Deadly Coincidence (Brantley Walker Off the Books #4) - Nicole Edwards Page 0,91
her computer to ping the phone, see if she could get a location. “If we’re right, this is the guy his bookie sent to collect his debt.”
“There’s a damn good chance,” Luca said, his voice echoing from the phone’s speaker.
“Anything I can do?” Baz offered.
“We’re good for now, but thanks.” She grinned wide when the ping delivered results. “Luca, I’ve got a location!”
“Seems too easy,” Luca said.
“Too easy?” JJ snorted. “Speak for yourself. I’m the one with the mild concussion and the scent of copper baked into my brain.”
“Touché.”
“And who says it’s always gotta be a twisty-turny mystery,” she told him. “This is Dante. He obviously didn’t think this one all the way through.”
“No, probably not.”
“Brantley still there with you?”
“He is,” Luca confirmed, then shouted for Brantley.
She heard Brantley’s familiar grumble as he moved closer to the phone.
JJ was quiet while Luca gave a quick rundown of what they’d done, what they’d found.
“We’ve gotta move on this now.” Brantley’s tone was no-nonsense once again. “We’re gonna head over. Charlie, you’ll go with us. We’ll call Trey on the way, let him know what’s goin’ on. JJ, you’re a rock star, as always.”
“Keep me in the loop,” she told him. “I wanna talk to Dante once you’ve got him.”
“Figured you would.”
When the call disconnected, she was left with nothing to do but look at Baz. She had no idea what to say to him, how to make this incredibly awkward situation any better. For either of them.
“I guess I’ll get to go home soon,” JJ told him, not meeting his gaze.
“Your house, JJ. It’s…”
Her heart instantly plummeted at the reminder that she’d lost everything she had. It was easy to pretend it was still there, still intact. But it wasn’t.
She had nothing to her name. No house, no car.
What was she going to do now?
Chapter Twenty-One
“This seems too easy. Either he really is stupid or we’re gonna royally fuck this up,” Reese told Brantley as they drove toward Taylor, a small town just northeast of Coyote Ridge.
Reese couldn’t remember the last time he’d been out this way. Probably back when he’d assisted Travis with a situation his cousins Wolfe and Lynx were involved in. Although that time he’d ventured a little farther to the even smaller town of Embers Ridge, which seemed to be another hub for those related to the Walkers.
Brantley’s eyes remained on the road. “I know you like a challenge, but I don’t think that’s what’s goin’ on here.”
Reese would have to take his word for it. In his experience, when things seemed too easy, there was usually a catch. It was difficult for him to believe they would close this case in a matter of a day.
“Do you know Dante?” Charlie asked, glancing sideways, her question directed at Reese.
He answered with a shake of his head, although neither Brantley nor Charlie could see him from the front seat. “Never officially met him. Only time I encountered him was the night he brought a woman to Moonshiners, back when he was datin’ JJ.”
He still remembered that night, but it had nothing to do with Dante or his infidelity. That night had been a low point in his relationship with Brantley. They’d been at an impasse—Brantley wanting something Reese wasn’t sure he could give him—and they’d taken a bit of a break. Enough of one that Reese came to terms with the fact he was in love with Brantley.
“What a douche,” Charlie murmured, staring at the side window.
“He absolutely is,” Brantley agreed. “Pretty much always has been.”
“Then how’d JJ end up with him?” Charlie inquired.
“Young and dumb, like the rest of us back in high school. He was popular with the ladies, the self-proclaimed bad boy. Buckin’ the rules, mouthin’ off to the teachers, spendin’ a good amount of time in detention.”
“I remember guys like that. A couple of girls, too,” Charlie said wistfully.
“Early on, he set his sights on JJ, and when she played hard to get for a little while, I’m pretty sure he fell in love. Unfortunately, teenage love lasts about as long as the chase. They were together for years, on and off. Mostly off.”
Reese glanced at Brantley. “I’m surprised she’d date an entitled, pompous ass.”
“I’m not sure he’s always been quite as bad as he is now. But I think there’s reason to worry about him. If he’s gone to these lengths to get money, he’s in deep. While I don’t have a high opinion of him, I honestly didn’t think he’d do somethin’