Deadly Coincidence (Brantley Walker Off the Books #4) - Nicole Edwards Page 0,101
man sitting across from him, he pondered just how to reveal the news that they were currently in limbo when it came to employment.
Brantley had been playing it out in his head for a while now. Days, in fact. And it wasn’t so much the revelation that bothered him. More so the questions he would be asked, such as What’s next? For which he wasn’t exactly clear on the answer.
He and Reese had taken a break to grab some dinner, opting for the diner because it allowed them to get out of the house. It was probably the perfect place to give bad news since it was a controlled environment, restricting an overreaction.
Hopefully.
Yeah, he should probably suck it up and tell Reese now.
“You don’t think you jumped the gun offerin’ Luca a job?” Reese asked, pulling Brantley from his reflective thoughts.
He took a sip of his sweet tea. “I figure it’ll take him a few weeks to get around to makin’ a decision. Luca’s not the kind to commit to anything quickly.”
“Probably the reason he’s still single and what? Goin’ on forty?”
Grateful for conversation that didn’t involve Juliet or Dante, Brantley smiled. “Word is, he’s got a thing for my cousin, Honor. They met at that auction Bianca did back in October.”
Reese grinned. “I remember that. Kaden and Keegan were up in arms about it. They were auctioned off to Kate.”
“That they were.” Brantley grinned, remembering the horrified look on their faces when they thought Gage was the one bidding on them. They’d been relieved when they learned they were serving at the whim of a six-year-old who wanted to go to McDonald’s for her “date.”
“Luca and Honor… It serious?”
Brantley let his gaze scan the room. “Who knows with him. Or her. Honor’s never been all that big on relationships, either.” Shifting topics, he looked at Reese again. “What do you think about hirin’ Holly to be JJ’s assistant?”
Reese’s dark eyebrows shot down into a V. “You really are tryin’ to piss her off, huh? You don’t think she can hire her own assistant?”
“I think she’s a procrastinator. Plus, she’s got enough on her plate, what with her house explodin’ and all.” Brantley broke eye contact, worried he’d be unable to hide his guilt. “I think we need to get things movin’. We already agreed we’d be on the hunt for warm bodies to fill all those vacancies on the task force by the first of the year. We’re there. I don’t have time to wait for JJ to get with the program.”
He could tell Reese was surprised by his response. And truthfully, he was, too. Perhaps it had to do with all the stress he was under. Most of it having to do with the fact the task force was on borrowed time. Which meant hiring anyone was something Brantley had to shoulder all on his own. And when one didn’t have a firm plan of action, that was a lot to deal with.
“I like her,” Reese said, watching him intently. “Holly. I think she’d be good at it. Plus, she’s probably used to her brother’s quirks, so she’s equipped to deal with JJ’s as well.”
Brantley took a drink of his tea, sitting back when the waitress delivered their food. “Good. Because I offered her the job this afternoon. She accepted.”
Reese exhaled roughly, shaking his head in disbelief. “Of course you did.”
No, it probably hadn’t been his place to make a decision like that without consulting Reese first, but he was serious when he said he needed to fill those vacancies. Even if the task force wasn’t exactly what it had once been.
Brantley understood the politics behind Governor Greenwood’s decision, something he’d endured during his time in the military. It was all one big political chess game, and while the governor had been quick to bring them on, he did get a lot of push back from a lot of people. Turned out, they didn’t make decisions in a vacuum, and when they did, they were held accountable.
The thing was, Brantley wasn’t willing to let the task force go, but at the same time, he wasn’t opposed to going off the books entirely. If they went into the private sector, they could focus on what they’d banded together to do in the first place: find missing people. From the moment the governor had said they would be loaned out to help with homicide investigations, Brantley had been having second thoughts.