Deadly Coincidence (Brantley Walker Off the Books #4) - Nicole Edwards Page 0,103

the task force in his pocket.”

Probably didn’t matter that they’d made the decision to make that their first case. They hadn’t consulted with the governor when they had.

Reese studied Brantley’s face as a few dots connected. “That’s why you were talkin’ to Z and RT.”

Brantley exhaled and Reese could see his concern. Likely worried Reese would be angry that he’d been left out of the loop. And fine, maybe he was a little frustrated that Brantley hadn’t bothered to share this with him. After all, Brantley was the one who continued to claim Reese was his equal, not just another member of the team.

“That’s the part that isn’t past tense,” Brantley noted.

They paused while the waitress delivered their coffee, bringing a small metal canister of cream and a glass bowl with sugar and sugar substitute to go with it.

“Thanks,” Brantley told her before turning his attention back to Reese. “I’ve given it a lot of thought, and this last case … with Dante … it solidifies my decision. It’s best we do separate ourselves from the governor, take the team private. And yes, we’re gonna keep the task force together.”

Reese nodded, understanding. “Work for hire.”

“Yes.” Brantley exhaled again. “For the most part. But I wanted to design it so we can take pro bono cases when necessary. The most critical ones.”

“Missing kids,” Reese acknowledged.

Brantley nodded.

There was no denying the fact that Reese found he loved this man more because of little things like that.

“I didn’t know how to tell you. I was hopin’ to come up with a foolproof plan before I had to.”

“It’s your task force, I’m just—”

“Don’t even,” Brantley snapped. “You are not just anything. This task force came about because of both of us. Not just me.”

Maybe, but that didn’t mean Reese had to be in a position of power. Truth was, he didn’t want to deal with all the politics and bullshit. He wanted to find missing people. He wanted to solve cases. And he wanted to partner with Brantley to do it, but he didn’t care about all the added responsibilities.

“Obviously you’ve come up with somethin’,” Reese said, redirecting to avoid an argument. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t’ve hired Holly and offered Luca a job.”

He watched as Brantley sipped his coffee, clearly preparing his response.

“Just spit it out,” he said softly. “Whatever you’ve decided to do, I’m on board.”

Brantley’s blue-gray eyes were wary when he looked at Reese. “We’ve got a meetin’ with Ryan Trexler and Hunter Kogan in the mornin’.”

“RT and Hunter? As in the heads of Sniper 1 Security?”

“Yes.”

“In Dallas?”

“They’re comin’ to us this time.”

Reese let the news tumble around in his gray matter.

“As much as I want to believe we could do this on our own,” Brantley explained, “I think we’d have more success if we were absorbed by a company with a reputation that can sustain us.”

“You’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“I want what’s best for everyone involved. You, me, the team. And I truly believe this is our calling. We’re good at what we do.”

Reese couldn’t argue with that. They had proven they were a valuable asset as a team.

But there was one thing he did have a problem with. “I can’t see us relocatin’ to Dallas.”

Brantley quickly shook his head. “No. Definitely not. That’s why they’re comin’ here. RT mentioned lookin’ at property in Austin and Houston. I told him to hold off on makin’ a purchase until we talked.”

“They’re on board with this?”

“They’re probably more excited about it than we are.”

Well, that was reassuring.

Chapter Twenty-Four

JJ stood in her front yard, staring at the charred mess of what used to be her house.

It was a mess. A big, stinky pile of ashes and bricks and a few partially constructed walls. It was even worse than what Brantley had said. Evidently, the water from those fire hoses had demolished anything that might’ve remained.

The truth was, JJ wasn’t as torn up about losing the house or the contents as she’d thought she would be. Then again, she’d long ago stopped attaching sentimental value to objects. The house was a house. It provided shelter. The furniture gave her a place to sit or lay her head. The knickknacks had given it some flair, but there wasn’t anything she would shed a tear for. Her books were about the only things she would miss, but thankfully, those could be replaced for the most part.

On the other hand, and what she hadn’t told a single soul, JJ was almost grateful this had happened. While the