“He’ll be along in a bit. He was gonna stop by and talk to Atticus.”
Trey grinned against the lip of his beer bottle. “How’s that little shit doin’?”
Trey’d had the pleasure of meeting Atticus James—no relation to Brantley’s Girl Friday, Jessica James—the newest member of the task force. From what Brantley had told him, they’d encountered the former bounty hunter on a case they worked on in Dallas back in May. After the kid had come through on a stunt they instigated to fool a local wannabe mobster, Brantley offered Atticus a job, and he accepted.
“Still a little shit,” Brantley said with a gruff chuckle as he signaled Mack for a beer.
Trey waited until Mack delivered the beer, then got to his feet and headed for an empty table at the back. He had no desire to discuss anything remotely personal while sitting at the bar. There was a good chance there’d be attentive ears lingering nearby, and the last thing he wanted was his personal shit aired in theCoyote Ridge Gazette.
“How’re things over at Camp K-9?” Brantley asked as he eased into the booth across from Trey, scooting so that his back was to the wall and his legs were extended on the wooden bench.
“As good as can be expected.”
“And Ava? How’s she doin’?”
“Doctor released her.” Trey smiled. “She’s got her first appointment with Piper next week.”
“Yeah?” Brantley chuckled. “I still find it amusin’ that she moved her practice here. The girl who used to threaten to punch Cal in the junk is a psychiatrist.”
That she was. Piper Briggs was also one of their many cousins. The second oldest of their aunt Maryanne’s six children had moved down to Austin after she graduated from medical school. She’d initially intended to become a cardio-thoracic surgeon, but with an unexpected pregnancy and the ensuing fall-out with the baby daddy, she’d shifted her priorities and become a psychiatrist. According to Piper, concessions had to be made, and spending time with her son was the only thing she cared about.
“How’s JJ? She and Baz get moved into their house?”
“Oh, yeah. All set up and countin’ down the days until the baby comes.”
Trey could feel Brantley’s eyes on him and knew his brother was humoring him by answering the random questions. It was what he did. Taking a long pull on his beer, Trey pretended not to notice.
“All right, spill it,” Brantley finally said, his voice low and gruff. “What’s goin’ on with you? Don’t think I missed how you glossed over how things are at Camp K-9. Or that you haven’t brought up Magnus once since we sat down.”
“I quit.”
“What?”
“Technically, I didn’t quit because I didn’t officially work there.”
“Magnus didn’t pay you?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Then you worked there.”
Trey huffed. “Fine. I worked there. And I quit. Friday’s my last day now that Magnus is back.”
Brantley leaned back and lifted his bottle to his lips, but he didn’t take a drink. Instead, he said, “But I thought you liked workin’ there.”
“I did. But it was only meant to be temporary while Magnus was takin’ care of Ava.”
“Didhesay that?”
“Not in those words.” Trey took a long pull on his beer. “It doesn’t matter. It’s time for me to do somethin’ else anyway.”
“Like what?”
Trey leaned back. “Don’t know yet. I’ve got time to figure it out.”
Brantley’s eyebrow rose slowly.
“No,” Trey said quickly, shaking his head to emphasize. “I don’t wanna come back to the task force.”
