Sure, it was one thing to gather for a sitrep—an update on a current military situation—but Brantley was learning that in the private sector, they gathered for damn near everything. Initially he’d been opposed to the idea, urging Reese to understand they’d serve more purpose if they were out in the field. Unfortunately, Reese seemed to agree with RT, Z, Hunter, Trace, and the rest of the S1S crew.
In other words, Brantley had lost the battle and he was man enough to admit it.
However, he was also man enough to know he would ultimately win the war.
With coffee in hand, Brantley stepped back into the main room.
The entire space had been rearranged—again—only this time, the desks had been shifted to form a … well, he believed they were aiming for a circle but had formed more of a distorted oval so that everyone could be facing one another in order to openly discuss options for next steps.
From what Brantley gathered, they had yet to actually talk about what those options were because they were still gathering facts.
RT was sitting on the far side of the room talking to Trace Kogan, one of Hunter’s brothers, who happened to be an executive with the company. A few chairs down, Hunter was talking to Kye Sterling, one of his spouses. Their wife, Dani, was in Dallas holding down the fort. Back near the door, Trey, Luca, and JJ were going over something on her laptop. Near the whiteboard wall, Charlie was pacing back and forth on her phone, while Baz, Reese, and Z were skimming through a stack of papers someone had printed out.
“Ah, there he is,” Hunter said when he looked up to see Brantley.
Brantley offered a nod. “Sorry about that,” he said, apologizing for being called away briefly. “That was Governor Greenwood. He was askin’ for an update.”
When RT’s gaze shifted to him, Brantley shook his head, immediately answering his silent question.
“It was personal, not business. He’s close with the Walker family, wanted to see if we had anything yet. Or if we needed anything.”
RT nodded, then addressed the others. “Why don’t we resume now that everyone’s back.”
Figuring he would get more details if he planted his ass, Brantley took a seat across from RT. Reese came to sit at his side.
“We’re already aware Brantley’s opposed to these forums, as he refers to them,” RT said, grinning, “but I figure this is necessary to get everyone on the same page.”
All eyes remained on RT.
“As you’re aware, we’re dedicating a number of our resources to locatin’ Juliet Prince. As of now, we have every reason to believe she’s still in the area. We haven’t uncovered anything to contradict that theory, anyway.”
“I’ve been monitorin’ all the stolen vehicle calls in the area since she seems adept at that,” JJ announced. “We’ve researched all of them so far, and there’s nothin’ that looks to be Juliet, but I will stay on it.”
Brantley sat back, letting the others take the lead on updating the team.
Trey motioned to JJ. “And we were able to pinpoint a route we believe Juliet took since she left Mississippi back in September and arrived here last Sunday.”
They’d been tracking that for months now. As far as Brantley knew, it’d never been fully confirmed, more hearsay than fact, but it was a decent timeline.
“Looks sporadic,” Trace noted, reviewing the image on the television screen. “Do we know if she’s got family or friends who might’ve been helping her along that route?”
JJ was shaking her head. “The only family we’re aware of is her parents. Unless they’ve acquired a burner and are communicatin’ with her on a phone other than the one she used to talk to Marcus, then she hasn’t been in touch with them. I’m still monitorin’ their calls, as well as her mother’s email account.” She held up a hand, as though someone might want to argue with her. “And before you give me shit, yes, it’s a violation of their privacy. Considerin’ the circumstances, I don’t really give a shit.”
No one said anything, but there were a couple of smirks. Ever since Trace had made a comment about intrusive methods of investigation, JJ’d been on the defensive. Brantley was pretty sure Trace had done it to see if he could get a rise out of her, but he didn’t bother to share that with JJ.
“Any word on her social media accounts?” RT prompted.
Luca was the one to speak up. “As far as I can tell, she stopped usin’ her previous accounts prior to abductin’ Kate Walker back in September. Her last communication via Facebook Messenger was three days before, in fact.”
Brantley shifted to face Luca more fully. “Who’d she talk to?”
Luca was quick to respond, clearly having anticipated someone asking. “A woman by the name of Amy Gregson. I did a little diggin’ and she’s a friend of Juliet’s ex-husband’s new wife.”
For a second, everyone seemed to be connecting the dots in their head.
“Figurin’ why the hell not, I reached out to Amy. Accordin’ to her, the only communication she’s ever had with Juliet was that particular message, which she said was basically a bunch of”—Luca looked down at his screen—“‘hate-filled babble from the mouth of a bitter bitch.’ She reported it as spam and blocked Juliet’s account.”
Bitter was certainly an apt description of Juliet Prince.
“It doesn’t give us much,” Brantley acknowledged, “but it’s more than we had before.” He glanced at JJ then back to Luca. “Nice find.”
One of these days, something very similar to that would lead them right to Juliet’s doorstep. It didn’t unearth anything important this time, but at some point, she would fuck up and they’d have her. It meant they simply had to keep digging.
“And we know she dumped the burner and the motel manager’s car,” JJ explained. “All her accounts are frozen, which means she’s either stayin’ in a shelter or she’s still got some runnin’ money.”
“I figure it’s the latter,” Reese noted. “We know she cleared out a couple of accounts before Nicholas cut her off.”
“But how much are we talkin’?” Hunter asked.
“One had a balance of two-fifty, the other five.”
“I don’t suppose we’d get lucky and that’d be under a thousand total?” Kye asked.
“Seven hundred fifty thousand,” Reese clarified. “We do not know how much of that she’s runnin’ with. She has to keep movin’, and in order to do that, she’s payin’ cash for everything, includin’ a couple of cars she’s had.” He glanced from face to face. “If the Mustang she was drivin’ is anything to go by, she’s not bein’ frugal in her selection, either.”
“Nor is she buyin’ from dealerships. Cash transactions only,” Baz elaborated. “I was able to track down the previous owner of the ’65 Mustang. Bill Warren, address in Homer Glen, Illinois. I spoke to him briefly, and he confirmed he sold Juliet the vehicle, only she was going by the name Joan Anderson. Said she was pleasant but twitchy.”
Trace spoke up. “From the profile I had done on her, Juliet’s not lookin’ to go lean. She feels she deserves the finer things in life, and in her mind, Travis had no right to take that away from her. Doesn’t mean she’s not bein’ smart.” Trace motioned toward the screen. “We can see she’s stayin’ in cheap motels, but it’s not to keep costs down, more so to stay off the grid.”
Brantley agreed with that assessment. “He’s right. She’s stayin’ in those motels to avoid scrutiny on an identity. If she doesn’t have one already, I figure she’ll be lookin’ for a fake one soon enough, but only the best’ll do. Until then, she’ll stay where they’ll take cash with no questions.”
“And we know she’s still spendin’ money because she bailed on all her personal items at the last motel,” JJ noted. “Her stash included high-end beauty products, new clothes. She’s shoppin’ and not at Walmart. But she is keepin’ her computer with her. I found a charger still connected to the wall, but the laptop was MIA.”
“Did they find any cash?” Hunter asked.
“Not
anything significant. About two grand in an envelope under the mattress,” Reese relayed. “So that means she’s keepin’ it hidden or she’s burned through it already. It has been eight months since she took the money.”
Trey spoke up when the conversation lulled. “I have a question.”
All eyes shifted to him.
“Any chance we can lure her out?”
Brantley liked his brother’s line of thinking. “How?”
Trey shrugged a shoulder. “I haven’t thought that far ahead.”
“What if we leveraged the daughter?” Luca questioned.
“Doubt it’d help,” Reese answered. “From what we can tell, she’s made no attempt to see her daughter.”
“I’ve confirmed that with Nicholas Prince,” JJ said. “I called him the day after…” She cleared her throat. “After the festival. I wanted to see if he’d heard from her. He was firm in sayin’ he has not spoken to her. And accordin’ to him, he doesn’t expect to. I got him to open up a little about their former relationship and her relationship with the kid. It sounds to me like Juliet never had an interest in bein’ a mom. Her reason behind wantin’ to keep her daughter after the divorce had been for financial gain.”
“That could be what he wants you to think,” Trace said. “Makes him look like a stand-up guy since he filed for sole custody and was granted it.”
“Could be,” JJ agreed. “But I don’t think so. He sounded sincere. When I explained what she’d done—bombin’ my house and runnin’ down Kylie—he was horrified but not surprised. He said Juliet’s always been unstable.”
“Why wouldn’t he open up before now?” RT asked, his gaze swinging from JJ to Brantley.
“He’s been out of the country for a while,” Brantley told him. “We’ve made numerous attempts but he was initially hidin’ behind his lawyer.”
“He thought someone was gonna come after him for damages,” JJ mentioned. “He told me himself. Plus, he’s scared of her.”
“He said that?” Brantley asked, surprised.
“Not in so many words, but I could tell. Evidently, Juliet’s been siccing people on him. Her hatred runs deep and it runs hot, and from the sound of it, she’s spreadin’ it around to anyone who’s wronged her in the past.”
Brantley knew that to be true. Juliet Prince had graduated from sending nasty messages to kidnapping, and now to murder. The woman had unraveled, and if they didn’t find her soon, there was no telling what she might do next.
“Well, I think we should start scoutin’ the homeless shelters in the area. Churches, too,” RT said. “Anywhere she might find refuge, even if for only one night. She can’t stay completely hidden.”
“Don’t bet on that,” Luca said. “This ain’t the big city. There’s a number of abandoned houses and buildings in the area. If she’s determined, she could hide for quite some time.”
“Maybe,” Brantley acknowledged. “But I think RT’s right. Juliet’s not gonna stay hidden because she’s got an ax to grind. I don’t think she set out to kill Kylie that day. I think it was a spur-of-the-moment decision to run her down. She’s been on the run and her need for revenge against Travis didn’t fade away. I think it’s safe to say she’s harborin’ more. Which means she’s not stayin’ in the area because she can’t get out.”
“She’s stayin’ ’cause she’s not done,” Reese finished for him.
“Exactly.”
*
After their brainstorming session, Reese continued to review the information they’d compiled, wishing something would jump out at him. Anything to help them find where Juliet was currently hiding. They’d dug up some useful details, but he wasn’t seeing anything that led to a pattern of behavior. From what he could tell, Juliet was winging it. And he fully agreed with Brantley. Reese did not believe Juliet had set out to kill Kylie, but when the opportunity to cause harm presented itself, she acted on her rage and the result was deadly.
“Any update on Travis?” Baz asked, drawing Reese’s attention.
Reese leaned into the desk behind him, where he’d been staring at the map on the television screen while waiting for Brantley to return from a quick conversation with Hunter and RT.
Everyone had been asking about Travis and Gage, checking to see how they were doing several times a day. Like most of those who knew them, they were worried. Reese included.
“I’ve talked to Curtis,” Reese answered. “He’s processin’. They all are.”
“They need anything? Help at the resort?”
“Sawyer and Kaleb have agreed to manage it for the time bein’.” Reese crossed his arms over his chest.
“What about Walker Demo?”
“Autumn’s back at the helm, plus their cousin Jaxson is helpin’ out. They promised to reach out if they need help.”
“Well, let ’em know I’ll do whatever I can. Whatever they need.”
Reese nodded. “I’m sure they’ll appreciate the gesture.” He motioned toward the map on the screen. “The best way we can help any of them is to find Juliet,” he said, keeping his voice low. “No matter what it takes.”
They both turned when Trey approached, the other man’s gaze swinging back and forth between them as though gauging whether it was appropriate to interrupt.
“What’s up?” Reese prompted.
“I’ve got an idea. Thought I’d run it by you.”
Reese raised an eyebrow, urging Trey to spit it out.
“I know it might be a stretch, but Tesha’s trainer … he runs a search-and-rescue operation, doesn’t he?”
Reese found it interesting that Trey didn’t refer to Magnus by name, but he answered anyway. “Yeah. Why?”
“Well, we’ve got some of Juliet’s belongings, which means we’ve got a decent scent. If we can get a bead on where she might be…”
Reese knew where Trey was going with this. Yes, Baz had called in a favor, and they’d gotten their hands on a couple of her personal effects, but he wasn’t sure they were at the point where search dogs would do them any good. Not yet, anyway. Didn’t meant it wouldn’t come in handy in the future.
Definitely wouldn’t hurt to get Magnus on board, and since they were currently at a standstill, it’d give Trey something to do, as well.
“I like the idea,” he told him. “Why don’t you take point on that? Head over to Magnus’s place. Get his thoughts on what our options might be. If we can narrow down a search grid, it’d definitely be worth a shot.”
Trey’s gaze shot to Baz then back to Reese. “I wasn’t suggestin’ I be the one—”
Reese had no idea what had happened between the two men, nor was he going to ask, but he knew they had to work it out eventually. Maybe this would move things along.
“I’ll get you his address,” he said, not giving Trey a chance to back out.
Chapter Ten
Trey could’ve kicked himself in his own ass.
What the hell was he thinking suggesting they utilize Magnus’s skills to assist in their investigation?
“Damn it,” he grumbled, steering his truck along the long, narrow dirt drive that led to Camp K-9, the facility owned and operated by the one man Trey had no business talking to right now.
In his defense, it had been an innocent request, one he’d thought might move them forward in their search. At the very least, it was a logical ask. Magnus trained canines as search and rescue, and since they were searching…
“Idiot,” he muttered.
He pulled the truck to a stop, put it in park, and stared up at the metal building with the sign announcing they were open for business.
Inside those walls was the man Trey hadn’t seen since New Year’s, when he’d accepted Magnus’s offer of a single night together. He still remembered the moment he’d given in. Standing outside of Moonshiners, the man so close Trey could smell Magnus’s cologne, see the challenge in those hazel eyes.
“You know there’s only one thing I want from you,” Trey told him, moving in close, keeping
his voice low.
“Then you should take it.”
Magnus was so fucking cocky, so sure of himself, and damn it if that didn’t turn Trey on.
“I will shred you,” Trey promised. “It’s inevitable.”
“Maybe. Or maybe I’ll shred you.”
Unfortunately, Trey knew that was the more logical outcome, because he tended to get in over his head where men were concerned, but he was doing his best to warn Magnus off. It would save them both a hell of a lot of time and save Trey another round of heartache.
“Only one thing, Magnus,” he repeated
“I’m not expectin’ roses and wine here, cowboy.” Magnus leaned in, voice low and gruff. “I’m expectin’ you to fuck. Me.”
Even now, the memory of that moment when Magnus had all but given himself to Trey made his dick hard. Never mind the beyond-satisfying events that had happened after that.
Despite tremendous effort, Trey’s thoughts drifted to that night when he’d gone and done something completely out of character for him. And it’d taken place only fifteen minutes after he’d told Magnus to follow him back to his place, a few minutes after he’d tried to talk himself out of it and failed miserably. He remembered walking into his house…
Trey could hear Magnus’s SUV pulling into the short driveway, knew the man would be walking in any minute. He could easily shut the door, lock it, ignore him. Not like Magnus could do a damn thing about it.
But he wouldn’t because he was selfish like that, and this man … Magnus had already pushed him to the point of no return. Trey couldn’t remember a time he’d been turned on like this. With a heat that bordered on violence, a need that was all-consuming.
A soft rap on the door had him turning around, seeing the sexy man standing in his open doorway.
He wasn’t sure what it was about Magnus, but just looking at him made Trey want to sin.
“Shut the door,” he instructed.
Magnus stepped inside the house, shut the door behind him.
Trey didn’t let him take a single step beyond that. He was on him, slamming him into the door, their lips crashing together. He devoured him even as he yanked at his clothes, tugging his shirt up and over his head, tossing it to the floor. When Magnus tried to do the same, Trey gripped his wrists, held firm.
Alibi (Brantley Walker: Off the Books Book 5) Page 9