Brantley’s gaze shot to Reese’s when heheard Cindy’s voice coming from inside the cabin. He couldn’t make out what she was saying, but her tone was calm. At the moment, anyway.
When Reese moved around him toward the porch, Brantley fell into step with him. For the second time today, he found himself staring at a state-of-the-art lock, wondering what the best method would be to get through the door. Considering it was a cabin, meaning it was built with solid logs, making a hole in the wall wasn’t an option.
Reese solved the problem a second later when he knocked on the door. The voices inside went silent.
“Open the door, Mom,” Reese shouted. “It’s me and Brantley. We’re here to talk.”
Brantley listened for the sound of movement, but he heard nothing. There was a good chance that Toby was bolting out a window, and they’d be off on a wild goose chase again. He hoped not because he was fucking tired. Chasing down Tobias Land hadn’t been the easy case he’d anticipated. Nor did it lack that sense of urgency he’d been looking forward to. Not since the asshole had kidnapped Cindy.
“Mom!” Reese called out again. “Open the door. Let’s talk.”
When the lock clicked, Brantley took a step back, moving to the side of the door for cover, while Reese and Tesha did the same on the other side.
“Please don’t shoot him,” Cindy said firmly when a slit in the door appeared.
“Open it, Mom,” Reese insisted.
Brantley figured it would’ve gone a long way if Reese had assured her he wouldn’t shoot, but Brantley didn’t bring it up. If Reese wanted to shoot the guy who had kidnapped his mother, Brantley damn sure wasn’t going to stand in the way. Hell, if the roles had been reversed, Brantley would’ve probably gone in hot.
Cindy’s eyes were pleading as she met Brantley’s gaze. He could feel her concern for what was about to happen, and he couldn’t say he blamed her. There was no way Reese was going to go about this with any sense of decorum when he feared for his mother’s life.
“Where is he?” Brantley asked.
“Sitting on the sofa,” she said, slowly pulling the door wide. “And he’s not armed. Not anymore,” she tacked on under her breath.
Brantley nodded, urging Reese to enter first because it was clear he wanted to. He followed, neither of them lowering their weapons.
“Is Z with you?” she asked.
“No, Mom. I told you, it’s just us.”
Once inside, Cindy locked the door and peeked out one of the windows.
Tesha remained right at Reese’s side, her full attention on him as she waited for a command. She’d come a long way in her training, which was most obvious in situations such as this one.
Brantley took the opportunity to clear the place again because that’s how he was trained. He glanced in the bedroom, the bathroom, and the single closet before returning to find the three of them still in the living room. Reese was glaring at his mother and Toby like a parent would after their kids had been caught sneaking out at night.
Since no one was speaking, Brantley took over, turning to Cindy, who was sitting on the sofa to Toby’s right, about a foot of tension between them. “Are you all right?”
She nodded, and he sensed she was relieved they were there but also scared that something might happen.
“Where’s your weapon?” Brantley asked Toby.
He jerked his chin in the relative vicinity of the kitchen but never looked up as he continued to stare at the stone fireplace that covered one wall of the cabin.
No one appeared to be in a hurry to move or talk, so Brantley headed toward the kitchen to find the gun. He lifted the Ruger that was lying in plain sight on the small butcher-block island. He unloaded it, tucking the magazine in his pocket and releasing the chambered round before setting it back down.
“Mom,” Reese drawled. “Would you mind tellin’ me what the fuck is goin’ on?”
“It’s complicated,” she said, her tone defeated as she peered over at Toby. “You need to talk to them. They can help you.”
Brantley joined Reese on the far side of the room, wanting to be able to look Toby in the eye when he explained.
“Yeah, Toby,” Reese growled. “Or should we call you Patrick O’Brien?”
Clearly, he hadn’t expected them to have tied the two together if his wide eyes and raised eyebrows were any indication.
“Talk,” Reese barked. “Now.”
