Into The Rabbit Hole (Vandervilles Book 3)

by Khardine Gray

  “This guy may have killed Merissa, but that isn’t Aaron,” Ben suddenly said. “This is our second guy.”

  Chloe glanced over at him; everyone else looked, too.

  “How do you know?” Regina chimed in.

  Chloe didn’t know what they were talking about. She wasn’t aware of a second person, and they seemed to have more information.

  “It’s not him,” Ben repeated.

  “Regardless to who it is, it looks like we have our killer,” Detective Fray stated.

  Regina nodded and smiled. She turned to look at Chloe and Wes and the smile fell from her face. Chloe knew the expression on her face all too well. She’d seen it many times when she was a child and had disobeyed her parents or Regina. Regina was always scarier than her parents, though. Way more scary.

  “What happens now?” Chloe asked, ignoring the look. She directed her gaze and question to Detective Fray. She wasn’t a child anymore and didn’t have to answer to anyone, no matter how much Regina meant to her. Chloe agreed that what she did with Wes wasn’t by any means safe, but it had worked. And she would happily point out that their little side mission worked above everything else everyone else was doing. They found the killer and cleared Wade’s name. It was as simple as that. “Can Wade come home now?”

  “The evidence needs to be processed first. Once that’s done he’ll be released.”

  She looked at him, understanding the answer but not wanting to accept it. “But you have the killer, the evidence is all there.”

  “Yes, when can he be released?” Regina asked.

  “A few days, tops.”

  “A few days?” Chloe winced.

  “Miss Matthews, if he was being kept here then we’d release him immediately, but since Wade is in prison this has to be checked out properly and go through the correct procedures. I promise you he’ll be out in a few days.”

  The answer still wasn’t good enough, and since she didn’t want to be rude she rose from her seat and left the room, leaving everyone staring after her.

  “Chloe.” It was Wes, he came after her.

  If it was anyone else she wouldn’t have stopped. He rushed up to her and turned to face him, practically falling into his arms as the tears took her and she broke down.

  “There, there,” he said, stroking her head.

  “I just want him home, Wes. I just want him home,” she cried. “Wade’s in prison.” She thought of the visits she’d had and how he looked. Both times he looked like he’d been in a fight.

  Wes released her and held her shoulders so he could look at her. “He’ll be home soon. Honestly, the worst part is over. This next part, the waiting, is gravy. I know it’s the last thing you want to hear, but they have to process the evidence and verify it.”

  She nodded. He sat her down on one of the nearby benches. That was when she saw Regina. Chloe watched her approach and stop beside them. Wes made a move to go but Regina stopped him.

  “You really helped us out a lot, son. Taylor’s extremely fond of you. She talks about you a lot. I never dreamed that you’d be the one to help us like this,” Regina said. She reached out and touched his shoulder and a wayward tear ran down her cheek. “Thank you for everything you’ve done. No one would have even thought of what you did. No one.” She shook her head.

  “It’s okay, Mrs. V.” Wes could get away with calling anybody anything. It was the nature of his character. “I’m glad I could help.”

  “Because of you my son will be free.”

  “It was good to help.” He gave her a curt nod. “I’ll leave you two to talk.” He glanced over at Chloe before he made his way back inside the room.

  Regina then looked to Chloe and another tear ran down her cheek.

  “Please don’t tell me off. I can’t bear it,” Chloe said before she could open her mouth.

  “Chloe, one of these guys ran Taylor off the road, I received the severed finger and head of a man I used to know, Wade was framed for murdering his ex-girlfriend. Please understand why I’d be a little upset with you right now. I’m grateful, Lord knows I’m grateful, but something could have happened to you and Wes.”

  Chloe got it. She did. She understood and would probably feel the same if the situation was reversed. However, she had to stand by her actions. Sometimes you had to be brave and take courage to help the ones you loved. If she’d listened to Regina and just sat around being safe, they wouldn’t have had this evidence.

  Not only that, Regina just revealed more to the story that Chloe didn’t know.

  “You knew who the finger and the head belonged to?” she asked, glossing over the other things she had said. “And there’s two of these guys? Regina, what’s the point in holding back important information?”

  “Chloe, the less you know the better it is for you. There is a lot more to this story than you realize.”

  “This man is screwing with our lives.” In just a handful of weeks, Taylor, Wade, and Ben were all in the news for various scandals, and then all the events. It would have helped to be armed with knowledge.

  “Sweet girl, I know you love Wade and you want to help us, but this is bigger than you. You can’t deny that there was a possibility of something going wrong with your plans.”

  Chloe opened her mouth to protest but couldn’t because Regina was right. “I just wanted him to come home.” She wiped away a tear.

  “I understand.” She took both her hands into hers. “I just wished you and Wes had at least come to me. We could have achieved the same result, but together. It would have been safer.”

  Chloe nodded, agreeing. That was true. She doubted that anyone would have been against any of the ideas Wes had come up with, but neither her nor Wes had been thinking at the time. They just did what they would normally do when they had an idea and got into it by themselves.

  “I’m sorry. You’re right, I should have come to you.” She pulled in a frustrated breath and gazed at Regina. “The waiting is driving me crazy.”

  “Me, too. Let’s just hope we don’t have to wait too long. Detective Fray has been working with us for some time now. I know that if there’s a way to speed things up, he’ll do it.”

  Although Chloe was nodding in agreement, she was screaming inside.

  The next day, having had no sleep and hardly anything to eat, she thought she was going to go completely mad. By nightfall she’d had enough and snuck out of the beach house while Kelly was watching Fashion Police. Taylor was with Wes so the task was much easier.

  Chloe then went home. To Wade’s house. Their house.

  The place was exactly the way that she had left it, but she busied herself cleaning, even though everything was spotless. She cleaned the house from top to bottom until the early hours of the morning when tiredness took over and she could no longer move around. When her legs gave out, she went to bed.

  It was nearly ten when she woke up, but she got ready for work and went to Runway. Chloe expected another telling off from Regina, and additional scolding from Kelly, Wes, and Taylor, because she awoke to a series of messages from each of them. She didn’t care, though. Everyone had their ways to deal with different situations. This was hers. She wanted to do what she wanted to do, not what everyone else was telling her. That way would make her go crazy quicker.

  “The designer list for Fashion Week has now been finalized.” Lisa beamed, coming up to Chloe’s desk. Chloe had just rose from behind her computer. She was going to grab some lunch.

  “That’s fantastic.” She tried to sound happy.

  “Girl, I would believe you more if you’d tried to smile.” Lisa giggled. “Your boy’s going to be home soon.” She smiled brightly at Chloe.

  The good thing about Lisa was that she was one of those genuine people who you could be real with. Chloe could always talk to her and she was definitely a friend.

  “I know, and I’m sorry, I just… It’s been a difficult time,” Chloe expressed.

  “Why don’t you go home? Everyone understands
what’s been going on.” Lisa sympathized, her brown eyes full of concern.

  “I’ve already had a number of days off. I don’t want to seem unprofessional.”

  Lisa looked at her askance. “Are you kidding? You unprofessional? Chloe, things happened and no one here is going to think that of you. Like I said, we understand, and hey, I have your back.”

  Chloe thought for a moment and thought it might be a good idea to go home. Maybe she could go back to the beach house. “Thanks, I appreciate you a lot.”

  “I know. Come on, let’s walk.” Lisa smiled.

  Chloe picked up her little purse and they walked out of the Closet and onto the balcony. Lisa started talking about the designers again and Chloe took the clipboard with the line up from her. When she saw it, she actually felt excited. Everyone that she loved was going to be there, all the usual big names like Gucci, Dior, Chanel, and Tom Ford. But the new ones were, too, like Pierre.

  Seeing his name on the list made her think back to months ago. It was as if something changed that day when she submitted her application to be creative director. Everything had changed since then. It felt like her mind had expanded to accommodate the changes in her life. A lot of bad things had happened, bad things that made the good things feel weak. It was easy to wish that life could be different, much simpler, like when all she had to evade was Kelly’s disgusting tea and weird guys from the dating site asking her out.

  But she wouldn’t want to change things and take away the good. Nothing on Earth would make her want to do that. Her love for Wade was something that she loved feeling, there weren’t any words yet that could capture a good description of how she felt about him, and that was why she just couldn’t wait to have him back.

  “This year is going to be good, Lisa.” Chloe smiled at her. They stopped at the top of the stairs on the second floor.

  Lisa nodded with pure excitement. “You know, I have a good feeling about this. Runway is going to benefit from this a lot. Wait till you see the request list for the months after the show. We have magazine requests coming out of the windows and the doors.”

  At that, Chloe widened her eyes. That genuinely got her even more excited. Being able to see the figures and everything more on a senior level gave her that step above what she used to be. When she first got the position, she decided to make Lisa her assistant and allow her the same privileges she had. Hearing this was happening was big news and she imagined Fashion Week would give them enough stability to run until the next one and the one after that. Runway was going places.

  “Maybe I should stay. I’d like to see the requests.” It would give her ideas, if only for the upcoming shows after Fashion Week. There was no harm planning ahead, and the distraction was most welcomed.

  “Um…” A brighter smile beamed from Lisa’s beautiful face. “I have a very good feeling that you’ll want to keep that idea to take the rest of the day off, and possibly the rest of the week.” She was looking over Chloe’s shoulder and at something below them. When Lisa took back the clipboard, Chloe turned to see what she was looking at and froze.

  She wasn’t looking at something. It was someone. It was Wade.

  He’d seen her, too, the minute she looked down at him. Clutching her hand to her chest, she immediately left Lisa and flew down the stairs. She’d never gotten down those stairs so quickly. Her legs took on a life of their own and she moved as if she were flying and couldn’t actually feel the ground. He moved to her, too, looking at her as if she was all he could see. Into his awaiting arms she went. Straight home, because that’s what it felt like. Being in his arms, or anywhere near him, felt like being home.

  He lifted her and she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him hard. Hugging him with all the strength she had in her being. She was so consumed with the feel of his arms around her that she just barely managed to hear the sounds of cheers around them.

  Chloe lifted her head to see everyone around clapping. She slid down him as he released her and she took a moment to smile at those who cheered.

  He was already looking at her when she returned her gaze to him. Those enchanting gray eyes beamed back at her with so much love it made her heart swell. In that confident, cocky manner he usually exuded, he took her hand and said, “Come on, let’s go.”

  Chapter 9

  Wade

  All it took was one look at her and it would calm him. The sight of Chloe would calm the inner turmoil and rage that raced throughout his body and threatened to turn him into a killer when he thought of Zeek.

  Wade released the breath he’d been holding onto, sat up straighter in his chair, and tried his best not to bring that guy into his consciousness. Zeek played him and Jared like a game he was used to winning. Fooled them effortlessly and bamboozled them with his sales figures and mad skills. Jesus, Wade swore when he found out that it was Zeek who killed Merissa, he could have dissipated from the anger and shock that ravaged his body. It was amazing how he’d always had a feeling about the guy.

  Wade spoke to Jared the first chance he got and was told that Zeek hadn’t been back to the office since Wade had been arrested. Jared thought that it was because of that why he immediately stopped doing business with them, but of course now they knew differently.

  He actually still couldn’t believe it. Wade had trusted Zeek. Trusted him with his business and even took him for a friend.

  Remembering him was still hard, and when he pushed his mind to think back to high school and try to remember his encounters with Zeek, Wade still had no recollection. He remembered everyone else but not Zeek. He decided that it definitely couldn’t have been high school that they crossed paths. Hazy images of being in a park somewhere with a bunch of kids kept coming into his mind when he imagined a younger Zeek, and that was a very long time ago, like maybe when he was twelve or something. But that was it. Nothing more, and honestly that part didn’t matter.

  If Wade couldn’t remember him, then he simply couldn’t. What did matter, however, was that he had killed Merissa and was still on the loose, and Zeek was just an accomplice. The person who was after them was far worse. The thought of that actually made his skin crawl and it made him all the more grateful to be out of prison.

  Thanks to Wesley, another massive surprise he was still trying to get his head around. Wade couldn’t believe that Wesley had been able to think of the bike’s camera, and he had to admit that he didn’t think anyone else would have had that idea. It was jealousy that made Wade still feel some indifference to him, simply because he knew he and Chloe shared a special relationship no one else would have.

  He knew he had nothing to worry about with Chloe, these last few weeks proved that to him. Wade hadn’t spoken to Wesley yet but he would, he wanted to thank him for his help in person. His gratitude warranted more than a phone call, and Wade would do that as soon as he could.

  He steadied his gaze on Chloe as she moved around in the kitchen, making him breakfast. The calmness filled him again and he focused on her, pushing Zeek aside. He’d missed her so much, feared he would never see her again, and never imagined that he would have this again with her.

  This simple picture where they were in the kitchen like a normal couple and she was busy taking care of him while he sat at the breakfast table checking her out. He wanted to make her breakfast in bed but she beat him to the kitchen by waking up earlier than him. It was the smell of food that woke him up, and by the time he got in here the table was filled with food, but now she was making something else. She hadn’t allowed him to miss a meal. The last three days had been the same.

  That first day they came home and fell straight into bed where they allowed passion to take over and he made love to her until they both passed out. When they eventually woke up, she became like this. Serving him up four-course meals at all meal times and taking the very best care of him. And she clung to him like glue.

  The only moments he had away from her were the two times he’d seen his parents and Taylor, and when he was asleep.
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  Those moments had seemed like eons and he couldn’t wait to either be back in her presence or wake up.

  When he was with her, he couldn’t stop looking at the perfection of her. The woman was perfect. Perfect—no matter what time of day it was she looked beautiful, asleep or awake.

  He ran his gaze over her body as she moved around to the counter and reached up the cupboard to get the flour.

  Her long, slender arms looked graceful, the curve of her voluptuous breasts in that tank top kept his eyes there, and the image of her beautiful, naked body popped into his head, making him hard with need for her.

  “Baby, come here,” he called after her. He was sitting at the breakfast table.

  She turned around to face him and smiled. “You have to eat.”

  “You’re torturing me with your body, baby.” He smiled, shamelessly running his eyes over her. “Jesus, look at you.” He ran his hand over his beard and watched his woman, displayed before him like a mouthwatering exotic dish.

  “Wade, I’m making you pancakes. You love pancakes.” She giggled.

  He got up and walked over to her, taking her hands into his. “Forget loving pancakes, I love you.”

  “I love you, too.” She smiled up at him.

  “Good, so you’ll understand when I take this away from you.” He released her hands and put the flour back in the cupboard, despite her protests. He had other things in mind.

  “Wade, you need to eat,” she complained.

  “I’m fine. In four hours we’ll have lunch. I’ll cook, and I don’t want to see you in this kitchen for at least a month.”

  She pretended to pout. “What are we going to do for four hours?”

  “I can’t believe you could ask me that.”

  She laughed as he lifted her up in his arms and the loose bun on her head became looser. By the time he carried her over to the table and set her down on it, the gorgeous hair he loved so much tumbled carelessly down her shoulders in a soft, sparkling, golden mass. He liked putting her on here because it put her at a decent height. He took her lips, enjoying the softness of them on his, telling her without words how much he loved her. She kissed him back with a sharp need that aroused him further and made the world recede around them.