Page 65 of Into The Rabbit Hole

“All talk, Wade, that’s you. Remember who has the upper hand here. Anyway, I’ll send you the address. You might want to wear a hat. Oh, and no cops. Actually, bring them along. It’ll be morefun.”

Wade went to answer but Zeek hung up the phone. Then in an instant his phone pinged as a message came through. It was theaddress.

Mount San Antonio. The Cheyenne trek section of the mountain. That’s where they were. It was where the old mines were located. Most of that area had restricted access because it was dangerous. Extremely dangerous and offlimits.

He held the phone down to show Wes, and he immediatelymoved.

“Where are you going?” Wadeasked.

“Where do you think I’m going? I heard everything. I’m going.” His eyes were blazing with rage and fear mixedtogether.

“Wes. You can go to the police station or something, but you can’t come with me.” Wade looked at Wes and no longer saw that scrawny kid that used to irritate the hell out of him. The man who stood tall before him was a great friend to Chloe and clearly in love with Taylor. Wade would recognize the look of love anywhere, and Wes had it written all over his face. But this wasn’t his call. Wes could get himself killed, and Wade couldn’t have more blood on hishands.

“I’m not asking you, Wade. Now A—it’s a trap, but you didn’t think of that, did you?” Wes looked at himpointedly.

No, Wade didn’t think of that atall.

Wes cleared his throat before he continued. “And B—you need me if you want to take this guy down and get the girls back. So you coming?” Wes motioned towards theroad.

“Okay, let’s do this. I’m taking my bike,” Wadereplied.

Strength. That was what he needed. Strength. One last ounce of strength to get throughthis.

It was a necessity that the situation demanded. Allowing Chloe and Taylor to die was out of thequestion.

* * *

Regina

* * *

Brian handedRegina her champagne glass and held his high to toast. “To us.” Hesmiled.

She held hers high, too. “To us.” She chuckled as he brought his glass to hers, clinking it as it methers.

The cool breeze of the oncoming evening rushed over her skin, lifting her hair up behind her. They sat in their garden enjoying it, and enjoying each other’scompany.

“What do you want to do first? You’re a free woman now.” His eyessparkled.

“Just be with you, Brian.” She nodded. She couldn’t believe her marriage to Ben was finally over. She was free, free of that name, no longer Regina Vanderville. “That’s all I ever wanted.” She’d had a whole day of freedom, right from when the judge announced it thismorning.

She’d done a few press interviews, not because she wanted to but mainly forRunway’s sake. She wanted to show the fashion world that she was still strong without the Vanderville name. Right now, she was just Regina. She didn’t want her maiden name, either, because that reminded her of the position her parents put her in, forcing her to marry Ben and create this horrible life forher.

For now, she was the Regina who the world had gotten used to, and it was also her goal to show that she could be strong after all that had happened with the scandals surroundingBen.

She brushed the thought of him out of her mind along with the image of him from this morning. In the courtroom, it was evident from the way he was treated that he’d lost all respect. Today was his last day of freedom. He’d be in prisontomorrow.

But she didn’t want to think about that. She didn’t want to see him everagain.

She reached into her purse on the table and pulled out a little velvetpouch.

“What is that?” Briansmiled.

The thought of what was inside made the backs of her eyes sting. She pulled out a ring made of reeds from one of the trees in her parents’ garden. She’d had this since she was seven years old. Brian had given it to her. She kept it in this pouch all these years, waiting for the right moment to bring it out. He recognized it straightaway.

“Regina.” His voice was as soft as a caress. His eyes filled withlove.

“I waited a long time to wearthis.”