Page 8 of The Wolf and the Monarch

“Nope. It’s more like a website.”

He shrugged. “Sounds good. And the keycard?”

“Should be able to get you into any door you might come across with a tap to open lock. It has all of the door codes loaded onto it.” Andi was such a life saver.

“You made good time with that, Andi,” Matthew chimed in while he walked over towards his daughter. “Good job.”

Andi couldn’t help but beam at that. “Thanks, Dad.”

He nodded, then looked to his son and brother. “You two ready to go?”

Both men threw their cards down onto the table before they stood up. Travis stood up as well and gave both a quick hug. “See you in a couple days.”

“We’ll be back before you know it.” Spence grinned before he left the office to grab the rest of his things.

Benji looked to his dad and sister. “You two driving us?”

“Of course.” Andi smiled, a bit sadly, and Matthew just nodded.

With a huff, he gave Travis one last knuckle bump before the three of them exited the office to begin the journey to the tarmac.

The drive was rather quiet besides Spence chattering away about anything and everything that came to his mind with an occasional ‘uh huh’ from the peanut gallery. Usually the three of them would humor him, but both Andi and Matthew were rather quiet, so Benji was too. His uncle didn’t seem to notice. Or if he did, he didn’t care. But honestly, if he wasn’t chatting, the drive would be rather awkward so Benji was glad for it. His gaze shifted towards Andi and he noted how tense she was. Knowing her, she would be until he came back. It wasn’t very often any of them did solo missions so he could understand why she was worried. But if Benji wasn’t, she didn’t have to be.

Once they arrived at the tarmac, Matthew parked the car and all four of them hopped out. While the brothers took the time to chat with each other about the general plan while unloading the trunk, he assumed, Andi stood with Benji. They were quiet as they stared off at the plane before Benji finally broke the silence. “I’ll only be gone a couple days. Three at the most,” he paused. “And that’s because of the weather. But I’ll call you once we’re out of there and in a hotel.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

“You still have a bad feeling about it, don’t you?” Andi stayed silent for a couple seconds before she suddenly turned and pulled Benji in for a hug. He sighed softly and returned it, rubbing his sisters back. “It’ll be okay. I pinky promised, remember?”

“I know,” she spoke softly. “But I’m still worried.”

Who was Benji to tell her not to be? She was entitled to feel how she wanted. Her worry for the entire situation was making him feel worse and worse about it, however. Not that he would ever say that out loud. He needed to stay strong and focused on the whole thing. If he revealed that Andi thinking so negatively about the whole thing was starting to give him pause, then he’d never be trusted again on a solo mission. Benji had proven that he was a good team player and an asset there. But he needed to prove that he could work by himself. It had been too long since he had and he didn’t want to squander the opportunity. The entire thing relied on him. He had to be ready for the task no matter what.

“I’ll text you when we land,” he offered, then pulled away from his sister. “I’m gonna need you to save me from Spence’s ramblings.”

Andi chuckled and shook her head. “I don’t think anything can save you from that.”

“He’s going to talk me to death.”

“What’s that?” Spence asked, approaching the twins with a raise of his brow.

“Nothing.” She quickly chimed in and held her arms out for her uncle.

While those two hugged, Benji and his father hugged once more. “You got this, kiddo.” Matthew stated simply then tousled Benji’s hair.

He rolled his eyes playfully as he fixed what was just messed up. He then looked to his dad. “Yep. Thanks, Dad. Keep an eye on everyone.”

“Don’t worry about them. Worry about yourself.”

Benji nodded and sighed. “Right.”

A few moments later, he felt a hand on his shoulder and there was his uncle. “Ready?”

He simply nodded his head and cleared his throat. “Yep.” The two began to walk towards the plane. Spence didn’t bother to look back, but Benji couldn’t help it. He glanced back at his sister and waved. Suddenly, a bit of dread formed in his stomach. It hadn’t been there all day so why was it there now? It’s probably nothing. He thought to himself as he turned back forward, continuing on his way towards the plane.

Chapter Five

Benji