Into The Rabbit Hole

by Khardine Gray

  “Baby, what are you doing here?” It was the gesture that tamed him, to some extent.

  “Wes and I—”

  He interrupted before she could finish. “Chloe, if you’ve come to tell me that you’re with this guy, don’t bother. I set you free, you can be with whoever you want, but please don’t tell me.”

  Wade was speaking so loud Wes must have heard, and the fool was dumb enough to laugh.

  That was it, Wade had had enough. Everything was too much. He’d lost everything already and he knew there was no hope left for him. Right now he was probably looking at life imprisonment or death, so it would be no problem for him to add Wesley to the list of offenses against him.

  Wade dropped the phone, balled his fist and rammed it into the glass. “Fucking bastard, you couldn’t wait to move in on my girl!” he balked. The guard was at his side in an instant, ready to tackle him. “Stay away from me!” he yelled at the guard.

  “Calm down, Vanderville, or else I’m talking you back in,” the guard warned.

  He looked back to Chloe and could hear her voice coming through the phone. He picked it up again and pressed it to his ear.

  “Wade, what the hell?”

  She was talking, but he was looking at Wesley, who sat still in that irritating way that annoyed the hell out of Wade. It was like he was mocking him.

  “Wade,” Chloe hissed.

  “Chloe, what are you doing here with him?”

  “We’re investigating.”

  “You’re doing what!?” His eyes returned to Wesley. “Put him on the line now.”

  “Wade.”

  “Baby, let me speak to Wesley.” He raised his brows at her.

  She handed Wesley the phone. “Look Wesley, who the fuck do you think you’re fooling? This isn’t the time to be using your little best friend tactics to move in on my girl.”

  Wesley stared at him, cleared his throat, and then pulled in a breath as he retrieved a notebook and a pen from his pocket.

  “Can you let us know what happened on the night of the murder?” That was his reply.

  Wade simply stared at him, wondering if he’d gone mad.

  “Wesley, didn’t you hear me?”

  “The whole damn prison heard you, Wade. Yes, I heard you, I just don’t know what the hell I’m supposed to say. Anyway, if you could just answer the question, I can do what I’m doing and get on with my life.”

  Wade looked him over, then looked back at Chloe. She took the phone away from Wesley.

  “Wade, we’re just trying to find something that could have been missed.”

  “Baby, it’s a very dangerous time. You can’t do this. I’m behind bars and I can’t keep you safe. I told you to go to France. What are you still doing here? And why are you putting yourself in danger?”

  “I love you,” she breathed. Her voice soft and soothing as always. It was a voice he’d missed so much his heart ached for it. Ached for her. “I love you,” she repeated. “I’m not going anywhere. This is me doing what I can, and if my friend can help us, I’m taking the help, Wade.”

  The way she said friend calmed him slightly and he focused his attention back on Wesley.

  “I’ll talk to him,” Wade agreed, but only for her. Only for her. He couldn’t imagine how Wesley could help if no one else could. His father was one of the best lawyers in California, who knew his stuff inside out, but even he couldn’t help him. Last night his father had told him that he was arranging for a new lawyer. He said worse things were about to happen and he didn’t want Wade to be caught up in it. Caught up in corruption. Wade didn’t know if that was his way of backing out because there was literally nothing he could do, or if what he said was the truth.

  The way he saw it was, if his father couldn’t help him there was no one who could.

  But he’d speak to Wesley because Chloe looked like she was on her last ounce of strength.

  She handed the phone to Wesley again and he focused on Wade.

  “So tell me, tell me what happened to you.”

  Chloe sat closer to him so she could hear what Wade was saying, too.

  “When Chloe told me that Merissa knew who our psycho friend was, I decided to go and see her. I wanted information because she seemed to be the first person with real information. When I got there, we argued, but then she calmed down enough to tell me she’d only spoken to our friend on the phone. Just as she was about to elaborate, we saw green smoke coming into the room from under the door. I tried to get her out of the house, but it was some sort of knock-out gas. I felt paralyzed. It knocked us both out and when I came to, she was dead. I was lying in her blood.”

  Wesley jotted down some notes in his notebook, then looked back to Wade.

  “Do you remember anything else? Any strange sounds, anything else you saw?”

  Wade shook his head. “That’s it. I smashed the window to get some of the smoke out, but other than that nothing else happened. Everything else took place when I was unconscious.”

  Chloe closed her eyes and pressed her lips together. She looked disappointed.

  “It’s not a lot, right?” Wade added.

  Wesley sighed and shook his head. Wade looked at Chloe again and found he couldn’t look away.

  “What about when you first got there, to the house. Did you see anything outside that looked unusual?”

  “Wesley, I was so mad that I just jumped off my bike, guns blazing. Honestly, I wouldn’t have seen anything. This psycho person is dangerous, seriously dangerous. I couldn’t believe that Merissa had information about him, or was working with him. The man tried to kill my sister.” Wade noticed a sudden change in Wesley’s expression. He’d narrowed his eyes and looked down at the counter as if the gray Formica that covered the top really fascinated him. “What?”

  “You took your bike?”

  “Yes.” He didn’t see what relevance that was.

  “Where’d you park it?”

  Again, relevance. “In my ass. What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Maybe everything you stupid jock,” Wesley retorted. “Just answer the question.”

  “The driveway, by the large oak tree with the leaves on it,” Wade threw back. He expected Wesley to say something sarcastic but he didn’t.

  Instead he straightened up and his face brightened. “What kind of bike do you have?”

  “It’s a Kawasaki.”

  “What model?” Wes looked like he definitely thought of something.

  “Z1000.” Wade straightened up. “What have you thought of?”

  Wesley shook his head. “I can’t say here. It may not be safe.” He glanced about them. “But I have a really good idea.”

  “Really?” Wade dared not hope. He didn’t think he deserved hope but wanted it, wanted it so badly, especially when he looked at his Chloe. He’d give anything to touch her, anything to just hold her and feel her resting against him as if she really was his. “The bike’s in evidence. You’ll have to speak to Detective Fray about it.”

  Wesley nodded. “I got this, and if my idea works, then I totally have this.”

  Chloe looked over to Wade and smiled. The smile warmed his heart and he hoped like hell that Wesley’s idea did pan out, because he was Wade’s only hope.

  Chapter 7

  Regina

  “I’m amazed at what you can do. How did you get this information?” Detective Fray asked Cora.

  Regina watched her, wondering what she was going to say. She’d tried to keep Cora behind the scenes because her methods weren’t exactly legal, but desperate times had arrived and they needed everyone who could help.

  Thankfully, Cora had agreed to come along to the station today with Regina and Ben. She’d been working solidly to track Aaron and thought she’d managed to find something.

  She smiled at him sweetly. “I have my ways.”

  “Okay, just to let you know, this won’t be on my head if things blow out of proportion,” Detective Fray replied.

  Co
ra shook her head. “It won’t. Your cameras and recordings in here won’t work. As far as anyone knows, this meeting never happened.”

  “How?”

  “I’m scrabbling your equipment. It’ll look like your system’s switched off but I’ll switch it back on once we’re done.”

  Detective Fray simply stared at her in wonder.

  Regina glanced over at Ben. He sat still with an expressionless look on his face. A look that nearly made her feel sorry for him. Nearly. Every time she was nearing the threshold, she reminded herself that Ben was a murderer, and she knew about it. She knew that he’d killed.

  So she didn’t feel any sympathy yesterday when Aaron released the information to the press that Ben had rigged the votes for Zachery, and she felt nothing as she watched the news and saw a new release stating that Ben had tampered with evidence in the Porter case.

  Aaron had been true to his word, and now Ben had been suspended from work, suspended from his office as state’s attorney, and was under investigation.

  Him and anyone in his office that was associated with him.

  Other than telling Detective Fray about the head in the box and the phone call from Aaron, neither of them had revealed anything else about what they had discussed. Regina hadn’t said anything because, for once, she was protecting herself. She thought of how things may look if it was assumed that she knew what Ben had gotten up to. She didn’t want to be implicated in any of it. To protect herself further, she’d spoken to her divorce lawyers and her publicist, who issued a statement to the press about her intention to divorce Ben.

  Regina had no sympathy. He was getting what he deserved and Aaron was destroying him slowly. She just wished she knew what would happen next. Was there more?

  She had a feeling there were a lot of things that Ben did that he wanted to keep secret. Now they were venturing down the rabbit hole and discovering all sorts that could actually destroy them all.

  She looked back to Detective Fray and Cora. They were all sitting around a large boardroom-style table in an office near Detective Fray’s. This one had two windows and just seemed like a standard meeting room.

  “Okay, so you’re technically doing what our new friend can do?” he asked her.

  She nodded. “But better. I’m just localizing it to this room, so the rest of the station is fine.”

  “Right, okay.” He looked really apprehensive but continued anyway. “So, show me what you have.”

  Cora opened her handbag and pulled out a file. She opened it and revealed a map. It was of L.A. She had red dots on certain areas and a massive yellow one near Huntington Beach.

  “He’s based in one of the old warehouses in Huntington,” Cora said simply. “He moves around a lot and goes as far as San Diego, but that’s where he’s doing all his work from. And there is absolutely someone else working with him. I picked up the same code being used in two different locations: one at Huntington, the other in San Diego. Can’t be in two places at once. They are also using a device to hack the systems. I still don’t know the full extent of what it does, but it’s some serious shit.”

  “You were able to track the code?”

  “Yes. It was difficult, but I did it. A word of advice, don’t rush in just yet. You can’t.”

  “Why not?” Regina asked. “We can’t allow him to conjure up something else that may take us down.”

  “I agree. Can’t we just arrest him?” Ben added.

  “This guy works with technology. The best thing we could do is disable his systems, disable him. He’s getting by because he can see everything. If we take that away, then you have a chance.”

  Even though Regina wanted this guy caught and dealt with, she could see Cora’s point.

  “But he moves around, moves from that location?” Ben asked.

  “I have the code he’s using now, so I can track him easily. Trust me, what we need is a virus of sorts to disable him.” Cora smiled.

  “And you’re going to tell us next that you can rig up such a virus?” Detective Fray asked.

  Cora smiled again and nodded. “I am. I need time, though, maybe a little over a week.” She winced. “I know that’s a long time given what’s happening, but I need to test what works.”

  Detective Fray nodded. “In the meantime I’ll set up some sort of surveillance at Huntington and extra protection for you guys.” He looked over at Regina and Ben.

  His eyes lingered on Ben, and when he looked back to Regina she saw that apprehensive look again.

  “Thanks, Cora. I’d like to speak to the Vandervilles for a few minutes in private.”

  “That’s fine. I’m done here. I’ll keep you posted on any developments.” Cora nodded.

  “Thanks, Cora,” Regina told her.

  “My pleasure.”

  Once Cora left, Detective Fray focused on them. Regina knew even before he opened his mouth that this was going to be about Ben and his recent discoveries.

  “There’s a lot I need to ask you two,” Detective Fray began. “In two days there have been two major scandals in relation to you.” He motioned at Ben. “Any idea what could be coming next? It’s a good idea to tell me now so that we can deal with it as part of our investigation.”

  Regina could tell he was trying for subtlety, but really, he was serious. The accusations made against Ben were very incriminating.

  “I would prefer to deal with the situation at hand,” Ben told him.

  Regina glanced across at him and wondered how long he was going to sing that tune. Once it was revealed that Ben killed Aaron’s mother, there would be all sorts of upheaval.

  “Is this how you feel, too?” Detective Fray asked her. “Because if Ben’s found guilty and we find that you had any knowledge of what happened, that could incriminate you too.”

  Great. That was exactly what she needed. She opened her mouth to answer, but Ben interrupted.

  “My wife has nothing to do with any of my actions,” he blurted, stunning her. “My actions are my own. I don’t discuss office affairs with her at home, and we’re about to enter divorce proceedings.”

  Regina couldn’t take her eyes off him. She felt like somehow she’d slipped into some kind of alternate reality, because this couldn’t be the Ben she knew. The man she knew would never think to protect her like that, like this. And she supposed he would be signing the divorce papers, then.

  “Okay, thank you for sharing that with me.” Detective Fray looked between them both and then fixed his gaze on Ben. “I would urge you, however, to come forward and talk to me if there’s something you need to confess. It will be much worse for you if you don’t. It’s very clear that this Aaron has a vendetta against you. He tried to kill your daughter, killed Jackson Donovan, and framed Wade for murder. I highly doubt that they’re done yet.”

  “We’ll talk at some point, detective,” Ben stated, surprising her further. “I have a lot to talk about and a lot to tell you. But I would be grateful if you could help me protect my family and their loved ones first. It’s not a trade, it’s just a plea.”

  This was making her feel uncomfortable. She wasn’t used to this Ben, and seeing him this way made what was happening so much worse.

  Defeat.

  That was what it was. She looked ahead at the grainy white wall and the small abstract painting in the center of it. That was what her life felt like. Like an abstract. Neither here nor there. Not really making sense. Anything could happen from here onwards.

  “Okay.” Detective Fray nodded. “I’ll have it on record that you made arrangements to speak to me.”

  “Thank you,” Ben said and glanced over at Regina. “Are we free to go now? My son needs me.”

  Ben had indeed arranged a new lawyer for Wade, but he was still helping out in the investigation.

  “You’re free.”

  They both got up. Regina would have liked to speak to Detective Fray some more but thought she needed to talk to Ben.

  When they got outside, she waited until they
were a few paces away from the office before she spoke. They stopped by the turning for the next corridor.

  “Ben, what was that in there?” She kept her voice low.

  “I told you, I’m going to confess; I will do it when the time is right. Right now Wade needs me outside bars,” he replied.

  “But I know stuff.” Yes, she wanted no part of it, but it felt wrong that she knew what had happened and said nothing.

  “No. You don’t know anything.” He shook his head. “From here I will share nothing more with you, you’ll find out just like everyone else if Aaron chooses to release that information.”

  “What more does he have?”

  “Everything.”

  It was the way he said it that got to her. It made her wonder what else he did. “Why are you trying to protect me?” She really wanted to know why.

  Ben, however, turned away from her, signaling the end of their conversation. He was about to proceed down the corridor but stopped when he saw Taylor coming towards them.

  Dressed in a simple green summer dress with her hair down, hanging in loose waves, she looked stunning. Regina smiled at the sight of her. Ben looked immediately uncomfortable.

  Taylor looked from her to him.

  “Hi,” she said with a cautious expression.

  “Are you okay?” Regina went up to her and gave her a hug. It just dawned on her that they were in a police station. Something could have brought Taylor here.

  “I’m fine. I was looking for Dad.” She looked at Ben.

  “You wanted to see me?” Ben looked like hearing that meant a lot to him.

  “If you have time,” Taylor told him.

  “Always.” Ben offered a kind smile.

  “I’ll catch up with you later, Mom,” Taylor told her and, with that, went off with Ben.

  Taylor never ceased to amaze her. It was great that her heart was so accommodating, but Regina knew that it would disappoint and hurt her to no end when she found out all that Ben had done.