Page 72 of Her Loving Hero

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“Didyour brother ever tell you what kind of report he’d filed?” Kane asked Ben.

Wyatt had Ben sitting on the couch with his feet up. He’d called Kenna, the kid should have had his meds, be in bed and asleep. Instead Wyatt had a cooling towel around his neck and was force feeding him a grilled cheese sandwich while Kane browbeat him over the phone.

“Luke mumbled something about getting the bastard locked up.”

“Worse than that,” Kane said through the phone. “He put together a file showing how he was cheating the county for disability payout. He had quite a comprehensive file, pictures included that showed him replacing a water pump, bowling, and lifting five cases of beer at one time. Not the kind of thing someone with a debilitating back injury should be able to do.”

“Is that what he supposed to have had?” Ben snorted with disgust. He dipped his sandwich in the tomato soup and took a bite. “Should you be able to bowl?”

Kane laughed. “Not so much. Not according to the MRI I’m seeing, it should be impossible.”

“You have Leonard’s MRI?” Wyatt asked as he sat down in the chair next to the couch. He checked his watch to see when Em and Riya would be arriving.

“I have all of Leonard’s phony medical records that have been going into the state, as well as the report that your brother Luke submitted to the South Bend police department. If he had sent them to the right people, this would have been huge. I bet he’s an A student.”

“You mean you haven’t checked?” Wyatt said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Kane, just fill us in.”

Ben kept his head down and ate faster.

“This is bigger than just your piece-of-shit stepdad, Wyatt. There is an entire operation that is set up to bilk the state on phony disability claims. If they find out about Leonard Mazur, it will go toppling down.”

Ben’s head popped up from his food. “How big. The clinic sure, but what else?”

“I’ve got to do some more digging, but just from the eleven cases I’m seeing from the state prison that have gone through this clinic, I would say we’re talking over a million dollars in pay out over fifteen years.”

Wyatt jumped up and grabbed his keys out of his pocket. “That’s all well and good, Kane. But did you find out if Kyle got to school today? Did you track down his and Luke’s numbers? Any hope of tracking them?”

“No and no. They’re both on the same cell phone plan owned by your stepdad, and he cancelled it yesterday. We’re flying blind.”

“How much more of your time do we have before you have to go wheels up?” he asked.

“Man, I’m sorry, I gotta go on this mission,” Kane sounded contrite. “How about you?”

“Gray’s the one pushing me to delay things until this is settled.”

“I’ve always liked your boss. I’ll be able to help for another half hour before I leave for Oceana.”

“You’ve done great. I’m not asking you to stay back. You have my contact. I have a laptop, but it doesn’t do nearly the job I need for this. Send me what you have before you leave, I’ll have my regular system up and running by then.”

“I’ll see what I can do to still run checks from the air.”

“Bullshit, you’re going to have your hands full with-” Wyatt stopped himself as he looked at Ben. “You’re going to be focused on the mission. Just send me what you have. With that, I can work with local authorities. It’s just a matter of tracking Kyle and Luke. But I’d say Leonard is finally going to get what’s been coming to him.”

“Hey Wyatt, did I just see you look at me with a guilty expression on your face?” Ben asked before he slurped down the last of the soup.

“Maybe.”

Kid didn’t miss a trick, even with a head injury.

“Are you worried that I’ll be upset if you get Dad put away?”

“Among other things,” Wyatt admitted.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’m all Leeds. That was Mom’s name, and that’s the name I believe truly belongs to me. So, feel proud and happy if you help put away my sperm donor.”

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