Chapter 250

“Seriously. Martha escapes from her nurse all the time,” Amy repeated. “That’s crazy. Has she ever hurt anyone?”

“I don’t know,” Ava answered. “I heard my parents talking about a time she shot at some guy for trying to date Aunt Amelia.”

“That must be the Beta guy she mentioned,” Amy reminded me.

“Aunt Amelia had a thing for a Beta!” Ava giggled. “Bet Grandma and Granny got all salty over that.”

“Don’t say anything,” I requested. “She might be upset about us mentioning it.” But I wondered why Amelia didn’t tell us Martha shot at her Beta boyfriend.

“I won’t say anything if you don’t tell anybody I was talking to you.” Ava stood. “I gotta go before my mom returns and catches me with you guys.”

“Where is she?” Amy asked. “I’d like to meet Amanda.”

“She doesn’t want to meet you,” Ava said. “She left by a side door when she heard you two were here. She can’t be caught talking to a hybrid.”

Amanda sounded as horrible as Martha and Pat. But at least Amy had Amelia.

“I’d like to stay in touch.” Amy handed Ava her cell phone. “Put your number in my phone for me. We can keep in touch without telling anyone we met.”

Ava smiled. It made her look more like Amy. She took the phone and put in her number.

“Text me so I have your number. I’ll let you know if I hear anything new,” the girl said and disappeared out the garden gate.

“It looks like we have a spy in the enemy camp,” I teased.

“I like her,” Amy grinned. “And every bit of information could help us get the proof we need.”

We returned inside and found Justin and Victor still talking to his parents.

“Did you find Amanda and her daughter?” Justin’s mom asked.

“Um …no,” Amy said. “We heard they just left before we walked into the parlor.”

“That’s too bad,” Mrs. Brown said. “Anyhow, we were talking about my mother-in-law coming for a visit. She hardly ever travels this far from her home on the other side of the country.”

“It will be nice to meet her,” Amy said. “I hope she likes me,” Amy said.

Justin beamed at Amy. “She’s going to love you, sweetheart.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. And Mrs. Brown, but I have to be going,” Victor said. “I have an early meeting tomorrow and must be at my best.”

“We understand,” Mr. Brown said. “Thank you for coming, Victor. It’s been a pleasure talking to you.”

We said goodbye to Justin and Amy. Amy felt more confident, so I didn’t feel bad about leaving her at the party.

“What’s going on with you and Amy?” Victor asked after he slid into the driver’s seat of his car. “You were acting strange.”

“Yesterday, when we got back from touring colleges, Amy found a photo of her biological mother wearing a gag and an anonymous note stating she was murdered.”

“Wow,” Victor said. “I hope she called the police.”

“Mr. Gray called them. But they said they can’t do anything unless they have proof of a crime.”

“They won’t look into it at all?” Victor asked.

“Nope,” I replied. “So Amy and I are trying to find that proof.”

Victor shook his head. “Daisy, that’s too dangerous. If she was murdered, the killer could come after you and Amy.”

“If it was your mother, could you do nothing?” I asked. “I have to help Amy get some closure, and Deirdre’s killer needs to be punished. Amy's life has been crazy since she learned she was adopted.”

“Honey, you’re taking a chance with your life,” Victor said. “I don’t think you realize how vicious people can be.”

His concern was touching, but I had to help my friend get justice for her mother. I was glad I didn’t mention Martha’s attack on Amy or Ava trying to run us off the road.

“I’m being careful,” I assured him. “Your mother is going with me to talk to some of the Alphas I need to question.”

“My mother should know better,” Victor fumed. “I wish I had time to go with you. Many of these older Alpha families will do anything to preserve their reputations.”

“Victor, please try to understand. Getting the police to investigate Deirdre’s murder is important to Amy. I can’t let her down. I’m not stupid, and I will be careful.”

Victor pulled into a parking lot and turned the car around. He looked determined but not angry.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“To my apartment,” he replied. “If you insist on putting yourself in danger, I’m going to teach you a few things that will help you to protect yourself.”

I didn’t understand why we had to go to his apartment to do that, but I was happy he wouldn’t argue about my investigation anymore.

“You’ve never taken self-defense classes, right?” he asked.

“I never needed any,” I replied.

“You do now.” Victor pulled into his garage and turned off the Lamborghini. “The workout room in my apartment has a space I can use to teach you how to defend yourself.”

It sounded like fun. “I’ve always been curious about this kind of thing. Do you think I can learn enough to help me?”

“If you try, yes,” Victor assured me. “I’ll start with the basics. And it’s best to learn techniques for both you and your wolf.”

Panic squirmed through my stomach. “Do you think someone might use their wolf to attack me?”

“It’s very possible,” Victor replied. “You are chasing a killer who doesn’t care about our laws. When we werewolves become very Angry or scared, we sometimes instinctively shift. If that happens, you and Diana need to be prepared.”

“Thank the Goddess, I have you to teach me,” I said with a smile.

Victor kissed me. “Let’s go upstairs and get to work. You may not thank me when you find out how much work the self-defense classes will be.”

“I don’t care. I want to learn,” I insisted. “Knowing how to defend myself better will be useful throughout my lifetime. It will give me more confidence, too.”

Victor opened my car door for me. “Then let's get to it. I’ll loan you shorts and a T-shirt.”

We went upstairs to Victor’s apartment, and I changed into the shorts and T-shirt he loaned me. Then he took me to his private gym.

I hadn’t seen the room on prom night. It was impressive.

It held a weight bench with a bar and dumbbells with up to five hundred pounds of weights, a chin-up bar, a leg sled, a rowing machine, and a treadmill.

Plus, there was one large section of the room that was empty and covered with thick floor mats. One of the nearby walls was covered with mirrors.

Victor and I stood on the floor mats in front of the mirrors.

“We’ll start with the easier moves.” He grabbed my right wrist and held it firmly. “How do you get away from someone who has a hold of your wrist?”

I pulled with all my might, but I couldn’t break Victor’s grip.

“You’re not strong enough that way,” he said. “Instead, rotate your forearm against my thumb, not my fingers.”

He demonstrated, and it looked simple. The second time I tried it, my wrist came loose from Victor’s grasp.

“I did it!” It wasn’t as complicated as it seemed after I knew how it was done.

“See, if you use your strength against a lone thumb instead of the four fingers, you will get loose every time.”

Next, Victor got behind me. He placed his forearm against my neck and held me in a headlock.

“To get out of this, you lift your arms straight in the air. While you turn, sweep my arms away from you. This should also work if someone has their hands on your throat.”

This maneuver took me several times to get it right. But after I got away from Victor twice in a row, he was satisfied.

“If a particularly strong individual was attacking you, while he has his hands or arms around your throat, drive your elbow into his stomach and stomp on his instep simultaneously before using the arm sweep.

“Ooh, can I try that?” I giggled.

Victor grinned.“Do you want to elbow me or stomp on my foot?”

I put my arms around his neck and pressed myself against him. “I never want to hurt you.”

His lips touched mine, and we began to kiss slowly and sweetly, but it soon turned into blazing passion.

“Stay the night with me?” he asked.

“Hmmm, I’ll stay if you teach me something new that I’m dying to try,” I said.

“What?” he asked.

I licked my lips and smiled.