Chapter 183 - Bro, Send Help

Scarlet was puzzled when she didn't hear from Edward at all the next day. Alicia and her group met up with the writer but nobody knew what happened to Edward.

"He doesn't usually skip school without informing us," Beatrice noted and Alicia agreed.

"Didn't he go back with you yesterday?" Mandy asked and Scarlet shook her head.

While the girls and Mike discussed why Edward was missing from classes, Scarlet thought back about what happened yesterday. It was raining and they decided to stay back in the library to watch some movies together. Edward didn't seem like there was anything bothering him enough to not attend lessons. Besides, even though everyone tried contacting Edward including Scarlet, there was no reply. Mike said that Edward usually responds within the hour if he wasn't sleeping and Scarlet looked at the time. It was already lunch. Did Edward sleep through the alarm all the way to lunch?

"Does anyone know where Edward lives?" the writer asked and everyone paused.

"Sorry," Mike sighed. "I only know his email and phone number."

Mandy looked at her contacts. "I don't have his address either although I have his birth date, student ID number and bank account number."

Alicia was impressed and Beatrice gaped in shock. "Why do you know so much? Also, wouldn't it normally be easier to get a person's address than their bank account number?"

The bespectacled beauty rolled her eyes and pushed up her glasses. "I got his bank account because I usually make him pay for my meals at the cafe. He has a membership and they give good discounts. Instead of paying him in cash, he just gives me a tally of the bills at the end of the month and I transfer the money to him."

While it was logical reasoning, Scarlet felt a strange ache in her chest. Why did she feel left out when Mandy told everyone the story of how she got Edward's bank account number? The closeness between Mandy and Edward made Scarlet feel alienated. Perhaps... Perhaps the girl that Edward talked about was Mandy.

The thought of Mandy and Edward having feelings for each other made Scarlet grow weak and pale. She didn't feel too good after knowing that there was a possibility. While everyone wondered about why Edward wasn't showing up at school, Scarlet looked at her phone. Lately, Scarlet was also receiving lesser messages from Jedd77. Could Jedd be angry at her for ignoring his messages when she was at a hotel with CEO Zhu?

"What's wrong, Scarlet?" Alicia asked when she noticed the little girl's hunched shoulder and unusual silence.

"Oh! Nothing, I was just tired. Edward stayed back with me until the storm lightened after all. Neither of us had umbrellas so I thought I'll ask my older sister to drive him a lift to his place but Edward declined, saying that he lives in the area."

Mandy raised a brow. "Did he say that? I'm sure he takes the bus. He couldn't possibly have gone home in the rain, could he?"

Alicia thought about it and said nothing. Knowing Edward, it was a real possibility. Still, nobody said anything in fear of making Scarlet feel guilty. Beatrice took the hint and changed the topic so that nobody would think too much into it. The most important thing now was to keep Scarlet from finding out. The poor girl might blame herself if she finds out Edward wasn't coming for classes because he fell sick running in the rain after declining her offer to give him a lift back.

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Edward groaned. He finished what he had to do by eight in the morning but it was evident now that he wasn't just imagining it.

Edward Bayon was officially down with a cold.

he couldn't remember the last time he had a cold this bad. It must have been years ago and even after getting injured during a mission, the teen had never felt as horrible as he did now. his head was pounding, his muscles were sore and he was shivering despite the hotness of his forehead.

There was no more energy or strength left in his limbs to carry him to his bed so the teen settled for something second best - calling Elfie.

Elfie who was finally no longer drowning in work over the chatroom developments was leaning back in his chair and spinning around in the 'boss chair', enjoying freedom when his phone rang. The hacker didn't need to look to know who was calling him. Instantly, the good mood plummeted and even Jasper shivered at the icy atmosphere in the office.

"What is it? You had better have a good reason to be destroying my rare moment of peace after ringing me up at three in the morning and keeping me up till four yesterday," the hacker growled but soon changed his tone when he heard an indistinguishable groan over the line.

"Bro... Send... Help..."

With that, the line went dead and Elfie quickly slammed his laptop shut, threw on his jacket and told Jasper that he was done for the day. Nobody questioned why Elfie was in such a hurry but the boys from the E.C. Class waved goodbye to Elfie's shadow as the hacker had already taken off running.

The good thing about having a best friend was that they would always be there in your times of need. The bad thing about having a best friend was that they knew where you lived if you ever pissed them off. Right now, Elfie was contemplating if he should strangle the living ghosts out of Edward or show some sympathy for the overgrown baby.

"Thirty-eight point two. Congratulations, you're having a fever and a cold. What did you do? Run n.a.k.e.d in the storm yesterday?"

Edward couldn't answer, feeling too horrible to do so and Elfie rolled his eyes. The hacker scrolled through his phone and looked through the food delivery app for somewhere that sold congee or broth. He was definitely going to take full advantage and order himself some kebabs and put it on Edward's card as payment for taking care of the sick teen.

"I didn't run n.a.k.e.d," Edward groaned but didn't deny the part about running in the storm.

The hacker didn't know what to say. Did Edward finally lose his mind? Elfie was almost convinced that Edward still had that small genius in him somewhere and not all of him was infected by the love virus that removed intelligence. It looks like he might be right after all. Edward Bayon was dead and in his body resided the soul of a lovesick fool.

"Why didn't you call your other university mates? You should know I'm not so free to babysit you. I had to take a cab over and it was expensive!"

Edward groaned when Elfie raised his voice. That didn't make his headache feel any better. "Bill it to me. Can you get me some water first and some medicine?"

Elfie checked the fridge and took two pills before pouring a glass of water for his sick friend. Seriously, he hated how he was best friends with Edward sometimes. "You didn't just call me here all the way from the office to babysit you, right? Speak."

Edward laughed before choking and hacking his lungs out. When he regained his breath, the feverish teen pointed to the laptop. "Everything is in that silver flash drive. The names, doc.u.ments and suspicious links. You should try to find out what Scarlet and CEO Zhu's relationship is. I don't trust that man, he is suspicious. Can you find out everything you know about him and send it to me? I believe this could be a trap."

Elfie nodded and took out his laptop to plug in the flash drive. Since he was already here and nursing Edward back to health on behalf of Scarlet who would have done it if she knew, Elfie might as well start working on Anastasia's case. It was rare that they could meet in person and even though Elfie hated Edward for calling him at three in the morning, there was no denying that their working chemistry was the best when they were together.

"Where do I start?' Elfie asked and Edward pointed to the first folder.

"I don't think you can hack the banks to check the transfers but if you can hack the related subsidiaries and their internal system, you might be able to match these numbers. I suspect that the moles in control of these companies under the Pineapple Group are the ones EZ Express planted. Without confirming CEO Zhu's intentions, I wouldn't know if these leads are intentionally being leaked to us through Scarlet or not. You'd best be careful. They might have a hacker trying to counter hack you when you enter their systems. Anastasia is tightening on his security and the moles planted by the Interpol are getting taken care off in brutal ways. My father isn't happy about it."

The hacker laughed. "Danny isn't happy about my meddling either. Don't worry. We're in the same boat at the moment. I just worry about Anastasia's movements. I heard rumours that he is in America now."

Edward frowned and coughed. "We better hurry then. Also, can you get me a bag of ice? I think the fever is conspiring with Anastasia to kill all my intelligence before we can put our heads to crack the case... thanks, bro."