“I’m an official team member now,” he said, gesturing toward the computer.
“Fucking fantastic,” Brantley muttered as though he hadn’t expected him to say that.
“Guess it’s a good day to start, huh?”
“You have no idea,” Brantley responded, glancing back at Reese, who was coming out of the kitchen with two cups of coffee.
“Morning,” Archer greeted Reese.
“Mornin’.You get a chance to talk to Simon about…” Reese waved a hand behind him.
“The meeting yesterday?”Archer shook his head.“We chatted for a while, but he was still tossing it around when I left.It wouldn’t surprise me if he stayed up all night and hashed it out with Holt, though.”
“I hope he did,” Brantley said.“We’re gonna need some direction, and if the team decides to take this case, I don’t want to waste a minute.”
Archer was about to ask him which part he was referring to when the door opened again.Ryan Trexler and Zachariah Tavoularis strolled in, Decker Bromwell right behind them, looking like a man walking into the chamber for his lethal injection.
At that point, talk about the case was put on hold as they waited for everyone to arrive.Jay Rodriguez came over with Charlotte Miller, aka Charlie, so that Archer could be formally introduced to her.He appreciated Jay doing the introduction since he’d forgotten the man’s name already.Luca Switzer took a minute to say good morning, and shortly after that, Elana and Darius came downstairs, both greeting him with smiles.
More introductions—or rather re-introductions took place as people trickled in.Archer was grateful as it gave him another chance to put faces with names.
Holly appeared from somewhere, looking both dreamy-eyed and nervous, though Archer wasn’t sure why.He attempted to put her at ease by asking how she liked working with her brother.Evidently, at least according to Holly, Luca was a pain in the backside.Based on the smirk he saw Luca flash, the man was well aware of his reputation.
Evan walked in, and Archer noticed his gaze shot directly to Becs, but he quickly rerouted his attention when she looked up at him.Interesting.The former detective recovered nicely when he plastered on a neutral expression and walked over.
“You on board full time yet?”
“I am,” Archer confirmed, shaking the man’s hand.“Starting today.”
“That’s really good news.We’ve got a great team.I think you’ll enjoy it.”
Archer did, too, but he merely nodded, letting Evan get on with his day.
“Is Baz comin’?”Brantley asked, his question directed at Darius.
“He is.Said he might be a couple minutes late.JJ’s also gonna join via phone.”
“We’ll wait for him,” Brantley decided, then addressed the room.“If you want coffee or whatever, get it.I don’t want any interruptions.”
Some muttering ensued, and then people were on their feet, heading for the kitchen.
Movement on one of the wall monitors drew Archer’s attention.He saw Atticus and Slade walking in, and Simon’s car was pulling down the long driveway.
When the doors opened, Archer turned his attention to his new partner.Atticus stopped abruptly, eyes wide.
“Are y’all serious right now?”he asked, looking around.“You rearranged?Again?”
Becs laughed.“You’ll get over it.”
“Maybe.Wanna tell me where I’m supposed to sit?”
She pointed at the desk beside Archer.
“And Slade, you’re here,” she said, aiming a finger at the desk beside Evan, directly across from Atticus.
As he watched the interactions, Archer felt Slade’s gaze slam into him directly.He could feel a cold hatred coming off the guy, but he had no idea why.From what little he knew about Slade’s relationship with his brother, he didn’t think the man’s anger stemmed from Archer going out with Spencer a couple of times.Then again, what did he know?
“Hey, man.”Atticus dropped into his seat.
