Page 84 of Undercover Desires

Caleb guides me to where I can collect my belongings, and I quickly gather my stuff, shoving it into my pockets. “Your brother is waiting for you out front,” he informs me.

I nod, acknowledging his message, and make my way to the exit. Outside, I see Jett waiting by the car, and I head over to him. As soon as I get in the car, I can’t contain my frustration any longer. “What the fuck is going on, Jett?” I growl out, feeling like I’m going to burst.

“How about thanks for making bail for me?” he shoots back with a hint of annoyance.

I let out a sigh of relief, glad to be out of that cell, but my anxiety is far from over. “Well, that goes without saying. But what the hell, I thought I was going to have to spend the night. You guys took fucking forever. Where is Leo? And Caleb, what’s going on with him?” I slam the car door behind me, relaxing back into the soft leather seat.

Jett starts the engine and drives, but then he comes to a sudden stop and waits. “Leo’s in the hospital with Piper. She went into labor after you got arrested.”

“Is she okay?” I ask, worried. She wasn’t due yet.

“They had the baby on the side of the road. Ben had to help.”

I pull a face, imagining the scene. “Err, that doesn’t sound fun.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t. They are all doing well and are in the hospital now, but it held up the process with her lawyer, so that’s why I’m here later than I would have expected. Sorry,” he huffs.

Seconds later, Caleb appears in the back seat. “She’s in trouble, Kobe,” are his first words.

“Bella?” I ask, my worry for her deepening. I fucking knew something was off.

“Yeah,” Caleb confirms. “She was supposed to meet me today to go over some new information she foundout about Reader, but she was a no-show. I got worried, so I came down to the station to find out what was going on. Turns out she was busy arresting you with Reader.”

“How do you know she’s in trouble?” I ask, confused.

“My guess is he tried blackmailing her with these.” He holds out his phone for me, and I see the email with a sinking feeling. The images displayed are the ones her ex-boyfriend had taken of her.

My anger flares. “That motherfucking cunt. He’s dead,” I growl, ready to take matters into my own hands. I don’t care that he’s a fucking cop.

“Where is he?” Jett’s quick to ask.

“I asked around the office and tried repeatedly to call her, but no one knows. After the two of them arrested you, they just disappeared,” Caleb explains, his worry obvious. And he should be, we all know what Reader is capable of. She’s in big trouble.

“There is something else as well, Kobe,” Jett interrupts. “Hazel mentioned when she dropped by to see her today, it looked like her place had been ripped apart. She said Bella seemed okay, but she didn’t let her in; they talked on the front porch. She thought it was strange at the time, but now I feel like this is related.”

“So he messed up her place and sent out explicit images of her, forcing her to arrest me? I fucking knew she wouldn’t have done this to me.” I slam my fist into the dashboard, wishing it was his motherfucking face.

“It looks that way,” Caleb agrees.

“She’s just texted you,” Jett says, still looking over the email on Caleb’s phone.

Arabella: I’m leaving my phone in the women’s bathroom at the station. Check my video surveillanceand voice recordings. It should tell you all you need to know. My pin code is 5623.

Jett reads it out loud to us.

My heart races. I want to know where she is. “Why would she leave her phone?” I ask, my chest feeling like it’s caving in I’m in so much pain.

“She knows there’s not a good chance of her surviving this. She’s leaving it as evidence, hoping it might lead us to her before it’s too late,” Caleb says gravely. “Wait for me. I’ll get the phone. It might help pinpoint their location.” He takes off out of the car and runs up the road back to the station.

“She’s going to be okay. She’s smart, Kobe,” Jett tells me, but he doesn’t know. This looks terrible. We all know what Reader is capable of, and she is somewhere with him, scared and alone.

“I should have known something wasn’t right. I could have resisted arrest, caused a scene. We knew enough about Reader to know it was time to fuck him up for all the shit he’s been up to. That was the time. On our turf, with all of us there.” I fume in frustration with myself. I was so fixated on what she was doing to me that I couldn’t see what was playing out in front of me. The truth. I should have known she wouldn’t do this to me. If anything happens to her, I will never forgive myself.

“You’re right, but we didn’t know the whole situation. Reader could have had a whole team just waiting out front to storm the place. We could all be dead right now. Don’t you worry, we will get her back.”

“Jett, you don’t understand who she is to me,” I say, panicked. I don’t know how to have this conversation with him, but he needs to understand. He needs to know so he can help me get her back.

“I get it, Brother. Trust me, I can see your turmoil.”

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