City Knight 04 - Knights Out (CMS) (MM) by T.A. Webb Read Free Book Online Page B

growl and sighed. “Jealous. He thinks he’s the only one who can call me Benjamin, so unless you want him growly like a bear, please call me Ben.”
    “Benjamin it is then.”
    “Does that go for me too, honey?” Oh, yeah. Perfect timing. Of course Wick would pick that moment to arrive.
    “Wick,” Marcus snapped. “Don’t start with me.”
    At the silence, Ben opened his eyes to see Wick staring back and forth between Marcus and Frankie. This was gonna be fun. “Oh, Wick. Meet Frankie Prater. Marcus’s brother. And this is Marcus and Amanda. Feel free to shut your mouth before bugs fly in.”
    “Yeah,” little Marcus piped in, looking up at Wick. “You look silly standing there with your mouth open. Are you a special kid like my friend Danny? We aren’t allowed to say retarded, because it hurts his feelings and isn’t nice, and I like him. Are you special too?”
    Wick’s jaw snapped shut and he stared hard at Ben. “Not. One. Word. You either, Marcus, or so help me God, you will never get cell service or an internet signal again. And no, little man,” he said to Marcus, “I’m not special. Although I could be. Hello there, big guy. So what the hell’s in the water where you and Marcus are from? Cause if I had a brother like that—“
    “And this is why we don’t let him out of the house without a keeper. Wick. Kids present. Gun safe in the other room and I know the combination. Now, Marcus, big man, how about you take your brother and this…special guy in and grab a beer. I’ll watch out for the delivery boy.”
    They made their way in, and Ben took the kids into the kitchen to grab some juice. He’d already bought sippy cups at Frankie’s suggestion, and juice, and he had them set up and ready just as the door buzzed again. This time, he had one kid grabbing at each leg as he answered the door and led the guy inside. After checking the order and paying, he peeled the kids off and let the man back out, then called for everyone to come to the dining room.
    After saying grace, at little Marcus’s insistence and Ben’s amusement (Marcus had demanded Wick sit by him and showed him how to hold his hands just right and bow his head, while Ben took out his camera and snapped a quick picture and texted it to Jeremiah), the crowd dug in. The three other men had started talking shop—it seemed Ben was doomed to be around law enforcement for the rest of his days—and Ben tuned in and out.
    Until he heard something that rang a bell, and not a good one.
    “Can you say that again, Frankie? You found what?” Ben tried to keep the strain out of his voice, but Marcus looked concerned.
    Glancing at the kids, who were talking to each other and nibbling at eggrolls and lo mein, Frankie shrugged and turned to Ben. “Sure. Like I was saying, we found a burned out 68 VW van, one of those Scooby Doo-mobiles, you know? John Doe was handcuffed to the steering wheel, no ID, nothing to identify the van. Plates were missing, and we’re trying to run the VIN, but parts of it are missing. The strange thing about it was—“
    “There was a light strip down the passenger side in the back over a bed frame, and a metal lock box with some cash, a picture in a metal frame, and a locket.” Ben felt himself beginning to get sick, and he dropped his fork and wiped his mouth with his napkin.
    Frankie looked at him strangely. “The money and picture were burned; the lock box wasn’t fireproof. But yeah, the locket was there.”
    “Babe?” Ben felt Marcus’s strong grip on his hand.
    Fighting the nausea that threatened to make him lose his dinner, and not wanting to scare the kids, he took a long drink of his beer before turning back to Frankie. “My friend Nick has been missing for a couple of months now. I’ve been looking for him, but nobody really filed a missing persons report, I guess. That’s his van.”

Epilogue
    The August heat was almost unbearable to all but those raised in the south. The locals always said,