Hide & Seek - Nicole Edwards Page 0,62
rough edges he’d had after this hellish day.
While Brantley went up to the bar, Reese took a seat at the table Baz and Trey occupied. There were only six or eight more tables in the entire space and all were empty except for one other. Not a lot of business at this particular establishment, but he figured that was because it wasn’t a five-star hotel, nor was it in a hot spot for nightlife.
“You can’t be serious,” Trey was saying to Baz. “Married six times? What the fuck is wrong with him? I learned my lesson after the first.”
“Didn’t end well, huh?”
Trey shook his head, glanced over at Reese briefly before turning his attention back to Baz. “Let’s just say he wasn’t quite ready to settle down.”
“How long were you married?” Reese inquired, curious.
“The longest two and a half years of my life.”
“Ouch.” Baz took a sip of his beer. “How long ago?”
“Not long enough.”
“So you kicked Cyrus to the curb, huh?”
“More him bootin’ me, but the outcome’s all the same.”
Reese wanted to ask what had happened but held his tongue. It wasn’t his business.
“Cyrus prefers the single life,” Trey noted. “More specifically, he’s more interested in a different man every week.”
Brantley returned, passing over more beers before taking a seat beside Reese.
“Ain’t that right?” Trey asked Brantley.
“What?”
“Cyrus is better off single.”
“Sounds to me like you’re bitter,” Brantley countered.
Trey gave him the finger. “He’s takin’ a job in California.”
“He’s not the sort to settle down, but I figured you knew that. It was your reason for hookin’ up with him in the first place. No strings,” Brantley said without heat. “You can do better than Cyrus.”
“Trust me, I intend to. A hundred times over,” Trey grumbled, leaning back and taking a long pull on his beer.
The conversation shifted to work, about the plans for tomorrow, thoughts about the detective on the case, and was it possible they’d be home for Thanksgiving. After two beers, Reese was relaxed enough he was ready for sleep, so he excused himself up to the room with Brantley not far behind.
When Brantley crawled into bed beside him, Reese turned his way, found him in the dark. Their mouths melded together, tongues exploring as the temperature in the room soared. And when Brantley urged him onto his stomach, Reese went willingly, eager to feel him, to be one with him.
“I love bein’ inside you,” Brantley breathed against his neck. “Let me have you, Reese.”
“Always.”
After some preparation, Brantley twined their fingers and pinned him to the mattress, pushing in deep, filling him slowly. Reese relaxed, accepting Brantley inside him, loving how perfect he felt with this man. Complete. Whole. Something he’d never known before. Not until Brantley.
They moved together for long minutes as the pleasure soared to a crescendo.
Brantley nipped his shoulder, his voice nothing more than a rough whisper. “I’m gonna come, Reese. Oh, fuck.” He grunted and groaned, then rocked into him one final time.
When Brantley pulled out, Reese rolled to his back, gripped his cock in his fist, and jerked roughly. Brantley’s hand slid up his thigh, his finger brushing his balls, and Reese lost it. He came with Brantley’s name on his lips.
Chapter Fourteen
Monday, November 23, 2020
By the end of the day Monday, Brantley was feeling the pressure and no closer to finding Jody Henderson, or any of the others, despite the effort they’d put in for the past three days.
Brantley and his team had talked to people who knew the victims or came into contact with them due to their routine, going over the case files, which were surprisingly detailed without having much information at all. He was even able to have a sit-down with the FBI’s special agent in charge of the case but hadn’t learned much of anything from her. He got the feeling the feds didn’t play well in the sandbox, and since Brantley’s team was above and beyond law enforcement, at least in the great state of Texas, they seemed overly irritated that he was pushing so hard for a resolution.
Which was why Brantley decided to forgo the FBI and the police department and run his case independent of both. He took what data he could, had JJ weed through it to pull out the pertinent details, then they started knocking on doors. Residences, businesses. They visited every place these women had frequented, never finding any that overlapped between them.
Thanks to a preliminary deadline set based on what Detective Collins had told them, they were running out of