Hide & Seek - Nicole Edwards Page 0,43
fond of the woman, and it had nothing to do with her appearance, although she was attractive with her flawless dark skin and shiny black hair. The makeup she wore accentuated her full mouth and light brown eyes, the hairstyle professional. But it wasn’t her beauty that made him like her for the role. It had everything to do with her demeanor. Charlie was the no-nonsense type who didn’t beat around the bush yet managed to have a conversation without intimidating someone into submission.
“I live and work in a small town,” she explained. “As you can understand, there’s not a lot of room for advancement in a PD the size of ours.”
Reese had a feeling she was understating her difficulty advancing. More than likely, it was the fact that she was a black woman in a predominantly white male force. Women, regardless of their skin color, had difficulty enough advancing despite their education and ability.
“Have you considered movin’ to Austin? Or even San Antonio?” Reese asked, merely curious about why she would remain there if she was looking to move up in the department.
“No. I don’t care to hire on with a big department. Red tape’s a pain in the ass and the bigger the department, the more they weave.”
Made sense.
“You have a problem with travel? Our task force is charged with assisting all branches of law enforcement in the state,” Reese explained. “And based on previous cases, we’ve been known to cross state lines.”
“I thought it was relatively new,” she said, her inquisitive gaze shifting to Baz, then back to him.
“We are. Officially, we’ve closed three cases. One just last week. Unofficially, four if you count the one that spurred the decision for the task force in the first place.”
“And we’ve got a storage area full of case files from departments all across the state,” Baz told her. “All needin’ our attention.”
“Are you taking point on these cases?” she asked. “Or are we workin’ for the individual departments in that regard?”
“We’re our own entity,” Reese explained. “We work independent of all law enforcement agencies. As you’ve probably experienced, it’s in our best interest to work with the departments, not against them. We’re not lookin’ to step on toes, but we are lookin’ to get the job done.”
“I admire that.”
“Brantley Walker, the man in charge,” he continued, “has decided to restructure from the jump. He’s clearly got a plan in mind and hirin’ is necessary to implement it.”
“Three teams with three people on each team,” Charlie said. “Baz told me.”
“Four teams if you count me and Brantley. As of now, there are two team leaders in place. Baz has one team, Trey Walker the other. We’re lookin’ for a third.”
Baz had mentioned on the way over that he thought Charlie might make a good team leader based on his experience working with her. If she was interested, of course. Reese decided he would refrain from making that offer until he could get a better understanding of her background, her motivations.
When she didn’t ask a question, he kept going. “If you’re interested, I’d like you to take a tour of the facility, meet JJ, our IT guru. You can talk to Brantley. He’s the man in charge of everything, including pay and benefits.”
The door opened, the bells overhead jangling. It drew Reese’s attention and he looked up to see Autumn Jameson walking in. A smile appeared when she looked his way.
“Hey,” she said, stepping up to the table, her eyes scanning Baz, then Charlie, then moving back to him.
Because his parents had forced manners upon him growing up, Reese stood, greeted her in kind. Despite the interruption, those same manners wouldn’t allow him to brush her off, so he offered up introductions.
“Autumn Jameson, I’d like you to meet Sebastian Buchanan and Charlotte Miller.”
She greeted them with a nod. “Please, don’t let me interrupt. I just wanted to say hi.”
“Excuse us for a second,” Reese told Baz and Charlie, then gestured Autumn away from the table.
Autumn spoke first. “How’s it goin’?”
“Good. And you?”
“Really good, actually.”
“How’s Walker Demo treatin’ you?”
Autumn’s expression warmed. “It’s keepin’ me on my toes. Kaden and Keegan are a handful. More so Keegan, I guess.” She smiled. “But he can’t throw anything my way I can’t handle. I’m enjoyin’ it.”
“And the apartment?”
“Well, let’s just say, I took your advice and opted to get a bed instead of sleepin’ on a couch. It’s not as big as I’m used to, but bein’ that it’s just me, I don’t need a