He slowed and pulled in behind Kylo, his heart thudding hard against his ribs as memories flooded his mind.
A hand landed on each shoulder and squeezed. Ben blinked rapidly, reducing the ache at the back of his eyes. The front door burst open and there were Niro and Felix.
Felix charged down the stairs. A grin much like Ben’s plastered to his face as he came to a stop and yanked open the door. “About time you showed your ugly mug,” he said cheekily, then pulled Ben unceremoniously out the door. He got no chance to answer or steady himself when Felix gave him a crushing bear hug. “Missed you.”
“I missed you, too,” Ben murmured and held on for a moment longer, enjoying the familiar scents of home. Of family.
Felix pulled back and grinned at the two men still sat in the SUV. “So, it’s true. You’ve been truly blessed brother.” He cuffed Ben’s shoulder. “There’s hope for the rest of us if you got this lucky.”
“Fuck off,” he groused playfully, grinning back at Felix.
“Someone wanna to tell me why there’s a dead body stinking up the forest?”
At the grumpy tone, Ben spun to the house and grinned at Mao. Three years younger than Kylo, he was the quietest one among them, and the grumpiest if his day was disturbed. “Nice to see you too, brother.”
“Whatever.” His lips twitched a fraction. He nodded to the trunk. “So, who’s in there?”
Kylo answered. “Someone who wanted our brother and his mates dead.”
Mao’s eyes flashed his panther. “I see nothing changes, Ben. You always mixed with the wrong crowd.”
His mates, who were now standing by his sides, instantly took offence. They didn’t understand Mao was joking.It’s a joke.Ben explained quickly when claws extended and both men advanced towards his brother.
He reached out, taking hold of an arm of each mate. “Mao, just watch the funny stuff, you’re upsetting my mates.”
Mao nodded somberly. “I apologize. I was referencing the shifter council, not you.”
Nico glanced at Ben.Why?
My brothers weren’t happy about me leaving. They think the council is a bunch of assholes who sit around drinking tea and eating cake with their fingers up their asses.
Teilo’s eyes widened, whereas Nico’s narrowed as they moved back to Mao, who hadn’t moved from the top of the stairs.
Felix broke the tension. “This is fun and all, but shouldn’t we get rid of what’s stinking up the place?”
Chapter Nineteen
Ben
They checked the body for identification, only for Nico to hand over the wallet he’d found in the guy’s pocket. Proving to Ben once again that his mates were more than gorgeous faces. They’d taken the empty SUV and dumped it at a local place where it wouldn’t take long for the thing to be stolen and broken down for its parts.
Inside his home, there was a reprieve for Ben when he discovered his parents were away visiting friends.
Kylo went and spread out all the paperwork on the large table they used for family meals. They left the food Mao had prepared in the kitchen on the counter for folks to help themselves. Sopa paraguaya, a cornmeal-based bread that contained Paraguayan cheese, with generous quantities of freshly sliced onions and eggs, turned out to be a big favorite for his mates, who had consumed several platefuls, much to Mao’s delight.
“Are you gonna tell me who the guy in the picture is?” Ben asked around a mouthful of food.
“Lazarus, the lion shifter who disappeared while under cover-supposedly. He was working to find out information on one of the cartels we’d established besides drugs, were trafficking humans as a sideline.”
Ben pointed to the pile of photos. “That picture, why did it spook you?”
Kylo’s grave expression brought with it a solid ball in Ben’s gut, congealing the food he’d eaten. “The figure in the background, the one you can’t quite make out his face…” He tapped on the grainy photo of a man’s arm holding a rifle. “This tattoo of the devil is one that is worn by those who are amongstAnga iñypytuvainner circle.Lazarus, as far as I’m aware, which seems to be fuck all, wasn’t involved directly in my case. Finding him in a picture with another man who has the connections we’ve been working our ass off for suggests otherwise. Damn near half my team is working to gather intel onAnga iñypytuva,and here’s photographic evidence that damn lion knew at least one of the players.” His large hands ran through his hair, leaving it standing upright as he stared at Nico and Teilo. “We’re gonna have to go back.”
The ball in Ben’s gut turned to lead as he met both Nico and Teilo’s resigned stares. After his fuck up earlier with not trusting Teilo, Ben dropped his plate on the table then went to his mates and crouched in front of them. “What do your instincts say, Teilo?”
A shuddery breath left his chest when Teilo beamed at him. “The scientists left in a hurry. They never accessed the hidden room.” Nico edged closer to Teilo when Kylo made a disgruntled noise.
Ben gave Kylo a warning glare. Neither mate was in any fit state to have discussed anything about the place they’d been kept when they were all there for the first time. Niro and Kylo both had scoured the whole place, as far as they knew, but…
