She clamped her mouth shut, but he could tell she still wanted to argue.
“So what do you say we get on with it?”
When he looked at Becs, she nodded. “Yes, sir. Of course.”
Grateful no one had anything more to add, Reese headed for the door. He caught sight of JJ out of the corner of his eye. She was standing at the top of the stairs. When their eyes met, she gave one slight nod, clearly in agreement.
He only hoped Brantley didn’t hear about this. Otherwise…
Later that afternoon, after Reese had convinced Brantley to go with him to pick up some office supplies JJ had ordered, Reese considered talking Brantley into a late lunch/early dinner just so they could avoid going back to the barn for a while. He had no idea how things were going now, but he had no desire to find out. As much as he wanted this task force to succeed, he had to admit it was significantly easier when it was smaller.
“What’s on your mind, Tavoularis?”
Reese grinned. Why he found it amusing that Brantley called him that, he had no idea.
“Nothin’.”
“I heard about the showdown at the OK Corral this mornin’.”
Of course he had.
“It’s all under control.”
“I heard that, too.”
“Let me guess, you’ve got a mole in there? Already?”
“I wouldn’t call JJ a mole, but…” Brantley shot a smile his direction. “If it’s any consolation, she was impressed with how you handled it.”
Yeah, well. This was just the beginning. Only time would tell how it all played out.
Chapter Six
One week later
Tuesday, September 14, 2021
The past week had been a blur for Reese. Too much to do, so little time to do it seemed to be the sum of his entire existence these days.
Along with taking Tesha to two training sessions and having Magnus stop in for another, Reese had spent a vast majority of his weekend, as well as all day yesterday, working with Baz and JJ to outline a process for those coming on board. Since they seemed to have conflicting personalities in their ranks, Reese was bound and determined to align things in a manner that reduced the friction. Sure, he’d made an impromptu change already, but who was to say that would work out in the long run?
So he’d opted to work on plan B. While he knew Brantley would follow their lead, proceed however they chose, Reese wanted to ensure their plan had merit. The tasks they assigned the new members needed to add, not detract; therefore, he’d wrangled JJ and Baz to help him.
Now that the entire team was in the office, with the exception of Deck, who wouldn’t be starting for a couple more weeks, Reese wanted to implement their plan.
“Mornin’,” JJ greeted, strolling into the barn just shy of eight.
“Mornin’,” he replied from where he stood in front of the expensive electronic board that took the place of their just-as-functional whiteboard, drinking his coffee and reviewing the list.
“Hidin’ out from Brantley this mornin’?” she asked, setting her laptop bag down on an empty desk and sauntering over.
“Just wanted to get a final look before they get here.”
“You have any concerns?”
“Not a one,” he admitted. “Which is probably my biggest concern.”
JJ chuckled. “Just keep in mind, they’ve got a vast skill set among them. I’m sure we’ll start knockin’ these cases out left and right.”
Reese wasn’t sure that was the case, although he wished it were true. The one thing he knew about cold cases: they were cold for a reason. He didn’t question the skills of the original detectives who’d chased every lead they could only to come up empty. All the cases he’d reviewed had been thoroughly worked and regretfully set aside because there were no more leads to pursue. So unless they were dealing with a serial killer disguising himself as a detective in order to stall the investigations—as had been the case in Dallas—they would be putting in the work to move these along.
Movement on the screen above him caught his eye. Reese looked up to see Trey, Evan, and Charlie walking in together. As they neared the barn, he saw Brantley step out of the house, following them.
He had to force himself not to think about how he and Brantley had spent what little spare time they’d had over the past few days. It had involved very little clothing and a hell of a lot of distraction. Reese honestly hadn’t thought much of it until last night, when he’d gone into Brantley’s office to grab something off the printer only to see that Brantley had been doing a search on his computer. A search that involved the Adorites. The article had mentioned the Southern Boy Mafia, but most notably, it had mentioned Madison, Reese’s former girlfriend.
And here he’d thought they had moved past that. He probably should’ve known better. Brantley could be like a dog with a bone at times.
Then again, Reese hadn’t exactly been honest with Brantley these past few months. He’d engaged in a few text exchanges with Madison ever since she reached out to him back in March. Despite the fact they were innocent in nature, Reese knew better than to share that with Brantley. The last thing he wanted was to create a problem where there wasn’t one.
But seeing the article had explained Brantley’s odd behavior these past few months. He’d seemed oddly introspective, claiming this was their new normal and going out of his way to convince Reese, or maybe just himself, that he was content with it. Not to mention Brantley’s insane ability to use sex as a distraction. The man was good like that, always coming up with something to do that didn’t involve much talking.
Needless to say, it had bothered him, but Reese had proved he wasn’t much better. Rather than address the issue, he’d pretended he hadn’t discovered Brantley’s research.
A round of good mornings sounded from the group entering the barn, allowing Reese to refocus his attention on the team.
“I’m happy to say, we are fully staffed as of this mornin’,” JJ announced. “Well, with the exception of Deck, of course.”
Reese’s attention shifted to Brantley, saw the way his eyes instantly searched the room until they found him. It relaxed some of the tension that had been building since he saw that article. In fact, that simple move—the seeking him out—was what made Reese feel connected to the man. Had since that first day their eyes met when he’d been overwhelmed by a sensation that had been both foreign and unexpected.
“I was just tellin’ everybody that we’ll have a full house today,” JJ told Brantley.
“Good.”
“Why good?” Reese asked, hearing something foreboding in his tone.
“Because we’ve got a case.”
All conversation died instantly, all eyes shifting to Brantley.
“I don’t have much yet,” Brantley said, nodding toward the conference room.
Reese followed the others into the space JJ had converted into a room big enough they would all fit, along with a conference table and some fancy computer system.
Brantley passed his phone to Reese. “I need you to set up the call so we can get audio and video in here.”
“Who’re we callin’?” Reese asked, glancing at the phone screen.