by J. S. Cooper
“Am I paying you to play with your mutt?” Wade was behind and I turned around to see a teasing look on his familiar handsome face. He had shaved and was now clean-shaven. I blushed at the look he was giving me. I couldn’t believe that he had such an affect on my body.
“Her name is Jolene and I did the work you left for me.”
“So why’d you name her Jolene?”
“After the Dolly Parton song.” I grinned. “It was one of my favorites when I was growing up. There was a girl in my high school who would sing it every day and I guess it just stuck.”
“You like Country music?”
“Yeah, do you?”
“Nah.” He shook his head. “That’s not my jam.”
“What’s your jam?”
“Metal, Classic Rock, that sort of thing.”
“Typical guy music, I guess.” I smiled.
“I’m anything but a typical guy.” He leaned forward and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. “I forgot to greet you properly.”
“Properly?”
“With a peck. Isn’t that what you women like?”
“What we women like?”
“You know, to be shown attention from your men.”
“But you’re my boss.”
“Well last night when I was inside of you, I was your man.”
“You’re gross, Wade.”
“You didn’t think that when you were sucking my cock.”
“Wade!” I smacked him in the arm. “Stop.”
“You’re blushing.” He chuckled. “I love seeing you blush.”
“So where were you today?” I asked him softly, trying to ignore the butterflies in my stomach.
“I had to run some errands with Henry.” He reached out and wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me into him. “What did you do?”
“I was working.” I pressed my face into his chest. I didn’t want him to see that I was lying, but I wasn’t about to say, ooh I was looking for your basement, to see if I could find a dead body. Oh and Lucy and I were snooping all through your house to figure out your secrets.
“Savannah?” He kissed the top of my head. “What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing.” I looked up into his eyes and stood up on my tippy toes so that I could kiss him. “I’m glad you’re home.” I said honestly and I realized just how true those words were. I was never happier than when I was spending time with him.
“Do you trust me?” He asked me softly, his eyes sparkling.
“Why?” I swallowed hard. Was he about to tell me his secrets? Was this all going to be over?
“Because I want to try something with you. I know you’ll enjoy it, but you have to relax.”
“Wade Hart, I am not having anal sex with you.” I snapped as I realized he was asking me if I trusted him because he wanted to have kinky sex with him, not because he was falling for me and wanting to share his deepest and darkest secrets with me.
“Did I say anal?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Then what are you talking about?”
“I’ll tell you if you say yes.”
“I’m not saying yes if I don’t know what I’m saying yes to.”
“Then we’re in a bit of a conundrum, aren’t we?”
“No, we’re not.” I grinned at him. “You are.”
“Touché.” He laughed and stepped back. “Would you like to go on a walk tonight?”
“A walk where?”
“Where? Does it matter?”
“Kinda.”
“What if I said it was somewhere over the rainbow?”
“You’re in a weird mood.” My eyes narrowed at how light hearted and goofy he was being. “What’s going on?’
“Does something have to be going on for me to want to take a walk with my best gal?”
“Your best gal?” My heart fluttered at his words. “What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.” He took my hand. “What can I say? It’s been a long time since I was wooing someone.”
“Are you wooing me?”
“Can you woo your assistant?”
“I don’t even know if you can woo, period. It’s 2020.” I laughed, even though I loved the way his warm fingers entangled with mine.
“Maybe I’m an old fashioned man.”
“You don’t strike me as one.” Even as I spoke, a voice in the back of my head was telling me to ask him about Mischa. I tried to resist it, but I knew that I couldn’t do that for long.
“Well there are a lot of things you don’t know about me, Savannah.” His lips were smiling, but the expression in his eyes was inscrutable.
“Then why don’t you start telling me more?” I knew I had to tread carefully with this line of questioning. I couldn’t just come out and say; did you kill your dad? Did you kill your assistant? Am I in danger?
“What do you want to know? I’m pretty much an open book.”
“You, an open book?” I laughed. “That’s a joke right?”
“Would I joke about such a thing?”
“Yes.” I rolled my eyes at him. “You’re either trying to boss me around, sleep with me, or you’re cagey and sarcastic as hell. I wouldn’t say you’re an open book. You don’t really let me in. Not that I expect to be let in, as I’m only your assistant.”
“Obviously, you’re not just my assistant. You know that, right?”
“Well what am I?”
“I don’t know exactly, but we’re more than just employer and employee.”
“Well obviously.”
“Shall we go inside and have a drink and then we can talk a bit—.”
“What happened to your last assistant, Mischa?” I blurted out, unable to stop myself.
“What do you mean?” He froze and stared at me unblinking. “How’d you know her name?”
“Don’t deflect? What exactly happened when she worked here?” I folded my arms and held my chin up. Smooth Savannah, real smooth.
“She was very nosey.” He answered with a slight edge in his voice. “I found her snooping in my office, going through files she had no business going through and so I fired her.”
“You fired her?”
“Yes.”
“And where did she go?”
“Back home? I have no idea.” He shook his head. “Why?”
“Why don’t you have any other help in this house. It’s a huge house and you obviously have the money.”
“I don’t need other help.” His lips thinned. “I prefer to have my space and not deal with too many people on my property.”
“In case they go snooping?”
“Would you like someone snooping in your house?”
“Obviously not.” I took a deep breath. I wasn’t getting the answers I needed so I had to keep going, harder and deeper. “Did you know she was a reporter?”
“Who was a reporter?” His eyes narrowed as he surveyed my face. I could feel myself growing hot under the scrutiny of his gaze.
“Mischa was and she was investigating you.”
“And you know this how?”
“I wanted to find out more about the man I was working for.”
“So you started stalking me?”
“Googling someone isn’t stalking them?”
“You can’t find out that information on Google.” He shook his head. “I know what exists on the web about me. You obviously had other means of investigating me.” He shook his head angrily. “Fuck it, Savannah.”
“Why are you so upset? What happened to her?”
“I already told you I have no idea.”
“You know she quit the paper and hasn’t been heard from since she was working here.” I embellished the last part. I had no idea if she’d been heard from or not, but I wanted to see if I could trip him up.
“How would I know that?” He growled. “Do you think I did something to her?”
“Did you?” I pointed at him. “What are you hiding, Wade? Where is she?”
“Why don’t you ask
her boyfriend? She was dating some local guy that she met in the village.”
“I didn’t know she had a boyfriend.” I blushed, feeling ashamed of myself. “He lives in the village?”
“Yeah, all I know is that his name is Ramsay.” He sighed. “If you want to know what happened to her, ask him.” He turned away from me and started walking away.
“Where are you going?” I rushed after him.
“Inside.”
“Are we still having that drink?”
“I don’t think so.” He shook his head, not even meeting my eyes.
“What about that walk?” I asked, feeling panicked. I could feel that he was much colder to me now. It was as if he had completely shut down from me. Why had I pushed everything and been so accusing.
“If you want to go on a walk, don’t let me stop you.”
“Wade.” I reached for his arm. “Don’t be mad at me. I was just curious.”
“Okay.” He pulled his arm away from me. “I’m going to the office. I have some work to do. I won’t be in bed until late tonight.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “Is there anything you want me to do?”
“No. I think you’ve done enough.” And with that he was gone, his tall figure walking back into the house without a look back at me. How had that gone so badly that quickly? I reached down and rubbed Jolene’s head, but even she looked like she was fed up with me.
Chapter 20
“Savannah, his reaction seemed extreme.” Lucy unbuckled her seatbelt as we parked outside the Herne Hill Village Cafe. I had told Lucy everything that Wade had told me the evening before and we’d decided to visit the Cafe to ask Beryl if she knew who Ramsay was. If we could talk to Ramsay and then to Mischa we might finally get to the bottom of this whole mess.
“I know, but he ignored me all night and he was gone when I woke up this morning.”
“He’s so moody.” She shook her head. “He’s really starting to get on my nerves.”
“I just feel like shit because I felt like he was really trying last night. He was being sweet and flirty. And I ruined it all.”
“Girl, if you asking a few questions ruined everything, then you didn’t have much to ruin in the first place.” Lucy made a face. “Sorry, but you know it’s true.”
“I feel like we were heading to a place of boyfriend and girlfriend.” I said softly and groaned. “This is why you should never sleep with someone you’re not actually in a relationship with. It’s too hard emotionally.”
“I know girl.”
Lucy and I got out of the car and I locked the doors. We walked toward the cafe and I could feel my heart racing. What were we going to find out now? I checked my phone to see if Wade had texted me, but of course there was nothing from him. I knew that Lucy was right, he was overreacting. Everyone googled and looked up people and most people just accepted that. They didn’t just stop talking to people.
“Don’t obsess, Savannah. Maybe it’s for the best. If he’s an asshole, you don’t want to end up getting to know him too much and falling for him even harder.”
“I know, I know.” I sighed and then took a deep breath as we approached the door. “Well, here we go.”
“Do you want me to talk or —.”
“I’ll talk. I need to take control of this now.” And I knew that I did. Lucy was a good friend and great emotional support, but this was on me. I need to put on my big girl boots and figure this out for myself. I was in love with Wade and I had given myself to him and I knew that I wanted nothing more than to just enjoy my time with him. But I also knew that we couldn’t go any further if I was questioning whom he was. And as long as he was holding his deep dark secrets, I was never going to know if he was the man I truly believed him to be or if he were someone capable of really dark things.
“Hello Beryl, I need to ask you some questions.” I said as soon as she approached us. Normally I would order something and be more coy, but this was too important. I was hoping that once Beryl provided us some information on Ramsay then Lucy and I could go and search for him. We didn’t have time to sit around and wait for Beryl to come and talk to us.
“Would you like a table?” Beryl’s eyes looked apprehensive as I shook my head. “I see, well, come to the counter and I will see if I can help.”
“Thank you.” We all walked over to the counter and I immediately turned to Beryl and questioned her. “Do you know a guy in the village called Ramsay?”
“Ramsay?” Beryl looked thoughtful. “No.”
“He was dating Wade’s last assistant, Mischa. Maybe you remember meeting her?”
“The last girl.” Her lips pursed. “Yes, I remember her.”
“Do you remember who her boyfriend was?”
“She was always with the Hart boy.” She shook her head. “Bad apple.”
“Which Hart boy?” I asked her. “Please, this is important. We think something may have happened to her. We need to talk to her.”
“You’re getting too close.” Beryl shook her head. “You should leave, Savannah. You shouldn’t get messed up in the Hart mess.”
“What do you know, Beryl, please tell me.”
“This is a small village, you know.” Her voice got lower. “My husband hunts, you know?”
“No, I didn’t know.” What did that have to do with anything?
“He sees things.” Her lips thinned. “Those Hart men have secrets they don’t want let out. All of them.”
“What secrets?”
“No.” She shook her head. “We don’t snitch in this town.”
“Can you at least tell me how I can find Ramsay? Please?” I pleaded with Beryl. “I need to know. I care about Wade and I need to know if...” My voice trailed off as it cracked with emotion. I didn’t really want to tell her everything, but I needed her to know how important it was for me to get all the information that I could.”
“All I can say is that there’s more than one master chef in this town.” She looked over to the door. “And now I must get back to work. I’m sorry my dear. I can’t help you anymore.”
“Okay, thanks.” I said despondently as she walked away. “I guess that’s it then.” I looked over at Lucy. “We’re done.”
“We could always go to the library and ask questions.” Lucy offered, but she knew that was a long shot. “Are there any classy restaurants in town? Maybe he’s a chef?”
“I guess we could check.” I shrugged.
“What else could her comment have meant? There’s more than one master chef in this town?”
“I don’t even know one, let alone a second one.” I let out a long deep sigh and rubbed my forehead. “Ugh, I’m starting to get a headache.”
“I’m so sorry, Savannah, though, I’m starting to think we should leave.”
“Why?”
“I’m thinking she basically told us that Henry or Wade was dating Mischa and her husband saw one of them killing her in the forest. It all adds up.” Lucy nodded. “Girl, think about it. I think she didn’t want to tell us outright, but she basically told us.”
“I was wondering why she was telling us her husband likes hunting.”
“Savannah, she told us that he saw something. It’s all adding up.” Lucy shivered. “We need to leave tonight. I’m not sure we’re safe. Well, I’m not sure that you’re safe.”
“Why do you say that?”
“You said Wade was pissed and then distant at your questioning? What if he’s planning something?”
“What do you mean? Planning what?”
“Not your engagement.” Lucy’s lips thinned. “We need to go home, pack, take Jolene on one last walk and then leave. Let me look up train times back to the city.”
“So we’re just going to leave?” My stomach dropped. Was I never going to see Wade again?
“I think that’s for the best.” Lucy nodded. “I think we need to get out while we still can. We’re not going to get any concrete answers, I don’t think.” She shook her head. “And we hav
e to be okay with that.”
“You don’t think there’s anything else we can do?”
“Not really, not unless we speak to Gordon. Maybe he has more information.”
“Let me try him one last time.” I said as we made our way back to the car, but as the call went to voicemail, I realized that it was all over. Gordon was ignoring me and I didn’t expect to hear from him again. I was about to hang up when I decided to leave a voicemail, just in case Gordon had a heart. “Hey my friend, it’s me, Savannah. Haven’t heard from you in a while, but I wanted to see how you were doing. I’m not bad though I’m now head over heels in love with Wade. Kill me now. So, I have a theory and wanted to talk to you about it. It’s important. Please call me back. I miss you. Bye.” And then I hung up. I was hoping if Gordon cared about me, even a little bit he would call me back and talk to me. And if he did call back, he was going to do it in the next few hours because I knew Lucy was right. No matter how much I loved Wade or wanted to believe in him, the facts were pointing in a bad direction and unfortunately he wasn’t opening up to me at all, so I couldn’t expect to get any real answers. I knew that the more I slept with him, the more I would want him and I couldn’t allow myself to fall for him any more. I wasn’t going to let myself stay with someone that didn’t trust me enough to let them into their lives.
Chapter 21
Lucy and I conceived a plan in case Wade was back home. She would go to her room and pack up all of my stuff and her stuff and I would spend my time talking to Wade and doing some work. This way he would be distracted and not realize that something was going on. Then Lucy and I would say we were going to the pub for open mic night and instead catch the train. My heart ached at the thought of leaving him, but there was nothing else I could do at this point.
“Savannah, come to the office.” Wade called out to me as soon as Lucy and I walked back into the house.
“Yes, sir.” I shouted back to him and Lucy laughed.
“I’m going to go and pack now.” She whispered to me. “Don’t forget we have to leave by 5. The train leaves at 6.”
“I know. I’m on it.” I nodded and headed to the office. I walked inside and towards Wade’s desk. “You called, Sir?”