Bennie and Adam Plan a Wedding

Chapter 7

Bennie

We arrived at the hospital a few minutes after Travis did, he was pacing in the waiting room.

I gave him a hug, “what’s going on, have you talked to the doctor yet?”

Travis shook his head, “no, he was already in the ER when I got here, they haven’t told me anything yet.”

Adam asked, “did you see the car, how bad was the accident?”

Travis took a deep breath, “no, I got a call from dispatch, and I came straight here. Dallas was awake when they picked him up and told the EMTs to call me.”

I said, “that’s a good sign, he was awake and talking.”

Travis ran his hands through his hair, “yeah, I guess that’s true.”

I started to introduce Dan to Travis, Dan shook his hand, “we’ve already met, we worked a joint case last year, it’s good to see you again Travis.”

Travis said, “yes you too Dan.”

I took Travis’s hand, “come on let’s sit down, I’m sure the doctor will be out soon.”

Adam said, “I’ll go get us some coffee.”

Dan stood, “I’ll help you, Adam.”

I sat next to Travis, “he’s going to be fine, I’m sure of it.”

He sighed, “God Bennie, I’m really falling for this guy, it feels like I was just punched in the gut.”

“I know buddy, that’s how I feel about Adam, and he said that’s how he felt when I got shot. I think that means we have found the “one”.” I told him.

He stared straight ahead, “we didn’t feel this way about each other back in college, did we?”

I chuckled, “no, I don’t think we did, I mean, I cared for you a lot, I still do. But it is different with Adam, in college you were just a nice ass and a big dick.”

He smiled, “you always did have a way with words.”

“I do love you, but it’s more like a big brother type of love. I know we would do anything for each other, but I can’t imagine my life without Adam.” I told him.

He squeezed my hand, “I know what you mean, I think that is what’s happening between me and Dallas. God, I hope he is ok.”

Adam and Dan walked back in and handed us each a cup of coffee, we sat there drinking it in silence. About an hour later, the doctor came in to talk to us.

He asked, “are you here for Dallas Newton?”

Travis stood, “yes, how is he?”

The Dr. smiled, “he’s fine, he has a broken leg and needed some stitches, we just moved him to a room. We want to keep him here overnight, just to make sure he doesn’t have a concussion. You guys can go see him, he’s in room 309.”

I told Travis, “Go ahead, we’ll give you a few minutes.”

He smiled, “thanks Bennie.”

We waited about 15 minutes then made our way to Dallas’s room.

I walked in, “hey Houston, how are you feeling?”

He smiled slightly, “I’m a little stiff and sore, thanks for asking Richie Rich.”

Adam said, “hey Dallas, do you remember Dan Winter?”

He nodded, “yeah, your FBI buddy.”

Adam explained about the Wilcox brother being released from prison and that he may be out here and might be responsible for the break-ins.

Dallas nodded, “it was him that ran me off the road, I saw him as he swerved into me.”

Dan asked, “so you did get ran off the road?”

Dallas nodded, “yes, I was headed to the office, he passed me and then slowed down in front of me. I pulled into the other lane and started to pass him, that’s when he turned into me and forced me off the road. When I was next to him, I looked at him, I was going to flip him the bird. The next thing I knew I was in the ditch and my car was on its top.”

“So, you did recognize him? Do you think he recognized you? Do you remember what kind of car he was driving?” Dan asked.

Dallas chuckled, “yeah, he knew who I was. I remember that evil grin from when I worked for him. He looked right at me and jerked his car into mine. I think it was a small SUV, maybe a Nissan, it was white and had a rental car sticker on the back.”

Dan pulled out his phone, “I’m going to call my agents and have them check with the rental car agencies at the airport. I doubt he was dumb enough to use his real name, but we need to start somewhere. We’ll also check the flights out to see if he is headed home.” He walked out of the room to make his call.

We sat with Dallas, other than the cast on his leg and a row of stitches across his forehead, he was in good spirits. He and Adam told us about the Wilcox brothers, they had a trucking company that was legitimate, but they saved a couple of trucks to run drugs. This was their major money maker. Dallas was hired to track loads, keeping all the real trucks on the road. Once Dallas had set up the software, they noticed how skilled he was on the computer and had him start moving money around. After Dallas figured out what they were doing, he called the authorities and Adam was on the team that did the investigation. Right after the trial, Adam and Dallas moved across the country, never expecting to hear about the Wilcox brothers ever again.

I sat and listened to them tell us the story, it all sounded very familiar. I was going to have to check back, but I think that I hacked into the brother's accounts and gave their money to a big drug rehab center in New Jersey. I was the first time that I took a million dollars.

Dan came back into the room, “I have some good news and some bad news.”

Dallas asked, “ok, what’s the good news?”

Dan said, “we got the guy turning in the rental car, but it wasn’t Wilcox. After we questioned him, he confirmed he was working for Wilcox, he helped break into your office and Dallas’s apartment. He said they broke into the office just to find Dallas’s address, they were hoping that Dallas would be home when they broke into his place, but when he wasn’t they took his laptop expecting to find the money that he stole.”

Dallas said, “money that I stole? I never took anything from those guys, what money are they talking about?”

Dan nodded, “yeah, there was about a million dollars that went missing right before the trial, transferred out of their account. We are double checking, but we think this may have been the work of our old friend, Robin Hood.”

They all turned and looked at me.

I asked, “why are you all looking at me?” As if I didn’t know.

Dan smiled, “relax Bennie, everyone in this room knows about your past, shall we say, borrowing the bad guy’s money. We looked the other way because the money went to some good causes and didn’t hurt our cases, hell most of us at the bureau were routing for you.”

I shrugged, “well, I think that particular “loan” went to a drug rehab center that needed a new roof or something.”

Dallas asked, “so they think I took that money?”

Dan nodded, “yes, but now the bad news, other than the fact that we haven’t got Wilcox. Since they didn’t find anything on your laptop, they think you have the money hidden somewhere. When they broke into your apartment, they wanted to grab you and make you tell them where the money is. When you weren’t there, they decided the next best thing was to, well, kill you.”

Dallas’s eyes went wide, “kill me?”

Dan continued, “sorry Dallas, but it doesn’t get any better from here. When they heard that the car wreck didn’t get you, Wilcox is offering $50,000 to anyone who can finish the job.”

We all sat there in stunned silence for a few minutes.

Dallas looked at me, “thanks a lot Robin Hood, you do your good deed five years ago and now I’m the target for some hitman.”

I tried to defend myself, “sorry, I didn’t even know you then. Hey, look on the bright side, this makes us even for you sending the goons to kidnap and almost kill me last year.”

He chuckled, “yeah, I guess you’re right. I know this isn’t your fault, I’m just trying to figure this all out.”

I said, “yeah, I know it wasn’t your fault last year too, we’ll all figure this out together.”

Travis said, “I’ll get a 24-hour guard to stand outside the door here, and when they release you, I will never leave your side.”

Dallas grabbed his hand, “thank you, but we can’t live like that, we have to do something, anything.”

Dan said, “we are trying to track him down, we are watching the airport in case he leaves town, we have the hotel he was staying at staked out. I’ll send a couple of my guys to work with yours Travis.”

Adam asked, “are there really guys that will do that kind of work for Wilcox.”

Dan nodded, “unfortunately, yes. We already have the ones we know about under surveillance, but if there are any new ones out there…”

Travis said, “I will check our list too, we can compare notes to see if there are others we need to watch.”

Dan added, “I have my guys watching the dark web to see if there is any chatter and we will make sure security is tight, you will all have to lay low until we get this guy.”

Travis looked at Dallas, “we might have to find someplace else to stay for a while, I can see if one of our safe houses is available.”

Adam said, “Bennie and I will take turns staying with you whenever Travis can’t, we will never let you alone.” I nodded in agreement.

Dan and Travis both started making phone calls and coordinating the efforts between the police and FBI. They filled the hospital in what was going on and an officer was stationed at Dallas’s door.

Dallas was just lying there listening and watching all the activity, looking more and more depressed. Adam and I tried our best to comfort him and reassure him.

Travis and Dan finished their calls, Travis sat back down next to Dallas.

Dallas sighed, “well, I guess I’m safe for the night, not sure what tomorrow will bring.”

Travis kissed his cheek, “I am not going to let anything happen to you, this guy is going to have to go through me first to get to you.”

Adam said, “he’ll have to go through all of us.”

I stood looking out the window, “why don’t we just give him what he wants?”

Dan said, “what do you mean?”

I turned to face them, “let’s just kill Dallas.”

Travis stood, “what the hell, Bennie?”

Adam said, “yeah Bennie, that’s a little too far, even for you.”

I shook my head, “no, we aren’t going to really kill him, why can’t we fake him being killed?”

Dan stepped in, “that’s not a bad idea.”

Travis asked, “what do we do?”

Dan said, “let me call some of my undercover guys. Wilcox doesn’t care who kills him, we set up a fake shooting and then when we go to collect the fee, we can nab Wilcox.”

We talked about the details and worked out a plan, Dan called his agents and set everything up.

Travis and Dan double checked the guard schedule for the night and the hospital agreed to let Travis stay the night in Dallas’s room. Adam and I decided to go home, we walked out with Dan, who also headed home for the night.

As we were driving home, Adam took my hand, “I have a question for you, don’t be mad at me for asking.”

I asked, “what is it?”

He continued, “you are done with all the hacking business, aren’t you?”

I said, “I promised you that I was, why are you asking me about this now?”

“it’s just that I saw you on the computer this weekend and it looked like you were trying to hide something.” Adam told me.

I squeezed his hand, “I love you, I will never do anything to risk losing you. I was just looking at classic cars that are for sale, honestly.”

Adam took a deep breath, “thank you, that’s all I needed to hear. I love you too.”

We pulled into the driveway and went straight to bed, showing each other how much we did love each other.

The next morning, we woke and took a nice long shower together and dressed and drank our first cup of coffee. Adam turned on the local morning news.

We heard the reporter, “our top story this morning, a local man has been shot after checking out of the hospital. Police say that Dallas Newton was killed shortly after he was released this morning from City General, following an automobile accident yesterday. Channel 5 has exclusive footage from the hospital's security camera, pleased be warned, the video is graphic, viewer discretion is advised.”