Mission: Without a Trace - Nicole Edwards Page 0,17
them have since moved out of the area, but if they’re nearby, I want to find them.”
“What about Lauren’s father?” Reese asked. “You speak to him?”
“Not yet.” Brantley glanced over. “I was hopin’ to do that today. He moved to San Antonio shortly after the divorce, remarried, has a couple of kids. According to Ellen, Rob Tyler spent most of his time at the office. Rarely was he home back then. She said he wasn’t close to Lauren, but I’d still like to talk to him.”
Brantley had actually been a little bothered by the way Ellen tried to dismiss Rob’s relationship with his daughter. As though the man hadn’t cared that she had disappeared. Perhaps that was because Brantley had come from a big family who all pitched in to take care of one another when necessary. He couldn’t imagine any scenario in which they wouldn’t want to find one of their own. He had suspected she was projecting her own anger on her ex-husband.
“What about sex offenders?” Reese inquired. “Do we have a list of those who were in the area at the time? Or anyone nearby who did, or is currently, serving time for a similar crime? Rape, kidnapping?”
“Good idea.” Brantley glanced at JJ. “If there were any sex offenders in Coyote Ridge specifically, the sheriff’ll know offhand. But broaden the search to the surrounding cities. See if you can track them down.”
“Will do.”
He glanced over at Reese. “Whaddya say? Wanna go for a ride to San Antonio?”
“Where you go, I go.”
For the first thirty minutes of the hour-and-forty-five-minute drive to San Antonio, they rode mostly in silence. The radio played, set on a country station. Brantley didn’t engage conversation, nor did Reese. The quiet wasn’t wrought with tension, but it wasn’t the comfortable kind. It just was.
And then it wasn’t.
As the minutes passed and the silence became heavier, Brantley kicked off with the one thing that had been on his mind for the past few days. “I want to take you on a date.”
There was no surprise in Reese’s voice when he answered. “A date? Like dinner?”
“For starters, yes. You make it sound like a foreign concept.”
“It’s just…”
“What?” He glanced over. “You think gay guys don’t like to go out?”
Reese chuckled, but it sounded strained. “I guess I haven’t given it much thought.”
“And you find it awkward?”
Reese turned his full attention over to him. “Yes, but not the way you probably think.”
“And what do I think?”
“It’s not the date part. Two guys goin’ out, dinner, movies, whatever. The concept’s not awkward for me.”
“No?”
“No. I like doin’ things with you.”
“But?”
“But I’m not used to bein’ on the receivin’ end of the request.”
Brantley hadn’t considered that. Now that he thought about it, made a bit of sense. Reese was definitely an alpha male, liked control. It was something they had in common.
But Brantley was nothing if not flexible.
“Fine. You take me out.” He shot Reese a grin. “I’m not opposed to you footin’ the bill for dinner.”
Reese laughed. “I don’t imagine you are.”
“But you’ll need to be spontaneous.”
“Is that right?”
“Yep. Can’t be tonight. I’ll already expect it.”
“Fine. Then I’d like to take you out on Friday.”
“Hmm.” Brantley pretended to consider it. “I might have other plans.”
“That so?”
“It’s possible. I’ll have to check my calendar.”
“Well, you do that. And I’ll be by to pick you up on Friday night. Seven o’clock.”
Brantley cut his eyes over once more. “You’ll pick me up? In the Walker Demo truck?”
“No. I’ll have somethin’ by then.”
“You want help pickin’ it out?”
Reese was silent long enough Brantley peered over at him again.
“What?”
“Yes. I’d like you to help me pick it out.”
He laughed. “You just need a ride to the dealership. I’ve got your number, Tavoularis.”
The chuckle that followed eased some of the tension and gave Brantley something he hadn’t had in a long time.
Hope.
Brantley’s first impression of Rob Tyler was that he was a man who loved his children beyond measure. And he wasn’t only referring to the two he had now—Max, a boy of six, and Gabrielle, a cute little girl of four. Based on the nice two-story house situated in a quiet cul-de-sac, Rob and his wife, Reba, were proud parents who liked to show off their kids. Along with the pictures of Max and Gabrielle they had lining the stairs were numerous pictures of Lauren. Placed chronologically to depict her life from before she could walk right up to one that looked to have been taken at a high school dance.