Brantley could pretty much hear JJ calling him that.She meant it with love.
“But on a positive note, she misses you guys.”
“We miss her, too,” Reese said, then made the formal introductions.
“This JJ sounds like a badass,” Archer stated.
“She is,” Brantley, Reese, and Baz said at the same time.
While he ate his sandwich, Brantley watched the interactions.They’d been looking for another investigator for what felt like a damn long time.One who could partner with Atticus now that the newest member of their team was fully onboarded and certified.They’d looked at somewhere around fifty applicants.A couple had seemed like they would work, but not exactly fit.
Not until now.
Archer Halligan … yeah, Brantley got the feeling this guy was going to pull his weight and then some.
Reese stood beside Brantley, listening as theconversation came to a lull.
“How about we walk over to the barn, and we’ll show you around,” Brantley suggested once he and Archer had downed their sandwiches.
Archer got to his feet.“Sounds like a plan.”He peered down at Simon.“You comin’?”
Simon glanced at Reese.“I thought I’d stay here and talk if that’s all right with you?”
“Sure.We’ll hang back,” Reese told Brantley, figuring they didn’t need an entourage to do a tour of a barn anyway.
“Come on, Tesha,” Archer called as they walked out the door.“You can lead the way.”
“Looks like those two are gonna get along,” Simon said when it was just the two of them.“He really does like animals.Violet’s got cats, and Archer’s excited about living in the same house with them.”
“I think Archer’s gonna fit nicely,” Reese admitted.
“Me, too.”
“You don’t think his workin’ for the task force is gonna be a problem for your podcast?You’ve only got one other person who helps, right?”
“Yeah.Paige.”
Reese piled the empty plates in the sink and turned on the water.“If I recall correctly, she usually does most of your editing work, right?”
“You know a little about podcasts,” Simon said with a grin.
“I listen to them,” he said as he poured soap on a sponge.“Yours mostly.Long-time fan.I think your best work was the story you did on Casey Jenner.”
Simon nodded.“The little girl who went missing when she was supposedly walkin’ home from the mall.”
“Yeah.”Reese paused what he was doing and stared at him.“She’d been there with her foster brothers, right?”
“And her foster father,” Simon’s tone turned somber.“The man who was supposed to take care of her was the one who took her life.”
Reese remembered it like he’d heard it only minutes ago.That was how good Simon was.
“You broke that case wide open.Hell, you solved it when the police had spent years findin’ nothin’.”
“Sometimes the cards fall the right way.”
“If you’re ever lookin’ for an idea for a story, we’ve got quite a few cold cases we’re workin’ on.You could even solve a few if you’d like.”
Simon grinned.“I might just take you up on that.”
