Brantley glanced over his shoulder, glaring at Holt.“I’ll just wish you well now because once my cousin hears about it, you’re as good as dead.”
“Don’t be dramatic,” Holt said.
Brantley’s grin was slow and menacing.If Holt thought he was kidding, he knew absolutely nothing about Travis Walker.
He could feel all eyes tracking him, and he could guess what they were thinking.That he was being dramatic.That he was overreacting.They were wrong.
This … information…
Jesus, God.
How the fuck was he supposed to spring this on Travis without risking losing a limb?Or at the very least, walking away with a black eye.
“I have to talk to Travis,” Brantley told Reese.“We said we’d bring him up to speed if and when we had something.This”—he pointed at Archer’s computer—“is something.”
“I agree.We can call him, see if he can meet us somewhere.”
Brantley shook his head.“I need to do this alone.”
He could see the disappointment in Reese’s gaze, but he also saw understanding.
“We’ll hang here, then.Wait for you to get back.”
Nodding, Brantley started for the door.When he reached it, he put his hand on it to open, but paused, not bothering to look back.
“I sincerely hope that you’re certain about this.If I pass this along and I’m made to look like an idiot, there’s gonna be hell to pay.”
With that, he walked out the door.
Travis sat at a booth in thefar back of the diner, watching the goings-on in front of him.This was the same booth he’d sat in when Holt revealed to him that he’d uncovered something about Kylie’s mother.He’d been pissed at the time.Angry that someone would have the gall to interfere in his personal life.He’d thought the man was out of his mind.
That was a month ago, and he was still convinced that was the case.
Yet, here he was, gearing up to meet with Brantley to discuss something along those same lines.
According to the phone call he received from his cousin a short time ago, there was an update that couldn’t wait.Travis doubted that was true.As far as he was concerned, it could all wait.Kylie was dead.There wasn’t much that mattered in Travis’s life anymore.His husband, his children.Family.That was all he had left and he no longer took them for granted.
Now here he was waiting for his cousin to show and spill whatever bullshit he’d learned about a woman no one fucking cared about.Kylie had detested her mother for what she’d done.Abandoning the family the way she had.Walking away without looking back.Hell, Meredith hadn’t even shown up for her own daughter’s funeral.What did it fucking matter that she might’ve been sent into hiding because she crossed a mob boss?No one gave a shit.
Should they?Maybe.
It was that doubt that had convinced him to let Simon Jennings look into the case.Or rather, why he’d given the man his blessing when he mentioned it.Truth was, Travis didn’t care how it turned out.
At least that was what he told himself right up until he saw Brantley’s face when he walked into the restaurant.The man looked …spookedwas the first thought that came to mind.It was strange to see his cousin like that.The man was always so confident, so direct.
“Hey,” Brantley greeted as he approached the table.“Thanks for meeting me.”
“You said it was important.”
Brantley exhaled as he sat across from him.
“Where’s Reese?”
“At home.I told him I needed to do this alone.”
Travis frowned.That was new.He thought Brantley and Reese were attached at the hip for as much time as they spent together.Newlyweds and all that.
The waitress swung by, but before she could say a word, Brantley waved her off.
