I need and we can figure this whole mess out,” he replied, patting my hand in reassurance.

  “Yes. I will be here until tomorrow. You have my cell right?” He nodded.

  “I will hopefully give you a call later this afternoon.” He stood and I stood as well and we shook hands. I was hoping he could find out something from this person he was going to go see. I needed my brother back, my family whole again.

  After the coffee date, I went back to my hotel. I hung out in the hotel gym for a bit and then went back to my room. Channel surfing, I waited for Wolf’s call. After all my puttering around, reading my Kindle and taking a nap, it was almost dinner time and I was overly anxious. I jumped as my cell phone rang. Glancing at the screen, I saw it was my dad’s cell number.

  “Hey Dad, what’s up?”

  “What did the detective say?” he blurted out gruffly.

  “No hi? No how was your day? Okay I will start. Mine was fine. Had an exceptionally mediocre cup of coffee this morning, thanks for asking” I teased. He growled into the phone.

  “Bleu stop being a smart ass!” he said. I laughed.

  “Ok, ok Dad. Mr. Barnes told me that before I started working in the shop, like in the past 18 months, there have been three break ins. The first was just an act of vandalism, but the last two, stuff was stolen,” I told him.

  “Okay, was that all he had to say?” he asked impatiently. I could picture him running his fingers through his hair nervously, just like Axel did. I would bet anything he was also pacing.

  “No. He said the shop was fine though. It’s Axel and his personal stuff that raised a flag. There have been some questionable payments being made out to this one account, well this one person. But they stopped last month. Mr. Barnes, the detective, he has an address that he is going to check out today.”

  “Why would he be paying someone? How much was it for?”I sighed.

  “One thousand dollars, every month for the past year,” I replied, twirling a strand of hair around my index finger. Dad whistled.

  “Sounds fishy to me, I agree. Wonder if he is paying child support or gambling debts? He does not exactly “share” with me, if you know what I mean,” he replied.

  “Normally, he would share with me. Sometimes, he tended to overshare. But in the last few months, well you know he was a closed book. I just hope that he is alright. That he did not do something super stupid.”

  “Just let me know if you hear anything,” said my Dad, with a deep sigh.

  “How are things at Aunt Almeida’s?” I asked. He chuckled.

  “She is driving your Uncle nuts. She is having twins, both boys. He is sleeping on the couch. I have been fixing stuff up around here for her.”

  “Twins. She does know it’s not Uncle Tangler’s fault for that right? Grandma was a twin right?” I asked him.

  “There is no reasoning with your Aunt when she is pregnant. Sid and Iris joined sports they don’t even like just to be out of the house,” he said, referring to my 13 year old cousins. I laughed.

  “I am going to go Dad. If I hear anything at all, I will call you. I promise.” I did not mean to cut him off, but this whole search and rescue of Axel was getting to me. I was tired of talking about my brother, I was pissed that he ditched me and did not tell me what was going on. I told him everything. And if he was paying child support, and he did not tell me about a niece or nephew, I was going to kill him. I was just tired.

  “Okay princess. I will look forward to hearing from you. I love you,” he said gruffly.

  “Love you too Dad,” I replied and hung up. I lay back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. I put my phone on my chest and just wished. I just wanted my family whole again.

  I must have nodded off, because I awoke with a jolt to a heavy knocking on my hotel door. Getting up as quickly as I could without breaking my neck, I padded over to the door and slid the deadbolt. I gasped as my brother Axel stood before me. He leaned against the doorframe and looked up at me with his dark eyes.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Axel!” I screeched and pulled him to me in a tight hug. He groaned. I pulled him back so that I could look at him. He was thin, pale and he had dark circles under his eyes. He looked like shit. His dark red hoodie was rumpled and his jeans had holes in them.

  “Where have you been? I have been worried sick about you!!!” I yelled, whacking him in the shoulder. He winced and shut the door behind him. I stood there with my hands on my hips ready to kick his ass if he did not offer me some sort of feasible explanation.

  He walked over to the bed, sat down, and ran a hand through his hair. I tapped my foot on the floor and he looked at me, raised a pierced eyebrow and grimaced.

  “Nice to see you too sis,” he replied, his voice sounding weary and gravelly. I sat down next to him and put my arm around him.

  “How did you find me? I have been looking for you like crazy, hired a detective and then you just show up??!!” I was practically yelling and he smirked.

  “Yeah I know. Wolf told me.” My jaw dropped.

  “What??!!” I stood up and stared him down.

  “He started digging and a friend of mine with connections told me. I was happy when I found out it was Wolfe though. He and I go way back. I talked to him, laid out the situation and then I made sure he contacted you.” he replied.

  “Yeah, but that was still a dick move. I have been crazed. Beyond crazed. Heartbroken. And Wolfe! He just sat there like an asshole and pretended he had no idea where you were??!!!” I replied. Axel nodded.

  “Bleu, I have been watching you for weeks. I know what’s been going on. Dad getting out of jail, you banging Jack,” he said, smirking at the last bit.

  “Great you know everything! Do you want a fucking cookie or something??!But did you know how you broke my damn heart when you refused to let me in??? Or when you blocked me? People who were not even blood related have been more family to me than YOU have??!! Me, I know nothing, not a single thing. I don’t know why you are paying INSANE amounts of money to some mystery person. What does Candi have to do with any of this? We are family. We sharing a friggin womb together and I am an outsider! And I feel like I don’t know you anymore! I love you, I will always love you, but I hate you sometimes too!” I yelled. I stomped my foot after my little tirade.

  “Ok, ok,” he said, holding up his hands in surrender. I shook my head; my face feeling like it was on fire. I was insanely pissed. He was NOT getting out of this one.

  “No, it’s NOT okay! Family does not keep secrets; family does not shut each other out. You are all I had. Aunt Almeida is a crazy pregnant person and Dad is barely holding on. You? You are an asshole! I hate you so much I want to punch you in your ass right now!”

  “Bleu calm down. I will explain everything!”

  “I am waiting,” I replied through clenched teeth. He smirked and ran his hand through his hair. If he smirked one more time I was going to kill him.

  “The money is child support Bleu. A year ago, my daughter Harley was born. I have been paying child support to her grandmother. Harley’s mom, Anna, overdosed on heroin three months ago. Her whole family is serious bad news and Anna’s mother thinks I am some sort of cash cow. She is trying to take me for all I am wo
rth. Candi is not my girlfriend. She never was. She works with the DEA. Anna’s brother is in with some pretty major players and he is the one who has been threatening me. I have been working with the feds.”

  “Wait. I have a niece?” I softened a bit. That explained who the girl in the picture was. It had to be my niece’s mother.

  “All that, and that’s all you got out of it? I finally tell you everything that is going on and you only hear one little bit?”

  “Sorry if I am in shock here Axel. You kept something like that from me for a WHOLE YEAR!!!”

  “I guess I can’t blame you for being pissed. But shit started getting crazy after I took Harley and ran. I have full custody; Anna signed that over a month before she died. But her whack job mother is saying that she has custody. About three months ago, right when Anna died, shit got ugly,” he said, looking down at his boots.

  “Ugly how?”

  “Anna’s brother Cyrus, he is involved in some pretty heinous shit. You name it; he has a finger in it. Candi thinks that he was the one who messed up your truck, the shop, all of it. He also broke into Candi’s house and did a lot of damage. When I hid Harley and stopped paying, he threatened me, the family at the shop, Aunt Almeida and then you. I could not let that happen. He kept calling, showing up where I was, etc. I did not want to see any of you get hurt,” he replied.

  “So that’s why you left?” I asked.

  “One of many reasons. Candi figured if I pushed you away, made it look like we had a falling out, Cyrus would focus on looking for us and take his eyes off of you all,” he replied.

  “Where is Harley?”

  “California,” he replied. It took me a moment to process that one.

  “What?”

  “Uncle Tangler has her out there with his sister Clem. She is a social worker and has a few kids of her own. We all agreed that it would be safer for Harley to go with her until this whole thing calmed down. I gave Clem temporary physical custody while she has Harley. As soon as this all blows over, I am bringing her back home,” he said.

  “I knew something like this would happen to you someday you giant jackass!” I yelled. I smacked his arm and he grinned.

  “I did not come here to get yelled at, sis. I have been doing well for so long. I cleaned up, stopped sticking my dick in random girls. I took care of Anna as soon as she told me that was pregnant. I even asked her to marry me, but she wanted to wait. She wanted to get away from her crazy ass family. I was super involved and made sure Anna and Harley were well taken care of. But that was not enough apparently. Anna’s mom is pretty much controlled by her son Cyrus.”

  “So where have you been?” I asked.

  “I have been staying in Rhode lsland with friends of Aunt Almeida. Her friend is a retired Marine and a high priced lawyer. He has been trying to see what he can do but it’s hard because Cyrus does not exactly operate “on the radar”. I am so screwed. He is a scary dude Bleu. He is involved in sex trafficking, drugs, prostitution. He is a nasty dude. Anna was afraid of him. He wants a ton of money to just leave us alone, “he replied, running his hands through his hair again, avoiding my gaze.

  “Axel stop fiddling with your hair and look at me. How much does he want?” I asked.

  “He wants ten thousand dollars.”

  “Holy shit Axel!” I sank back down onto the bed and leaned against him. He let out a long sigh.

  “Yeah I know. I am an idiot for running away. I should have just taken a loan out or something,” he said softly.

  “Who is to say that if you forked over the ten g’s that he wouldn’t try and get more out of you down the road?” I asked. He nodded.

  “True,” he admitted. I put my arm around him.

  “We all make mistakes Axel. You just happen to make more of them than anyone else,” I said with a laugh. He chuckled softly.

  “Really? You went there? Lately you have been making some mistakes too sister,” he replied. I ignored that.

  “Listen, do you have the money?”I blurted. He raised an eyebrow at my subject change, but his face took on a defeated look before he answered me.

  “I don’t.”

  “How much are you short Axel? I mean the shop is doing good right?”

  “Sis, just because the shop is busy does not mean I am rolling in the dough. Matt and Jack get a piece of that pie. There are all kinds of bills to pay. And then paying money for Harley’s care. I have half of what he wants. I am not going to play with him because I don’t want to have Harley get hurt,” he said softly, looking embarrassed.

  “Okay, so you need five thousand dollars?”

  “Uh yeah,” he replied matter of fact.

  “Listen, you need to get some sleep, you look like shit. I will see what I can do,” I replied. He reached over and hugged me and then flopped back down on the bed. I grabbed my cell phone and purse, slid into my flip flops and softly closed the door behind me as I left the hotel room. There were some calls that I needed to make, a bank to hit up and a certain private investigator that needed to be reamed out for being a deceptive asshole.

  After going to Wolf’s offices and finding that he was closed, I circled back to the hotel. I stopped off at a deli near the hotel and grabbed some food for Axel. It looked like he had not eaten in days. My stomach was a wreck and I knew I would not be able to eat a damn thing. I was walking to my car and grabbing my cell to call Jack, when I was shoved against my car. The breath was knocked out of me and shock settled into my brain, making it hard to quickly process what the heck was going on. I slid down to the ground, slowly and tried to catch my breath. Suddenly, I felt hot breath at the back of my neck as a hand wrapped into my long hair and yanked my head back, hard. I saw stars as I could feel my hair ripping from my scalp. I yelped and attempted to look up. As soon as my vision focused, I looked up into the face of a handsome, but very angry looking man. He had curly brown hair, and he had the coldest, angriest brown eyes I had ever seen. A long white scar extended from the left corner of his forehead, crossed over his eye and settled on his cheek. He was snarling down at me. Looking down a bit, I saw that he was very built and that he had on jeans and black t shirt.

  “So bitch, where’s that brother of yours?” he spat out, his face now inches from mine. I instantly felt nauseous.

  “I uh...” I managed to get out before he swung down and his fist connected with my jaw. Again, I saw stars and I whimpered a bit. That only prompted him to hit me two more times. I tasted my own blood and my face felt like it had exploded. My mind knew that I was not going to be able to answer him if he kept hitting me.

  “Where is he??!!” he yelled. I tried to bring myself up off of the ground and I managed to lean against my car. He growled angrily and kicked me in the side. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye and I felt myself getting angry. If you ask someone a question, let them answer!

  “If…you...want…me to answer…you have to…stop hitting me,” I muttered and spat blood on the ground to my right. He crouched down, inches from my face and I could smell the peppermint from his gum. I willed myself not to throw up because I had my suspicions that he would knock me further into next week.

  “Okay bitch. We’ll have it your way. Where is your piece of shit brother? Where is my money??!!” he yelled into my face. He grabbed my hair and slammed my head into the car. I whimpered and closed my eyes for a minute. He was not getting the concept of allowing me to answer his questions. This was either going to be a very short conversation, or a long, painful one.

  “He is... going to pay you. I...know this…..he is going back home. I will...have him…give you the money as soon as I…get back into town,” I whispered, in extreme pain. His face got closer to mine. Hit, I did not answer him about where Axel is. I hope he could just, you know, overlook that one minor detail.

  “You have 24 hours,” he snapped. Great.

  “Will you leave us alone? Will you leave the baby alone?” I whispered, looking up into his eyes. His eyes were so cold and dead. He
reached into his pocket and withdrew a knife. My heart stopped and my blood chilled. He ran the knife along the length of my neck. My breath hitched and I cursed myself for saying anything. But I did not care. Axel was my brother, his daughter my niece. I closed my eyes, waiting for the pain. He dragged the knife down my chest, my stomach, lingering there.

  “If your brother pays me the ten thousand, you will never hear from me again. If he doesn’t, I will come back for your pretty little face and we will have some real fun! If you think this is pain, wait until you see what I and my friends do to you,” he said with an evil laugh, and then he plunged the knife into my thigh. Screaming, my back arching against the white hot pain in my thigh, I gasp out and then fall over onto my right side. I made myself take shallow breaths and willed myself not to pass out. Opening my eyes, I watched as he stalked away. I want to kill that bastard. Looking on the ground, I saw my cell phone was a few feet away. Gritting my teeth, I inched over and grabbed the phone. Feeling blood trickle down the side of my face, I attempted to focus on the screen. I searched for my Dad’s number, hit send and waited.

  “Hello?” he answered.

  “Dad?” I whispered.

  “Bleu? Are you alright? You sound weird. Bleu?” he yelled into the phone

  “I am hurt Dad. I am...outside of my hotel. Please, help me.” I said, before everything went black.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Beeping. I could hear beeping. I struggled to open my eyes and sunlight hit me full on. I winced and tried to focus. Everything came into focus gradually. I was in a hospital. Next to my bed, my Dad was sleeping in a small plastic hospital chair, curled up like a bear on a tree limb. Jack was standing by the window, looking out. My leg was throbbing and my face felt like I had gone a few rounds with Tyson. I could not open my left eye. Fantastic. I cleared my throat, coughing at how dry and rough it felt. Jack turned. He walked over to my side and grabbed my hand, staring into my face. Smiling was not an option, this much I knew to be true.