“Yeah. Why not?” Ben asked. “It would get me out of here and give me some options. Education. Training.”
Link nodded. “Havoc said you’re running from the WSB. We might be able to help. Why don’t you tell us what happened?”
Ben broke into his tale from the beginning, talking about how his friend had betrayed him by setting him up with the job. He spoke about the package that had ripped and opened his eyes as to what he was really delivering, and how he’d responded by freaking out at Billy.
“My mom’s a junkie,” Ben explained. “I don’t want anything to do with that shit, I swear. After I told Billy where he could shove his dope, the asshole snitched to his boss, Ace.” Ben’s gaze cut to me and his expression soured. “They had pictures of you, sis. In front of the school, walking home with Beth, on the stairs to your apartment. They said if I didn’t do my job, they’d kill you, and these guys don’t screw around.”
Landon tensed beside me. I squeezed his knee to reassure him that I was fine, and he grabbed my hand, bringing it up to his lips to kiss my knuckles.
“I wanted to tell you, Mercy,” Ben continued. “But they knew I wanted out, so they were watching me. After Ace showed me the pictures of you, I tried to play it off like you and I weren’t close, but he didn’t buy it. I stopped talking to you and coming by, not because I wanted to, but every minute I spent with you put you in more danger.”
“If you were so worried about Mercy’s safety, why’d you go to the school today?” Blade asked, leaning forward in his seat.
“I was hoping she’d agree to leave town with me. I told her everything.”
Link’s eyebrows rose as he looked to me for confirmation.
I nodded, a little irritated that Link didn’t take his word for it. Then again, my brother had just admitted that he was moving dope for the WSB. “He was coming clean when the bullets started flying.” They needed to know Ben was still honest and good. “Said they wanted him to kill a cop and he couldn’t do it.”
“He had this on him,” Havoc said, leaning forward to set a pistol on Link’s desk. Link studied it for a moment before sliding it into a drawer. “I’ll get it to a friend of mine on the force. Which cop did they send you after?”
“A detective by the name of Javier Sanchez. They made a play to get him in their pocket, and he declined.” Ben reached in his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper with handwriting on it. “Here’s his address. Schedule for the week. I’m not a cop killer, and I’m sick of delivering their dope. I’ve gotta get out of here.”
Link studied the paper for a moment before handing it to Havoc. “Will you see that Tap gets this and reaches out to Sanchez anonymously? We need to make sure Sanchez knows they’re gunning for him, but I don’t want the WSB knowing how he got tipped off. Let them worry about it for a while.”
Havoc took the paper and walked out.
Link’s attention went back to my brother. “So, you want us to help you fake your own death?”
“They brought me here in a body bag. Think we need to do more than that?”
Link nodded. “We can write you up an obituary, hold a little ceremony and give your sister your ashes, make it look all official. But you definitely can’t stick around here if we want it to work. One person spots you and the jig is up. Mercy will be in danger.”
“I’ll go.” Ben looked at me. “I always wanted to travel anyway, sis. Here’s my chance.”
My heart felt like it was breaking. “I don’t want you to leave.”
“I know, but I have to. You can still come with me.”
I shook my head. “You know I can’t.”
“You serious about wanting to join the service?” Blade asked, jumping into the conversation.
Ben nodded. “The more I think about it, the more sense it makes.”
“What’s on your mind, Blade?” Link asked.
Havoc returned and took his seat.
Blade and Wendy put their heads together for a few seconds before breaking apart again. “We can take him back to Texas with us. We have an extra room, and he can stay with us until he ships off to boot camp,” Blade announced.
Ben’s head whipped around. “You would do that for me?”
“Sure,” Blade replied. “You got caught in a bad situation, and you found your way out of it. That’s exactly the kind of skill set the military is looking for.”
The backs of my eyes were stinging again. I couldn’t believe Blade’s generosity. “Are you sure?” I asked.
Wendy gave me a sweet smile. “Positive. I have a little brother that I raised, too, Mercy. It’s amazing the things we’ll do to protect them. I can’t imagine what you must be going through right now, but I know I’d want someone to help my brother if they could. We’re in a position to help Ben, and we want to.”
