“The brother?” he asked.
“Yeah. And Collins is hidin’ his brother’s crimes. Probably moved to this area in hopes of puttin’ it behind him since those cases are still unsolved. Then they started up again, new area. Close to home. Because we’ve seen reports that CPS was called out, we can safely assume that something transpired in their childhood that required state intervention.”
“It’s a bit of a leap to assume their hellish childhood was what prompted his brother to start killin’ women, though, isn’t it?” Trey countered.
“But it fits,” Baz said firmly.
“And it also supports the idea that, because of what they endured, Collins is loyal to his mentally disturbed brother.”
“Go get him, Brantley,” JJ stated from the computer screen.
He took a deep breath, processed what Reese was saying, remembered that their main objective was to locate Jody Henderson and the other women who’d disappeared. Or was it? Was that the only thing he was capable of doing? Finding people? Sure, it was his job. Now. But his elite training and the sailor in him wouldn’t allow him to look the other way, to leave it up to someone else to resolve.
“We can’t just confront him,” Reese warned. “If we tip him or his brother off that we’ve figured it out…”
“There’s a chance he’ll kill ’em,” Baz finished for him.
JJ sighed. “Good point. So what do we do?”
“First of all, I need all the info on the brother. Dig deeper. Get me a birth certificate, social security number. Something. I want to know who we’re dealin’ with,” he told JJ. “Where did he go to school? How long has he lived with his brother? What does he do for a living? Job history, all that shit.”
“Will do,” she confirmed.
“The same on the detective,” Reese said. “Follow the trail back to when he was livin’ with his mother. Find out what CPS knows. There’s a record of it somewhere.”
“And that sealed juvie record…” Brantley met JJ’s gaze on-screen. “Unseal it.”
She nodded, understanding he meant by any means necessary.
“Baz, I want you to reach out, see if you can get a feel for the detective. Talk to his superiors, any partners he’s had in the past. But be discreet about it. Reese is right, we can’t tip him off until we’ve done our due diligence.”
“Got it,” Baz said from off-screen.
“If the brother’s our guy, we will take him down. Which means we have to cover our asses. But our priority is still to find these women. I need Collins’s address. We’ll scope it out, see if we can get eyes on the brother. If he’s there, we might be able to follow him to where he’s keepin’ them.”
“What if they’re in the house?”
“I’d be surprised if they were,” Baz said. “Collins might cover for his brother, hide his crimes, but as a sworn officer of the law, I don’t want to believe he could condone it happening right in front of him.”
“I agree,” Brantley said. “So get me the address, plus the tag numbers for any vehicles they own. Reese and I will head over now, sit on the house for a while.”
“Will do,” JJ answered. “Oh, wait. Before you go…”
The camera angle shifted, then tilted until Tesha filled the screen.
“She’s just chillin’ with us,” JJ said, a smile in her voice.
Brantley glanced down at Reese, noticed he was staring at the screen, a genuine smile that reached all the way to his eyes.
“Thanks for that, JJ,” Brantley told her. “I’m sure you’ll find a way for us to make it up to you.”
“Of course I will.”
The video call ended and Brantley closed his laptop, got to his feet, walked over to Reese.
“Anyone tell you your brain works in mysterious ways?”
Reese stared back at him.
“And it’s fuckin’ hot,” he whispered before leaning in and kissing him.
Whether it was the adrenaline that spiked from their mission or merely the overwhelming lust he felt for this man, Brantley didn’t know, but something shifted in that moment. And the detour became unavoidable when Reese fisted the front of his shirt, jerked him forward as their tongues fought for supremacy.
Brantley held on just as tightly, gripping the back of Reese’s neck, holding him there as they stumbled to the bed, then down onto it.
They rolled a couple of times, neither of them willing to go down easily.
“I’m not submissive,” Reese muttered, nipping Brantley’s lower lip.
He laughed, remembering Z’s comment from earlier.
Pulling back, he stared down into Reese’s eyes. “No?”
Those sexy brown eyes narrowed. “You want me to show you just how not submissive I am?”
He held Reese’s gaze. “You’re damn right I do.”
It was a dare, and it worked. Reese flipped them easily. Almost too easily, Brantley realized. Either he was getting lax or Reese was stronger than he’d given him credit for.
Their mouths fused once more, breaths racing out of their lungs as they became a fumble of hands, working to get clothes off. Neither of them gave quarter, and it became a genuine battle for dominance.
