Deadly Coincidence (Brantley Walker Off the Books #4) - Nicole Edwards Page 0,66
to jail, he’d been placating her. He knew nothing of the sort. And truthfully, they didn’t have time to prove she hadn’t had a hand in this. If he was a law enforcement officer stumbling on the scene, the first thing he’d do was arrest JJ. The second would be to search for the body, because with that much blood…
“You believe the finger’s Dante’s?” he asked Reese.
“No doubt about it. It’s their way of provin’ they’re serious.”
Yeah, he figured as much, but he was hoping there was another scenario that worked here. Unfortunately, the way it played, it looked as though Dante Greenwood had been kidnapped, and whoever took him was serious about whatever it was they wanted from him.
“So who took him and why?” he wondered aloud.
“I figure it could be a couple of things.”
Curious, Brantley turned his full attention to Reese.
“Could be he’s in deep with the mob, and they’re lookin’ to make a point.”
“The mob? Dante?” No, he just didn’t see it. “Or?”
“Or someone’s lookin’ to maneuver the governor to their liking.”
That was the angle Brantley was leaning toward. K and R didn’t have to have a financial motivation. Could be they were looking to get the governor to swing one way or the other on something. He figured the finger was the key here. They wanted someone to know they had Dante and that they weren’t opposed to hurting him to get what they wanted.
However, he still couldn’t see how JJ played in all of this. It wasn’t working out in his head just yet.
*
“I just don’t understand why stage the scene like this,” Reese told Brantley as they moved toward the kitchen. “What does it get them? Why toss the knife in the bed with JJ? Seems sloppy to me.”
“Sloppy or emotional,” Brantley stated. “Take your pick.”
Yeah, Reese could see either.
They were both quiet for a few minutes while they moved through the house, starting in the kitchen. Reese noted the coffee mug sitting on the Keurig. JJ’d said she was making coffee when someone hit her over the head. He walked over, peeked down inside the cup. Sure enough, it was full and the coffee was cold.
“She was in here,” he said to himself as he stood in front of the machine. “Dante’s in the living room where she left him. She’s standin’ here, waitin’ for the coffee, when someone comes up behind her.”
Reese peered over his shoulder. Behind him was the open doorway, which meant whoever hit her could’ve been anywhere in the house. The house was likely built sometime in the late fifties, early sixties, and like most from that era, it didn’t have an open floor plan. There were walls separating each room, blocking visibility from the front of the house to the back. If she wasn’t expecting them, they could’ve easily snuck up on her.
He glanced toward the back door.
“They couldn’t come in that way while she’s here,” he noted. “She would’ve seen them.”
Which meant they would’ve either had to be in the house already or they came in the front door while JJ was in here. And for that to happen, Dante would’ve had to let them in. Reese didn’t really see that one playing out. Probably had something to do with the severed finger.
Reese took a step back, stared down at the floor, imagined JJ crumpled on the tile after being knocked out cold. What had they hit her with? Something heavy? Something hard?
He glanced around the countertops. The only thing he noticed that seemed off was a single slot in the knife block was empty, meaning whoever it was likely did use the knife from JJ’s kitchen. Was that opportunity? Or part of the plan?
Turning his attention back to the floor, Reese saw a couple of scuff marks. He snapped a picture.
“They dragged her out of here,” he mumbled, imagining the scene as it played out, JJ being dragged, her shoes leaving the marks.
From the other room, he heard Trey’s voice. When Brantley responded to him, he kept his focus, figuring they could start gathering samples.
Clicking on his phone’s video camera, Reese backed out of the room as he let the scene play out in his head. JJ said she woke up in her bed, which meant whoever knocked her out would’ve had to take her there. Where was Dante during all of this? Had they knocked him out, too? If so, they would’ve had to do it quickly, otherwise JJ would’ve been alerted to their presence.