on a name.
Thankfully the young woman picked up the phone, then relayed the information to whoever she spoke with.
“You can go back,” she said as she set the phone in the cradle, motioned toward a hallway.
“Thank you,” Reese told her before they ventured down the hallway. “Might try layin’ on some charm. Goes a long way toward gettin’ what you want.”
Brantley smirked over at him. “Speakin’ from experience, are you?”
Reese rolled his eyes.
All sense of amusement disappeared when Brantley encountered another woman manning a desk. This one was older—both the woman and the desk—with shrewd eyes and a no-nonsense demeanor.
“May I help you?” The stern voice came from equally stern lips.
“Are you Jason Montgomery?” Brantley countered.
“Of course not.”
“Then the answer’s probably no.”
“We need to speak to Mr. Montgomery,” Reese said, laying on the charm. “We assure you it won’t take much of his time, but it’s urgent.”
“I’m sorry, but Mr. Montgomery’s unavailable right now.”
“Fine.” Brantley nodded. “Since he can’t spare us some time, we’ll be takin’ him into custody. He can chat with us down at the station.”
That seemed to get her attention.
Within a minute, they were stepping into Jason Montgomery’s posh, pretentious office with its gleaming mahogany … everything. Inside was a well-dressed man, somewhere in his late twenties. Blond hair, blue eyes, all-American boy. His smile was blinding, as was the twinkle in his eyes. He knew how to play the game, that was for sure.
“Gentlemen,” the man greeted, getting to his feet. “How may I help you?”
“We’re here to ask you a few questions about Lauren Tyler,” Brantley stated, getting right to the point.
Recognition glittered in his eyes. “That’s the girl who went missing when I was in high school. In Coyote Ridge?”
“Yes.” Brantley moved closer. “Did you know her?”
“Please, have a seat.” Jason gestured to the two chairs in front of his desk as he took a seat in his lavish executive chair. “To answer your question, no, I didn’t know her. I knew of her because we went to the same school, lived in the same small town.”
“According to William Dugan, you had a thing for Lauren back in high school.”
Jason choked on a laugh. “First of all, Principal Dugan and I weren’t on the best of terms back then. Most of the guys in the school weren’t. Secondly, Lauren wasn’t really my type.”
“I thought you didn’t know her,” Reese stated.
Brantley already knew where this was going, thanks to the photograph he noticed on a bookshelf behind Jason, but he waited the man out.
“I didn’t. But since she’s female, that makes her not my type.”
“You’re gay,” Brantley acknowledged.
“I am.” He reached forward, turned around a framed photograph. “Adam Jones, my partner in every sense of the word. Happily married for going on three years now.”
“And the woman you’re pictured with on your social media accounts?”
“Probably my sister, Jen.” Jason turned the picture back around. “Just out of curiosity, how did I come up in your investigation?”
“Dugan brought up your name.”
“Of course he did.” Jason steepled his hands on his desk. “Like I said, there was no love lost between me and Principal Dugan. He was a jackass who spent more time eyeing the cheerleaders than managing the school. At the time, he seemed relatively young to me, I guess. More so than the principal before him. And I think the girls liked that. He was a handsome man, carried himself well. One of those men who was hard to miss and worked hard to earn the girls’ affections.”
Brantley damn sure didn’t like the direction this was going.
Jason’s keen eyes bounced back and forth between them. “You think he had something to do with Lauren’s disappearance?”
“I don’t think anything yet,” Brantley told him. “But I’m pullin’ the threads I find.”
“And you’re with the governor’s task force, I’m told.”
“We are. Missing persons. New development.”
“Well, I hope you can find out what happened to her. I know it hit Coyote Ridge hard when she disappeared. That sorta thing doesn’t happen in small towns.”
“We’re from there. Know all about it.”
“Wait. Walker was it?” Jason sat up straight.
“Brantley, yeah. My partner, Reese Tavoularis.”
“Town was built on your land,” Jason said with a smile.
“Not my land,” Brantley corrected. “My family’s. I’m just livin’ on it like everybody else. Can you tell us where you were on Saturday night?”
“Home with my husband.”
Convenient.
“I’ve also got some out-of-town guests. His parents are in from Denver. You’re welcome to speak to any of them. Why do you ask?”
“Did you know Corinne Greenwood?”
Jason seemed to consider