FRAUD: An Unfit Hero Novel

by Faiman, Hayley

  My phone rings and I groan as I reach for it. Frowning, I see that it’s Louis on the line.

  “Yeah?” I ask, sitting straight up.

  It’s well after ten in the morning, so normal people are up and about, but I’m not normal people and I didn’t get to sleep until four. Even then, I didn’t sleep much, not that I ever do. Clearing my throat, I rub the sleep out of my eyes.

  “We got a problem,” he murmurs.

  My heart immediately jumps up and into my throat at the thought of there being a problem, because I know the problem has to do with Hutton. Louis has promised to keep an eye on her, along with the other guys, but when he’s in town, like me, he isn’t working so he has more availability.

  “Drove by her salon this morning, like I do every morning, just to keep an eye on shit and get my morning java,” he begins. I want to tell him to hurry the fuck up with his story, but I don’t. “Her place was vandalized, brother.”

  “What the fuck?” I rasp.

  “I’m out here with the sheriff deputy, it ain’t Robby, it’s another guy. Thankfully, she ain’t been by yet, but Beau, it’s pretty bad.”

  “What is it?” I grind out.

  There’s a moment of silence and I wait for him to continue. He’s getting on my fucking nerves by not saying anything immediately. I hear him inhale deeply then let it out with a whoosh.

  “Pictures of y’all together. Mostly her naked body, then ugly words written all over them. They are completely covering her shop’s windows.”

  “How?” I breathe.

  My lungs squeeze at the thought of what that must look like, and then my heart aches at the thought of everyone in town driving past her salon, seeing that. Hutton is a private person, she’s not like other girls, she’s modest and a little shy. She’s going to be mortified.

  “What the fuck?” I ask.

  He clears his throat. “I don’t know.”

  “Chelle. Hutton mentioned something about Chelle visiting her. Have the sheriff check her out. Fuck it, I’ll call Robby.”

  I end the call before he can even respond and find Robby’s number quickly. It only rings twice before he picks it up with a heavy sigh.

  “I just heard about it. I’m off today, but I’m not in town. I’m interviewing for a new job in Austin in a couple of hours so I can’t go back to town until I’m finished with that.”

  “Austin?” I ask.

  He chuckles. “My woman lives here, she doesn’t want to move back, so I figured it was only a couple hours away, why not?”

  I nod, thinking about Emily, his woman and the sad state she was in the last time I laid eyes on her. Poor little thing, I’m glad she’s doing well, but I didn’t call him to talk about his woman or his job, I called him to talk about his cunt of a sister.

  “Was it her, was it Chelle?” I grind out. “She visited Hutton at work a couple of weeks ago.”

  Robby makes a whining sound in the back of his throat. “Honestly? I don’t know. I called her and she swears it wasn’t. She said she went to her shop to see her. She admits she gave her your pick and class ring then wrote a note. She said she was just trying to get right, she wanted you to have your things back. I don’t know, she’s had a rough go and yeah, she’s a little crazy, but I really do think she’s trying to get herself together.”

  “Would she do this to Hutton?”

  “She’s capable… but she doesn’t have the money to get back and forth like that. Plus, it’s not really her style. If she was going all the way out there, she would have made herself known to you. I’m not trying to protect Chelle by any means, I just don’t think it’s her,” he admits.

  God, I fucking hate Chelle. As if she hasn’t done enough shit in my life, now she’s harassing Hutton. “Fuck,” I hiss. “What can you do for her?” I demand.

  “For Hutton?”

  “Yeah.”

  There’s a moment, a pause, before he decides to speak. “Nothing, Beaumont. Until we know exactly who it is, there is nothing that we can do except file a report. This is the part of my job that I hate, you know. Sister or not, I would arrest her if I knew it was her.”

  “I know.”

  “Hutton got anyone she can stay with until this blows over?” he asks.

  “I’ll call her,” I grunt.

  “I’ll talk to the department about adding some extra patrols in that area, but to be honest, with as big as the county is, we have a hard time just keeping up with our call outs.”

  “I understand, I’ll take care of it, just try to find this fucker,” I snap.

  “We will, Beau.”

  I end the call, then inhale a deep calming breath and dial Hutton’s number. Thankfully she answers on the first ring. “What’s wrong?” she demands.

  Chuckling, I can’t help but smile at her. “Nothing, why aren’t you at work today?” I ask.

  “Neither me or Laurie had any appointments until this afternoon, so we decided to grab a late breakfast before going in. We don’t get to do that often, especially since we’re trying to get everyone in before our next trip out to see y’all,” she says.

  “Don’t go to the salon, at least not yet.”

  “Why?” she breathes.

  Clearing my throat, I decide that I need to tell her instead of trying to beat around the bush, she’s going to see it or figure it out anyway.

  “It was vandalized last night. Louis is there with the sheriff deputy right now. I’ll have him call you with what you need to do next, but darlin’, let them take care of it. I’ll have Louis clean it all up.”

  “What kind of vandalization,” she demands.

  “Fuck,” I hiss.

  “Pictures?” she guesses.

  I blink, unsure of how she figured that out on the first guess. It wouldn’t have been mine, which means this isn’t the first time she’s had trouble with photos.

  “What aren’t you telling me?”

  I can practically see her pressing her lips together and moving them around as she thinks about what she’s going to say next. She inhales deeply, then lets her breath out in a long slow exhale.

  “When I came back from seeing you, there were two posters waiting by my front door. I got rid of them, but they were there. Someone has been following me, following us.”

  “Do you have any clue who it could be? Chelle?” I ask.

  She clears her throat, then I hear her take a drink of something. “I don’t think it was Chelle, they were pictures from California and I don’t think she would have gone that far.”

  Hutton is right. She said the same thing that Robby did. Chelle is crazy, but I doubt she did that either.

  Fuck.

  If it isn’t Chelle, then I have no fucking clue who could be behind all of this. I could possibly suspect Daniel or Austin, just judging by their behavior alone. This isn’t their style, either, and I was with them when Hutton flew back to California, no way could they have gone out to Texas, dropped off some posters and come back like that.

  The timing just isn’t possible. Plus, with their resources, they would just make the images go viral, or come up with some other kind of social media scheme, that’s just who they are.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  HUTTON

  Louis is standing in front of my shop. As soon as he hears Laurie’s car pull up, I watch as he turns around, his green eyes finding mine immediately. He shakes his head once, then lifts his hand, palm toward me as if to stop me.

  “Fuck,” Laurie hisses.

  Opening the car door, I ignore Laurie’s word and Louis’ hand. The closer I get, the more my stomach twists at the sight in front of me. Ford is ripping down posters, but I can see them. They’re the same ones that were sent to my house, except this time they’re plastered all over my windows for every single passerby to see.

  “What on earth?” I whisper.

  “Didn’t Beaumont call you?” Louis barks.

  My body jerks. “Yeah, but I wasn’t going to stay away. This is my salon,
” I snap. “Besides, I’ve already seen these, I just didn’t expect the rest of Burnet to see them, too.”

  “What do you mean?” Louis asks.

  “Someone left a poster of each on my front porch. They were there the day I got back from seeing Beaumont in California.”

  “You didn’t tell the cops?” he asks.

  Shaking my head, I turn toward Deputy Hernandez, a man that I’ve known for a few years. He’s a nice guy, a few years younger than me, but he’s usually the one that patrols the downtown area where my salon is.

  “Would you have been able to do anything?” I ask him.

  He grimaces and shakes his head once. “Take a report.”

  “That’s what I thought,” I breathe.

  “Fuck this shit,” Ford shouts. “You know this was Chelle, she’s batshit crazy. Go and bring her ass in,” he growls.

  “Can’t do that, Ford, and you know it,” Hernandez drawls.

  Laurie takes a step closer to Hernandez, and it’s then that I remember they had a short fling last year. “Enrique, can’t you do something off the record?” she asks, using her sultry sexy voice. I almost laugh, if I didn’t feel like crying, I would.

  He snorts. “Not a chance, Laurie.”

  I cringe at the coldness of his tone as he speaks to her. His gaze shifts from his side where she’s pressed against him, to me. “I’m really sorry, Hutton. For you, if I could, I would. All I can do is take the report, take pictures, and wait to see if anything else happens.”

  “I appreciate it,” I lie.

  I don’t appreciate it. I want to know who did this. I want him to take fingerprints like they do on TV, find hair samples around the ground and test them. But since I know that’s all fake, I’ll settle for a stupid report.

  Deputy Hernandez writes down all of my information, then writes down the incident from the other day and promises to have it filed soon. Without a glance back at anyone, including Laurie, he leaves us.

  “What happened with him?” Louis asks on a chuckle, looking directly at Laurie.

  I wait, because I’m curious as well. She never told me that they parted on bad terms, but judging by his cool attitude toward her, they certainly did.

  Laurie shrugs, then tips her head back to look up at Louis. “He didn’t like it when I called him a pussy in bed.” She grins.

  “Laurie,” I sigh.

  “What? He was. I mean there is a fine line between being too soft and being too rough,” she announces as her gaze drifts to Ford.

  I know which side of the line he falls on, because she made it very clear that he was too controlling in bed. It’s moments like these that I’m kind of glad I haven’t had the time to run around town with her.

  “Do you want me to stay for the afternoon after we clean this up while you work?” Louis asks, ignoring Laurie’s words.

  I smile as I press my lips together. I think about telling him to leave, but honestly, I want him to stay. I don’t feel safe in the slightest. I don’t know what’s going to happen, if anything, but I would like someone like him at my side if it does go down, especially since Beaumont can’t be here.

  “Yeah, I think I do,” I admit.

  I watch for a few more moments as Ford and Louis clean up the windows. Once the posters are down, it looks exactly like it did yesterday. It looks completely untouched by the ugliness that this stranger left behind.

  “See y’all later. If you need anything, Hutton, just call me,” Ford shouts as he walks away from me without a backward glance.

  I watch his retreating form as he makes his way toward his beat-up rancher’s truck and climbs inside. The thing looks like it’s been part of the demolition derby every spring, but in reality, it’s his work truck and Ford is a working man. He’s the exact kind of man that I thought I would end up with. Never did I see myself with someone famous, with Beaumont. I’d always imagined that ship had sailed.

  Yet, here I am, with all of the drama that being with him includes. I know that he is worth all of it, but that doesn’t mean that I want to feel this way. That I want people to think that they can post private, stolen, photographs of me for the world to see, online or all over my storefront.

  “He’s worth all of it,” Louis says.

  I’m still standing on the sidewalk, staring straight toward my once vandalized windows. Louis is standing next to me, Ford has left, and Laurie is opening up the door and getting everything ready for the rest of the afternoon.

  I’m frozen, unable to force my legs to move.

  “He is,” I agree.

  Louis clears his throat so I turn to look over and up at him. He’s so tall, so massive that if I didn’t know him, I certainly would be intimidated by him, no doubt about it.

  “It takes a strong woman to be with men like us, but it isn’t because of who we are, but the world that surrounds us. I think you’re stronger than you think, Hutton. But, this will be the moment that will make or break you, both of you.”

  I nod, sinking my teeth into my bottom lip. “Yeah,” I agree.

  Louis doesn’t say anything else and I’m glad for it. I’ve already made one decision today. I’m going to my grandfather’s this weekend. I need a moment to myself, out in the country, away from everyone else and everything else.

  I need to think and the only way I can do that is out there, plus I need my PawPaw’s advice on what to do about this situation I’ve found myself in. I’m pretty confident that Beaumont is for me, but the rest of this stuff, I’m just not sure if I can handle it. Even if I can, I’m totally positive that I won’t be able to handle it with grace.

  BEAUMONT

  “Thanks,” I sigh before ending the call with Louis.

  “What’s going on?” Austin asks.

  I eye him up and down and try to figure out if he already knows and is trying to pry information out of me, or if he’s being truly concerned. Shaking my head, I lift my hand and run my fingers through my hair, tugging on the ends.

  “Hutton’s salon was vandalized with pictures of us,” I sigh.

  There’s a moment of silence, a pause. I watch him, waiting to see if he’ll give me a sign that he knew, but he genuinely looks surprised. This whole thing, sobriety, Austin, Daniel, and Chelle, it has me questioning everything and everyone in my life. I hate it.

  “What kind of pictures?” he asks.

  I snort. “Ones that they would have had to be spying on us to get,” I state, arching a brow. Austin’s eyes widen and he lets out a low whistle.

  “Fuck, man. How’s Hutton doing?”

  “Do you care?”

  He frowns. “I’ve made peace with the changes, Beaumont. I thought we were cool. Obviously, you haven’t forgiven me.”

  I let out a long exhale. “I’m just on edge. I don’t know who’s doing this. I don’t know who to trust and I can’t be there with Hutton.”

  He nods, but doesn’t say anything else. Deciding that I may not be able to do much from where I am, I know that I can do one thing. Finding Hutton’s name in my phone, I call her. Thankfully she answers on the third ring.

  “Is everything okay?” she asks. Fuck, she’s asking me that shit.

  Shaking my head, I chuckle. “It’s all good, darlin’ girl. But I want you staying at my place from now until you come out here. Louis is right there, Ford and Wyatt are close by too. Plus, my security system is fucking phenomenal.”

  “I don’t think—”

  Opening my mouth, I interrupt her. “For me, Hutton. Please.”

  There’s a moment of silence and my lips immediately lift into a huge smile when she agrees. She already has my key and my alarm code information.

  “The only thing you’ll need is clothes and food. Thank you for doing this for me,” I say.

  She laughs softly. “Okay, Beau.”

  “Fuck,” I sigh. “Love it when you call me Beau,” I admit.

  “Really?”

  I hum my response. “Nobody really calls me that, sounds sexy coming from y
our sweet lips.”

  “Just a week until I see you again,” she offers.

  “Thank fuck,” I grunt.

  We end the call, though I would keep her on the phone twenty-four-seven just to ensure her safety if I could. I let out a heavy exhausted fucking sigh. I honestly don’t know how much sleep I’m even going to be getting while this shit is going on.

  I’m so fucking on edge and a drink would certainly help me, but I’m trying really hard not to go down that path. Hutton’s parents were alcoholics and I can’t do that to her, I need to be better for her, but also for myself.

  “Everything good?” Brian asks as he makes his way toward my side.

  I hum, letting my head fall back against the wall. “Just getting Hutton all straightened out.”

  “Those pictures mess her up?” he asks.

  I nod, then freeze. My eyes pop open and I look over to him. He’s watching me, waiting for my answer, but I don’t know how he got the information to begin with. I haven’t told anyone other than Austin and that’s only because he was sitting in front of me when Louis called.

  “How’d you know about that?” I ask slowly.

  His eyes widen and then shift to the side, before they come back to me. “You told me about it, earlier,” he says as his knee begins to bounce.

  I didn’t tell him shit, but I don’t call him on that. Instead, I just lift my chin. “Yeah, it’s been a rough afternoon, I’m just really fucking tired,” I say.

  It’s not a lie, that much is true, I am exhausted, but Brian, he’s lied and now I have to figure out what the fuck he knows and how he knows it. Something is fucking rotten, and it’s the one person that surrounds me that I would never expect.

  Fuck.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  HUTTON

  After a long afternoon of clients, Laurie being mostly quiet the entire day and Louis hanging out and playing on his phone, I’m thankful when it’s time to go home, pack and hit the grocery store.