“I meant to ask earlier.How’d Atticustake the news?”Reese asked when he walked into the house after his quick trip to Camp K-9.
“He did a little dance.It was interesting,” Brantley answered, grabbing a beer from the refrigerator.It had been one of those days.
“A dance?”Reese’s skepticism bled into the words.
“Yeah.There was music.”
“You’re fuckin’ with me.”
“Of course I am.The kid took the job because that’s what he’s supposed to do.I did let him choose a partner.”
“Who’d he pick?”
Brantley grinned.“Slade.”
Reese barked a laugh.“I bet that went over well.”
“Like a fart in church.”Brantly took a swig.“How’d it go with Archer?”
“He offered to volunteer at Camp K-9.”
“Really?”Then again, Brantley wasn’t sure why he was surprised.Archer seemed like that kind of guy.
“It got me thinkin’,” Reese began.“If he’s up for it, I thought maybe we’d get another dog for the team.Train him or her to be their partner.”
Brantley studied Reese.“Does that mean Archer accepted the offer?”
Reese’s smile was slow and proud.“He did.”
Thank fuck for that.The team needed another strong leader.They had Evan and Baz, both former detectives and capable of leading a team, who were skilled at what they did.Evan worked well with Slade, and he knew they would succeed together, as partners, but not as a driving force behind the entire team.And Baz … he had a knack for leading, but not from the front like Brantley would’ve preferred.
No, for some reason, he saw Atticus in that role.More so with someone as strong as Archer at his side.He could honestly see them leading a task force of their own one day.
Granted, he could be completely off base, but he didn’t think so.
“Did y’all talk about a start date?”
“ASAP.”
“Even better.”Brantley looked at his watch.“I need to make a couple of calls, then we’ll meet up on the couch and watch a movie.”
“I’m gonna take Tesha out to play ball for a bit, so yeah.That works for me.”
As soon as she heard the wordball, Tesha began pouncing around Reese’s feet like a puppy.
While they headed out the back door, Brantley made his way upstairs to his office.He took a seat in his chair and keyed in his password to unlock his laptop.He had a couple dozen emails that needed his attention, but he decided to put them off until tomorrow.
His first order of business was to call Baz, see how the new father was doing.He wasn’t thrilled with the way he’d left things with JJ, but he also didn’t want to disturb her if she happened to be resting.
Baz answered on the first ring, his voice soft and low.
“How’re things?”Brantley asked.
“Better than expected,” Baz said, a smile in his voice.“Give me just a sec to get out into the hall.”
Brantley waited, picturing JJ asleep in that king-size hospital bed—which they’d returned after the delivery—all those pillows propped up around her.
“Okay,” Baz said a moment later, voice clearer.“Sorry about that.”
