She giggled, though Gage wasn’t sure it was meant to be funny.
“I’ll be right back with the coffee.”
“So.”Gage looked at Brantley.“I take it Atticus and Archer aren’t joinin’ us.”
“They went to the training center.We’ll meet up with them in a bit.I figured we could talk openly without them here.”
“And byopenly, you mean you’ll give us your two cents on why you want us to go home.”
Brantley lifted his cup, smirked.“Somethin’ like that.”
“Well, I’ll tell you now that weareheaded home.Shortly, in fact.”
It was apparent that surprised Brantley.
“What you’re doin’ here … it’s important,” Gage said, glancing between them.“And I know you’re capable of doin’ it without our interference.”He held up a hand when Brantley would’ve talked.“I do want you to take the information I’ve got on Censorious.Give it a look.Maybe it’ll help, maybe it won’t.I don’t know what your end goal is.”
“Yes, you do,” Brantley stated, his tone firm.“You don’t want to believe it, and that’s fine.I’m not sure I do either.But until I prove it one way or the other, I’ll be workin’ this.”
Gage’s gaze dropped to the table.He wanted to tell Brantley that there was absolutely no possibility that Kylie was alive.He knew because he had seen her after she died.He’d held her cold, lifeless hand.No amount of dedication to any cause would’ve brought her back to life.Not even a man who was hellbent on taking down a crime syndicate.
But he didn’t say that.He couldn’t.Denying what they were claiming felt sacrilegious.He was doing his best not to get his hopes up, but deep down, Gage couldn’t help himself.He wished with all that he was that they were right.That somehow it could be true.That Kylie was alive somewhere, and they were going to find her and bring her home.By not denying that, Gage was putting it in God’s hands.
“Here you are,” the waitress said as she delivered two coffee mugs before refilling Brantley’s and Reese’s.“Are you still waiting?”
“No.”Gage flashed a smile.“We can order.”
The next few minutes were spent relaying what they wanted to the woman while she jotted it all down.Gage ordered for himself and Travis, knowing exactly what his husband preferred.They’d been together long enough, Gage pretty much knew what Travis wanted to eat on each day of the week.He was fairly predictable that way.
At least when it came to food.As for everything else, Travis was about as predictable as the stock market.
Travis appeared at the table moments after the waitress left.
“Sorry about that.”
“No worries,” Reese said.“Everything cool?”
“Probably.It’s hard to know when I’m not there.”
“I was tellin’ them we’re headin’ back after breakfast.”
Travis looked at Brantley.“I’m sure that makes you feel better.”
Brantley smirked.“It does.”
“Play nice,” Gage said as he reached for his coffee cup.“Did you get anything worthwhile from dinner with Max?”
“Only that he likes to talk in circles,” Brantley answered.
“That he does,” Travis agreed.
“Keep in mind, he’s got plenty of law enforcement in his pocket,” Gage warned.“You don’t get where he’s at without it.He’s got more than enough protection, which means he also knows who to talk to.If you were lookin’ to incite the bear, you probably succeeded.”
“That wasn’t our intention,” Brantley said.“But yeah.I see your point.”
“I suggest you track down Martin Calloway before Max finds someone to wipe him off the map,” Travis told Brantley.
“That’s the plan.”
