“And we know she’s still spendin’ money because she bailed on all her personal items at the last motel,” JJ noted. “Her stash included high-end beauty products, new clothes. She’s shoppin’ and not at Walmart. But she is keepin’ her computer with her. I found a charger still connected to the wall, but the laptop was MIA.”
“Did they find any cash?” Hunter asked.
“Not anything significant. About two grand in an envelope under the mattress,” Reese relayed. “So that means she’s keepin’ it hidden or she’s burned through it already. It has been eight months since she took the money.”
Trey spoke up when the conversation lulled. “I have a question.”
All eyes shifted to him.
“Any chance we can lure her out?”
Brantley liked his brother’s line of thinking. “How?”
Trey shrugged a shoulder. “I haven’t thought that far ahead.”
“What if we leveraged the daughter?” Luca questioned.
“Doubt it’d help,” Reese answered. “From what we can tell, she’s made no attempt to see her daughter.”
“I’ve confirmed that with Nicholas Prince,” JJ said. “I called him the day after…” She cleared her throat. “After the festival. I wanted to see if he’d heard from her. He was firm in sayin’ he has not spoken to her. And accordin’ to him, he doesn’t expect to. I got him to open up a little about their former relationship and her relationship with the kid. It sounds to me like Juliet never had an interest in bein’ a mom. Her reason behind wantin’ to keep her daughter after the divorce had been for financial gain.”
“That could be what he wants you to think,” Trace said. “Makes him look like a stand-up guy since he filed for sole custody and was granted it.”
“Could be,” JJ agreed. “But I don’t think so. He sounded sincere. When I explained what she’d done—bombin’ my house and runnin’ down Kylie—he was horrified but not surprised. He said Juliet’s always been unstable.”
“Why wouldn’t he open up before now?” RT asked, his gaze swinging from JJ to Brantley.
“He’s been out of the country for a while,” Brantley told him. “We’ve made numerous attempts but he was initially hidin’ behind his lawyer.”
“He thought someone was gonna come after him for damages,” JJ mentioned. “He told me himself. Plus, he’s scared of her.”
“He said that?” Brantley asked, surprised.
“Not in so many words, but I could tell. Evidently, Juliet’s been siccing people on him. Her hatred runs deep and it runs hot, and from the sound of it, she’s spreadin’ it around to anyone who’s wronged her in the past.”
Brantley knew that to be true. Juliet Prince had graduated from sending nasty messages to kidnapping, and now to murder. The woman had unraveled, and if they didn’t find her soon, there was no telling what she might do next.
“Well, I think we should start scoutin’ the homeless shelters in the area. Churches, too,” RT said. “Anywhere she might find refuge, even if for only one night. She can’t stay completely hidden.”
“Don’t bet on that,” Luca said. “This ain’t the big city. There’s a number of abandoned houses and buildings in the area. If she’s determined, she could hide for quite some time.”
“Maybe,” Brantley acknowledged. “But I think RT’s right. Juliet’s not gonna stay hidden because she’s got an ax to grind. I don’t think she set out to kill Kylie that day. I think it was a spur-of-the-moment decision to run her down. She’s been on the run and her need for revenge against Travis didn’t fade away. I think it’s safe to say she’s harborin’ more. Which means she’s not stayin’ in the area because she can’t get out.”
“She’s stayin’ ’cause she’s not done,” Reese finished for him.
“Exactly.”
*
After their brainstorming session, Reese continued to review the information they’d compiled, wishing something would jump out at him. Anything to help them find where Juliet was currently hiding. They’d dug up some useful details, but he wasn’t seeing anything that led to a pattern of behavior. From what he could tell, Juliet was winging it. And he fully agreed with Brantley. Reese did not believe Juliet had set out to kill Kylie, but when the opportunity to cause harm presented itself, she acted on her rage and the result was deadly.
“Any update on Travis?” Baz asked, drawing Reese’s attention.
Reese leaned into the desk behind him, where he’d been staring at the map on the television screen while waiting for Brantley to return from a quick conversation with Hunter and RT.
Everyone had been asking about Travis and Gage, checking to see how they were doing several times a day. Like most of those who knew them, they were worried. Reese included.
“I’ve talked to Curtis,” Reese answered. “He’s processin’. They all are.”
“They need anything? Help at the resort?”
“Sawyer and Kaleb have agreed to manage it for the time bein’.” Reese crossed his arms over his chest.
“What about Walker Demo?”
“Autumn’s back at the helm, plus their cousin Jaxson is helpin’ out. They promised to reach out if they need help.”
“Well, let ’em know I’ll do whatever I can. Whatever they need.”
Reese nodded. “I’m sure they’ll appreciate the gesture.” He motioned toward the map on the screen. “The best way we can help any of them is to find Juliet,” he said, keeping his voice low. “No matter what it takes.”
They both turned when Trey approached, the other man’s gaze swinging back and forth between them as though gauging whether it was appropriate to interrupt.
“What’s up?” Reese prompted.
“I’ve got an idea. Thought I’d run it by you.”
Reese raised an eyebrow, urging Trey to spit it out.
“I know it might be a stretch, but Tesha’s trainer … he runs a search-and-rescue operation, doesn’t he?”
Reese found it interesting that Trey didn’t refer to Magnus by name, but he answered anyway. “Yeah. Why?”
“Well, we’ve got some of Juliet’s belongings, which means we’ve got a decent scent. If we can get a bead on where she might be…”
Reese knew where Trey was going with this. Yes, Baz had called in a favor, and they’d gotten their hands on a couple of her personal effects, but he wasn’t sure they were at the point where search dogs would do them any good. Not yet, anyway. Didn’t meant it wouldn’t come in handy in the future.
Definitely wouldn’t hurt to get Magnus on board, and since they were currently at a standstill, it’d give Trey something to do, as well.
“I like the idea,” he told him. “Why don’t you take point on that? Head over to Magnus’s place. Get his thoughts on what our options might be. If we can narrow down a search grid, it’d definitely be worth a shot.”
Trey’s gaze shot to Baz then back to Reese. “I wasn’t suggestin’ I be the one—”