The Mating Game: Big Bad Wolf(43)

The officer shrugged. “We’ll sort it out at the station.”

Well, I definitely did not think that one through, she thought ruefully as she was led out of the school in handcuffs.

As he marched her towards his car, she was dismayed to see a photographer there, snapping away.

And the investors’ meeting was in two days. Would this ruin Ryker’s chances of getting the loan? How badly had she messed things up for his pack?

When she was taken to the station, however, she was surprised that as soon as she was put in a cell, they called her back out again. “Your bail has been posted,” the officer told her.

She expected to see Ryker when she was escorted out into the lobby – but to her shock, Larissa was there waiting for her. That was weird; she hadn’t heard from Larissa in over a week.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as they walked to Larissa’s car.

“I wanted to apologize for me and Ronald,” Larissa said. “Cadence told me she saw the two of us, and she said she told you about it. Bitch,” she added, muttering that last bit under her breath.

“Well…it’s your life, you can date who you want,” Daisy said, following Larissa out to the parking lot. “New car?” she added as they slid in. How did Larissa have an Audi on a temp’s salary?

“My car’s in the shop. This is a rental.”

Daisy frowned to herself as they drove off. Something felt wrong, but she wasn’t sure what.

“I’m not dating him, anyway. We went out once, I realized it was a mistake. He doesn’t mean anything to me,” Cadence said. “Our friendship is much more important.”

As they drove, Daisy glanced behind her.

“There’s a car following us,” she said.

“Probably the press,” Larissa suggested, looking in the rearview mirror. “Here, I’ll take the back roads and try to lose them.”

“You know how to take the back roads to get to Ryker’s pack property?” Daisy asked, watching behind her.

Larissa ignored her and pulled off the main road. They’d left the city behind them, and Daisy didn’t recognize where they were, not that she knew the areas outside of Cedar Park all that well. The car was still following, way too closely. It was giving Daisy the creeps.

“Larissa, that guy is acting more like a carjacker than a reporter,” she said. “You need to get back on the main road.”

Larissa ignored her and kept driving.

Alarmed, Daisy fished in her purse for her cell phone. “I need to call Ryker,” she said.

“Don’t,” Larissa said sharply. “Don’t talk on the phone while I’m driving, it’ll distract me.”

Daisy gave her a skeptical look. “Since when?”

Larissa sped up around a sharp curve, then turned off the road, heading down a narrow side road.

Now Daisy was officially freaked out. And a thought occurred to her. “Larissa, how did you even find out so fast that I’d been arrested?” she asked. “And who gave you bail money?”

“I used my own money,” Larissa muttered.” Put it on my credit card. And I saw it on the news.” The car was bumping and jerking on the dirt road.

“You never watch the news.”

“You got me there,” Larissa said, and pulled over so abruptly that Daisy was thrown against her door.

She’d stopped in the middle of the road. The other car pulled over – on the right, beside Daisy’s side of the car.

Daisy felt panic welling up inside her.

She reached into her purse for her pepper spray. Larissa grabbed her arm, and at the same time, her door was yanked open. Daisy shrank back and saw Ronald standing there, towering over the car.

Then the truth dawned on her.

“You both work for my pack, don’t you?”

“Me and him, and every bad date you’ve ever had,” Larissa sneered. “You were supposed to get the message and just give up and go back to Frasier.”

“But…you answered my roommate ad… You mean…”

Larissa rolled her eyes. “Yes. Your pack sent me there to keep an eye on you and try to get you to go back home. Nobody knew it would take this long. Idiot.”

Daisy felt her heart pounding in her chest. Rage and humiliation boiled through her. Months and months of miserable, degrading dates… Larissa reporting back on her every move…

“Was my mother the reason I didn’t get hired at Miss Bolker’s?” she demanded.

Larissa shrugged. “Probably. You could have made this a lot easier on everybody, you know.”

Furious, Daisy started to shift – but before she could, Ronald clapped something over her face. It was a wet cloth soaked with something that smelled like chemicals and made her head spin. And then the world went dark.