Hide & Seek - Nicole Edwards Page 0,10
Brantley and JJ. Brantley because he was the face Governor Greenwood recognized and JJ because she had a way with persuasion. Reese didn’t argue, because who in their right mind wanted to present to the governor of Texas? Damn sure not him.
JJ used her powers of persuasion to manipulate their way onto the governor’s calendar that same day. Once it was set, they ran through their presentation once more, then headed for the state capitol.
And that left Reese and Baz back at HQ.
“She’s somethin’, huh?” Baz said, his gaze swinging to the whiteboard, which was still covered in JJ’s loopy handwriting.
“She is.”
Reese knew Baz wasn’t merely referring to the woman’s brains, although, like the rest of them, Reese figured he was in awe of JJ’s intelligence as well. The woman was damn smart. Sometimes too smart but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“You wanna grab some lunch?” Baz asked, pushing to his feet.
Without a thought, Reese said, “Sure. Where to?”
“The diner in town? I’ll drive.”
“Just how often do you eat there?” Reese asked with a grin as they stepped out into the warm November day, Baz’s keys jangling as he twirled them on his finger.
“Couple times a week. Had I known it was there before I met y’all, I’da been a resident of Coyote Ridge a long time ago.”
“You live here now?”
“No. From what I hear, that’s quite the feat.”
“It is that. When I moved in here, I sublet my apartment to the woman who took my previous role at Walker Demo. She’d been lookin’ for a while.”
“I’ve been thinkin’ about movin’ closer,” Baz said as they climbed into his truck. “Takes me a good twenty-five minutes to get here and that’s if I utilize the toll road and manage to bypass traffic.”
Reese didn’t envy him there. He’d gotten used to his daily five-minute drive to the demolition office. Now he could get to work in under a minute. Walking.
“Is it true JJ was datin’ the governor’s son?”
Reese glanced over, surprised by the question. “Uh… yeah. From what I heard.”
“You meet him?”
“Once.”
“And?”
“Wasn’t impressed.”
“Because he’s the douchebag Brantley accuses him of bein’?”
Reese stared out the window and smiled. Brantley really did not like Dante Greenwood, who Brantley had recently nicknamed Dante the Douche. Reese wasn’t one for gossip, but he knew that Baz was curious about the rest of them. Since JJ’s relationship with Dante was in the past, he decided he would share what he knew.
“He’s one of those who doesn’t necessarily want the woman but doesn’t want anyone else to have her, either. Kept her on a string for a while, then purposely sabotaged the relationship.”
Of course, Reese suspected JJ hadn’t been invested any more than Dante, but for whatever reason, they’d continued to do the dance again and again.
Baz turned into the nearly full lot, parked, got out. Reese followed suit.
“You said purposely?” Baz asked, walking alongside him toward the door.
“Yeah. Brought his new assistant—a leggy redhead—to Moonshiners.”
“Not sure I understand.”
“The guy doesn’t live in Coyote Ridge anymore,” Reese explained, holding up two fingers to show the hostess how many in their party.
“But he brought her to a small-town, backwoods bar.”
“Yep. And as you know, we’re not exactly a direct route to and from anything. I think he figured JJ’d be there so he could sabotage himself again.”
“Was she?”
Reese shook his head. “But Brantley was. Guy’s lucky he made it out of there with both legs intact.”
They took a seat at the table the waitress directed them to, were offered drinks, both opting for water.
Reese didn’t need to look at the menu, selecting the daily soup special and a salad.
Baz grinned after Reese rattled it off, then asked for the same. “Figured it’s best to make up for some of the crap food JJ likes to eat.”
“Brantley, too,” Reese noted. “He’s got the culinary skills of a teenager, eats whatever’s easiest and fastest. Helps that he’s got a metabolism that keeps up with him. Unfortunately, I don’t.”
“They’re a pair, huh?”
“They are.”
“What part does Travis play in all this?”
Finally a question that didn’t make him feel uncomfortable. “Travis is Brantley’s cousin.”
“Kate’s his daughter,” Baz stated. “The little girl who was kidnapped two months ago?”
“Yes. When the governor approached Brantley with the idea of the task force, it was with Travis’s backing.”
“He a good guy?”
“The best. Good intentions.”
“What about the woman who kidnapped his daughter? JJ told me she was gone by the time y’all found Kate.”
“She was. Still is. In the wind, as they say.”
“The FBI have anything?”
“No.” Which