“Okay, then it’s not my story to tell.”
Her green eyes narrowed into slits. “Spill it, B.”
She clearly wasn’t going to let this go.
“Fine,” he said, setting his coffee mug on the counter. “We’re workin’ on somethin’. We didn’t ask for your help because it’s not our usual case.”
JJ settled on the stool, squaring her shoulders and resting her forearms on the counter.
Oh, boy.
Her chin tipped up as she gave him her full attention. She reminded him of his fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Galloway. The mean old bat had loved to give Brantley shit whenever he’d had an excuse as to why he didn’t turn in his homework. The only thing missing was a pair of Coke-bottle glasses resting on her nose, a shock of gray hair on her head, and a cardigan keeping the chill at bay. Oh, and about thirty years.
“But it’s okay to bring in Luca, Slade, and Evan?”
Ah, hell. Why’d they have to go and open their big fucking mouths?
“Those hens cluck more than anyone I know,” he grumbled, shaking his head and picking up his mug again.
“So youdidinclude them on the mission?”
“It’s not a mission,” he countered.
“But you asked them for their help.”
“I didn’t exactly ask.”
JJ’s eyes narrowed, and he could tell she wasn’t pleased with how this was going.
Brantley frowned, then peered at Baz, who was standing behind her shaking his head slowly and mouthing, “Abort.”
“I didn’t bring them in,” Brantley said defensively, although it was a bit of a lie. Yes, he’d asked for their help with a couple of things, but he hadn’t given them any of the pertinent information.
Thankfully, Brantley heard footsteps behind him. Without looking back, he pointed in Reese’s direction and said, “It’s his fault. Ask him about it.”
Reese stopped at the end of the kitchen island, looking at each of them in turn. “Ask me what?”
JJ made a show of shifting on her stool to turn her body toward Reese. Her eyebrows rose slowly, scrunching her forehead. “Why was I not asked to help with the case you’re workin’ on?”
Brantley hid his smile behind his coffee mug as he took a step back and leaned his hip against the counter. He had told Reese this would happen. They’d continued to search for Tobias Land since Saturday but had been coming up empty at every turn. Just last night, Brantley told him they should probably loop JJ in and see if she could find him. The woman could work miracles, ones not even Luca was capable of producing.
Reese waved a dismissive hand as he moved toward the coffee pot. “You were busy on Saturday. Plus, it’s not a case.”
“I wasn’t bus—okay, wait. Yes, I was busy on Saturday,” JJ conceded. “But not Sunday.” Her eyes narrowed. “Or yesterday.”
Brantley watched from the sidelines, grateful to be out of the line of fire.
“And if it’s not a case, why’d you have Slade and Evan go to a strip club?”
Reese cut his eyes to Brantley and pinned him with a glare.
He couldn’t help it, he chuckled. “Hey, I didn’t tell her.”
“Thank God for that,” Reese muttered under his breath, returning his attention to his coffee mug.
Brantley saw the way JJ was glancing between them as though she could read the secret of what they were relaying in the air between them.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” she said on a rough exhale. “Just tell me what’s goin’ on. It’ll save us all time. You know how this works. Now that I suspect somethin’, I’m not gonna let up until you tell me. That’s gonna irritateyou”—she pointed a finger at Reese—“which in turn is gonna pissyou”—she pointed a finger at Brantley—“off. Might as well get it over with now.”
