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I like how his delivery doesn't leave much room for refusal. If Dr. Franks notices or disapproves, however, he doesn't show it. In fact, he agrees almost immediately.
“It would be my honor.”
Six
Listening as Micah and Bennet show Dr. Franks out, we wait with bated breath for them to join us in the dining room. They walk in to all of us waiting expectantly to learn what happened. We all assumed that Dr. Franks would be on board, but since he took the plasma behind our backs, there was some worry about whether we could trust him enough to involve him. The only other solution, which was the one that Luis trusts the most, was to make him disappear.
Micah grins widely. “One problem down, one to go.”
“I feel like that's an oversimplification,” Bennet asserts, but he looks satisfied.
They catch us up on all the details over lunch. Mrs. Coolson made Bennet's favorite lasagna and offered him his choice of three flavors of protein drinks.
Bennet takes his job of filling back out seriously, eating an impressive amount of lasagna and drinking two protein drinks. He makes us all laugh when he does an impression of me, declaring the café latte flavor to be his new favorite thing.
I quirk my lips and aim my eyes at the ceiling, but the truth is I love this new Bennet. Don't get me wrong, I loved the old Bennet too—but this Bennet seems freer, happier. Despite being horrifically tortured by his own father, dying, and then coming back to life only to face a plethora of problems to solve, it seems like a weight has been taken off his shoulders.
Weight that he wants to put back on, in the literal sense. He and Micah discuss a physical therapy and workout routine that makes my head spin, but I fully intend on joining them. Getting stronger could never be a bad thing, and also watching these two work out together…Whew!
“What are you thinking about?” Bennet asks me, interrupting my erotic daydream.
My cheeks heat. “Nothing of interest.”
“Oh, really?” He looks like he might force it out of me, but his phone rings. “It's Tony.”
He puts the phone on speaker, another sign of how much he's changed.
“Hi, Tony. I've got you on speaker.”
“Excellent. How are you, man? Last I heard, it wasn't looking good. I was surprised to get your message. Pleasantly, of course.”
“Of course,” Bennet acknowledges jokingly. “I'm fine, thanks in large part to you. Everyone here has filled me in on everything you did to help get me home and then some. I'm eternally grateful, and I intend on showing you just how grateful in due time.”
“Thanks, Bennet. But I hope you'll still feel that way after I tell you what else I did.”
Everyone looks around the room, wondering what could put Tony in the doghouse after all he did to save our lives.
“You called Tova.” He states calmly.
“Who's Tova?” I whisper to Luis.
He shrugs. “My guess is the FBI agent that Bennet was in contact with in the past, when he was trying to build a case against his father for embezzlement.”
“Yes, I called Tova. How did you know?” Tony responds.
“It's what I would have done.” Bennet answers.
“Well, that's good to know. I thought you might be pissed, but I don't think we can take this one down without help. BioCere is bigger than we could have ever expected. Besides Raleigh and the other lab in Atlanta, there are more offices across the country, accounts and investors internationally, and a lot of shady government involvement in some pretty unsavory research projects.”
“I can only imagine. So what do we need to do?”
“For starters, I'd schedule a meeting with Agent Tova as soon as possible. I've got him on standby, just waiting for word from one of you. He's actually staying at the Barnaby Square Hotel, so he could meet at a moment's notice.”
“Always one step ahead,” Bennet praises.
“Learned from the best. Let me know when you want to set up a meeting and I'll make it happen.”
“Go ahead and ask Brenda to set us up for an early lunch tomorrow at the Square. Better make the reservation for seven, I have a feeling everyone will want to attend.”
