Page 11 of Missing Pieces (Brantley Walker: Off the Books #12)

After Reese left, Brantley took a minute to let his body settle down. The adrenaline that fueled him after that brief interlude was a nice rush, and he savored it while it lasted.

That and he preferred not to venture anywhere until his dick wasn’t fighting with his zipper. He’d been in a perpetual state of arousal since pretty much the day he met Reese. He probably should’ve been used to it by now.

Once he could walk without discomfort, he made a detour to the bathroom for some mouthwash. He had some time before the call with Z, and sitting still until then was not going to work for him. He needed to move around.

When he walked into the barn a short time later, he found himself looking at a large screen image of his best friend grinning from her hospital bed, Holly at her side. Charlie, Elana, Luca, Evan, and Jay were standing in front of the television, talking over each other, laughing.

The door closed behind him. “I guess it’s a good thing I keep comin’ over here,” Brantley said loudly. “Otherwise, y’all’d get nothin’ done.”

The laughter and conversation ceased. A moment later, the bodies shifted backward to reveal JJ stabbing a finger in his direction.

“You and me … we’re gonna have words,” she threatened, causing everyone to look back at him as they started to disperse, heading back to their desks and returning to work.

“How many words do you think I’m capable of havin’ in a day?” Brantley asked as he moved closer to the television. “And why are you video conferencing when these people should be workin’?”

“They miss me.”

“Yeah, we do,” Charlie said.

“And I miss them,” JJ said sweetly.

“Shouldn’t you be resting?”

“I’m a multi-tasker, and so are they,” JJ countered. “Are you and Reese comin’ by tonight?”

He could see the hopeful look in her eyes.

Brantley had made a point of visiting her every day in the hopes of keeping her calm.

He knew JJ wasn’t keen on sitting in the hospital when she would prefer to be anywhere else, so visiting was the least he could do if it meant she would get the rest the doctor insisted she needed.

“Twice in one day? That might be too much,” he joked, tucking his hands in his pockets. “But if I do, should we bring you dinner?”

JJ looked to the left. “Is Baz there?”

“I’m here,” he called from the loft.

“Do you want them to bring dinner?” JJ shouted, which was completely unnecessary since the volume was already maxed out.

“Or I could pick it up on my way back there,” Baz said, sounding amused.

JJ’s green gaze returned to Brantley. “That would be yes. Text me when y’all are headin’ this way, and I’ll tell you where and what.”

“Got it. Until then, get some rest. You’re only focus should be on cookin’ those babies a little longer.”

Her bottom lip puffed out. “Fine.”

Brantley winked at her, and the call ended, the screen going black.

When he turned around, everyone was at their desks, working as though they’d been doing it all along.

Several hours later, Brantley was sitting in one of the leather recliners in JJ’s hospital room, feet propped up, a plate of food in one hand, fork in the other.

“Why wouldn’t he take the job?” JJ asked, seemingly worried that Archer Halligan wasn’t going to accept the position when only a short time ago she was on Brantley’s ass about issuing an offer without asking her first.

“No one said he won’t,” he told her.

“He hasn’t yet.”

“Correct,” he said, not wanting to debate JJ on this.

“Have you called him?”

Brantley frowned. “No. Why would I? I talked to him this mornin’.”

“I know. And now it’s night.”

“Evening,” he corrected.

JJ sighed, her gaze darting to Baz. “The least you can do is support me on this.”

His eyes widened, and not for the first time, Baz looked helpless. It was enough to make Brantley laugh.

“We’ll follow up with Archer in the next day or two,” Reese said, clearly trying to get Baz off the hook.

“If we don’t hear from him first,” Brantley added before she could reply. “But I’m pretty sure we will.”

“Pretty sure?” JJ glanced from one face to the next. “Why only pretty sure ? Did you not explain that we’re the most successful task force in the state?”

Brantley huffed a laugh. “I left that part out.”

“Why? It’s true.”

“In your mind, maybe,” he teased, lifting his fork to silence her so he could continue. “Plus, he doesn’t care about shit like that. He doesn’t need to be persuaded. He just needs time to let it all sink in.”

“He should spend a day with the team,” she said, returning her attention to the plate in front of her, although he hadn’t seen her take two bites since Baz uncovered her food.

“If he wants to do that, we’ll arrange it,” Reese said.

Brantley continued to eat, waiting for JJ to add something else. He made it three whole bites before she did.

“I deserve to meet him before you officially hire him.”

He glanced at Reese.

“What?” JJ asked, her gaze narrowed on him. “What’s that look for? I should be allowed to meet anyone you intend to hire before you hire them, should I not?”

“She kinda has a point,” Reese muttered, not looking up from his food.

Yes, she did. Because JJ had played a pivotal role in their very first case—before they were the governor’s task force—Brantley considered her a partner, not an employee. And yes, he agreed that any partner should have a say in the hiring process.

Brantley looked at JJ. “Call him.”

“What?”

“Call him,” he repeated. “Call him and tell him you’d like to interview him before he makes a decision.”

She looked horrified. “I’m not gonna tell him that.”

“Why not?”

“Because—” Her eyebrows dipped down. “Fine.” She reached for her phone. “What’s his number?”

Reese grabbed his phone before Brantley could, so he continued to eat while Reese rattled off the phone number, and JJ dialed.

All eyes shifted to JJ when she put the phone on speaker.

“Hello?”

“Is this Archer?”

“It is.”

“This is JJ. Jessica James, I mean. With the task force.”

“Hey, Jessica James,” Archer crooned. “What can I do for you?”

The man oozed charm with every syllable. Brantley would give him that.

“Brantley and Reese told me you stopped by today.”

JJ stared at the phone as though waiting for a response, but there wasn’t one. And there still wasn’t one.

Reese cleared his throat.

Archer said, “Oh, sorry. Was that a question?”

It was quite possible his best friend blushed, but Brantley couldn’t be sure.

“No,” she said, not making eye contact with anyone. “It wasn’t. I was just … uhmm…” Her forehead creased. “I wondered if you’d have a few minutes to talk to me.”

“Of course,” he said cheerfully. “What would you like to chat about?”

“Here,” she stated. “In person.”

“Here as in … where?”

“I’m in the hospital.”

Brantley fought the grin that threatened. It wasn’t like JJ to be flustered, but she seemed to be at the moment.

“Just tell me which one, and I’ll be there whenever you’d like me to,” Archer stated.

“Now would be good,” she said, her eyes lifting for the first time since the call began. “Will that work for you?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Do not call me ma’am.”

“Yes, sir.”

JJ huffed a laugh. “Do not call me that either.”

“Yes, JJ.”

“That’s better.” She rattled off the name of the hospital and her room number. “We’ll be waitin’ for you.”

“I’ll head that way now.”

The call ended, and JJ looked at him. “Are you happy now?”

He snorted a laugh. “Me? Why me?”

“Because you’re the one who wants me to meet with him.”

Brantley choked on air.

Before he could defend himself, Reese held up a hand, waving him off.

How the hell did this become his idea?

JJ felt a little bit silly for insisting on talking to Archer Halligan. In her defense, she was bored to tears and so ready to go home. The hospital people were incredibly nice—far nicer than she’d expected them to be—but she wanted her own bed and her own house and her office at HQ.

She didn’t want to sit here all day like she was an invalid or something.

She also didn’t want to be walking from one room to the next and have one of the peanuts plop out onto the ground.

So here she was, and here she would stay. The least her team could do was entertain her.

“How long do you think it’ll take him to get here?” she asked, directing the question at Reese and Brantley.

“Depends on where he is.”

“He’s stayin’ at the B and B,” she told him.

“What if he’s somewhere else?”

“What if he’s not?’ she countered, worrying that she might’ve interrupted Archer’s evening.

“Then I guess it’ll take fifteen or twenty minutes. If he was ready to walk out the door.”

JJ considered that for a moment, staring at the three men in the room. She could tell they were all reluctant to say anything. She didn’t blame them. She’d been working on her reasons for being irritated, and she’d come up with many in the short time she’d been there.

“What would you like to do until then?” she prompted, wishing one of them would speak.

No one answered.

“Okay. Someone give me the basics on Archer Halligan.”

“Basics?” Brantley asked.

“Yes. How old is he? Where was he born? Is he married? Kids?”

Brantley was the one to answer. “He’s twenty-nine, from Dallas, never married, no kids.”

When he stopped, JJ waited for him to add something other than the specific things she had requested.

He didn’t.

“Jeez. Do I have to do everything around here? Tell me more?”

“What else do you wanna know?”

“I don’t know. Where did he work before he started working for Simon’s podcast?”

“He was a Marine scout sniper.”

“Armed services, okay. Anything else?”

“Not according to his resume.”

“You have that?”

“No.”

JJ huffed, glaring at Brantley. “How’m I supposed to make an informed decision if I don’t know whether he’s got skeletons in his closet?”

“I’m sure that’ll be discovered on the background check that Z’s runnin’,” Reese stated, setting his empty food container aside.

“I thought you were waiting for him to take the job.”

“We are. But we want to be prepared for when he comes on board.”

“Why are you so sure he will?”