She wasn’t wrong. They’d been in pursuit of Tobias Land, affectionately known as Uncle Toby to Reese and his brother Z. For a guy who was a bit off his rocker, Toby had given them a run for their money. And that was before he’d kidnapped Reese’s mother.
“Well, if he plans to put us to work, he better remember you’ve got your tux fittings on the fifteenth. I pushed it out as far as I could. Whatever this is, better not take more than a week.”
Brantley practically had the day burned into his brain since JJ had been reminding them of it for the past month. As had been the case with everything JJ had needed them to address, it was a big deal and would require the presence of their mothers. Brantley had no idea why, but he’d stopped asking questions. His intention was to show up at the wedding and marry the love of his life. If his mother insisted on picking out his tie, he didn’t care.
“I figure there’s only one way to find out,” Reese said, pointing his spatula toward Brantley’s phone.
He was right.
Brantley dialed Z’s number and put the phone on speaker.
“About damn time.”
“You said an hour and a half. It’s been—” Brantley looked at the clock.
“Seventy-seven minutes,” Z chimed in.
“Still less than ninety,” Brantley countered. “I’ve got JJ, Baz, and Reese here. Tell us what’s goin’ on.”
“Mornin’,” Z said with that slow drawl that was eerily similar to his brothers. “One of our agents and the client he’s assigned to have gone missin’.”
Brantley stood tall, all teasing falling away as he waited for Z to continue. If the guy had mentioned that earlier, they could’ve been on the road by now.
“At the family’s request, we assigned an agent to keep an eye on a New York socialite. I’ve received daily updates for the past three weeks without a missed check-in. Four days ago, that stopped. I gave it a day before I got worried. On the second day, I sent one of the local agents to look for him. No luck. That’s where y’all come in. The jet’s on its way to you, and I need at least four of you on it when it gets there.”
Brantley hadn’t worked for Sniper 1 Security for long, but he knew the agents were kept to a strict check-in policy. The rule was every twelve hours, and if they hadn’t heard from him in four days, he’d missed eight check-ins.
“You know for a fact they’re in New York?” Brantley asked, glancing between the faces watching him closely.
“At last check-in, they were.”
“Four days ago? With that amount of time, they could be anywhere, Z.”
“Are you opposed to gettin’ on the damn plane, Walker?”
Brantley rarely heard Z get angry or frustrated, and it was apparent he was both. “Who’s the agent?”
Z sighed. “It’s Deck, Brantley.”
Frowning, Brantley looked at Reese for confirmation. Decker Bromwell had worked for the task force since the end of last year, but Sniper 1 had recently requested him to return temporarily. Brantley hadn’t been given any details about his assignment, nor had he asked.
Reese’s shrug told him it was news to him, too.
“This isn’t the first time Deck’s done this,” Reese said, his tone hard. “The guy’s not exactly known for followin’ the rules.”
Brantley was surprised by Reese’s vehemence. Although RT and Z had been the ones to suggest they bring Deck onto the task force, Brantley hadn’t seen any signs that the guy was anything but dedicated. Sure, he was more of a boots-on-the-ground kind of guy, but when they needed him to step in, he did.
“This time’s different, Reese.”
Reese looked up for the first time and met Brantley’s gaze as he spoke to his brother. “What aren’t you tellin’ us, Z? Who’s the client?”
“I take it they’re not the ordinary socialite?” Brantley stated.
Z sighed heavily. “No. She’s very high profile.”
Brantley noticed the curiosity on JJ’s face. She stirred her hand in his direction, urging him to ask.
“Who?”
