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“Take the spares in the office for him. His prints are already in our system, so access shouldn’t be an issue. I’ll have everything else, including the cat, couriered to you under the guise of a food delivery service.” He looked at Benny, a considering expression on his face. “Let me see your hands.”

Benny didn’t much like the sound of that, but he spread his palms wide, his thoughts about Jordan forgotten.

“Doesn’t look like they changed your prints or tried to burn them off,” Dev said as he studied Benny’s hands.

Benny’s stomach rolled.

“I’ll find a way to get that info to Davenport. He can claim he did something like that for authenticity’s sake when it comes to ID if your “body” is ever found. They still might try for a DNA match, but even with the clout these folks seem to have, it’ll take time.”

All of this was making Benny’s head fucking hurt. And suddenly he was so goddamn tired. But before they went anywhere, he had one last thing to do. “I want to talk to my parents before we leave. We don’t need to explain anything to them, but I want to hear their voices, want them to know I’m alive.”

For a long moment it seemed like Dev might object, then he slowly nodded. “Okay. We’ll scramble it to hell and back, so if anyone is in our systems, they won’t trace it back.”

“Let me talk to them first, ease them into it.” Beth said, “We can use the office for some privacy.”

Benny followed her and Dev, who handed them a burner, then logged into the desktop in the office. “I’m rerouting this through about four different countries,” he said brusquely. “You’ve got ten minutes, max.” He stood and left the room.

Beth held the phone in her hand for a long moment. “We sent them to Montana to keep them safe from Benedict,” she said softly, then punched in a number.

“Is that you, Beth?”

Benny’s heart tharumped in his chest at the sound of his mother’s voice.

“Devin gave us a list of phone numbers you might use, and this is one of them.”

“Yeah, it’s me, Mom. Is Dad there? I’d like to talk to both of you at the same time.”

“Putting you on speaker right now,” Isabel Drake said, before Curtis piped in, sounding like he was coming from the bottom of a barrel.

“How are you, baby girl?”

“I’m good, Dad. I’m safe and I can’t wait for you to come home so you can meet Tate.”

Benny heard the love in Beth’s voice, with no hint of nervousness over the Drakes meeting her man. That surety made the last bits of discomfort over their coupling fade away.

“So, I’ve got a huge surprise for you, and no, I’m not pregnant,” Beth laughed. “Are you sitting down?”

Benny could hear the scrape of chairs. “We are now. What’s going on?”

Beth took a deep breath. “I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just going to do it in a rush, then hand the phone over. Benny’s alive. He was never killed but has lost his short-term memory so we don’t know what happened to him.”

It was true enough, Benny thought. Stunned silence met Beth’s words, then Benny heard Isabel begin to weep. “Mom, don’t cry,” he began, and that just made her sob harder.

“My Benito,” she said brokenly.

“Is it true?” Curtis asked, his voice just as shattered.

“I’m alive,” Benny said, his voice strangled, even to his own ears. “We’re trying to figure out what happened, and until we do, I’m going to hide out. But I couldn’t let a day pass without telling you I was alive and that I love you so, so much.”

He sat down hard in the office chair, not caring that he was openly crying right along with them. It was his family, and they’d always been close. For the first time it truly struck him how devastating it would have been to think him dead, and the gut-wrenching anxiety his parents had held tight each and every day he’d been deployed in the past.

“Beth is safe with Tate and the team,” he said. “I hope to be able to see you soon. I have to go now, so just know that I love you and hope to hell this is all over soon.”

“I’ll keep you updated,” Beth promised, then shooed Benny away as she took the conversation back over, giving him an escape.

He stepped out of the office and into the long hallway, taking a moment to compose himself. Not that he cared what anyone thought, he just needed a minute. Honestly, he needed about a thousand of them, but he’d take what he could get.

With a deep breath, he walked into the living area. Jordan took one look at his face and stood, as brisk in her motions as he remembered her.