“Sounds like a plan,” Reese said as his phone chimed on the counter.He pulled it over, peered down at the screen.“That’s Atticus.He’s headin’ over to Walker Demo to talk to Ethan.”
Brantley frowned.“About?”
“They’re tryin’ to figure out what type of equipment would be needed to move a bronze statue.”
“It weighs what?About a thousand pounds?”
Reese shrugged one shoulder.“Roughly fifteen hundred.”
“You sound certain about that.Did you research it?”
Another shrug.“I might’ve spent a few minutes lookin’ into it.”
“Leave it to Atticus.Sounds like he’s on the right track.I do need him to close that case ASAP, though.As much as I want to help Callie and Rose, we’re gonna need Atticus and Slade front and center on this.”
“I’ll let Darius know so he can stay on top of it.”
Brantley nodded, reminding himself that Darius was in charge because Baz was on paternity leave.He hated that he was down two of their top people, but it was for the best possible reason, so he wouldn’t bring it up.Baz and JJ deserved this time, and he would not interfere, no matter how much their expertise would be missed.
“What time are we meeting with the team?”he asked before downing what was left of his coffee.
Reese stood, grabbing their plates.“I’ll find out.I’d say ten should be good.I’ll talk to Z, see if they can be here.”
“Decker, too.”
“You sure that’s a good idea?”
He understood Reese’s reluctance, and Brantley couldn’t blame him for asking.After all, Brantley could hardly be in the same room with Decker and not want to put his fist through the man’s face.Everything about this situation was fucked up, the least of which was the fact Meredith Prescott took advantage of a kid.Just the thought of her and fourteen-year-old Decker together made his stomach churn violently.
However, Brantley knew he had to put that aside if they were going to find out what happened to Meredith.More importantly, if they were going to identify this so-called collusion that Holt was convinced was taking place.
“We have to be at HQ byten,” Atticus told Slade as he steered the truck toward Walker Demolition.“Darius just texted.”
Slade flipped on the blinker.“I’m sure someone’ll catch us up if we can’t get there in time.”
While he’d said yes to Slade’s suggestion that they focus on the case while the team worked out the logistics of Simon’s story, Atticus was now regretting it.He wanted to be in the thick of things, not out here trying to figure out what equipment was necessary to hoist and move a bronze statue.Who really cared?It was a damn statue.They could buy another one if it was that big of a deal, right?
At the same time, he wanted to figure out where the damn statue was, get it back to the high school where it belonged—provided it hadn’t been sold on the black market, melted down for cash, or whatever the hell someone would do with a giant bronze horse—and put this case in his rear view so he could focus on other things.He was just torn between how much effort to put into it.It was a statue for fuck’s sake.Surely it was insured.
“This should be quick,” Slade said as they turned down a dirt driveway.“Ethan’ll know what equipment they would’ve used.”
Atticus nodded.He was content to go with Archer’s theory that someone could’ve used a forklift, but when he tried to tell Slade that, anger had flashed in the man’s eyes.So when Slade argued that they needed an expert, not some podcast investigator—Slade’s words—Atticus didn’t argue.
And here they were.
“My guess is they hoisted it onto a flatbed, drove away with it.”He left off the forklift part.
“Had to’ve been something that didn’t draw attention,” Slade noted.“Not a single one of the people I talked to saw or heard anything.”
“Not that they’re tellin’ you, anyway.What’s to say one of those people didn’t take it?”
“For what purpose?”
“Hell, I don’t know.What purpose wouldanyonehave for stealing a life-size bronze statue of a horse?”
“You want my honest opinion?”
Atticus glanced over.“Of course.”
