Page 54 of Missing Pieces (Brantley Walker: Off the Books #12)

“Archer. Atticus.” Brantley curled two fingers, a silent gesture for them to join him. He turned to Reese. “Let’s talk to them for a minute.”

Reese nodded, following him into the conference room.

“I hope I didn’t blindside you,” Brantley told him while they waited.

“A little. But it makes sense. I understand your reasoning.”

Brantley wasn’t sure anything made sense, but he figured the only fair way to handle this was to take the emotion out of it.

As much as possible, anyway. And since he wouldn’t have hired Atticus or Archer unless he had faith in their ability to get the job done, he figured it was as good a time as any to put them to work.

Too antsy to sit, Brantley leaned against the wall, instructing Atticus to close the door behind him.

“I know I put you both on the spot out there, so if you have a problem with the direction I’m headed, now’s the time to say so.”

Atticus glanced at Archer, then back at him. “I don’t.”

“It was a smart decision,” Archer said, his expression lacking his usual amusement.

“Being that I’ve got some insight and can bring Atticus up to speed quickly, and Atticus understands the way the team works as a whole and can keep me in line when needed, I think we’re a couple steps ahead at this point. ”

Those were damn good points. Ones that Brantley hadn’t even considered.

“I need you to be one hundred percent focused on this. Nothing else. No cold cases, no helping anyone with their cases. This is the absolute only thing you work on.”

“What about the missing statue?” Atticus asked.

“You haven’t closed that yet?”

Atticus’s eyebrow quirked. “Seriously?”

Brantley couldn’t hold back the smile. “No. Where are you at with it?”

“We haven’t figured out who, but we think we know how after talking to Ethan this morning. He’s gonna talk to his brother, see if he’s heard anything. Evidently, that statue’s important for the homecoming game. Football picture or somethin’. If we don’t find it today, it likely won’t matter.”

“Let Slade finish that up. He’s got far more insight into the town dynamics anyway.” Brantley looked at Reese. “If he doesn’t find it today, we’ll have to tell Rose we can’t focus on it right now.”

“ You will have to tell Rose,” Reese corrected. “But understood.”

Brantley laughed. “Fine. Whatever.” He turned back to Atticus and Archer and gestured around the room. “Set this up as your command center. Bring in whatever equipment you need.” He looked at Archer. “We use electronic case boards, so all that shit from Holt’s apartment has been digitized.”

“Got it.”

He glanced between them. “I’m serious when I say you are not to be derailed. Put Simon to work, too. If he intends to handle this story, he can contribute to the legwork.”

Archer nodded.

“But keep in mind, this is now our case. I don’t expect it to be simple, but I want the answers. Whatever those may be.” Brantley glanced over at Reese. “Anything you’d like to add?”

“Brantley chose you because you can do this objectively. Do not let anyone influence you. Not Decker. Not Z. We follow this where it goes, and you will direct the team accordingly.”

“Understood,” Archer and Atticus said at the same time.

“You’ve got the rest of today to get up to speed on this.

Keep in mind, JJ and Baz are unavailable unless absolutely necessary.

Otherwise, divide and conquer. Utilize every member of this team.

Including Z and Decker. We will be working weekends.

Whatever it takes.” He looked at Reese. “We need to cancel the team training next week, but a trip to Dallas for a few days may still be in order.” He shifted his focus back to Atticus and Archer. “Depending on what you determine.”

“Got it,” Archer said.

Brantley looked at Atticus. “I’ll let Slade know about the statue. He can wrangle Becs in if he needs help. I’m sure she’d be open to working in the field.” He started for the door. “We’ll be around if you need us.”

When he stepped out of the conference room, he scanned the room. When he saw Slade, he waited for the man to look up. As soon as he did, Brantley gestured for him to come over.

“What’s up, boss?”

“I need you to take the lead on the statue case. But today’s all we have left to give. If you can’t find it, apologize to your mother but let her know we’ve got something that needs our full attention.”

Slade frowned. “What about Atticus?”

“He’s busy. Won’t have time for it. Can you handle it?”

Although he looked none too pleased, Slade said, “Of course.”

Because he could feel Decker’s eyes on him and he had no interest in getting into it with the man, Brantley opted to head for the door. Reese whistled for Tesha, who came trotting out with him, eagerly anticipating their next move.

“Where to?” Reese asked.

“I’d like to give Travis a heads up.”

Reese tapped his arm. “I think we should wait on that. I know you promised to keep him updated, but let’s give Archer and Atticus time to outline what we have. Once they’ve got a direction in mind, we’ll determine what information, if any, we need to pass along.”

Brantley wasn’t sure he was comfortable with that idea. Or rather, he wasn’t sure how Travis would react if he knew they were holding back. However, he understood, and it did make sense to let the team come up with a plan before he ended up getting a barrage of questions he couldn’t answer.

Brantley nodded, reluctantly. “All right.”

They started toward the house.

“You up for visiting JJ and the babies?” he asked, needing something to do that didn’t involve stalking Archer and Atticus, waiting for information that would likely take a couple of days to compile.

“Great idea.”

Yes, it was.

Slade did not like the fact that he was assigned the fucking statue case.

More than that, he did not like the fact that Atticus was currently closed up in a room with Archer. Sure, he could see them through the glass, but were they even talking about the case? Or were they chatting it up like new partners do? Getting to know each other, sharing war stories.

Shaking his head, Slade tried to dislodge the insane jealousy. It wasn’t warranted. Atticus hadn’t done anything that would make him think the guy was cheating.

So why the fuck couldn’t he stop obsessing?

Thankfully, his phone rang, distracting him, if only for a moment. He glanced at the screen, saw it was Ethan.

“Hey, man,” Slade greeted.

“I talked to Braydon. He said he might have some information for you.”

“Why didn’t he call me himself?”

“He’s on a job, can’t get away. Said to meet him at the diner at one. That’s the earliest he can get away.”

Slade glanced at his watch. It was noon.

“Will do.”

“Talk atcha later,” Ethan said before hanging up.

He had an hour to sit there and obsess over Atticus looking all chummy with his new partner, or he could get out of the building for a little while. It really was a no-brainer.

An hour later, Slade was standing by his truck in the diner parking lot, keeping an eye out for Braydon’s truck. The guy was already five minutes late, and Slade had to wonder whether he was being stood up.

To be fair, he couldn’t care less about the damn statue. So what if someone stole the fucking thing? They could get a new one if it mattered that much to them.

He pulled out his phone and glanced at the screen to once again check the time. The next thing he knew, he was pulling up the text thread he had with Carson and Atticus, looking to see if there was anything new. There wasn’t. He knew that. But he looked anyway and that pissed him off.

His thoughts instantly went back to last night when the three of them had collapsed in his bed after one of the best orgasms Slade had ever had in his life. He could still hear Atticus’s and Carson’s voices in his head, ruining what he thought was the start of something incredible.

This is good, huh?

Damn good.

I think we should do more of this.

Yeah?

Definitely. Let’s just keep it casual from here on out. Just fucking.

Then the guy had the audacity to ask him if he was okay with that. What was Slade supposed to say? No, I’m not. I’d prefer we run down to the courthouse and get married. He’d wanted to say that, but instead, he had agreed because what else could he say?

Casual sex with Atticus and Carson. He was not okay with that, dammit.

A honk sounded, snapping his attention up from his phone. Slade saw Braydon’s big black Ford pulling in and appreciated the guy pulling his mind out of the gutter.

Slade waited for Braydon to park, then walked over.

“Hey, man,” Braydon greeted, hopping out of his truck. “Thanks for meetin’ me. I’m just runnin’ in to grab a to-go order.”

Slade fist-bumped his cousin when Braydon reached him.

“Ethan said you found somethin’.”

Braydon’s face split into a shit-eating grin. “You’re not gonna like it.”

“Then why’re you smilin’?”

“Because it’s kinda genius.”

Frowning, Slade waited for Braydon to continue.

“It’s definitely a prank. A good one. I’m just glad your mama got Brantley involved and not the police.”

“Why’s that?”

“Yeah, the kids stole the statue, but they didn’t deface it. From what I hear, it’s in the exact same shape as when they took it.”

“So why take it?”

“They’re plannin’ to relocate it.”

“To?”

Braydon paused, his grin huge. “I really think you should just go to the homecoming game tonight to see it for yourself.”

Frowning, Slade stared at his cousin.

“Look. I agree, it was overkill to take the statue,” Braydon explained. “I don’t think they’d thought it through when they did. Call it spur-of-the-moment stupidity, or simply opportunity. They took it and they plan to bring it back unharmed.”

“Who?”

Braydon canted his head. “Now you know I can’t tell you that.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously, man.” Braydon’s expression sobered. “Just go to the game tonight. See for yourself.”

Clearly he wasn’t getting anywhere with Braydon. He should’ve known one of the reigning high-school-prank-kings would protect whoever took the statue.

Again, not that Slade really gave a damn.

“So, will we see you tonight?” Braydon asked, backing away.

Slade nodded. “We’re havin’ dinner with my folks before the game, so yeah, probably.”

“Cool.” Braydon offered a clipped salute before spinning on his heel and hurrying toward the diner.

Slade stood there, watching him go, trying to figure out what prank could possibly need them to steal the damn horse statue.

He came up with nothing.