“Every endeavor he took on was a cash business. Laundromat, coffee shop, convenience store.”
“So? I’m not seein’ the red flags.”
“The cash businesses don’t raise red flags. It’s the fact that everything in his past was a relatively small cash business. More specifically, he moved on to a travel agency.”
“An anomaly,” Reese noted.
“Exactly. Why go from a business that interacts directly with customers with an exchange of money for every transaction to a business that deals with setting up travel arrangements and entertainment packages for cruises? It’s the lack of connection that was the red flag.”
Brantley considered that. It didn’t make much sense, but he’d thought so as soon as they learned about the travel agency. He’d chalked it up to Land’s cooky behavior as a whole. The guy didn’t have a good track record with sanity, so why wouldn’t he launch himself into a new venture without anything to back him up? Regardless of how or why, Brantley couldn’t see how it tied into anything.
But maybe that was the problem. They were trying to tie it into Toby Land’s quirky little life. What if it had nothing to do with that at all? What if—
Reese’s cell phone ringing broke through Brantley’s thoughts. He glanced over at the man, saw him frown as he stared down at the phone. He tapped the screen, then put the phone to his ear.
“Hey, Hugh. What’s—”
Brantley couldn’t hear what was being said on the other end of the line, but he could easily read the expression on Reese’s face, and the sheer horror that widened his eyes and blanched his skin told him everything.
“When?” Reese barked, moving toward the door.
Brantley got to his feet and stepped out of Reese’s way. Before Reese passed, he met Brantley’s gaze and mouthed, “Someone took her.”
Ice filled his veins, but he kept himself level as Reese slipped out of the room.
Brantley turned to the team. “Evan, Slade, Deck, and Baz, you’re with us. The rest of you, keep diggin’.”
“What’s goin’ on?” JJ called out from behind him, but Brantley didn’t stick around to explain.
***
Reese gleaned as much information out ofa frantic Hugh as he could moving through the building in search of his brother.
“Stay calm,” he told the anxious man on the phone.
“I’m trying,” he said, his tone belying that statement. “She was here one minute, gone the next.”
It was stupid to ask, but Reese knew he could leave no stone unturned, so he asked, “Are you sure she’s not in the bathroom?”
“I had one of the waitresses check,” Hugh insisted.
“Did she see someone she knew? Did she talk to anyone?”
“No. We were having lunch, talking about work. There was no one, Reese. One—Wait.” Hugh was silent for a moment. “Something distracted her while we were talking. She looked past me, and I swear her face went white. When I asked her what was wrong, she assured me it was nothing.”
“Did you see who it was?”
“No one. I mean, I saw a guy, but only the back of him. He looked like he was talking to someone else, though.”
“Hugh, I want you to stay there,” Reese stated firmly. “I need to talk to her bodyguards.”
“Herwhat?” Hugh exclaimed.
Well, hell. It looked as though his mother hadn’t filled Hugh in on anything that was going on.
“I don’t have time to explain right now. Let me make a coupla calls, and I’ll call you right back.”
“Reese, what’s going on? Tell me what’s happening.”
