Chapter Twenty-Seven

No Escaping Me

Edgar didn’t rush back to the mansion. Elena deserved to wait the way she’d kept him waiting.

He’d do whatever he could to protect Alia and his heir, although his unborn child had already proven it was more than capable of protecting itself and its mother.

He’d felt the ring of protection the baby placed around Alia even more today. He didn’t want to reveal to anyone just yet that the witch’s prediction had come true. No, he had to keep that bit of information private.

He was about to drive from the apartment building to a coffee shop when his phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID. It was one of his guards.

“Hello?” Edgar greeted.

“Good morning, Mr. Callan. I have some news on Harry. He appears to be running away,” the guard said.

“What?” Harry couldn’t run away now. Not while Edgar was coming up with a plan to expose Harry and his affair with Elena, as well as his hand in assisting Elena with her illegal operations. “Where is he now?”

“He’s at his apartment, packing,” the guard replied.

“Stall him. Turn off the electricity in the building for a few moments. I'll think of a plan to keep him from running away.”

“Okay, sir.”

Edgar ended the call. He’d never taken Harry for a coward. Things must be heating up between Harry and Elena, Edgar thought. Why else was Harry planning to run away? Edgar dialed Harry’s number and waited.

“Good morning, Edgar,” Harry greeted eventually.

“Good morning, Harry.” Edgar deliberately kept his voice chirpy. “How are you this morning?”

“Fine,” Harry said. He sounded stressed, confused, like he was in a hurry.

“Is this a bad time?” Edgar asked.

“No, no. Not at all,” Harry replied. “The electricity just went out. I can’t see a damn thing in here.”

“I’m sorry to hear about that. Why don’t you join me for breakfast at the West Park Café?” Edgar suggested. “From there, we can go to my home office and catch up on those financials we were looking at when you were last here.”

“Sure,” Harry said without hesitation, “I’ll meet you there in a few minutes.”

Edgar drove to West Park Café and waited there for Harry. From now on, he wouldn’t let him out of his sight. He’d play dumb for as long as he needed to, and pretend he knew nothing about Harry and Elena’s relationship until he had all the evidence he needed to expose them both.

Harry arrived a few minutes later, looking refreshed.

“Hello, again, Harry,” Edgar greeted his Beta with a smile.

“Hello.” Harry looked quite relaxed in his summer blue short sleeved shirt and white chinos.

Despite knowing that Harry had deceived him, Edgar felt pity for his Beta. He’d groomed Harry to be the best Beta he could.

“How’s Elena doing?” Harry asked, his tone casual.

“You know Elena. She’s never liked being told what to do,” Edgar said, watching Harry’s facial expression carefully.

Harry nodded. “Yeah, she’s always been stubborn.”

Harry’s acting skills had certainly improved, Edgar noticed. “I’d like to get to the bottom of Elena’s shenanigans as soon as possible.” He didn’t want Elena’s messy business affairs hanging like a dark cloud over him when his heir was born. He also didn't want Elena to damage his relationships with other wolves and supernatural beings.

“I’ll be happy to help you for as long as you need me to,” Harry said.

“Thank you.”

***

Edgar set Harry up in a separate home office at his mansion. He’d also installed extra security cameras in all the studies and office spaces throughout the mansion. Edgar knew the only way to expose Elena was to accumulate solid evidence against her.

“I want you to highlight any odd transactions here.” Edgar handed Harry a thick sheaf of financial statements. “You can work the old- fashioned way with colored pens and paper, or you can work on the spreadsheet. Choose a method that’s best for you.”

“Maybe I’ll use a combination. How soon do you need these?” Harry asked.

“In two days,” Edgar said.

“I’ll be done by tomorrow,” Harry assured Edgar.

“That’s wonderful. It will give me chance to clear up a few things before I take this evidence to Elena. Pay particular attention to locations, transactions related to rent, accommodation…anything that will provide me with a location for the Evening Club.”

“I’ll do that,” Harry promised.

Edgar pretended not to notice Harry wiping beads of sweat off his forehead. Why couldn’t Harry just come clean? Edgar wondered. Wouldn’t it be easier for Harry to reveal everything he knew before Elena dragged him down with him? That way, at least Edgar would have a reason to protect Harry, give him a second chance.

A brief silence followed. Harry played around with the laptop and desktop in his study. The tiled, open-plan home office was also equipped with a mini kitchenette and a half-bathroom. There was no reason for Harry to wander around the mansion in search of anything unless he wanted to leak information of Edgar’s latest goings on to Elena.

“It’s not my intention to paint Elena to be the bad person,” Edgar said, his voice heavy with emotion.

“I know,” Harry said.

“I’ve never been that kind of person. The only thing that would throw me over the edge is if she deliberately did something to compromise the existence of our kind.”

Harry nodded again. “None of us want that,” he answered, honesty evident in his voice.

“I just want to clear up this mess and find out who else is involved. Knowing Elena, she would have never been able to pull off such a huge and risky business venture on her own. There has to be someone else,” Edgar said.

Harry pondered what Edgar had said for a few moments. “And what if we find out who else is involved? What do we do then?”

Edgar sighed. After a long pause he replied, “We have to inform the Elders.”

Worry filled Harry’s eyes. “What if we can fix this on our own?”

“It’s already gone too far,” Edgar said. “In fact, I should have already informed the Elders of Elena’s return. There may already be consequences for my silence.” Surely Harry knew the rules of being a werewolf, Edgar thought as he noticed Harry’s fingers trembling.

“I wish it didn’t have to be like this,” Harry said.

“Me too,” Edgar said, “me too. I’ll work in the adjacent office just in case you need me. Maybe we can meet for lunch and discuss our findings?”

Harry nodded. “Sure. Let’s meet at around one?”

“Yeah. One is perfect. We’ll go out for lunch,” Edgar said. “It will give us a chance to clear our heads.”

“What about Elena?” Harry asked.

Images of her sullen face this morning flashed in Edgar’s head. “She made it quite clear she didn’t want company today.” He suspected she was up to something. His staff would fill him in on her behavior and activities later today.

“As long as she’s okay, that’s all that matters,” Harry said, his voice soft.

“Yeah. I have a feeling she already has a plan to pull herself out of this mess. I just hope that whatever she does is legal.”

Harry didn’t reply. Edgar had a feeling Harry knew Elena was already up to something. He’d won over Harry’s trust this morning by stopping him from running away. Surely if he showed his Beta that he was still concerned about his wellbeing he’d open up and tell him everything he needed to know?

***