Nope, today they would be using the back entrance to gain access to the house, since only visitors and tour groups came in through the front doors.
He parked his truck and let his gaze scan his surroundings. He couldn’t count the number of residences he’d visited over the years during his time as a SEAL, hunting down a target, or on some sort of protection or extraction mission in which one official or another had pissed off the wrong people. He prayed that wasn’t the case here and that Corinne Greenwood had decided to make it a late night and perhaps her phone had simply died.
Taking a deep breath, Brantley resigned himself to this new mission.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was thinking that this could be something else entirely. They were currently investigating the disappearance of Corinne’s childhood friend and now they were looking into Corinne’s whereabouts? Coincidence? He didn’t think so.
He shot a quick look at Reese before he knocked on the back door. The door flew open and a petite woman stared up at him, her face wrought with concern.
“Oh, thank God!” Trina exclaimed, greeting him when he stepped into the house.
Brantley accepted Dante’s mother’s panicked hug, taking a step back when she released him. “Katrina Greenwood, I’d like you to meet my partner, Reese Tavoularis. Reese, Trina.”
Reese held out his hand, Trina taking it firmly within both of hers. “Thank you. Thank you for coming to help.”
“Hey,” Dante said, thrusting out a hand in Brantley’s direction. “Thanks for comin’.”
Brantley looked at the hand, up at Dante’s face. The only reason he shook it was because Trina was there. Had she not been, he probably would’ve simply punched Dante in the face, which would’ve been nothing less than he deserved.
Stepping back, Brantley turned his full attention to Trina. Though he did his best to hide it, he couldn’t deny it felt a bit awkward to be here. Not only in the governor’s mansion but around Dante and his mother. Yeah, it was true, Dante had been his friend throughout his younger years, but there had been tension between them ever since the black-eye incident with JJ. None of that mattered now, he reminded himself. This was about Corinne, not Brantley’s comfort level.
“Dante said you could help us,” Trina said, her voice pitched a little high.
“Considerin’ I’m on the governor’s task force…” Brantley glanced at Dante, curious as to why the governor hadn’t been the one to call.
Obviously understanding, Dante nodded. “We haven’t told my dad yet. Until we know for sure she’s missing…”
He didn’t like the sound of that. If they truly believed Corinne was missing, they needed to call in the cavalry.
“Is this somethin’ she does often?” he asked, curious as to why they might hold off.
“Not often,” Trina said. “But there’s been a couple of times…”
Yeah, okay. So a whole lot of nothing being said.
“But you don’t think this is one of those times?”
“No. Cori’s supposed to have breakfast with me. And that’s not something she ever misses. We have a standing reservation, every Sunday for brunch. She always calls me to let me know she’s up and getting ready.” Trina’s eyes turned glassy. “I haven’t heard from her this morning. I’ve called and texted since I woke up, but she hasn’t responded. Now her voicemail’s full. Probably from me.”
“Do you know where she was goin’ last night?” he asked, dividing his attention between Trina and Dante, who was pouring coffee from the pot on the warmer.
“Out with friends. She mentioned a wine bar.”
“The Grove,” Dante supplied. “She loves that place.”
“Cori called me last night. Before they went out,” Trina explained. “Said it was just a few of them. They were going to hang out for a bit.” Trina set her phone down, ran her hand through her thick red hair. “She promised to text me when she got home. This morning, when I woke up, the first thing I did was check my phone. No text.
“Again, not entirely unusual. I get it, she’s young, out having fun with her friends. Gets home late, forgets to text her mother.”
Brantley could see that.
“But she always texts me back. When she didn’t call about brunch, I started to panic.”
Leaning a hip against the counter, Brantley accepted the coffee cup Dante passed over. In an effort to get his bearings on the situation, he watched Trina pace, waited to see if Dante would contribute.
He didn’t.
“Thanks,” Reese mumbled when Dante passed him a cup of coffee.
Brantley continued