Page 3 of Dragon Charmed

“You told me to that first night. Half out of your mind with a fever, you begged me to hide it.”

He bent forward, hands on his thighs as he tried to suck in a breath. “Shit. I’m a criminal.”

“I don’t think so, son.”

Ben jerked upright and gestured at the open bag. “How in the hell can you say that? What good guy carries around money like this?”

“I’ve met a lot of evil people in my life, and you’re not one of them. I don’t know what the money is for, but you’re not a bad person.”

Ben wished he had Walter’s confidence. “How much is in there?”

“Don’t know.”

Ben couldn’t keep the disbelief out of his voice. “You never counted it?”

“Nope. Didn’t need to know.” Walter smiled. “Although all those Benjamins did give me the idea for your name.”

“Well, I need to know,” Ben said, picking up the duffel.

“Bring it into the cabin then, and you can count while I make lunch.”

Fifteen minutes later, Ben set the last stack of cash on the table and wanted to throw up. “Fifty thousand dollars. Jesus. Who has that kind of cash in a duffel bag? Drug dealers or money launderers for the mob. Or I could be selling illegal weapons. Or what if I’m a kidnapper and this is ransom money?”

Walter stirred the pot on the stove. “Don’t jump to those types of conclusions.”

“How can I not?”

“Maybe you were running away from the bad guys. Did you ever think of that?”

“Or maybe I double-crossed them.” Ben picked up the empty duffel, turned it inside out and ran his hands along the sides and up along the top. His fingers bumped against extra material next to the zipper, and he yanked on the loose stitches holding it together. The material gave way, and a folded piece of paper fell out.

Walter came over to the table. “What did you find?”

Ben unfolded the small square. “A name. John Baker and an address and phone number. There is also another note at the bottom. ‘Find Mia White.’”

“Do you recognize either name?” Walter asked.

He closed his eyes and prayed for something to come to him. “No.”

“I’m sorry, son.”

Ben looked up at him. “For what?”

“I was waitin’ to give you the money when you were ready to figure out your past. If I’d seen that paper, I’d have given it to you before now.”

“Walter, you saved my life and let me live with you for over a year while I tried to remember what the hell happened. There is nothing you need to apologize for.”

He nodded. “Well, at least now you can go talk to this John Baker.”

Ben set the paper on the table. “You want me to go knock on this guy’s door and ask him if he knows me?”

“At this point, what have you got to lose?”

He blew out a harsh breath. “What if I’m an assassin and this was my payoff to kill him?”

“Then he has more to worry about than you do, right?” Walter grinned at him.

Ben couldn’t help but chuckle. “You have an interesting way of looking at the world.”