Brantley gave a nod. “When will they be starting?”
“Rebecca, who prefers to be called Becs, will start on Monday. Jay and Darius will both be starting the following Monday, on the thirteenth, right before the next training session in Dallas on the seventeenth.”
“Perfect.” Brantley looked at Luca. “And the investigators? Who’d we decide on?”
Luca lifted a finger to tap one of the keys on his laptop. “Based on our conversation last night, it looks like we’ve decided on Evan Vaughn, Allison Bogart, and Slade Elliott.”
Luca’s laid-back, couldn’t-care-less demeanor was a facade, Brantley knew. While he reclined in his chair, acting as though he wasn’t paying attention, Luca could likely tell you every little detail of what had happened in the past few minutes.
“Trey, give us a high level on Evan?”
Without missing a beat, Trey chimed in. “He lives just a few miles down the road in Round Rock. Has an eight-year-old daughter who lives with him, as does his grandmother. He moved here from Florida six years ago, right after his wife passed. Prior to that, he spent a decade in Miami as a detective. Currently works for Round Rock PD as a homicide detective.”
Of all the potential new hires, Brantley saw Evan being the most promising.
“Elana, what’ve you got on Allison?”
“She’s a former SVU detective for the Dallas Police Department who’s spent the past several years working an undercover assignment posing as a teenager to lure internet predators.”
“A role she’s suited for since she looks closer to fifteen than thirty,” Luca offered.
JJ chuckled. “Which explains why she was on that undercover op. According to what little she told me, they used her in the field quite a bit.”
Brantley knew that Allison Bogart was rather impressive on paper, but he had some concerns about her demeanor, ones he’d only shared with Reese. Despite those concerns, they’d decided she would be a strong addition, and he only hoped she proved them right.
“And last but not least is Slade Elliott,” Trey said, offering up the final investigator they were looking to hire. “He’s a bounty hunter.”
“But you knew that about Slade,” JJ added, “since he’s your cousin.”
“By marriage only,” Brantley assured them. “He’s one of my aunt Lorrie’s nephews.”
“Don’t forget Decker Bromwell,” Holly said. “He’ll be the fourth investigator added.”
“He will,” Brantley agreed, referring to the man who’d helped them out in Port Isabel when they went in search of Juliet Prince back in March. “He’ll officially start working with us at the beginning of October. He’s finishin’ up his current assignment with Sniper 1.” He looked around at his current team. “Anyone have any questions or concerns about these people?”
Trey shook his head and said, “I’m good. I’d just like to know who I’ll be paired with.”
Brantley glanced at Reese, who had been silent throughout the entire meeting. “Care to share who you decided on last night?”
Reese’s grin said he knew Brantley was calling JJ out from earlier.
Reese looked at Trey. “You’ll be paired with Evan Vaughn and you’ll utilize Darius Frost as your analyst.”
Trey smiled as though he’d been hoping for that. “Works for me.”
Reese glanced at Charlie. “You’ll be with Decker Bromwell. Jay Hernandez will be your analyst.”
“Sounds good.”
“We’ll come up with something in the interim,” Brantley added. “Until Deck comes on board.”
Charlie nodded.
“That leaves Slade Elliott and Allison Bogart,” Luca said. “They’ll be paired together?”
“They will, yes,” Brantley confirmed. “With Becs as their analyst. Reese and I will utilize Holly, with Luca and JJ overseeing and assisting in other areas as needed. Any questions?”
“What about Baz?” JJ asked, her gaze concerned as she looked at Brantley.
“For the time being, he’ll be solo or working with one of the teams. He’s going to spearhead the social media scam for a while, so he’ll have plenty to do.”
Brantley could tell that hadn’t eased her concerns, but for the moment, he couldn’t relay more. With a baby on the way, Baz had requested to be held back. At least until he knew how things would work.
“Anyone else?” Brantley asked.
No one spoke up this time.
“Good. I’ll let RT know I’m signin’ off on the four new investigators, including Deck.”
Brantley noticed JJ peering behind him, her expression going from pleasant to neutral in less than a second, and then she was making a beeline for the kitchen. Before he could glance at the monitor to see what had caught her attention, he heard the beep of the electronic keypad outside the door. A second later, Baz was walking in.
His expression was priceless when he glanced at all the faces staring at him, then down to his watch with a frown.
“I know I’m late,” Baz muttered.
“That you are.” Brantley gave a chin nod in greeting. “If you’re not early, you’re late.”
Reese snorted. “That’s not a rule.”
“In the Teams it is,” Brantley countered.
Baz strolled over to his desk. “What did I miss?”
“We were just finalizin’ the new hires.” Brantley took a sip of his coffee. “Any concerns?”
Baz looked around again, then his gaze settled on Brantley. “Depends. Anything different from what we discussed last night?”
“Nope.”
“Then I’m good. We puttin’ them to work today?” Baz asked.
“Depends,” Reese remarked, echoing Baz as he turned to Luca. “Do we have cases lined up?”
“I’ve got several, yes,” Luca confirmed. “I figured Baz can finalize them this mornin’ so you can give ’em your approval.”
Brantley shook his head. “Don’t need my approval. I trust y’all to handle it.” He pushed to his feet. “With that said, Reese and I have a conference call with the Sniper 1 team. Holler if you need anything.”
He didn’t wait for anyone to call him back, eager to get out of the building for a little while. They’d spent the majority of the week inside, discussing their potential candidates, doing interviews. Give him a mission of any kind and Brantley was all over it. Force him to do interviews and … well, he’d rather shoot his own foot with his .45.
But he was fairly certain there was one thing worse than interviewing potential employees and that was conference calls.
*
Reese was thankful the conference call scheduled for this morning had only lasted half an hour. It had been slated for a full hour, but they’d been able to tie everything up quickly, ending the call with time to spare. Always a good thing considering Brantley’s overall view of conference calls in general. Reese had tried to assure him they would lessen in frequency over time—at least he hoped—so they just had to endure until RT was comfortable they had everything they needed.
Reese knew the quick call contributed to Brantley’s good mood. So far, their morning had gone better than expected, and because Brantley was smiling more, Reese knew there was one thing that would ensure it stuck around for a bit.