“I suppose you didn’t bring me in to give me shit about takin’ the jet.”
“Not at all. I’m glad to know the boy wasn’t lost,” Travis said, referring to the kid in Houston.
“Not lost. Ran away, more like. And I’ll say I can’t blame him. Parents were somethin’ else.”
“I heard Reese adopted a dog. Tesha, I believe?”
Being that Kennedy was Travis’s sister-in-law and their entire branch of the Walker tree had dinner every Sunday, it made sense he’d been brought up to speed. That or Travis had every residence and business in Coyote Ridge bugged so he could keep up to speed on what was going on. To be honest, he wouldn’t put it past the guy.
“He did.”
“How’s that workin’ for you?”
Brantley considered it, remembered how the dog had basically taken over their bed since the day she came home.
“I like her,” he admitted. Truth was, he was getting used to having her around.
Before Travis could make another inquiry, Brantley got right to the point. “Why am I here, Travis?”
Once again, that cool facade slipped. “I … I need to apologize.”
“For?”
“My behavior last time I saw you.”
Brantley knew he was referring to the threat to lure JJ away from the task force.
“I can’t begin to imagine the stress you’re under, Travis. I don’t have kids, so I can’t put myself in your shoes. But I can imagine, so I get it.” He held Travis’s gaze. “But one thing you should know about me: I don’t take kindly to threats. Not ever.”
He could see the steel in Travis’s eyes, knew the man wanted to argue, to establish his dominance in this realm. Problem was, Brantley wasn’t one to be pushed around. He’d worked too hard to get to where he was in life, and it damn sure hadn’t been by backing down.
Travis nodded curtly. “Understood.” Those steel-blue eyes notorious to the Walker family implored him. “I know I’m obsessed with findin’ her, but I’ve got my reasons.”
Brantley figured he knew some of them, but he suspected Travis needed to get some of this off his chest. As it was, he looked as though he’d been bottling it up for a decade.
“Such as?”
“Well, for starters, I won’t feel that any of my children, or even my wife, are safe as long as that bitch is out there.”
And they wouldn’t be. It was obvious Juliet Prince had a few screws loose and she’d set her sights on Travis as being the one who tore apart her world. It had been in this very hotel when her husband had found the woman he decided to trade her in for. In the process, the husband had fought for full custody of their daughter and won, leaving Juliet flailing after losing everything she had, including her only child.
“Kate has nightmares,” Travis said softly. “Every night she wakes up screamin’, terrified she’s back in that house, abandoned.”
Brantley remembered how the little girl had been cuffed to that bed, left all alone. Seeing her like that had sent a surge of rage through him, so he understood. They still had no idea how long Kate had been there like that or how long she would’ve remained that way if Brantley and his team hadn’t pinned down her location.
“I have nightmares,” Travis admitted, the words barely above a whisper. “I wake up in a cold sweat, Brantley. This is my fault.”
“The hell it is,” he snapped, leaning forward and planting his elbows on his thighs. “You’re not responsible for Juliet’s life unraveling.”
“Maybe not, but it sure feels like it.”
The man was defeated. Brantley could see it in his eyes, in the lines around them.
“What does the FBI know?” he asked.
“Not a fuckin’ thing. She simply vanished into thin air.”
Relaxing again, Brantley decided to tell Travis about the changes he was making to the task force, the effort he was putting in so they would have more time and resources.
“With more people, we can split up the work, get some of those cases underway. As for Juliet Prince, I can assign—”
“You,” Travis interrupted. “I don’t want anyone else, Brantley. You and Reese. I want you to find her, and I want…”
It was there in those shimmering eyes that he saw the truth of what Travis wanted. Not only did he want Juliet Prince found, he wanted her dealt with.
“I can’t do that, Travis,” he whispered. “You can’t do that. We will bring her to justice. And we’ll see to it that she’s dealt with accordingly. But I can’t…” Eliminate her.
Their gazes held for long seconds. Travis was the one to fold first, leaning back and taking a deep breath.
“I need you to find her,” he said, calmer now. “And when you do, I want to be the one to go with you to retrieve her.”
Brantley knew he couldn’t commit to that. Not until he knew Travis wasn’t going to go off and do something incredibly stupid. The last thing anyone needed was for Travis to end up in prison for killing a woman who wasn’t worth the brain power it took to think about her.
