Chapter 278

After we left Lycan Square, Jayden drove me to Alex’s instead of the apartment. I didn’t want to interrupt Moose and Bert while they were having a few hours off, and the mansion was safer for me to be by myself.

I planned to spend the afternoon relaxing and preparing for a fun evening out before the challenging day ahead of me tomorrow.

Victor was meeting me at Gilded for dinner at seven, and I was looking forward to enjoying a plate of their delicious steak tartare and spending time with my handsome fiancé.

But I couldn’t get the image of that hacker magazine out of my mind. Andrew had Amy convinced he was a good guy who wanted to be a devoted father.

He swore to us both that he loved Deirdre and that they were fated mates. Now I had evidence that it was all a lie.

Had he used Deirdre and made her disappear after she had his child?

Leaving the baby at his own backdoor and pretending he was trying to care for his child until he had to give her up for her ‘own good’ made him a sympathetic figure.

If that’s what happened, it was a sinister plot. Was Andrew a good enough actor to have fooled everyone, including me?

The hacker magazine told me the answer was most likely yes. It looked like Andrew was an excellent actor and a liar. Amy would be devastated when she found out the truth about her newly discovered biological father.

Plus, Victor and I had convinced Elliot Gray to leave the restaurant in Andrew’s hands. That couldn’t continue after today. He couldn’t be trusted.

As the day wore on, the urge to do something became impossible to resist. I had to know if Andrew was a smooth liar or if the mountain of evidence against him was merely circumstantial.

Finally, after my shower, I couldn't take the suspense any longer. I picked up my phone and placed a call to Amelia Archer. She would tell me the truth about Andrew’s tech hobby.

I needed to know if he was good enough to hack security systems.

But there was no answer. I dialed again and let it ring until Amelia’s voicemail picked up. At the beep, I left a message.

“Amelia, it’s Daisy. I know you said you didn’t want to talk to me anymore, but something has come up about Andrew that I must speak to you about. Please call me back.”

I hung up my phone and walked onto my balcony. The sun was shining, and warm air swirled around me, gently drying my wet hair. Yet, I couldn’t enjoy the beautiful weather.

Thoughts of Amy being hurt by Andrew kept swirling through my mind. Maybe I should go to the police with what evidence I have now.

But what if Andrew was innocent? I couldn’t have an innocent man’s incarceration on my conscience. Plus, Amy would never forgive me for getting Andrew arrested if he didn’t do anything wrong.

“Miss, it’s time to get ready for your dinner date,” Jennifer said. “You’ll be the most beautiful woman in the room, and Mr. Klein won’t be able to take his eyes off you.”

I gave her a weak smile, but I followed her into my bathroom. Taking my bad mood out on Jennifer would be wrong.

Less than an hour later, I emerged from the bathroom. I smiled as I looked into the mirror, not only because I looked my best but because I decided to swing by Lycan Square on my way to dinner.

A quick stop at Archer Manor to speak to Amelia would either ease my mind about Andrew or allow me to be sure enough about his guilt that I could prepare Amy for the worst.

I tossed my phone into an evening bag and grabbed my car keys before heading to my car.

It was a little disappointing to see the Mercedes back from the shop, but Victor would be able to hide in it for the trap better than in a Porsche. But perhaps I’d buy a Porsche after I began college.

I started the Mercedes’ engine, fastened my seatbelt, and started down the long driveway.

While driving into the city, I weighed the pros and cons of stopping to talk to Amelia. But this was a purely emotional thing I was doing, and any arguments my mind came up with were shouted down by my need to protect my best friend.

I parked a few houses away from Archer Manor near an alley and made my way onto the porch. I rang the bell and waited.

Before long, Alfred answered the door and told me the family still wasn’t accepting visitors.

“I need to speak to Amelia for just a few minutes,” I pleaded. “It won’t take long.”

Alfred clasped his hands in front of him and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Miss Wilson. She doesn’t want to see anyone today.”

“I understand,” I said, spotting the hacker magazine still in the door handle. I took it from the handle and gave it to Alfred. “What an interesting subject to read about.”

Alfred looked at the magazine cover. “Yes, it’s amazing what can be done with computers these days.”

I gave Alfred my sweetest smile. “I’ve heard Andrew is a computer expert. I should ask him to have a look at my laptop sometime. It’s not very old, but it’s so slow.”

“You should ask Miss Amelia for help with your computer,” Alfred said. “Andrew isn’t nearly as good with them. He comes to his sister for help, too.”

My body went cold. “Is the magazine Amelia’s?”

“Yes,” Alfred replied. “She’s loved computers and such since she was a girl.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Tina told me Andrew was the computer genius.

“But didn’t Andrew invent a new router that was impossible to hack?” I asked.

Alfred chuckled. “Mr. Andrew didn’t invent anything, although he liked to tell the girls he did.”

“Do you mean Amelia invented the router?”

“That’s right,” Alfred said. “She invented it during her college days when she was earning her degree in computer science and cyber security.”

I stood silent, listening to Alfred talk about Amelia’s computer skills, and I was stunned.

“Miss Amelia has gotten even better since then. Her router made millions. Now she works with security system companies all over the world for wealthy clients.”

I spotted movement behind the Archer’s butler and knew I should get out of there before Amelia found out I knew her secret.

After I left, I would hurry to Gilded to meet Victor, and together, we would call the police and tell them what I had learned.

Amelia was the hacker and one of the red wolves.

But could she be in on getting rid of Deirdre? In Deirdre’s letter, the pretty Omega girl thanked Amelia for being her friend.

But it looked as if Amelia was an expert liar. She had me fooled from the beginning.

Whispering came from behind Alfred. It was time for me to go. But I had to remain calm and act like nothing was wrong.

“We’ll, thank you, Alfred,” I said. “Please tell Amelia I will call her some other day. And give my condolences to the family again.”

I turned and walked from the porch, doing my best to keep from running to my car. All my instincts were screaming that I was in danger. And I was alone.

By the time I made it to my car, my heart was pounding in my ears so loudly that I didn’t hear them coming. But I felt teeth graze my thigh and the skirt of my dress tear.

Spinning in a circle near the back of my car, I saw the two red wolves. They snapped their jaws at me, backing me into the alley between two mansions.

I couldn’t let them force me into the alley. I had to keep them in the open where there were witnesses to the attack and maybe help.

Moving backward onto the sidewalk, the spike heel of my left pump caught in a crack. I momentarily panicked while I tried to free it. But the older red wolf with gray tufts around its ears snapped its jaws and snarled.

I gave up on trying to free the heel from the crack in the cement and kicked both shoes off my feet.

Barefoot, I turned to keep either wolf from attacking from behind. But the grayish-red wolf lunged at my legs.

I’d fallen into the red wolves’ trap. I had to fight them if I wanted to survive.