for the day.
Once they made it back, showers were taken and breakfast consumed before Brantley, Reese and Tesha ventured over to the barn. They found Trey and Baz standing over a dozen or so stacks of files, staring down at them as though they would perform tricks.
“Problem?” Reese asked as he headed over to join them.
Brantley started that way, but his phone buzzed, so he stopped to take the call.
“Governor?” Brantley greeted as he stared over at the whiteboard where JJ was adding something to a long list of what appeared to be names.
“I’ve got a case for you,” Governor Greenwood relayed, his voice calm with only a hint of worry weaved in. “In Dallas. Young woman went for a run this morning, didn’t return.”
“Sounds relatively straightforward. Why us? They overloaded?”
“No. But I want eyes on this. Fresh ones. This isn’t the first woman to go missing in the area and the cases continue to go unsolved. The mayor’s worried because the FBI hasn’t uncovered anything, either. I want you on this from the start.”
“Who’s handling it?” he inquired.
“DPD. The chief of detectives is expecting your call.”
Snagging a pen and paper from Trey’s desk, Brantley jotted down the phone number the governor provided, then disconnected the call.
He didn’t wait to answer the questions he knew the team had before placing the call, not surprised when the man answered on the first ring. The pleasantries were exchanged before Chief Max Denver launched right into his reasons for wanting Brantley and his team there.
“Walker, I appreciate your urgency with this matter. How long before you can get to White Rock Lake?”
“Depends,” he answered, propping himself on the edge of Trey’s desk. “How fast do you need us there?”
“If I had my way, you’d already be here.”
“Understood. How long’s the woman been missin’?”
“She went out for her daily run at six this morning. Her husband called it in a little after eight after he’d gone out looking for her.”
“He doesn’t believe she ventured off on her own?”
“No. Six kids at home, the youngest is four months. Full-time mom, bigwig dad, happy home.”
Did anyone ever describe it as anything other than? Brantley wondered.
“Any sign of foul play?”
“I’ll be honest with you, Walker,” Chief Denver stated. “Right now, we’ve got nothing. The more eyes we can get, the better.”
“Why’s that?”
The chief sighed heavily. “This is the fourth woman who’s gone missing from this area in the past year.”
“Any recovered?”
“No. Not dead or alive.”
Son of a bitch.
Brantley glanced at his team. “We’ll be up there as soon as we can. Let me secure travel, and I’ll let you know when you can expect us.”
“Good. We’ve already got a detective assigned to the case. John Collins. I’ll make sure he’s expecting you.”
The call disconnected and Brantley immediately turned his attention to JJ. “Call and get the jet ready for Dallas. We’ll need two vehicles when we get there.”
“On it, boss.”
“Reese, Trey, Baz, pack a bag.”
“Got one in the truck,” Baz announced.
Brantley grinned. “Good, then we won’t need to waste any time. JJ, would you mind keepin’ an eye on Tesha until we’re back?”
“Not at all.”
“Food’s in the house,” Reese informed her. “She’s got some meds, too. I’ll write it up for you.”
Just under two hours later, Brantley was getting behind the wheel of a black Escalade while Reese was keying information into the navigation system. In a similar SUV, Baz and Trey were behind them.
“Cadillac,” Reese said with approval. “Travis is gonna spoil you if he’s not careful.”
“I’m just waitin’ for him to hit us with a bill.” Gas wasn’t cheap. Not for the jet or the cars.
“Detective Collins gonna meet us at the crime scene?” Reese asked.
“No. He said he’s bogged down with paperwork, so I told him we’d come to him at his office.”
“Out of curiosity, why’re we bein’ pulled into this one? Have they even had time to look for her?”
“This one fits into a pattern they’ve seen recently. The governor and mayor are worried.”
“More than one?”
“At least four. Although Collins seems to think there’s no way they can be related.”
“Shit.”
“My sentiments exactly.”
“Sounds like it might not be a missing persons case,” Reese noted.
Brantley agreed. Since no bodies had been found and there were four missing, it was difficult not to think serial killer. Kidnappings generally had reasons, most of them sexual assaults or ransom. If they were still being categorized as missing and nothing more, there was certainly a problem.
“If it isn’t, we’ll adapt. We go where the governor tells us to go,”