Alibi (Brantley Walker Off the Books #5) - Nicole Edwards Page 0,7

or heard a peep from Juliet Prince, the woman responsible, in the time since. While he had his suspicions she was behind the text he received, leading him to JJ’s house prior to it blowing up, no one had clued him in one way or the other. He knew his cousin Brantley was working to locate Juliet, and he also knew Brantley was keeping the details close to the vest.

Despite his internal alarm bells, Travis was heeding everyone’s advice, backing off the search and doing his best not to look over his shoulder at every turn.

Gage nodded his head toward Kylie, a silent request for Travis to chime in.

“Yeah,” Travis agreed, hiding his reluctance. “We’ve got this. You have fun.”

It was her appreciative smile that made him feel both worse and better about encouraging her.

Chapter Three

By the time afternoon rolled around, Brantley was happy for a change of pace. Although he’d claimed to have errands to run, JJ had seen right through him. While she had allowed him to leave the barn, she’d commandeered Reese, insisting his help was necessary. Since Brantley hadn’t been in the mood to argue and Reese seemed content to stay, he’d left them to it.

Now, as he drove toward downtown Coyote Ridge and the Fantasy Festival that was underway, he found himself smiling.

“I’m still tryin’ to wrap my head around you wantin’ to go to this thing,” he told Reese.

“Don’t pretend you’re not excited.”

“Excuse me?” Brantley frowned, cutting a quick look at Reese. “Is there somethin’ to this event that I don’t know about? To hear my mother tell it, they’ve got games and shit for the kids. What exactly is in it for me?”

Now Reese looked confused. “Your mother told me you’ve been lookin’ forward to this.”

“She what?” He barked a laugh. “She told you that?”

“Yeah. When she called last night.”

Well, that explained how they were both willingly going to this shindig that, yes, was an event for kids when they could’ve easily gone to the gun range to get some downtime. Looked like Reese had been introduced to Iris Caine Walker’s manipulative streak.

“Well, the good news is, they’ve got a carnival,” Brantley said, thinking positively.

“Which means what? You’re gonna ride the Ferris wheel?”

“No, I was thinkin’ more along the lines of the shootin’ gallery.”

“You wanna win a teddy bear for knockin’ down all the tin cans with a BB gun?”

Brantley grinned. “I wanna win you one, and I don’t care if it shoots Nerf darts. I’m down.”

Reese snorted.

There was no denying this wouldn’t have been either of their first choice for places to go on a Saturday. Didn’t matter that most of the town would be in attendance and the majority of that would be Walkers. His mother had even informed him that his cousins Lynx and Wolfe—his mother’s brother’s sons—would be there as well. It’d been a while since those two had come around. Probably had something to do with the fact they had all settled down into marital bliss.

While Brantley actually enjoyed spending time with his family, it still wasn’t enough of a draw to get him excited, yet here he was because spending the day with Reese, regardless of what they were doing, was the only thing that mattered to him.

And truthfully, they could use some fun. A little time to forget all the shit they’d been dealing with, the cases they’d closed, the ones they hadn’t, and the biggest drain on them all: the search for Juliet Prince.

Yep, a few hours to clear the head would be good right about now.

As Brantley neared the park, he wasn’t surprised to see that Main Street parking was full. Every angled spot from one end to the other was taken. Even the Double R Bed-and-Breakfast was packed with cars, likely offering up the space for those who needed it.

Brantley avoided the busiest areas and got lucky and found an empty space at the elementary school.

“It’s not too bad out here for January,” he said as they headed to the park on foot, Tesha leashed and leading the way.

The weather probably couldn’t have been any better if it had been planned. A lot of sun, minimal breeze, and the temps hovering in the mid- to upper-fifties. Nothing more than a long-sleeve shirt to make it comfortable.

Brantley did love winter in Texas.

As they got closer, the sounds grew louder, children laughing, machines running, bells jangling, people chatting.

The area had been converted to a fantasy wonderland, complete with hot chocolate stand, bounce houses, and a