Chapter Four
Benji
Benji walked into the gear closet, which was really an entire room, but closet seemed more apt considering it wasn’t used for anything else.
They had all sorts of clothing and gear in there, depending on the weather or need.
Knowing that he was going to be out in the snow, he felt that white was the better choice than his typical black.
He didn’t particularly like wearing white but it wasn’t about fashion, it was about stealth and safety.
Walking over towards the winter section of the closet, he began to sift through the selection, pondering about what would be the best thing to wear from there.
He immediately pulled out a pair of white cargo pants and threw them over his arm.
Those were a necessity. He then grabbed out a thermal undershirt and a winter vest. Those would have to do.
A full blown coat was just far too cumbersome for him.
He wandered over towards the boot section and grabbed a pair of white snow boots as well and huffed.
The irony of the freeze baby being the one having to traverse through the cold Philadelphian snow was not lost on him.
But, such was life. He would do what he had to.
Once he was satisfied with his clothing, he began to sift through the tactical gear.
The selection was really quite impressive.
Spence really did hook them up with the best of the best. Benji grabbed some gloves, a couple knives, a pistol with a silencer with the appropriate ammo, and a flashlight, just in case.
He’d rather have and not need it than be left in the dark.
Unfortunately for him, no amount of training could make him see in the dark.
He wasn’t sure when they were leaving but he didn’t feel like walking around with all the things he gathered so he took the time to change.
Looking in the mirror in the bathroom, he shook his head as he slipped the gun into the holster on his hip.
White just was not his color. It washed him out so badly.
On the vest, he slipped the two knives and flashlight into their designated slots then began to lace up the boots, which wound up taking the most time.
They were tight to begin with so he had to basically unlace them completely just to get them on.
Once on, he jumped up and down a few times to attempt to break them in just a bit then stepped out of the bathroom with his normal attire in his arms. Benji returned to the office and threw his clothes onto his desk and plopped down into his chair.
The only other person in the room was his dad, who was currently focused on something else entirely so he didn’t even bother to say anything.
The two sat in silence for quite a while, which was fine with him.
Not every minute of the day had to be filled with some sort of sound.
Soon enough however, he heard his dad shifting more than he had been and when Benji looked up from his phone, he saw him staring at him.
He blinked a couple times and put his phone down.
“What’s up?” he asked. Clearly it was something.
Matthew huffed. “Just wanted to make sure you’re good with this.”
“Yeah,” Benji nodded. “I’m so ready for it. And, really, it’s just another mission, right?”
“Your sister doesn’t seem to think so,” he shook his head. “I wouldn’t agree to anything that I didn’t think was a good idea or good for the business. You know that, right?”
“Yeah, Dad. I do.” The business was usually Matthew’s top priority.
Of course he cared about them but making sure they were still good with the everyone who hired them was also something he cared deeply about.
Benji understood. They were the source of their paychecks.
Without them, the whole operation was moot. “I can do this.”
Standing up from his desk, his dad crossed the room and stood in front of Benji, holding out his arms, and said “give your old man a hug, would ya?”
He couldn’t help but chuckle as he stood up and wrapped his arms around his dad.
Compared to the rest of his family, besides Andi, Benji was rather short so the top of his head was basically resting at his dad’s chin.
Matthew immediately returned the gesture and squeezed Benji tight.
“If I didn’t think you could do this, I wouldn’t send you in.
” Those words hung heavy in the air. Benji knew his father was serious about that too.
“But it’s going to be easy. Get in, get out. No more than a half hour in there.”
He nodded. “I got it.”
“I know you do,” Matthew pressed a kiss to his temple and pulled back, placing his hands on his shoulders. When Benji looked up to him, his eyes were glassy, which wasn’t something he was used to seeing.
“Dad…”
Matthew smiled. “I’m just proud of you, Benji. You’ve come a long way, kiddo. That’s all,” He quickly pulled back and huffed. “Plane takes off in two hours.”
Sitting at the table in the center of the room, Benji was playing a game of rummy with Travis and Spence, just to pass the time before they had to drive to the tarmac.
With their line of work, they had a tarmac and small six seater plane that was reserved specifically for them from the military.
It was pretty cool, honestly. From the corner of his eye, he spotted his sister walking into the room and before he knew it, she was standing beside him with a USB drive and a key card held towards him.
“All set,” she smirked. “I made it so easy to use that even you can figure it out.”
Benji rolled his eyes and grabbed them both, immediately slipping it into a pocket in his vest. “You’re making it sound like I don’t know how a computer works.”
“You don’t.”
“Bullshit. I’m better than the rest of them here.”
Andi immediately laughed and swatted at his arm. “I’m just messing with you. But it is super easy. Just plug it in and pull the program from the drive onto the computer. As soon as you open it up, I’ll be able to remote into the computer and do what I need to do.”
“I don’t need to install it?” He asked, his brow raising.
“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.