Page 69 of Meant for Them

“Or you could ask your sister.”

Why didn’t he think of that? Malia was a nurse at the hospital. “I’ll do that.”

“Hold on. Hammer’s coming out. And he’s with a woman.”

The snap of a camera shutter sounded several times. “What’s he doing?” Benson asked.

“The woman is wearing a nurse’s uniform. He’s leaning over and…oh, shit.”

“What?”

“He kissed her, and it wasn’t a sisterly kind of thing.”

If Benson were evil, he would kidnap this nurse and demand Hammer tell him where Anna was being held. “Send me the photo. Malia might know her.”

“It’s a big hospital,” Mason said.

“She can ask around, though Uncle Augustin would be able to find out.”

“How about I send the photo to Dad and have him decide whether to bother his brother-in-law or not. This nurse might be useful or she might not.”

“That works, but send the picture to me anyway.” One never knew when the tiniest of clues could lead to something big. “Before you get back to your surveillance, did you find out anything about Dave Franklin’s death?”

“No, and I even hacked into the hospital’s computer. Please, no lectures. Normally, I wouldn’t do it, but Anna’s life is on the line.”

“I won’t judge. Don’t forget to send me the photo of the woman.”

“Already on its way.”

As soon as Benson disconnected, the photo arrived. The image wasn’t perfect, but it was probably enough to identify her. Benson called his sister, Malia.

“Hey, Benson. I’m in the middle of helping someone. Can I call you back in a few?”

“Sure, but I’m sending you a photo of a nurse who works at your hospital. See if you can identify her.”

“No problem. I’ll call you as soon as I can.” And then she hung up.

That was typical of Malia. As the only girl in the family, and the oldest by two minutes, she seemed to believe she could control all of the siblings. The sad thing, was that she was mostly right.

While he waited for her return call, Benson headed to his office to write down the facts as he knew them. Ariel, Preston, Liam, and Alex wouldn’t be back for a while, and he didn’t want to waste time.

He was in the middle of making his list when his cell rang. It was Malia. “Hey, thanks for getting back to me.”

“Sure. The woman in the picture is Camille Hartwick. Why do you ask?”

“I doubt you have an hour to spare, but she was just seen with a man by the name of Hammer Schmidt. He works for Paul Franklin.”

“I thought Uncle Adam said the Franklins were bad news.”

“They are. Very bad news. We believe Paul runs the gambling cartel in Midvale,” Benson said. “Listen, a woman has been kidnapped, possibly by Hammer Schmidt. What can you tell me about Camille?”

“Kidnapped? Who?”

“Anna Ackerman, the public defender’s niece.” Benson gave his sister the condensed version of what happened.

“I’m so sorry about Anna.” She inhaled. “As for Camille, she’s been with us for a little more than a year. She’s smart and dedicated.”

That didn’t sound like a person who would date a Franklin Clan member. “Is she a werewolf?”

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