Page 22 of Breaking the Rules
“Dante?”
“Gone.” She didn’t need to fake the prick of tears behind her eyes now. “There was blood and glass everywhere.”
“No bodies?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. That’s when I saw headlights pulling up to the house, and I panicked.”
“Why?”
“I was afraid the shooters were coming back.”
“Why didn’t you call the cops?”
“I was so scared. I didn’t want anyone to think that I was involved in some kind of kidnapping plot.”
“Is that what you think it was?”
Shit. She needed to keep her opinions to herself.She shrugged again. “I don’t know. It could have been a robbery, but it seemed kind of ballsy to do it when people are staying there since the house is probably empty most of the time.”
“How did you get out?”
“I went through the woods until I found another estate. No one was home, so I called Kate. She flew up to get me.”
“So you created the rehab story?”
“I didn’t know what else to do,” she said. “Petra’s father is very powerful, and if he thought I was involved in what happened, I knew I could be facing serious charges. I thought that I’d be able to talk to Petra and straighten everything out, but she hasn’t returned any of my calls. I don’t know where she is.”
Xavier swiped a hand over his face. “You just sat there in the woods, bleeding for hours?”
“I tried Dante’s cellphone about a million times, but there was no answer.” A tear escaped and cut its way down her cheek.
“You haven’t heard from Wrede since then?”
She shook her head. “I’m scared that the blood was his. I’m scared I’m never going to see him again, that I’m never going to have any answers.” And as she swiped away tears over another man, Xavier Saint stroked her back in slow, gentle circles.
--------
Grimly, Xavier paced his room. Waverly and Kate had gone to bed hours ago, but his mind wasn’t ready to shut down. His talk with her this morning played on an endless loop. She’d confirmed his suspicion that she’d been at the Stepanov estate. But what actually happened there was still veiled in secrecy.
There was no mention in the media of Petra housing guests for the weekend. The rental car had been returned, so no one had to come looking for it. And all of the players were effectively incommunicado. Someone was doing cleanup.
He’d put in a call to his old friend Agent Malachi Travers at the FBI looking for answers. Someone would have investigated a home invasion on that scale. Someone would have theories. He needed to know what they were dealing with and if Waverly was anyone’s suspect.
Xavier had shared with Waverly what he’d found so far, which was nothing. With it being an unofficial investigation, he had let his scary serious hacker, Song, off her leash. She’d turned up a whole lot of no activity. As in no credit card transactions, no emails, no social media since the selfie he’d taken with Waverly at LAX. Even Wrede’s phone was inactive. There’d been no calls or texts made from his number since the incident, and tracking it was proving to be impossible. It was as if the phone had been destroyed, Song told him.
He understood now why Waverly was wound so tightly. To her, the bullet holes in her back and abdomen were the least of her problems.
Xavier’s dilemma would have been comical under different circumstances. There was one thing he could do to win Waverly’s undying gratitude. He could find Wrede for her. But what would happen when he delivered her missing boyfriend to her? Who would she choose?
So he paced his room weighing his options and wondering what Waverly hadn’t been telling him today.
CHAPTER SIX
Waverly’s Day Ten arrived with still no contact from anyone, including the studio. So she took matters into her own hands and called for the jet. She was done healing, done sitting back and waiting. It was time to go home. And send a message.
They arrived at LAX at six o’clock at night. With Xavier on her right, Kate on her left, and a phalanx of airport security, Waverly expertly navigated the crowd.
The questions flew fast and loud from the swarm of photographers who went nearly hysterical when they recognized Xavier.
