Benson wasn’t sure if he was that strong. “I’ll try, sir.”
“Sheriff, back to our main problem,” Preston said. “Trent admitted that he owed money to people, and that they threatened to harm him if he didn’t pay up.”
His uncle sat up straighter. “Why didn’t he say something in court? Even if he was involved in an illegal game, the charges would be a lot less than for murder."”
“I asked him that,” Benson said. “He told me that the group of men he was dealing with said they’d harmhimif he didn’t pay. There was no mention of hurting Samantha. It never occurred to him these men might kill her.”
His uncle shook his head. “Good Lord. Do you have proof of this?”
“Other than Trent’s word? No, but we’re going to try to find some.”
“Did Trent give you the name of the men who he owned money to?” his uncle asked.
“No. And before you ask why he didn’t, it is because he knows his sister. She is determined to prove his innocence, and if she starts asking questions, he believes these men will come after her. Trent is trying to protect her.”
Uncle Adam rubbed his chin. “Let me make some calls. I’m aware of a few drug cartels, as well as the group that runs frequent unsanctioned gambling games. Unfortunately, they are all shifters.”
Shit.Benson faced the general. “How soon can Liam and Alex get down here?”
“I’ll give them a call.”
“Thank you.”
“Sheriff, do you know anyone in these wolf packs?” Preston asked.
Benson’s uncle held up a hand. “Like I said, let me ask around. I would ask the Midvale sheriff to investigate, but he has no idea shifters exist—or should I say, he’s never mentioned that he knows. However, with the number of wolf maulings over there, you’d think he’d figure it out.”
“What can we do to help?” Preston asked.
“Make sure your mate doesn’t go anywhere near those casinos. And for heaven’s sake, don’t let her buy drugs just to learn who her brother possibly owed money to.”
Benson huffed out a laugh. “Ariel isn’t a risk taker, so I think we can convince her to let us handle things.”
“If you ever need help doing a deep dive on someone, I can give you a name of a man who runs a group of hackers.” The general held up his hand. “They do things by the book—unless it’s a matter of life and death. The man’s name is Mick McLaughlin. He just set up a second firm in Canada. Give me your contact information, and I’ll send you his email address.”
“That would be awesome.” The general sent it to him. “How long are you in town?” Benson asked.
“I’m leaving tomorrow morning. Since I was passing through, I wanted to say hi to your uncle.”
“I’m glad you did.” Benson stood. “I am very happy to have met you.”
"Likewise."
Since he and Preston had interrupted enough of their time, they left and headed back to the gym’s parking lot. “If you don’t have to return to work, how about we head home so we can plan what we are going to say to Ariel,” Benson suggested.
“Fine, but if we tell her to stay away from the seamier side of things, we need to have a plan on how we are going to handle things,” Preston said.
“I agree, but it’s not like we can tell her we need to wait until our trainers arrive so they can teach us how to be better fighters against wolves.”
Preston laughed. “Well, that would be one way to show Ariel our true nature.”
“It would be the best way to ensure we never get her into our bed.”
“There is that.”
* * *
Even though Ariel had bagged and trashed Trent’s sheets, entering his bedroom still gave her the creeps. At least she’d cleaned up the black fingerprint powder a few days ago. The landlord said if the place wasn’t clean that he’d charge her. Wouldn’t that be adding insult to injury?