Benson chuckled. “Our mate. Yes. But she’s the sister of the man I put in jail. She’s also a human who appears to be quite analytical.”
“What does that have anything to do with it? You’re highly analytical too. Lawyers have to be.”
Benson dropped down onto the sofa. “Oh, let’s see. Fast forward a few months. We’ve managed to convince ourmateto go out with us. She eventually falls for us. Then we spring it on her that we are werewolves.”
Preston slumped in the seat. “She’d freak and run away, but wouldn’t it be worse if we invite her over and shifted in front of her right away? Then she’d never be ours.”
“True. Mom is a human, and Dad said she fell in love with him so hard that when she learned about his other side, she said she didn’t care.” Benson told him.
“We should be so lucky. None of your siblings have found their mates either, so we can’t ask their opinion.”
“No. I think they’re too afraid to give it a try.”
“We have no choice,” Preston said. “Ariel has already happened upon us.”
Benson slightly smiled. “She has at that. And what a spirited woman she is. I don’t know how we both ended up with her.”
“It’s called Fate.”
“Fate or not, we can’t force things to happen. We have to let Ariel lead the way,” Benson said.
Preston dipped his chin. “Do you honestly think she’ll ask for our help? I think she picked our brains pretty well during dinner.”
“True, but I can call her and tell her we want to right a wrong. We’ll warn her that if she goes after this person—assuming Trent is innocent—she could be putting herself in danger.” That thought churned Benson’s stomach.
“The gym closes at three tomorrow. I can head to Midvale and ask around at a few gambling establishments about Trent. Did he owe money to anyone? If he did, since Trent’s in jail, they won’t be seeing any money from him. Ever. I could say I’ll pay them back, and when they accept, it would point a finger at a possible murderer.”
“That isn’t proof,” Benson said. “Besides, you could easily be scammed. I can hear the exchange now.Oh yes, Mr. Daniels, your friend Trent owed me fifty thousand dollars. Please pay up.”
Preston chuckled. “You’re right. They’d see it as a chance to make a quick buck. It wouldn’t prove they killed anyone.”
Benson rubbed his chin. “I have a better idea. How about if I go to Midvale and speak with Trent? Trent might tell me a name or two.”
Preston barked out a laugh. “Do you think he’ll agree to see you?”
“Considering his situation, he’d at least be curious enough to find out what I want. He might think his attorney asked for an appeal.”
“Then why isn't Ackerman there to see him? I'm not sure it matters. I say go for it. If he can tell us about his gambling habits or who he owes money to, we can investigate. I’ve heard that some wolf pack is in charge of the gambling cartel.”
Benson nodded. “And I’ve heard another wolf pack handles the drug side of things. According to my uncle, the Midvale cops are not shifters. I’ll have to ask Uncle Adam, but I think he said there have been a lot of wolf attacks in that town.”
“I trust these wolves are of the human variety?”
“That would be my guess,” Benson said.
“How about after you speak with Trent, we visit your Uncle Adam? We’ll be totally upfront with him about our plan.”
Benson couldn’t believe what Preston was proposing. “Are you talking about revealing that Ariel is our mate, or that we want to be certain that Ackerman didn’t drop the ball on the Williamson case?”
Preston hissed in a breath. “The latter would be a problem. To me, this is equally about proving to Ariel that we want to help her as it is about finding justice. Look, if Trent is really guilty, that’s okay too.”
Benson didn’t want to rush into anything. “Let’s take it one step at a time. I’ll see what I can learn from Ariel’s brother first. Then we’ll speak with my uncle.”
“Sounds good.”
* * *
Ariel had not slept well last night. Either she’d had one too many glasses of wine or being with the men had messed with her head. Beth had been right about one thing—okay, maybe two things. Benson Granger was quite different from the man she’d seen in the courtroom. It might have been her imagination, but he appeared interested in answering her questions as truthfully as possible.