by Delilah Hunt
And that guilt had led to even more. The weight was so heavy that the next day Chase found himself inside the sheriff’s office. This was the same man who’d pulled him and Larke from the sinkhole. Chase told him about the reporter and apologized for waiting so many years to come forward with information.
“We’d always suspected your grandfather was involved. I went over there a time or two but couldn’t find any solid evidence.”
They wouldn’t have. The Chinese man’s car had been driven far away and left along the wayside. When the sheriff thanked him for the information, telling Chase the victim’s widow and children would be able to put their minds to rest, he’d lost it, breaking down in front of the older man. He didn’t deserve gratitude. If anything he should be locked away for withholding information.
“You were just a child,” Sheriff Williams told him. “Your involvement was coerced.”
Chase knew that but it didn’t make him feel a single ounce better. In fact, he’d decided to be as honest as possible with the sheriff, warning the man that if he saw smoke over Lee’s Fortress early in the morning, there shouldn’t be a rush to put it out. Just an empty building that needed to burn. The sheriff had stared at him then gave a single jerk of the head before returning to his paperwork.
And so early the next morning, Chase had set the building on fire. As the fire blazed, he’d kept a distance, watching the flames spread to Trevor’s house as the firefighters arrived and extinguished it. At one point he heard one of the firefighters say, “About fucking time this place went down in flames.”
And that was that. He’d used the last of the money in the group’s account to pay the IRS. Chase sold all the valuables he’d found inside the office, luxury items that Trevor had had no business buying in the first place, including a Rolex watch. He felt even more ignorant for not having taken notice of Trevor’s expensive tastes.
That money along with some of his own, was used to send out the last of the stipend checks. Then he’d made the announcement, letting everyone know the experiment was over and had been a mistake and failure. He gave them instructions—stop being so terrified of the government and minorities. And then he’d left. Just like that Chase packed his pickup and drove to the lake house without sparing a single glance at the place he’d called home.
Today was no different than every day of his life spent obsessing about Larke. Who she was with and what she was doing. Twisted as he was and knowing full well that he’d never be good enough for her, Chase had driven down, all because he could no longer pretend he wasn’t dying inside to have his girl back. That he wouldn’t do whatever it took to have her forgiveness and trust.
He’d come to this conclusion after seeing Larke for the first time in two months last week. She’d been leaving her building wearing a black blazer over a skirt with dark tights underneath. The skirt had hugged and clung to her rounded backside and she’d left the top buttons on her blazer open, no doubt because it was too tight across her breasts. Chase bit back a groan, even now, recalling how perfect her breasts used to feel inside his hands.
At the time, she hadn’t recognized him because he’d switched his red pickup for a black one with tinted windows. He’d noticed that her hair was also different. The braids were gone and as the October wind blew, her puffy curls had gathered and whipped across her face. His fingers had itched to help her tuck the unruly mass of dark coils back into place and his cocked had shot so hard, wanting to thrust into her again. Thrust home. Because nothing would ever be right again unless he had her.
But he’d kept low, not alerting her to his presence. The next days had been spent carving. Working his fingers to the bone, making matching hair combs for Larke’s pretty hair. After completing them, Chase returned, intent on giving the set to her, hoping she’d see the care he’d put into this gift. See that he couldn’t have truly meant to hurt her or make her cry over the phone.
And that led to him waiting here, outside her new boyfriend’s house. The combs, he’d ended up leaving outside her apartment door. He hadn’t been able to see his plan through to hand them to her because Larke was done with him. Chase saw that he’d been beaten to the punch yesterday, after catching sight of the girl he loved coming out of her building to meet another man. A man with skin color as brown as her own and also one who apparently made her smile instead of cry then ask her to lose his number and hang up because he was a coward. A man so unlike himself.
Chase knew he only had himself to blame. But goddamn it. That fucker had his girl. Had what belonged to him. The worst was, he couldn’t do a single thing about it because Larke looked happy. He wanted her happy even it meant living with the pain of having a piece of his heart missing.
Still, Chase was no saint and had easily found the boyfriend’s address and now it even looked like he was rounding the corner in a sleek silver Jaguar. As soon as the man pulled up in driveway, Chase exited his truck. He was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and had made sure to make himself look real presentable, no outward sign of the white supremacist he used to be. He didn’t want Larke any angrier than she would be, if the fucker went back and told her about their ‘talk’. Can’t say I look like the hell I’m living in without my angel.
The man, Raymond, as Chase had figured out, stopped as he saw Chase approach.
“Can I help you?”
“You can,” Chase said, standing inches from him.
Raymond stared at him expectedly. “How? You need directions or something? Do I know you?”
“No, you don’t know me. And no, I don’t need directions. I’m here to talk about Larke. You’re seeing her, aren’t you?”
Raymond backed up, then quickly masked his brief look of panic. “What does that have to do with you?”
Before Chase could answer, Raymond shook his head and made a sound between his teeth. “Damn. You’re her ex-boyfriend, aren’t you?”
“She told you about me?” What would, did Larke tell people about him? Probably nothing good. Wasn’t like he’d given her anything good to say about him.
Raymond shrugged. “Not really. My question for you is, why are you here? You and Larke are over. I just came home from the office. I don’t want any trouble.”
“I don’t give a fuck where you just got back from. That ain’t got nothing to do with what I came here for.”
“Okay. Then why are you here?”
“Like I said, to have a talk with you about Larke. Didn’t come to start trouble either. Unless you don’t wanna listen to what I have to say, then we’ll have problems.”
Raymond cocked his head and folded his arms. “Yeah. All right. What is it that’s so important you have to tell me? I already know everything I need to. Larke’s a wonderful person.”
“I know she is.” Chase didn’t need to hear this man tell him how wonderful Larke was. Didn’t need to think about Larke smiling and being good to someone who wasn’t himself. Sleeping with… Chase broke the thought. That one would kill him. His hands, mouth, and cock should be all she knew. He wanted to slam his fist into something. Raymond’s face?
He drew in a breath, realizing he was going off the deep end. He was better, could be better than his anger. Focus. He pinned his gaze on the man who was eyeing him as if he was insane. Paying no attention to Raymond’s stare, Chase remembered the importance of why he’d waited outside this house for almost an hour. “I’m here because I wanted to make sure you know how special Larke is. I knew it, but I still managed to fuck up. She got hurt because I took it for granted that she’d always be there to support me. I’m not telling you this cause I give a shit about you. I just want you to treat her like she deserves to be treated. I want her to be happy and with someone who knows her worth. So basically I’m telling you Raymond Anthony Marks.” Shock immediately registered on the man’s face. Chase nodded, feeling smug. “Yeah, I know everything about you. And trust me, you really don’t want me to find out you’ve hurt Larke. Like I said, not here for trouble but for you or anyone else t
hat fucks with her, I’ll schedule my entire life around making yours a living hell. Do we understand each other?”
Raymond continued to stare at him. “If you care about Larke so much, that you’re willing to stand here on my property laying out threats, why didn’t you tell her all of this before? Don’t you think that would’ve been better than being here angry because she’s not yours anymore?”
Chase felt his body grow tense. “Ain’t none of your business, Raymond Marks. Just remember what I said because I’m dead serious. Do not fuck with her.” He issued the man a measured look of warning before returning to his truck. As he opened the door, Raymond shouted. “Anything else you want me to tell Larke after I let her know you’ve just threatened me?”
“Whatever you want, Ray. Whatever you want.”
Chase slammed the door and drove off. Through his rearview mirror, he could see the man watching him. He supposed Raymond wanted to make sure he’d really left. Soon the bastard would reach for his phone and call Larke. Raymond would speak to her the way he used to be able to talk to her. Maybe he’d even make her laugh after he told her about Chase’s visit.
If Larke hadn’t done so before, she’d fill him in on the bitter truth about Chase and the relationship they’d had. He would end up being the joke in their conversation. Chase groaned inside his head. The sad truth was, no matter how far he’d come with putting aside his racist views, the thought of Larke and her black boyfriend laughing at him hurt, way more than it would’ve if she’d taken up with another white guy. Two successful black people laughing at the trashy white boy who thought he could make her stay…
22
Chase had been watching her. The revelation came to Larke during a phone conversation with Raymond. When the call came a while ago, she had expected him to tell her about his evening with his ex-wife, who he was now patching things up with. The day before yesterday, she’d felt sorry for her friend and had decided to help him plan the perfect evening with the mother of his daughter. Raymond was nice and their relationship had stayed platonic.
The moment he’d informed her Chase had been waiting for him outside his house and warned him to treat her right, Larke thought her knees would buckle from under her. She’d been shocked to the core. But she’d also felt spitefully happy that Chase believed she was moving on with someone else. That feeling, however, had lasted only a few minutes. She wasn’t spiteful and she didn’t want to hurt him in any sort of way.
All Larke wanted was to know what Chase was thinking. Every other emotion became overshadowed by confusion. Why would he all of a sudden show concern for her, well, concern in his own crude manner?
Sighing, Larke traced her fingertips over the set of combs she’d found inside a package outside her door yesterday. Her name had been the only word written on the box. The matching combs were smooth to the touch with carefully rounded tips, that wouldn’t get snagged in her hair.
At least now she knew the gift was from Chase. Had to be because of the detail. Each comb had a tree carved in the center and flying toward the tree was a bird. The bird was the only part of the comb he’d chosen to paint. Yellow and black strokes. A meadowlark bird, like her name. He’d remembered how she got her name.
Her eyes stung and her heart thundered, beating fierce against her ribcage. Did this mean Chase was still in love with her? But if he was, why hadn’t he tried to contact her all this time?
And why now, when she was at her strongest since their breakup, was he tormenting her by reappearing and sending a gift? A gift he’d obviously put so much thought into.
“That guy loves you, Larke. Trust me. I can tell when a man is in love with a woman. Apart from the whole psycho threat, just the way he spoke about you, made it obvious.”
Larke buried her face on her knees while trying not to allow Ray’s words to play on her heart. When her heart thumped again, she knew it was too late. The beating was strong, going crazy with memories of its missing piece.
Half delirious with the need to hear his voice, Larke reached for the phone then thought better of it. Despite Chase’s brutal order to delete his number, she’d never been able to bring herself to do so. Instead, she’d simply disciplined herself, knowing his number was never to be dialed.
Larke tore her gaze from the phone while contemplating her next course of action. Could she ignore what she now knew––go on with her life and allow her heart to mend or do as Chase as done? Seek him out. Her stomach flipped at the very idea. Her entire body felt wired with nerves. If Chase truly loved her then he had to be in a dark place believing she was in another relationship.
Inhaling a deep breath, Larke grabbed the two combs, neatly arranging them in her mass of kinky curls. She grabbed her keys and made the drive to Lake Walnut. After the fire in Lee’s Fortress, she’d read online that the hate group had been disbanded. Although the newspaper article hadn’t gone into elaborate details, she’d shed a few tears knowing Chase was no longer involved. She’d been happy for him. And if she knew him as well as she did, then he would be at the lake house, away from it all, just him and the outdoors, waiting for hunting season to begin.
As she turned onto the street she remembered the house to be on, Larke prayed he would be there. Because if he wasn’t...Lord help her, she would lose all self-respect by breaking down and calling him.
Larke released the breath she’d been holding as she approached the house. There were two vehicles parked in the driveway. A pickup she didn’t recognize and a sedan. Her sweat-misted palms grew stickier. After a long moment of standing at the doorway, she gathered her courage and rang the bell.
The door opened and Larke feared her heart would break free from her chest, because Chase was standing there. He seemed bigger than life. His brown hair was slightly tousled and his blue eyes were as vivid as ever, putting the sky above to shame. Even his body seemed more powerful as if he’d been working out more.
Larke swallowed hard, suddenly wondering how she must look to him after gaining a few pounds, brought on by drowning her sorrow in food. She’d wised up and stopped but hadn’t managed to lose the extra pounds yet. Damn. She shifted her feet, feeling very foolish while her entire body ached and tingled with the effort to not throw herself into his arms, then hold her face up for the kiss that always followed.
The hardening of his jaws blanketed the surprise on his face. “What are you doing here, Larke?”
Breathe. Speak. “I came to see you.” Obviously. She tried again. “I came to see you because of yesterday. Ray told me that you said some…um...things to him about me.”
His eyes darkened. “He sent you up here to talk to me?” His gaze flickered from her face to the combs in her hair but showed no reaction.
Larke shook her head. “He didn’t. I came here because I wanted to. I know you were the one who left these at my door.” She gestured to the combs. “They’re beautiful, Chase. I love them.”
He nodded, narrowing his eyes. “What does your boyfriend think about them?”
“Well, there’s that. I also wanted you to know that Ray and I…” Larke stopped. There was someone behind Chase. A woman. Young. White. Thin with straight brown hair. “Chase do you mind if I…” Like herself, the girl stopped speaking, taking note of Larke’s presence. Chase followed her gaze, turning around as the girl peered at Larke in surprise then mumbled something and hurried away.
Right then and there her heart died. Larke drew her eyes up to see him watching her. His entire body appeared tenser than ever. Of course. Chase wanted her gone. She, like an idiot, had convinced herself he’d been sending secret messages of his love. All she’d done was interrupt him and his girlfriend.
She wrinkled her brows, blinked away the sting in her eyes and forced the lump from her throat. “I was going to say Raymond and I are just friends. But I see it doesn’t matter.” She forced a smile to her lips, knowing it probably appeared wobbly. “I understand now why you wanted me to lose your number. Good reason. She’s very pretty.”
<
br /> Oh God, she was rambling and he just stood there staring and letting her embarrass herself. Larke bit her trembling lip. “Anyway, I have a lot to do at home, so I’m just going to head on back. Sorry for disturbing you and your girlfriend. Bye.”
She spun around and treaded down the driveway. One foot in front of the other, trying to hurry despite her blurred and cloudy vision caused by the tears struggling to break free. Larke could make out her car at the side of the road. All she had to do was reach the safety of inside. If she lost the battle of holding in the cry, it wouldn’t matter because no one would be there to witness her pain and humiliation. To see her once and for all become undone.
Larke thought he had another girl. Chase stared at her as she hurried down the driveway. A rush of blood pounded in his eardrums. She was going to cry. That much he could tell, after she’d looked up at him with shock and hurt in her eyes. Did she think he’d left her so he could be with a certain type of girl? Chase swallowed hard. The kind of girl wasn’t important, he reasoned. Not when Larke was steps away from her car and about to leave believing she’d been replaced. That was something he couldn’t allow.
Chase dashed down the driveway, catching up with her as she reached the door of her car. He grabbed her hand, carefully pulling her toward him. She jerked her head, staring at him through watery eyes filled with shock and confusion.
Larke opened her mouth; maybe to question him, yell… He didn’t care. Chase dipped his head, covering her lips with his own. He held tight as she began to struggle. He moved his lips, pressing it to her cheek, kissing beside her ear in the broad daylight. “She’s not mine,” he whispered. “That girl you just saw, she’s McNair’s girlfriend.”
