Brantley glanced at Reese, wondering if he noticed the frustration in her tone.
Reese’s eyebrow lifted slightly, but he didn’t say anything.
They listened while JJ walked them through the information she had. It wasn’t much. Not nearly what Brantley had hoped to have at this point. The fact that Saoirse Kavanagh fought with her boyfriend in public didn’t give him much to go on.
“I did manage to get in touch with Ronan,” JJ explained. “He’s willin’ to meet you in his office whenever you can get there.”
“On a Sunday?” Slade asked, looking around at them.
“No rest for the wicked,” JJ noted.
“All right, JJ. Spill. What’s bothering you?” Brantley demanded, staring at the phone.
“Nothing.”
“Then put Baz on the phone. He can tell me.”
JJ huffed. “It’s … it’s nothing, really. I just…”
It wasn’t like her to be so tongue-tied.
And then it hit him. “Let me guess. It has something to do with Max Adorite.”
Silence filled the room like a toxic gas. No one spoke, no one moved. Hell, Brantley wasn’t sure anyone was breathing. He found it amusing that they walked on eggshells whenever the man’s name came up. Oddly, it happened more often than Brantley cared for. The night Reese got shot, the bastard had ordered his lackey to rescue Max’s sister but had left Reese to die. Brantley would never forgive him for that. And it seemed no matter how hard he tried, they were never going to put that man behind them.
Finally, JJ spilled. “Fine. I don’t like this. I don’t like that Max inserted someone into other people’s business. And now that someone is missin’. And Max doesn’t give a shit.”
Brantley glanced at Reese as he said, “Please tell me you didn’t call him.”
“Well…”
“What did he say?” Reese asked.
“Basically, he told me to mind my own business. In no uncertain terms.”
“Did you expect anything less?” Brantley couldn’t hide his frustration.
“No. But we helped him out at one point. I thought he’d help us out.”
“This isn’t tit for tat. He’s a mob boss, JJ. He’s only interested in what’ll benefit him.”
“Yeah, well…” she grumbled.
“Any chance you were able to track their last movements?” Slade asked. “Do you know where they went during the hours before they disappeared?”
“Not yet. Luca and Holly are lookin’ into it, though. I asked Z to get me Decker’s credit card charges to see if they’ll tell us anything. He said he’d get right on it. In the meantime, I suggest you talk to Ronan. If anyone knows what she’s been up to, it’s him. But, like Max, he’s not willin’ to talk to the help.”
Brantley laughed. “JJ, you’re not the help.”
“Tell that to the mob. They seem to think I’m your freakin’ secretary.”
Well, that explained her frustration.
Since talking her off the ledge wasn’t something he could do from nearly two thousand miles away, Brantley decided to let Baz soothe her ruffled feathers.
“We’ll head to his office in a few minutes,” Brantley told JJ. “Send me directions.”
His phone chimed.
