“They’ve got two kids.A little girl, six.And a son, sixteen.”
“Sixteen’s old enough for high school,” Atticus said.
“Yeah.Definitely worth a look.”Archer continued reading.“Also says here that Gary’s owns a flatbed tow truck.”
“What are the chances a sixteen-year-old decides to hijack a bronze statue just to take it to his parents’ body shop and paint it?”
“Likely slim to none, but as good a chance as any we’ve got so far, right?”
“True.Maybe the parents are in on it.Or maybe they’re out of town.”
While Atticus continued to think out loud, Archer discreetly checked out his truck as they drove.It was almost compulsively clean.No trash in the cup holders, no old bottles on the floor.Even the dash looked like it had been polished to a shine recently.
“So are you comin’ to work for the task force or not?”
He huffed a laugh, surprised by the question.“I accepted the job yesterday.”
Atticus’s gaze shot over.“Why didn’t you lead with that?”
“It didn’t come up.”
“Fuck, that’s great, man.I am so ready to get to work.”
“Aren’t you working this case?”
“Yeah.Because Brantley and Reese like to fuck with me.”
Archer laughed.
“Seriously.It’s the first case they’ve given me.Not once has the team taken on a case of a missing item, but they don’t hesitate to throw it my way.”
“You mentioned you were a bounty hunter before.”
“Yep.”
“Solo job, right?”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
“That’s likely why.They don’t want you workin’ alone.”
“I get it, but I swear they’ve turned down a few dozen people just because they know it irritates me to look at resumes all day.”
“Did you look at mine?”
Atticus peered over quickly.“No.I would have, but they didn’t even mention it.”
“Well, if it helps any, I grew up in Franklin, Tennessee, about thirty minutes outside of Nashville.I was raised by my grandmother after my parents died in a car accident.I joined the Marines right out of high school.Spent eight years in.Since then, I’ve been working for Simon as an investigator.To supplement my income, I’ve done some one-offs for local PDs.I’m single, never been married.No kids.I’d like to get a dog.”
“You live around here?”
“I’m staying at the B and B for now.Violet and Simon bought a house.I’m moving in with them at the end of next month.”
“Cool.”
“What about you?”
“Where do I live?”
