Hide & Seek - Nicole Edwards Page 0,15

care of that damn dog.”

And it appeared no one else could be bothered with it, either, Reese thought. Based on the pile of dishes in the sink, they hadn’t cleaned in … a while.

Brantley stepped over to the back window, his boots making a sucking sound on the peeling linoleum, as though he was sticking to it. He used a finger to pull down one of the slats, peered out. When he turned back, Reese ensured he saw the fury that had ignited. Based on the glare he got in return, he suspected the man was as irate as he was at the audacity of these people.

“Mrs. Wright,” Brantley demanded. “Put the game down.”

Her head snapped up, dull brown eyes narrowing on his face. “Who the fuck do you think you are?”

“My name’s Brantley Walker,” he bit back, gesturing to the badge clipped to his belt before setting his hand on the weapon holstered right beside it. “And I’m here to find your son.”

Mrs. Wright popped another cigarette between her lips, spoke around it. “We didn’t ask you to come here. We don’t need your damn help.” She paused to light the thing. “Tanner’ll come back when he’s good and damn ready.”

Reese saw Brantley’s shoulders tense, but before the man could launch into a tirade, Reese put a firm hand on his shoulder. They were getting nowhere here. Anything they said or did would only make matters worse.

“Were you aware your son isn’t in school today?” Reese inquired.

“He goes when he wants to.”

That was the opposite of what the school had told Detective Gallegos.

She stabbed the button on the screen. “Ain’t my damn place to make sure he does what he’s supposed to do.”

Reese cleared his throat. Actually, that was exactly her job.

She coughed, a horrible hacking sound. “Boy’s sixteen damn years old. He’s old enough to take care of himself.”

From the looks of it, that was what Tanner had been doing for some time.

“Mrs. Wright, we’d like to take a look at Tanner’s bedroom. Then we’ll be outta your hair,” Reese informed her.

“Do whatever you gotta do,” she said, puffing on her cigarette and exhaling a stream of smoke. “If you don’t mind, we’ve got things to do.”

Brantley snorted, but Reese helped him along, urging him back the way they’d come.

“Room’s that way.” Mr. Wright motioned without looking away from the television as they started for the hallway.

To get to Tanner’s room, they had to step over a pile of clothes on the floor, which were stacked along a wall that had mold slowly growing in an outward arc. He could only imagine what the carpet looked like beneath.

When they reached the door, they steeled themselves before stepping inside.

“Holy shit. It’s possible we’re in a different house,” Brantley said as they walked into Tanner’s bedroom.

The room was the complete opposite of the rest of the house. There were no dirty dishes or clothes piled anywhere, the bed was made, dresser and nightstand dusted. There was a laptop computer sitting on a small desk in the corner, so Reese headed that way first.

Opening the computer, he tapped a button to bring it to life, found it was password protected.

“We need to get JJ on this,” he said, pulling out his phone.

“How the hell does this kid stand it here?” Brantley muttered.

“Hey, JJ,” Reese greeted when she answered.

“Any news yet?”

Reese refrained from telling her yes, they’d met the worst parents in existence. “Not yet, but I’ve got the kid’s laptop here. It’s locked, but I wanted to see if you could get into it from there.”

“Probably. Give me a sec. Lemme see if I can get the Wi-Fi from your phone.”

“I’m not on their Wi-Fi,” he informed her.

She laughed. “I know that, silly. Doesn’t mean I can’t see what it is.”

While she worked away, Reese pulled out the drawers in the desk. Even they were organized and neat. Pens, pencils, a couple of spiral notebooks. On the floor, there was a backpack, which held a textbook and a three-ring binder.

“Hey, Reese?”

He turned his attention back to the call. “Hmm?”

“Does Brantley have his keys with him?”

“Brantley. Keys.”

Brantley frowned, pulled his keys out of his pocket.

“Yeah, he has them.”

“On there, you’ll find a USB drive. Plug it into the computer.”

Reese took the keys from Brantley, found the small drive that was hooked to the key ring.

“What the hell is that?” Brantley asked when Reese plugged it in.

“Tell him it’s just one of my many awesome toys,” JJ told him.

Reese relayed the information, then