Hide & Seek - Nicole Edwards Page 0,11
was a sore spot for Reese. It pissed him off to no end that Juliet Prince was still out there.
“I know JJ’s still lookin’ into the case.”
“Yeah. We’re still hopin’ to track her down.”
“Daunting task.”
“We’ll find her.”
“Maybe if Brantley and JJ can convince the governor to expand the team, we can dedicate someone to it full-time.”
Reese knew that expanding the team was the right thing to do. What few cases they’d worked on, it took tremendous resources.
“I think that’s his plan.”
“Well, let me know how I can help. Not sure what I can contribute just yet, but I get the feelin’ I’ll find my place soon enough.”
They all would, Reese knew. It would take some time, but this was a good start.
Once they returned, Reese spent the better part of the afternoon looking into what JJ had on Juliet Prince. He figured since he was waiting for Brantley to give him word on the governor’s decision, it was a good way to spend his time.
He was surprised to see how much information she’d collected on the woman. Not to mention, the things she was tracking. JJ kept detailed notes in an online document, outlining the searches she had set up, including one on Juliet’s ex-husband and the daughter they had together. There were very few leads she’d traced since they’d returned Kate to her parents, but it was maintained daily.
He was reading her latest entry when his phone buzzed on his wrist.
“They’re back,” Baz said as they both turned to the television mounted on the wall, which reflected a view from the cameras overlooking the driveway.
Reese hoped it was good news. And if it wasn’t, he hoped they could come up with an alternative that would suit Brantley. He’d been a bit surprised by Brantley’s reaction that morning, but when he thought back on it, he understood it. Brantley wanted to save the world. His reaction spoke to the type of guy he was, and if he could accomplish his goal in a day versus a year, he was going to take that route, no matter how impossible it might seem.
They both turned toward the door as it opened.
JJ’s beaming grin was their answer.
“I take it we’ve got work to do?” Baz asked.
“We do. Lots.”
Reese met Brantley’s gaze as he removed his sunglasses. The smirk he received had his blood humming under his skin.
Yeah, this was the Brantley he’d come to love.
Chapter Four
Thursday rolled around and the team was in the process of sorting through interviews on a case from one of their cold files when Brantley got a call from a detective with the Houston Police Department. Evidently, a memo had gone out from the governor’s office to all law enforcement agencies, encouraging the use of the OTB Task Force.
It seemed that by expanding, they were also increasing their workload.
Not that it made any difference to Brantley how someone had gotten his number. A case was a case, regardless of how they’d come by it.
“Wait. You said social media?” Brantley asked the detective who was rambling on the other end of the line. “Hold up a sec. Let me put you on speaker.”
While he hit the button on the phone, Brantley walked over to JJ’s desk and set it down.
“All right, Detective Gallegos. I’ve got the rest of my team here. I’d like them to hear this, too.”
“No problem. I’m not sure if you’ve heard about it elsewhere, but there’s a scam taking place on social media. In groups, specifically.”
Brantley recalled the governor mentioning something along the lines of social media, but he’d yet to get any additional details as to what it pertained to. Since Brantley didn’t have any social media accounts, nor did he have any desire to, it wasn’t something he was familiar with. However, he had to wonder if this was related to that.
“What are groups?” Brantley asked, not caring that JJ looked at him like he’d been living under a rock.
“A lot of communities and schools have these online groups where neighbors, parents, teachers, whatnot can congregate in cyberspace, get to know one another, help out when necessary,” the detective explained. “There’s rarely any security to monitor who joins, and if there is, it’s left to a person to make a judgment call. Unfortunately, people tend to trust their neighbors to be who they claim to be. And that’s where we’ve started seeing the issue across the nation. These scammers are inserting themselves into the groups, pretending to be members of the community. They’re