Toby wasn’t home, but Brantley hadn’t figured he would be. When no one came to the door, it’d been the work of a moment to pick the lock and enter, but as Brantley took in the scene before him, it was a wonder the front door hadn’t been standing wide open already. Evidently, someone else had come looking for Toby already, and he seriously doubted the police had done this.
From the looks of it, the entire house had been ransacked, at least if the living room was any indication. The furniture was overturned, pictures and knickknacks knocked off the walls and shelves. Books had been shredded, pillows turned into ribbons, white fluff bleeding onto the floor around them.
In all fairness, Brantley was merely assuming someone had gone through the place. He didn’t know Toby Land, and Reese had said he was a little out there, so perhaps this was a unique decorating style, but he didn’t think so.
“I’m startin’ to think this isn’t retaliation for stealin’ a car,” Reese mused, his gaze skimming the space.
Brantley would have to agree. “They were lookin’ for somethin’.”
“Question is, did they find it?”
Yes, that wasonequestion. Another was what exactly had Toby taken that would require someone to go through this much effort to get it back? Or had they been looking for a clue as to where Toby had gone? The latter seemed a stretch, considering how they’d gone so far as to take apart the remote control and dismantle all the artwork that had been on the walls and shelves.
“Let’s clear the house first,” Brantley told Reese, feeling an itch on the back of his neck because they’d yet to move past the living room.
Ten minutes later, after they’d cleared every possible hiding spot in the house, Brantley returned to the living room. He picked up a picture from the floor, turned it over in his hand.
“I think you might’ve been right when you said he was in love with her,” he told Reese when the man joined him.
“What?”
Brantley passed over the picture. It was one of Toby and Cindy, obviously taken many years ago. The photo depicted a handsome young man pressing a kiss to Cindy Tavoularis’s cheek, his arm hooked around her neck as she smiled lovingly at the camera. They were leaning into one another in an embrace that spoke of their familiarity and affection for one another. If he had to guess, Reese’s father had been the one on the other side of the camera.
“He doesn’t look like a kookie old man,” Brantley noted, referring to the handsome, dark-haired guy in the photo. Based on that image alone, Brantley couldn’t blame Reese’s mom for having a thing for him.
Reese’s gaze snapped to his, and his nostrils flared.
It took effort, but Brantley managed not to smirk. Instead, he grabbed several other photographs that had been peeled from their frames, giving them a quick once-over as he set them down on the highboy behind the couch. There was one more picture of Cindy, this one of her by herself. It appeared to have been taken more recently. Another was of a couple with a little boy and a little girl, all four smiling.
“Those are his parents,” Reese informed him, peering at the picture over Brantley’s shoulder.
“That his sister?”
Reese nodded, his expression solemn.
Since Reese had already said Toby had no family in the area, Brantley could only assume there was a story behind it.
Rather than ask for details, Brantley strolled through the house, looking for clues as to where Toby might be. Overlooking the damage that had been done, it appeared Toby hadn’t been home in a while. Nor had he taken anything with him when he left. The bathroom held all the necessities, and there was a suitcase lying on the closet floor, open but empty.
Based on the decor, the guy had both taste and money. While the house wasn’t elaborate, someone had put some thought into the interior design. High-end fabrics, expensive Swarovski crystal knickknacks, and artist-signed paintings no longer held any monetary value due to their current state, but it had likely once been a comforting place to come home to.
After fifteen minutes of snooping, Brantley returned to the living room to find Reese with his phone to his ear and the picture of Cindy and Toby in his hand.
“I’d feel better if you put someone on her, Z,” Reese said firmly. “I don’t know who’s lookin’ for him, but they seem desperate to find him.”
Brantley moved closer. When he did, Reese held up the photo so Brantley could see the back of it. Cindy’s full name was scribbled on the back, circled by a heart.
“Thanks,” Reese said. “I’ll let you know what else we find.”
A second later, he disconnected the call.
“I don’t want them usin’ her to find him,” Reese said, as though he needed to explain anything.
“You don’t think he’d head that way, do you?”
Reese met his gaze and shook his head. “He’s a little flaky, but he’d want to protect her at all costs. Going up there would only put her in danger.”
Brantley considered that. “Since we’re here, we should look around. See if there’s anyone else he might want to protect.”
