“I don’t know how much of an update we’re gonna get.”Reese pointed at the parking area.“Not too many people are here.”
“You’re underestimating Holly and Elana,” Brantley stated as Reese keyed his passcode in to unlock the door.“It’s like they know where everyone is every minute of every day.”
“Everyone but you,” Reese corrected.“No matter when I ask, no one ever knows where you are.”
Brantley smirked, reaching to hold the door open.“I’ve trained ’em right.”
Reese walked into the barn, greeted by the sight of a nearly empty space accompanied by a man’s voice coming from the speakers overhead.He recognized the voice instantly, but before he could comment, Brantley was pointing toward the ceiling, looking around as though trying to find a disembodied head.
“What the hell is that?”Brantley asked.
“Sorry!”Holly squealed, fumbling with her mouse.“We like to listen when no one’s here and it’s quiet.”
The man continued to speak, his voice clear and concise.
Reese looked around, noticing there was no one else in the room.“We?”
Holly pointed toward the loft while she focused on her computer screen.“Elana and I.”
“You two like true crime?”Reese asked, watching her wiggle her mouse one more time before tapping the button.
The sound cut off as Holly nodded.“Yeah.I listen to a couple, butHavoc Your Wayis my favorite.Simon’s very thorough.”
“Thorough with what?”Brantley asked.“Reading a book?”
“It’s not a book,” Reese told him.
Brantley’s eyes snapped to his face, his forehead creased.“No?What is it then?”
Reese laughed.“Think back a second.Friday night.Moonshiners.Violet’s boyfriend.”
“That?”Brantley pointed at the ceiling.“That was a cast thing?”
“Podcast,” Holly corrected.“Havoc Your Way with Simon Jennings.”
Brantley’s forehead creased.“The guy who’s stoppin’ by today?”
“That’d be the one,” Reese confirmed.
“And he’s not readin’ from a book?”Brantley asked, looking genuinely curious.
“No.He’s probably got notes,” Holly said.“But he’s an investigative journalist.He’s looking into actual events that happened.”
“You really do like that shit?”Brantley asked, still pointing upward, presumably toward the speakers from which the voice had come a moment ago.
“Simon’s comin’ here?”Holly asked, eyes wide, jaw flopping open.
“Yes, he is,” Reese told Holly, then looked at Brantley.“It’s not shit.”
Reese didn’t bother telling Brantley that he found the podcasts rather fascinating.And yes, he happened to be partial toHavoc Your Waybecause Simon Jennings was good at deciphering fact from fiction in the cases he tackled.He laid out his thoughts while still managing to keep the truth from being lost.
“You should try it,” Holly told Brantley.
“Thanks, but no.Where’s everyone?”
“Evan and Slade are lookin’ into a lead for one of the cases they’re workin’.Becs had a parent/teacher conference early.She’ll be in as soon as that’s done.Charlie’s workin’ from home this mornin’.She’ll be in after her meeting with her mother’s case worker.Jay, Darius, and Atticus went to pick up the desks Baz ordered.They should be back soon.And I haven’t heard from Luca yet.”
“He texted me a little while ago,” Reese told her.“Said he’s runnin’ late, but he’ll be here.”
