Hide & Seek - Nicole Edwards Page 0,38
take, as well. All of us. Those are comin’. There is no dress code, but you do have to wear clothes.”
That earned him a smile.
“The need to expand this team was a sudden one,” Brantley admitted. “And the first person I wanted to bring on board was you, Trey.”
“Insurance and benefits?”
“Through the state, yes.”
Trey’s eyebrows lifted as though he was impressed.
“I’d like you to meet with Reese so you can get an idea of what his vision for the team is as well. It’s the real deal,” Brantley assured him. “And it’s time we hit the ground runnin’. What do you say?”
His brother’s eyes leveled on his face. “I need to think about it.”
“No, you don’t. Either you’re in or you’re not,” Brantley countered because he knew Trey. Given too much time to think on it, he would take the safe route. “It’s that simple. You want it or you don’t. I know you. If you dwell on it for too long, you’ll only get pissed at yourself or angry about your past and you’ll use that as an excuse. I want you to join my team. Tell me you will, Trey.”
His brother’s jaw clenched, his eyes glittering. Brantley knew it was because he’d hit home with Trey.
“Fine,” Trey snapped, then exhaled heavily, his tone softening. “Fine. I’ll do it.”
The relief that flooded him was surprising in its intensity. Brantley didn’t know why it was so important to him that Trey come on board, but it was. Something told him it was necessary.
***
“I think it’s safe to say we might have to fence the yard,” Reese muttered when he continued to call Tesha, who had wandered around to the front of the house.
Thinking about a fence—which he honestly hoped wasn’t necessary—only reminded him of the other projects they’d discussed. A conference room, deck, new offices, furniture.
Reese sighed.
Perhaps now was not the time to think about remodeling anything. He wasn’t sure where they were going to get the money for repairs, let alone updates.
“There you are,” he greeted Tesha when she reappeared.
Seeing him, the dog trotted over, tail wagging. It had only been a few days, but Reese was sure Tesha was going to fit in just fine. She was already relaxing, eating better, sleeping better, and they’d started with a few basic training steps. Reese had even caught her stealing one of Brantley’s socks. He took that mischief as a good sign.
As well as something to keep an eye on.
“Good girl. Whaddya say we hang out in the barn for a while?”
As he walked toward the office, Tesha now in tow, Reese’s cell phone rang. He dug it out of his pocket, saw it was Brantley, and tapped the screen.
“Hey, how’d it go?”
“Trey’s on board. I told him to head over there, get with you. Interview him like we discussed. I wanna know where he’ll fit in the best. For now, I want him as a team leader, but it might require a little ramping up to get there. Then I figured you could introduce him to Baz, show him around, tell him our ideas for expansion.”
“When can he start?”
“He said immediately. Evidently, one of the other guards where he works wants to come on full-time, but they didn’t have a position for him. Now they will.”
“Perfect. Where’re you headed now?”
“To talk to Travis. See what he has.”
That trickle of unease slid down Reese’s spine the same way it had when Brantley first mentioned Travis’s frequent phone calls and his roundabout threat regarding JJ. He knew the man was like a dog with a bone when it came to resolving issues. He wouldn’t stop until it was gone or buried. In this case, he hoped to hell it was putting the woman behind bars. Not in the ground.
“Keep me in the loop,” he told Brantley.
“Will do.”
Reese was opening the door when the call ended.
“I was wonderin’ if maybe you’d have time to interview someone for me,” Baz stated as soon as he stepped inside.
“Sure. When?”
“This afternoon.”
“That was fast.” Really fast. “A friend of yours?”
“No, actually. More of an acquaintance. We worked a case together a few years back.”
“Local?”
“Yeah. Charlie’s been with Taylor PD for a while now.”
“Charlie?”
Baz’s gaze swung over to JJ briefly, then back to him. “Charlotte Miller. Goes by Charlie.”
Reese noticed the way JJ’s head snapped up, her eyes narrowing on Baz. Although it was obvious something was on the tip of her tongue, she held it back.
“You want her for your partner? Or backup here at the