Piper (Queen's Birds of Prey #4) - Kathi S. Barton Page 0,29

up and fixed his plate. He’d not had a good hot meal in a long time. Eating slowly so as not to be sick, Benson was able to join in the conversation with them when he could. When they were ready to leave, Piper told him he’d be just fine while Grant helped him to the large limo outside of his place.

Money. They had it, he realized. More than just a little too, he’d bet. Benson only hoped he’d get to make sure Abe was all right. Just once. Closing his eyes, he rested until they got to the airport. Then he slept in the bed on the private plane they’d come to get him in. His last thought before he fell into a deep sleep was that he hoped they didn’t drop him from the plane. With a smile, he slept.

When Grant woke him, it took him a second or two to remember where he was. The smile on the man’s face made Benson realize two things. He wasn’t human, and he was genuinely a nice guy. After he sat up, Grant told him he should be better now, and Benson said he was feeling very well.

“Good. We’ve been talking to Jude and Duncan, Abe’s parents. They said if you do something stupid—”

“Yes, they’ll kill me.” He smiled when Grant did. “They’re a very violent group, aren’t they? When I was speaking with Jude earlier, she was very determined to make sure I understood what was going to happen. Not that I blame them. But I promise I will try not to piss them off. This is an opportunity I never thought I’d get.”

“See that you don’t. We’re headed to the castle when you’re ready.”

He nodded and started to ask Grant if it really was a castle, but he was gone again. Benson thought a castle was just what they called their home. Wherever they lived or whatever sort of house they had, Benson was going to be on his best behavior while there.

Chapter 4

Retha wasn’t sure what the fuck was going on, but now she couldn’t find the house she’d been told her son was at. They said it was on Castle Street or something like that. But all she’d been able to find with that street address was a couple of showplaces that looked like castles, as well as a whole lot of hillbillies running around like fools.

“I’ve never seen so many people working out in their yards before. Have you?” She told Tag that she saw someone working in a garden too. “Why? Don’t they have enough grocery stores around here? Whatever they’re growing, it can’t be all that good for them. Look how much time it took for that lady out there to dig up potatoes. I didn’t even know potatoes grew in the ground, did you?”

“I never really thought about it.” Retha looked around. They were sitting at a big picnic table, having an ice cream cone. “Who the hell would have thought there’d be places around that still served up ice cream? I’ve not seen one of them kinda shops since I was a kid.”

The cone was delicious. When Retha was asked if she wanted a waffle cone or a homemade one, she opted for the homemade. It was the most wonderful thing she’d ever eaten. The inside of it was coated with the richest chocolate she’d ever tasted. The ice cream was so good she wanted a big bowl of it to eat by herself. But there wasn’t enough money for that.

Her plan had been to take the homemade one and send it back for being nasty. But once she saw the girl working the backline whip one up for her, she decided to give it a try. Boy, oh boy, she was never sending this sucker back.

“I’ve been watching the people here. They’re sure a friendly bunch. Did you hear that guy ask that woman if she wanted to join him and his family for dinner tonight? I can’t even remember the last time we were invited to have food with someone. Must be something else to have friends like that.” She told him they had friends. “We do. But not a one of them invites us over for dinner.”

“No. I’m sure everyone we know is struggling too. Just wait until we get the boy back. Then we’ll be on easy street. Did I tell you I contacted that man about selling him off? He said he didn’t do stuff