Hide & Seek - Nicole Edwards Page 0,3
detour.
They reached the back of the house, continued around to the side.
“Spill it, Travis,” he said curtly. “I know you’ve got another reason for bein’ here.”
As he expected, Travis didn’t argue. He wasn’t a man to make excuses for what he did or his reasons for doing them.
“Looks like you’ve settled in nicely.”
However, he wasn’t above beating around the bush, apparently.
“We have,” Brantley confirmed, pretending the small talk was necessary. “Not completely up to speed, but we’re gettin’ there.”
They stopped at the driveway, directly in front of the fancy blacked-out Cadillac Escalade that sat alongside the other vehicles parked there. It was Travis’s most recent acquisition. The man usually rolled around in his Chevy Silverado, like a third of the population of Coyote Ridge.
“I need your help.”
“You got it,” he said without a second thought. “What can I do?”
“Find Juliet Prince.”
The adamance in Travis’s tone wasn’t abnormal. Travis Walker was one of those men who took control of the situation, manned the team from the front. He was used to being large and in charge.
Unfortunately for Travis, Brantley had spent too many years leading his SEAL team to take orders from anyone other than the top brass. And while many saw Travis as exactly that, Brantley did not.
“She’s in the wind,” Brantley said, keeping his tone level. “The FBI’s workin’ the case now.”
“They’re doin’ a shit job,” Travis said, his blue-gray eyes sparking with fire. “I want her found now.”
Brantley studied Travis’s expression, noticed the tension lines around his mouth and eyes. If he had to guess, Travis wasn’t getting much sleep these days.
“These things take time. You know that. They will find her, Trav.”
His lips pursed. “Not good enough.”
The anger rolling off the other man was palpable.
“Look,” Travis said, turning to face him fully. “I need help findin’ her. I was hopin’ you’d help.”
“You know I will,” he said quickly. “Of course I will, Travis.”
“Good.” Travis gave a curt nod. “Because I’d hate to have to convince JJ to come work for me.”
Brantley frowned, hearing a hint of a threat in his cousin’s voice. “What did you say?”
“You heard me. I’m not above usin’ money to get what I want, Brantley. You should know that about me by now.”
Before he could argue, Travis strolled around to the driver’s side of the SUV, climbed inside.
Brantley was still standing there as Travis drove down the long drive, heading back the way he’d come, when JJ came out to join him.
“Somethin’ wrong?” she asked, stopping at his side.
“I don’t know,” he admitted, glancing over at her. “You talk to Travis lately?”
Her dark eyebrows lowered. “No. Why would I?”
“Don’t know.”
“Brantley?”
Turning to face her more fully, he explained the conversation that had just taken place.
“Work for him?” She snorted. “Why in hell would I work for him? I mean, he’s a nice guy and I like him just fine, but I’m not all that into the kink he’s got goin’ on at that resort.”
“It’s your skills he wants,” Brantley told her.
JJ smiled, bringing her hand up and breathing on her fingernails before polishing them on her chest. “What can I say, B? I’m good like that.”
She was good like that. Brantley wouldn’t argue that point. But she wasn’t a hacker-for-hire.
“You’re worried about him?” JJ said softly, her humor disappearing.
“Yeah.” He was definitely worried.
The man who had just threatened him was not the Travis Brantley knew.
“Well, since you’re just standin’ around, holdin’ down the dirt, come help me.”
“With?”
“I brought a few things from home. For my desk.”
Shaking off the weird conversation with Travis, Brantley followed JJ over to her little hybrid SUV. She popped the hatch, motioned for the bag and the box.
“A few things, JJ? This looks like you’re movin’ in.”
Her laughter was enough to get his head back in the game.
“Quit complainin’, Walker. Just carry it.”
He did.
Ensuring she knew how put out he was the entire trek back to the barn.
Chapter Two
Later that evening, Reese was standing at the stove when Brantley strolled into the kitchen, fresh out of the shower. Even over the aroma of marinara and garlic, he could smell the fresh, musky scent of the man, and like usual, it went right to his head. To say it was odd that he would ever think that way was an understatement. Reese had spent his entire thirty-one years finding perfume appealing over cologne. At least on his partners, anyway. Yet here he was, infatuated by the sexiest man in existence.
Stirring the sauce, he smiled to himself, wondering if he would ever