Hide & Seek - Nicole Edwards Page 0,72
a laugh. When he’d mentioned earlier that he wasn’t submissive, he’d been joking. Of course, it was true. In this relationship, he didn’t see either one of them as the alpha. More equals. He suspected the same was the case for RT and Z, although Reese’s brother didn’t mind pretending otherwise to get a smile.
“What makes you think the brother’s our suspect?” Brantley asked, switching the tone of the conversation.
“I can’t put my finger on it. Makes it more difficult since I haven’t met him,” Reese admitted. Or seen him, for that matter. “But I didn’t get the vibe from Collins. I felt like something was off, but I didn’t get the impression he was cold enough to kill someone.”
“That or he’s a damn good actor. Could be he’s gotten away with it for so long it’s become second nature. He knows how to play those around him.”
“Could be, sure.” Reese had considered that, too. “No matter what, I think he plays a part.”
“You think they’re alive?”
That was a damn good question.
“I’m holdin’ out hope.” It was all he could do.
Based on JJ’s information, if they were correct in their suspicions, there were already twelve women who’d died at the hands of these men. And if Collins or his brother was responsible, it could be that Collins was warning them when he’d said the time was nearing.
“Why would Collins give us so much information?” Brantley grabbed his water bottle from the cup holder. “He basically told us we only had a few days to find them. If his brother is responsible, was that a warning?”
“Maybe he’s tired of coverin’ it up?”
“Or he’s taunting us,” Brantley muttered.
“You don’t think it’s the brother?”
Brantley glanced over, the whites of his eyes bright in the dark vehicle. “I don’t.”
“The detective then?”
“Yeah. I had that same itch when we talked to him, but it’s the details he provided that make me think he’s fascinated with these women. More so than worried. He’s focused on their appearances, not their backgrounds. He refers to them by their first name. Like he knows them. And while he’s the detective on the case, he insinuates himself into the case by pretending to be someone else. Why is that? That’s the part I just don’t get.”
“He wouldn’t need to dig into her background or get her history,” Reese said. “He already knows everything about her. If he’s the one who took her, it could be he pretended to be the officer because he’s worried someone saw him. Figures keepin’ a low profile in the area is the best for the time being.”
“Or they’re workin’ together,” Brantley mused.
Reese glanced behind them when headlights bounced off the interior of the vehicle.
Neither of them spoke as it approached and then passed, brake lights flashing as it turned into a driveway.
“That’s Collins,” Brantley noted.
They watched as the detective got out of his police-issued vehicle. He carried a couple of bags—looked to be fast food—and two Styrofoam cups. He didn’t look around as he bounded up the three front steps. Not a care in the world. Screen door opened, then the door, and he slipped inside, disappearing when the door closed behind him.
“Looks like dinner for two. Means the brother’s probably in there.”
Reese had to think it was possible Brantley was right.
Brantley’s cell phone rang, shocking the silence in the SUV.
“Hey, Trey,” Brantley greeted after hitting the button to take the call.
“How’s it goin’? Learn anything?”
“Not yet.” Brantley went on to explain how uneventful their stakeout was.
“I was wonderin’ how Collins managed to catch all these cases with so many other dicks in the department.”
Reese laughed. “By dicks, you’re referrin’ to detectives?”
“Take it how you wanna take it,” Trey said with a laugh.
Brantley clearly wasn’t enjoying the conversation. “What’d you find, Trey?”
“Whether by coincidence or intention, he’s always on scene first,” Trey noted. “At least in the three other cases we know about. Even when they called someone else in, Collins was there. He’s made a name for himself in this department as the guy who tackles the cases that involve little to no reason for disappearance.”
“Not a coincidence.”
“Definitely not. And it makes sense,” Reese told them. “He keeps the details to a minimum, probably blames it on a lack of information available. No similarities between the victims, nothing to tie them together except for the cell phones, which is why I don’t think it’s him. If he was the one snatchin’ these women, why leave behind something to taunt the police with? Collins would