Page 69 of Benjamin and the Thief

“I won’t.”

“See you later,” Sebastian said and left.

Benjamin pulled his phone from his pocket. With the evidence he now had, the faked video and the financial motive, they had enough to get the Prestons, not only for falsifying evidence and lying to the police, but also for insurance fraud. But he couldn’t risk that the Prestons somehow figured out that their scheme had been uncovered. It was best to have somebody keep an eye on them, just in case they decided to leave town. It would take him a day or two to get all the evidence in the right hands so the Prestons would get arrested and Santiago would get a new trial, an appeal, or whatever was the speediest way of getting him exonerated.

He tapped on a number, and the call was answered almost instantly.

“Hey, bro,” Ethan said.

“You busy?”

“Kinda.”

He heard the music in the background.

“Partying isn’t busy,” Benjamin said. “I need a favor. Can you and Lydia, if she’s free, go and keep an eye on the Preston house?”

“What’s this about?”

“I can prove that the Prestons falsified evidence to get Santiago Vargas convicted for grand theft. They framed him.”

There was a brief pause before Ethan answered, “The jewelry heist? Are you kidding me?”

“No. And another thing. Catalina, my girlfriend, she’s his sister.”

A chuckle came through the line. “I know. That news is making the rounds at Scanguards as we speak.”

“Who blabbed?”

“No idea. But considering you’ve been asking half the staff for favors to help you dig up shit, it could be anybody. Besides, you could’ve told me about it earlier. I would have helped.”

“Well, you can help me now. Catalina ran off when she found out that I’m a vampire. She doesn’t know yet that I’ve found evidence exonerating her brother.”

“Hold it,” Ethan interrupted. “How did she find out?”

“Ross bit her.”

Ethan erupted in laughter.

“Hey, that’s not funny!”

“Bro, you got hamstrung by a four-year-old!”

“Yeah, well, that was bad luck.”

“It sure is. Okay, what do you need me to do?”

“I’ve got Vanessa keeping an eye on Catalina’s flat. But I need eyes on the Prestons. We can’t risk them suddenly leaving town. It’ll take me a day or two to present the evidence to the D.A. I’ll work with Anita on that. In the meantime, I need to know where the Prestons are at all times. Can you do that?”

“Sure thing. I’ll take Lydia, and we’ll get a second team to relieve us sometime tomorrow.”

“Thanks, bro. I owe you.”

“Anytime.”

He disconnected the call and scrolled to Anita’s number when his phone rang again.

“Just the person I wanted to speak to,” he said to Anita.