“I doubt she’s going to want to see you,” Baz said, his irritation obvious in his tone.
“I’ll take that bet,” Dugan countered. “In fact, I’ll bet my life she’ll stand by me through this.”
Brantley seriously fucking hoped not.
Two hours later, after briefing the governor on what had gone down and getting an update on Corinne, Brantley, Reese, and Baz walked into the barn to find JJ waiting for them. Immediately, Brantley felt like an asshole because he hadn’t taken time to call her, to update her what was going on.
JJ grinned. “We closed our first official case.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t call you,” he said quickly.
“No worries. Baz did.”
Brantley glanced over at the detective. “Is that right?”
“What? I figured it’s what you would’ve done if you hadn’t been sidelined by the governor. Just doin’ my part.”
Yes. And the man had done his part rather well. Perhaps he’d be interested in a permanent spot on the task force. Brantley would have to talk to Reese and JJ, get their input.
“We make a pretty good team,” JJ said.
“That we do,” he agreed.
“So whaddya say we take this team on over to Moonshiners. Grab ourselves a beer?”
“I’m in,” Reese said.
Baz chimed in with a “Me, too.”
“Y’all go on,” Brantley urged. “I’ll be along in a bit.”
JJ and Baz strolled out together, Reese staying back.
“I’m fine,” he told the man. “Just need a few more minutes.”
“Somethin’ botherin’ you?” Reese inquired. “Besides the obvious.”
“No. Just thinkin’ about that girl. How she turned that shotgun on herself.”
“It’s always harder with women and children,” Reese said softly.
Brantley met his gaze, tried to look deeper. In his previous line of work, Brantley’d come face-to-face with numerous terrorists. Unfortunately, some of them had been women, some children. And yes, it was devastating when it came down to their lives or his. But this … Emily wasn’t a terrorist, but she’d been willing to die for her cause. The question was, how much experience did Reese have with that sort of thing?
“Could’ve been bad, but it wasn’t.” Reese stepped up to him, cupped the side of his neck. “Come on, let’s head over to Moonshiners. JJ needs this win.”
Brantley stared back at him. “She does.”
“A few more wins in her pocket and she’ll be runnin’ the show here,” Reese noted. “I think she likes workin’ with Baz.”
“I think she likes Baz,” Brantley corrected.
“And you? What’re your thoughts on the guy?”
Brantley shrugged. “I’ll answer that after I see him relax a bit.”
Reese slid his hand down Brantley’s arm, took his hand. “Come on.”
“You sure you wanna go out in public?” He hadn’t meant to sound quite so insecure about the whole thing.
“I’m sure.”
Yeah, he was hesitant about going out with Reese. Even to grab a beer with a group of friends. This was where they seemed to have trouble and he wasn’t ready to go through it again. As far as he was concerned, he’d taken enough risks for one day.
Didn’t mean he wouldn’t go, just that he was hesitant.
***
Reese offered to drive to Moonshiners and was a bit surprised when Brantley hadn’t put up a fight. He’d started to think Brantley had a thing about being in the passenger seat. Then again, the man could’ve been willing because something was up with him. Ever since Reese had agreed to go to the bar, he’d noticed Brantley’s reluctance.
Not that Reese wasn’t aware of why that was. He was a smart man, and he was more than aware of how his actions had affected Brantley as of late. And while he couldn’t promise any PDA, Reese was feeling a bit more confident about this outing. Or rather, he was feeling a bit more confident about his feelings for Brantley.
“Well, if it’s not our very own heroes of Coyote Ridge.”
Reese glanced up at the woman who had strolled over to the table they’d occupied.
“Didn’t expect to see you out and about, Mayor,” Brantley said, remaining in his seat but offering a nod in greeting.
Bianca Stewart smiled brightly.
Reese had never really thought about what a mayor looked like, but admittedly, he’d never considered a woman quite like Bianca in that position. She had pretty eyes, a youthful face, and a body right out of a Playboy centerfold. However, he doubted that was what had gotten her elected. While she was definitely attractive, he knew there was more to Bianca than that. Reese remembered her from high school. They’d been in the same grade, shared some of the same friends. There had never been anything between them, but he couldn’t deny he’d had a crush on her for a while.
“You know me. I like to be where the action is.” Bianca’s smile brightened.
Brantley peered around her. “You mean it’s girls’ night.”
Bianca looked back over her shoulder, chuckled. “It is, yes.”
Reese followed their gazes, noticed the group of women sitting at the table near the wall. The only one he recognized was Bristol Newton, the woman who owned the day-care center in town and had become a close friend of the Walkers over the years. She was Bianca’s best friend, had been since childhood.
