“Which is where?”
“Right now, she’s safer without anyone else knowin’.”
That seemed to pique the sheriff’s interest. “You think she’s the target?”
“I think Dante’s the target, but I think whoever’s got him is willin’ to do whatever they have to. So, can you do that? Can you process the scene? Get a fire investigator out here? See if they can determine what caused the explosion?”
They both knew he’d merely phrased them as questions.
The sheriff’s hazel eyes narrowed again. “You’re gonna owe me one, Walker.”
Considering the sheriff wasn’t asking the difficult questions, he already owed him one.
Brantley left Sheriff Endsley to deal with the aftermath of the scene, rounding up his team and sending them back to HQ with what they had. When Travis told him he was going home and would keep his nose out of the investigation, Brantley had some doubt. However, he had no reason not to take him at his word. Travis wasn’t one to say things unless he was going to follow through. Nor was he one to excuse himself if he thought he might have something to contribute.
“How’re you feelin’?” Brantley asked Reese once they were in the truck heading back to HQ.
“Fine.” Reese peered over. “Seriously, Brantley. I’m fine. It’s a scratch. Nothin’ more.”
A scratch that had bled like he’d opened an artery. It had scared the shit out of Brantley when he’d seen all the blood. And since there was currently a butterfly bandage holding it closed, it probably needed a few stitches.
“You sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?” he asked, simply because it would make him feel better if Reese got a complete checkup.
Reese huffed. “What would you say if I asked you that question?”
Brantley grinned. Yeah, he understood where Reese was coming from, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t ask.
“I’m just glad Tesha wasn’t with us,” Reese said softly.
Brantley saw the concern in the man’s eyes, knew he’d grown seriously attached to that dog. If anything happened to her, it would be a rough day for everyone involved.
“I’m not willin’ to leave her alone again,” Reese added. “Not when we don’t know what’s goin’ on here.”
The way he said it had Brantley cutting a quick look over. “What’re you thinkin’?”
Reese shrugged one shoulder, continued to stare out the side window. “Without anything to go on, we can’t be sure Dante was the target. It makes sense that he was, yes. However…” Reese looked over. “What if JJ was the target and they used Dante to get to her?”
“Good question. The answer is we don’t know until we work it. And the first thing we have to do is find Dante. Regardless of the motive, Dante’s missin’. Findin’ him’ll give us the answers. We can take Tesha to JJ if you want. If you think she’ll be safer.”
“I thought you didn’t know where JJ was.”
“Technically, I don’t.”
“Technically?”
“They’re holed up at Baz’s father’s,” he told Reese, not wanting to reveal how he knew that. Probably wouldn’t go over well if Reese knew Brantley had a way of tracking all of them.
“Might be a good idea to keep her away from all this for a little while.”
Brantley agreed, but he said, “Just let me know what you decide. For now, I think our only priority is findin’ Dante.”
“How do you propose we do that without JJ?”
“I’ve got a secret weapon,” he admitted.
“Lemme guess. You called Luca?”
Brantley couldn’t hide his surprise. “You know Luca Switzer?”
