“We’re gonna do some recon on Decker,” Archer said without hesitation.“Thought we’d check out where he grew up, see if we can talk to anyone who knew them back then.Since he’s the one who said Martin Calloway blackmailed his father as well as Meredith, it makes me believe he’s the nexus.I want to see if we can get some clarification.Due diligence and all that.”
“And we’re hopin’ to track down Allison Bogart’s parents, see if we can get anything out of them,” Atticus added.
Brantley nodded.“Sounds like y’all’ve thought of everything.”
“Have you gotten an update from Luca?”Atticus asked.
And apparently, it wouldn’t be long before Atticus was taking over the team.The kid was on top of everything.
“He texted me a little while ago,” Brantley told him.“They don’t have anything yet, but he’s workin’ with Slade.They’ll be talkin’ to some people today.”
At the mention of Slade’s name, Atticus’s gaze shot to the ground.Brantley was curious what was going on between those two, but decided now was not the right time to inquire.They had too much to do to worry about personal bullshit.
Twenty minutes later, they were in the truck, headed to Plano to stake out an FBI agent.
“I find it interesting that this particular field office handles government corruption,” Reese said, staring at his phone.
“Ironic, huh?”
“The fact that you usedironiccorrectly is ironic,” Reese teased.“But yes, it’s most definitely ironic.I guess if you’re in charge of locating guilty parties, it’s easy enough to cover up your own crimes.”
“True.What information do we have on Martin Calloway?”
“Give me a sec.”Reese grabbed his laptop from the back seat and propped it in his lap.
Brantley let the navigation system direct him where to go, glancing every so often at the screen to see how much time until their arrival.
“All right,” Reese said.“Here we go.Holly started doin’ a deep dive on this guy.Martin Calloway.Sixty-three years old.Married for the second time.First wife died in a car accident eighteen years ago.He’s been married to the second for…”
Reese looked up.
“For?”Brantley prompted, not sure why the sudden silence.
“Seventeen years, eleven months.”
Ah.Well, yeah.He could understand it now.That did sound a little … planned.
But rather than jump onto another conspiracy bandwagon, Brantley went with something less likely, but definitely a possibility.“Maybe he just falls in love fast.Could be completely coincidental.”
Reese laughed.“Yep.Because we believe in coincidence.”
“We believe that not everything’s a conspiracy,” he countered.“Like I said, maybe he falls in love fast.What else?He have kids?Grandkids?”
With his attention back on the computer screen, Reese continued.“He’s got five kids.Two with the first wife, two with the second.”
Brantley waited for the rest, but nothing came.
“Hey, I know I’m not a mathematician or anything, but I’m pretty sure two plus two does not equal five.”
“I’m lookin’.Hold on.”
Why did that seem to be the theme of his day?
