ACER: A Stand Alone, New Adult, Friends To Lovers Romance Read online

  ACER

  Copyright © 2020 by A. M. Hargrove

  AM Hargrove, LLC Up All Night Romance

  All Rights Reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in form or any manner whatsoever by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or a book review. Scanning, uploading and distribution of the book via the Internet or via any other means without permission is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support for the author’s rights is appreciated. For information, address to permissions coordinator at [email protected]

  A.M. Hargrove LLC

  Cover Design: Talia @RedHotInk

  Cover Photo by Eric McKinney 6:12 Photography

  Cover Model: Jered Youngblood

  Editing: My Brother’s Editor

  Contents

  Other Books

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Epilogue

  Other Books

  About The Author

  Acknowledgments

  Playlist

  “Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”

  ― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

  Other Books

  For Other Books by A.M. Hargrove visit

  https://amhargrove.com/book/

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  https://readerlinks.com/mybooks/1842

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  Adult Novels

  The Kent Brothers Stand Alone Novels

  ACER

  RAIDEN (TBD)

  Sign up for a LIVE ALERT here

  CRUZE (TBD)

  The West Sisters Stand Alone Novels:

  One Indecent Night

  One Shameless Night

  One Blissful Night

  The West Brothers Stand Alone Novels:

  From Ashes to Flames

  From Ice to Flames

  From Smoke to Flames

  Stand Alones

  Secret Nights

  For The Love of English

  For The Love of My Sexy Geek

  I’ll Be Waiting

  The Men of Crestview Stand Alone Novels:

  A Special Obsession

  Chasing Vivi

  Craving Midnight

  The Edge Series Stand Alone Novels:

  Edge of Disaster

  Shattered Edge

  Kissing Fire

  The Tragic Duet Stand Alone Novels:

  Tragically Flawed, Tragic 1

  Tragic Desires, Tragic 2

  The Hart Brothers Series:

  Freeing Her, Book 1

  Freeing Him, Book 2

  Kestrel, Book 3

  The Fall and Rise of Kade Hart

  The Hart Brothers Series Boxset

  Sabin, A Seven Novel

  A Hart Brothers Novel Spin-off

  YA/NA Clean Romance

  The Guardians of Vesturon Series:

  Survival

  Resurrection

  Determinant

  reEmergent

  Co-Authored Adult Books

  Cruel & Beautiful:

  Cruel and Beautiful

  A Mess of a Man

  One Wrong Choice

  A Beautiful Sin

  The Wilde Players Dirty Romance Series:

  Sidelined

  Fastball

  Hooked

  Worth Every Risk—

  A Wilde Players Spin-Off

  Prologue

  ACER

  “Dude, you want to make some quick cash?” my friend, Paulie, asked. He was always calling me about these idiotic money-making schemes that I usually refused.

  “Who doesn’t? But what do I have to do?” my usual skeptical self asked.

  “This is easy. Go to Savannah and pick up a shipment, and then drive it to Atlanta and leave it at a warehouse.” This sounded sketchier than the norm.

  “Okay, this sounds more than a little sketchy. What’s the catch?”

  “There is no catch.”

  “Then why can’t one of their own people pick it up?”

  “Because they don’t have anyone available, that’s why.”

  “Nah. I’m passing on this one.”

  “C’mon, Acer. I need your help. I’m really in a bind.”

  “Why don’t you do it?”

  “I have a full plate right now and can’t get down there. Otherwise, I’d be on it.”

  He always had an answer for everything. “Okay, I’ll bite. How much?”

  “This is the best part. Five Gs.”

  “Are you serious? This is bullshit. There has to be something illegal going on.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  Was he kidding? “Five Gs to pick up a little shipment? Come on, Paulie, even you’re not that stupid.”

  “Listen to me. All you need to do is pick up a trailer, attach it to your SUV, and drive it to Atlanta. What’s so stupid about that?”

  “Because that should only bring in a few hundred. One G tops. Five is crazy money.”

  “Hey, I don’t ask these guys. Most of them don’t even speak American.”

  “It’s English, dumbass. What is it?”

  “What’s what?”

  “In the shipment, asshole.” I blew out a breath. This conversation was going downhill and fast.

  Paulie huffed into the phone. “I don’t know, man. Microchips for games or computers. All I know is the cargo is coming in from China. You know they produce a ton of that stuff.”

  That was true. They manufactured a huge percentage of it. I thought about it for a minute. It could be totally legit. I was still leery about it, but what if it was just a truckload of computer parts? I stood to make a nice little pocketful of cash. “Why Savannah?”

  He huffed into the phone again. “Because it’s coming into the port off
of a ship. That’s why.”

  That part sounded valid. How else would it get here? “Yeah, yeah. Okay, text me the details.”

  I was desperate for the money. Mom and Dad told me at my brother Brax’s wedding a few months ago, they were cutting me off at the end of the year. I’d had eight months to get my shit together and hadn’t done a damn thing about it. It was October and in a few months, I’d be on my own financially, which meant a job and all that. My bank account was virtually empty. Five grand would go a long way to help.

  The text came in and it was pretty plain. Go to the Georgia Ports Authority in Savannah, where the ships come in, and look for the China Star. He gave me the pier number and where I’d meet my contact, someone named Liu. He’d be expecting me tomorrow evening around ten. That was a strange time for a pickup. Why couldn’t I go during the day when it would be easier to find? Who was I to argue with five grand though? Maybe the ship wasn’t coming in until late.

  The following day, I got ready and headed north on I-95. It was a straight shot all the way to Savannah from Ft. Lauderdale and a relatively boring drive unless I hit traffic, which was quite often. Traffic sucked. I allowed eight hours for the trip but it only took me seven so I pulled into a rest area before I got off the interstate and took a short nap. When I woke up, I had plenty of time to get to my destination.

  Fifteen minutes before ten, I was at the port authority, looking for pier number eighteen and the China Star. But when I got there, there was no China Star.

  An employee came over and asked if I needed help. “Yes. Can you point me to the China Star? It was supposed to be here.”

  He held a clipboard and flipped through some pages. “It’s not listed. If it departed, it’ll be logged into the computer. You want me to check?”

  I didn’t know what to do. My instructions had been clear. “Let me make a call first.”

  I walked a short distance away and called Paulie.

  He answered on the second ring. “Dude, you in Savannah?”

  “Yeah, but there’s no China Star. If I drove all this way for nothing, I’m gonna be pissed.”

  He laughed and said, “Don’t worry. The ship probably already left, but hang tight. Someone will show up.”

  “Someone from the ports authority did and checked. He said there was no China Star here.”

  “No, there wouldn’t be if it already left, would there?”

  “Guess not.”

  “Don’t panic. Just hang around the pier and Liu will show up.”

  About twenty minutes later, Liu finally showed. But he spoke zero English. All he did was say my name and then signal for me to follow him to this trailer that was close by. This wasn’t at all what I’d expected. He kept swinging his arms and then acting like he was driving. I gathered he wanted me to get my wheels. So I pulled my SUV up to the trailer and he attached it to my hitch. Then he handed me a piece of paper with an address on it. When I glanced back up, he’d disappeared.

  “Hey, Liu, hold on.” I jumped out of the car to give chase, but the guy was nowhere to be found. I was going to ask about my payment. Getting back in, I googled the directions and headed to Atlanta. My brain couldn’t stop thinking about how sketchy Liu’s disappearance had been. What was in that trailer?

  I called Paulie. “Hey, I got it. Liu was weird though. He didn’t speak English and then vanished into thin air.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Just what I said.” I explained what happened.

  “That is weird. Did he pay you?”

  “No. When I went to ask about that, he was gone. I figured the people at the warehouse would.”

  “No, Liu was supposed to pay you.”

  “Fuck, Paulie, why didn’t you say so?”

  “I did.”

  “No, you didn’t. Those are details I don’t forget.” I slammed my hands on the steering wheel. “Now what do I do?”

  “Go to the warehouse. That’s probably where you’ll get the money.”

  “You better be right. I may grab some insurance though.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Some of those microchips from the trailer.”

  “Acer, don’t.” Panic laced his voice, which was odd.

  “What’s the problem, Paulie? It would only be a few chips. They probably wouldn’t even notice.”

  He laughed a little. “Yeah, they would. They inventory everything. Just don’t fuck with anything in there. Drop it off and get your money.”

  “Okay, sure.”

  But I couldn’t let it go. It was all too strange, with the way Liu vanished and then Paulie’s reaction. When I found a vacant rest area, I’d open the damn trailer to check out what it held and maybe I’d grab some of that stuff for myself. I finally came upon one that was deserted, which was only forty miles outside of Atlanta, and pulled in. The trailer had a lock on it, but I carried bolt cutters in the SUV. Dad ran a storage unit business on the side and occasionally we had to take over someone’s unit if they hadn’t paid in a while. Bolt cutters came in handy for that.

  I cut off the lock and lifted the trailer door to get a look inside. It was dark, so using the light on my phone, I shined it inside.

  “Holy fuck.” I’d never seen anything like it and had no idea what to do. I was totally freaked. Whoever was involved with this kind of shit went way higher than Liu at the port in Savannah.

  Think, Acer, think.

  There was only one person I knew who would help me without judging. So I made the call.

  “Acer, how’s my baby brother-in-law?”

  In a rush, I said, “Reynolds, I’m in trouble. I need your help.”

  “Trouble? What do you mean?”

  I glanced around, now fearful I was being watched.

  “It’s really bad.”

  “Are your parents making you move?” she teased.

  “Nothing like that. Worse.” Then I explained.

  With an urgency in her voice I’d never heard before, she said, “Call the FBI. Right now.”

  “The FBI? Reynolds, what if they think I had something to do with this?”

  “Acer, you don’t have a choice. Right after you call them, get off the phone. Don’t tell anyone other than the FBI where you are. Text me your location so I can come and get you. I’m texting you the FBI’s local number now.”

  “What should I tell them?”

  “The truth. And then lay low until I get there. I’m on the way.”

  The line went dead. I checked my messages and there was the number. I made the call.

  “FBI Atlanta Field Office. How may I direct your call?”

  “Yeah, uh, I need your help. I’m in serious trouble.”

  Chapter One

  ISLA

  “Mama, you know I can’t come home tomorrow.”

  “Isla, it’s the weekend and your Mimi’s birthday. Besides, I’m cooking Sunday dinner and I know how much you love my fried chicken.”

  That was true. Mama’s fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy were the best, especially when she made the chicken hot and spicy. And there was no one I adored more than my grandmother. I’d sent her a birthday gift already, but there was nothing I’d love more than to hug her on her eightieth.

  “I know, Mama, I do.”

  “I made Mimi a tall chocolate cake too.”

  “Mama, please don’t tempt me. I can’t. I’m on duty this weekend. I’m sorry.”

  “Your brother is coming and bringing that friend of his and his wife.”

  “You mean Brax and Reynolds?” Brax was a teammate of my brother’s. They played professional football together.

  “Yes, them. They’re so nice. Are you sure you can’t come?”

  I groaned. “Honestly, I wish I could, but I have to work. Tell Mimi I love her though.”

  My boss yelled out right then. “I need a team, ASAP. We have a situation on I-75, between Macon and Atlanta. Let’s move it, people.”

  “Mama, I’ve got to go. I’ll call
you later.”

  I ended the call and headed down to the parking garage to gear up. When I arrived, we had two vans and two SUVs assembled. The weapons, Kevlar vests, and ammunition were already in the vehicles. The FBI kept all vehicles prepared so if and when a call came in, the only thing we had to do was load up.

  After we piled inside, the information was delivered to us. We were headed approximately forty miles south of Atlanta. A call came in from a man who’d been hauling a trailer from Savannah. He suspected he was in danger and when he opened the trailer, he’d gotten the shock of his life.

  “Does he know how many are in there?” someone asked.

  “No. He couldn’t see very well and got the shit scared out of him when he saw what was inside. That’s when he made the call.”

  “Where is he now?”

  “He may still be there, but said his sister-in-law was coming to get him.”

  “Shit. That’s another body we need to worry about.”

  “Make that two,” I added, thinking about the sister-in-law he’d dragged into it.