“He does,” she agreed, nodding. “But it’s not the same.”
“Why’s that?”
JJ’s gaze dropped to her plate, and she shrugged.
Reese knew better than to interrogate her about her on-again-off-again relationship with Sebastian Buchanan. At the moment, things between her and Baz were tense, and he knew it had everything to do with Molly Ryan, the woman who was having Baz’s baby. With only six weeks until the due date, Reese had noticed JJ was beginning to pull away from Baz, if not physically, then at least emotionally.
Add to that the trauma JJ had endured back at the first of the year when her ex-boyfriend had attacked her in her own home. Reese knew she was still dealing with post-traumatic stress. Not that she’d said as much, but Reese had come to understand her in the short time they’d been friends. Plus he knew firsthand what the signs were. After all, he suffered from PTSD himself.
“What do I get out of the deal?” he asked.
JJ looked up, wagged her eyebrows playfully. “I dunno. What’d’ya want?”
“Sex,” Brantley answered for him. “He wants sex. From me,” he tacked on when she wagged her eyebrows again.
Reese laughed. It seemed like forever since he’d seen JJ relax enough to joke around. The past six months had been hell on the task force, everyone attempting to find their new normal. Although rationally they knew they weren’t responsible, they each carried the guilt of Kylie Walker’s death on their conscience. They’d been after Juliet Prince, the woman who had kidnapped Kate Walker, for months, and because they hadn’t found her, the woman had circled back around and taken them by surprise. Because they hadn’t done their job and located her before then, she’d killed someone close to them, and their lives would never be the same.
But with the help of some very resourceful, not to mention ruthless people, Juliet Prince had gotten exactly what she deserved, and she was no longer a threat to anyone. The bullet to her brain had ensured that.
Since then, the members of the task force had focused their efforts elsewhere, trying to pick up the pieces and move forward. Between their monthly trips to Dallas for training and the cold cases they had agreed to keep when the governor disbanded them, they were working hard but had little to show for it.
“At the very least,” JJ noted, “I think I should be invited to breakfast every Friday.”
“I’m sure that can be arranged,” Reese told her.
“If you eat, you take your turn cleanin’,” Brantley added.
JJ’s lips pursed as though she was considering it. A second later, she was shaking her head. “Maybe the diner’s a good place to go on Fridays.”
Reese laughed, watching the interaction between the two friends while he finished off his breakfast of eggs and bacon. He’d caved to Brantley’s demands after that wicked bout in the shower despite the fact he’d feel sluggish for most of the morning thanks to the heaviness of his choices. But he couldn’t deny the smile he’d been gifted with when he agreed to cook Brantley’s favorites was worth it.
“Why are you here so early?” Brantley asked JJ.
“Baz had to run an errand. I asked him to drop me off first.”
That familiar crease formed between Brantley’s eyebrows. “What errand?”
“Don’t know,” she muttered, picking up her coffee. “Didn’t ask.”
Which meant it had to do with Molly.
Hoping to avoid a meltdown, Reese changed the subject. “How’re we doin’ on the new hire positions? You get the ball rollin’?”
Brantley looked between them. “What ball?”
JJ sighed and peered over at Reese. “Does he really think we just snap our fingers and everything happens? Or is this just an act?”
Reese smirked, pushing to his feet and carrying his empty plate around to the sink. “I don’t think it’s an act.”
“The paperwork for the new hires,” JJ explained to Brantley, her tone laced with amused frustration. “You know, all that pesky stuff that goes on behind the scenes.”
“We haven’t nailed down the logistics,” Brantley noted.
“Maybe not officially. But I know you, B. I know exactly who you’re gonna hire.”
“Do you?”
Reese was intrigued, watching the interactions as he washed the dishes. They’d started with a rather extensive list of potential candidates and had managed to narrow it down, but not without significant effort. Everyone had their own opinions, and it wasn’t always easy to incorporate them all. Eventually, they’d had to determine the most qualified and focus on those. Their final list included a variety of computer specialists to a tenured homicide detective.
“I do,” JJ confirmed. “I can even tell you who you’ll pair together.”
“I’ll bite.” Brantley leaned a hip against the counter, sipped his coffee. “Who?”
“You’ll put Trey with Evan Vaughn because Evan’s gonna be one of our strongest people, and Trey’s eager to continue learning. He’ll get the most from working side by side with a former homicide detective.”
Reese glanced over his shoulder, saw Brantley cock an eyebrow, his lips twitching as though he was impressed.
JJ continued with, “They’ll have Darius Frost as their analyst.”
Reese shut off the water, snagged the dish towel to dry his hands. “Why Darius?”
“Because he’s the best at what he does.” She smiled. “Well, besides me, of course.”
“And Luca?” Reese mentioned.
“Yes, and besides Luca.” She huffed as though put out. “Trey and Evan’ll need someone to keep up with them, so Darius is the best choice.”
Brantley nodded slowly. “Okay. Keep going.”
“You’ll have Slade Elliott work with Allison Bogart. She’s smart, she’s tough, and she can handle a flirt like Slade.” She smiled brightly. “And that’s the same reason they’ll have Rebecca Richter working with them. Slade could use a couple of ladies to keep him in line.”
Reese laughed. Looked like she had Slade pegged already.
“That leaves…?” Brantley asked, clearly to move her along.
“Charlie to pair with Decker Bromwell. They’ll work with Jay Hernandez.”
Now standing beside Brantley, Reese waited for her to explain her reasons there.
“I think Jay’s gonna need to focus, and you’ve got Charlie, who’s used to being the lead partner. She’ll be able to work alongside Deck in the field and keep Jay busy digging into the details.”
Brantley glanced over at him, smiled. “She nailed them all pretty accurately, huh?”
Reese nodded, grinning at JJ. “Yeah. She’s good.”
He wouldn’t bother to tell Brantley it was basically a recap of the conversation Reese had with her last night before they quit for the day. He didn’t mind letting her have the credit for it.
Chapter Two
Trey Walker arrived at HQ before anyone else for the first time since he started working for the task force last October.
And okay, fine. He wasn’t the first because he’d seen Brantley, Reese, and JJ having breakfast inside the house when he’d walked past on his way to the barn. He could’ve stopped, chatted for a couple of minutes, had some coffee, been … sociable. Instead, he decided it was better for him to look busy. He’d seen the sideways glances Brantley’d given him every day this week when he had strolled in after everyone else. Sure, his brother would say he didn’t care the hours they kept as long as they got the job done, but that didn’t mean Brantley wasn’t silently passing judgment.