Deadly Coincidence (Brantley Walker: Off the Books Book 4) Page 8

  Oh, there were so many ways to finish that sentence.

  JJ had settled into her loft office in the converted barn the Off the Books Task Force utilized as their headquarters about an hour ago, and she had everything she needed to make it a great night. Two cans of Orange Crush, a bowl of Orville Redenbacher’s air-popped goodness, and a keyboard. While everyone else was out partying, ringing in the new year together, she had every intention of taking in some caffeine and popcorn while doing some discreet digging—her polite term for hacking—into the whereabouts of the woman who was at the very top of the OTB Task Force’s Most Wanted list.

  It had been one hundred and eight days since Juliet Prince kidnapped Kate Walker.

  It had been one hundred and six days since Juliet Prince went on the run.

  And it’d been nine days since JJ had received a notification on any sort of sightings of the woman who had kidnapped one of her boss’s many cousins. Or, in this case, JJ figured Kate was actually a second cousin to Brantley Walker, the man JJ called best friend and boss. Not that it mattered whether she was second, third, or tenth, Kate was family and anyone who lived in Coyote Ridge, Texas, knew how close the Walker family was.

  Nine freaking days of crickets and it was killing her.

  While JJ wasn’t a part of the Walker family, or even close to them despite her proximity, she had a vested interest in this case. She’d been a part of the investigation when Kate originally went missing, called in to help by Brantley himself. And she refused to give up until they’d located Juliet Prince and put that crazy beeyotch in a cage where she belonged.

  “Why are you here?”

  JJ shrieked, jumping back in her chair and damn near toppling over.

  Clutching her chest where her heart thumped a little too hard, JJ glared over at the man who appeared at the top of the stairs.

  “You scared me half to death, Reese Tavoularis,” she chided.

  His response: a smirk.

  The butthole.

  Worse, he smirked, and it had that dimple in his cheek winking, which was oddly endearing and made it nearly impossible to be angry with the man.

  “I’m workin’,” she told him, doing a double take when her brain processed the eyeful of sexy cowboy.

  Reese looked smoking hot in his black button-down, ass-hugging Wranglers, lightly scuffed boots, and a black felt Stetson sitting atop his handsome head.

  Somewhere close to six and a half feet tall, not too skinny, not too muscular, with a striking jawline and pretty brown eyes, Reese Tavoularis was a ridiculously attractive man.

  Such a shame the guy recently realized he was gay, falling fast and hard for Brantley.

  “Why’re you here?” she asked, not voicing the lookin’ like that part.

  “To find out why you’re here.”

  “Did Brantley send you?” she asked, smiling as she turned her attention back to her computer.

  “Maybe.”

  “Well, you can tell him I’m fine. I don’t need a babysitter on New Year’s.” JJ toggled to another screen. “I thought y’all were goin’ out.”

  “We are.”

  “Well, you better get goin’,” she drawled. “I mean, it’s good to be fashionably late, but not so late that you miss the party.”

  “Doubt we’ll miss it,” he said drolly. “Still a few hours till midnight.”

  JJ relaxed in her chair, spun it to face him. “Why don’t you sound happy about that?”

  “I can think of better ways to pass the time.”

  She popped her eyebrows. “Naked, right? With Brantley? I can—”

  “Don’t even,” he warned, fighting a smile.

  “Fine.” She wouldn’t go there. Aloud, anyway. “Brantley talked you into it, huh?”

  “Doesn’t he always?” Reese hooked his thumbs in his pockets. “Come with us.”

  “What?” Before he could answer, she was shaking her head, turning back to her computer. “Nope. No way. I’ve already imposed on enough holidays this year. I’ve met my quota.”

  Reese sighed. “You know he’s not gonna accept that.”

  “He’ll be fine,” she assured him, casting a sideways glance. “Distract him. Based on the way he gives you googly eyes half the time, I figure you’re pretty good at that.”

  “Googly eyes?” Reese’s forehead creased with confusion. “What the hell are googly eyes?”

  “Watch him when he’s watchin’ you sometime. You’ll see ’em.” JJ chuckled, batted her eyelashes. “But the answer’s still the same. I’m not goin’ out tonight. Me and Tesha are gonna hang right here.”

  Another sigh. “Fine. I’m not gonna twist your arm. You wanna spend the last few hours of the year sittin’ at your desk, who am I to argue?”

  JJ smiled. “I appreciate your generosity.”

  She turned her attention back to her computer, but when Reese didn’t leave, she found she couldn’t focus. And when he still didn’t leave, she knew she was in trouble. There was only one reason Reese would linger.

  Sure enough, the door opened below, then there were footsteps on the stairs. While she listened to each thud bringing him inevitably closer, JJ considered jumping out of the single window in her office. It wasn’t that far to the ground.

  Brantley cleared his throat when he appeared at the top of the stairs.

  Crap on a cracker.

  Hold your ground, sista. You’ve got this.

  Her best friend/boss looked just as strikingly handsome as his partner.

  Six foot four and layered with a bit more muscle than Reese, Brantley Walker had it going on. And those eyes—a steely-blue that made any hetero woman’s blood heat instantly—swoon. She remembered being completely infatuated with the man when she was a teenager. Granted, he’d had no interest in her, rather dating her brother, but that hadn’t stopped JJ from having a few hormone-fueled fantasies.

  She scanned them both from head to toe, held her chin, and tapped her finger on her lip. “Yep. I think it should be illegal for the two of you to go out like that.”

  “Like what?” Brantley asked.

  JJ nodded her head in their direction. “Like that. All cowboy’d up.”

  They were both glowering at her.

  “Let’s just say one of you is more than enough sexy.” She waved a hand in their direction. “That much hotness should not be multiplied.”

  Brantley glanced at Reese, shook his head. “She just doesn’t quit, does she?”

  “Nope.”

  Their attention shifted back to her.

  “Come on,” Brantley said in that commanding tone that left no room for argument.

  “Not goin’,” she countered.

  When he took a step toward her, JJ grabbed the arms of her chair and gripped them tightly, prepared to kick and scream if she had to.

  “Brantley Walker, don’t you dare.”

  “You’re not workin’ tonight,” he insisted. “You’re goin’ out with us.”

  She shook her head, gripped the arms tighter. “I don’t want to.”

  “Yes, you do.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Do, too.”

  “Oh. My. God!” JJ exclaimed. “It’s like arguin’ with a two-year-old.”

  “Tell me about it,” Brantley bit out, reaching for her.

  When he did, JJ hopped up from her seat, sidestepping him and putting the chair between them.

  “I’m not goin’,” she hissed, circling to keep him on the other side of the chair. “And you can’t make me.”

  Aw, crap. Why did she go and say that? Like it was a dare or something. Brantley would never back down from a dare.

  He cocked his head to the side, studied her momentarily. She could practically see the hamster wheel spinning in his head. No doubt he was devising a plan to get her down those stairs with the least amount of damage done to her, the building, and himself.

  “Let it go, B,” she warned, hoping to disrupt his thought process. The man was a former Navy SEAL; it
wouldn’t take much for him to come up with a plan and implement it before she even knew what happened.

  His eyes narrowed.

  For a second, she thought he was going to let it go. She should’ve known better.

  Before she could think about which direction to go, the chair slipped out of her grip, rolled across the room, and then Brantley was spinning her, his big, muscular arms wrapping tightly around her from behind. When he lifted her so her feet came off the ground, JJ did the only thing she could…

  She rammed her heels into his shins.

  “Son of a bitch,” he ground out, setting her back on her feet, instantly reaching down to rub his shin. “Are your feet made of steel? That fuckin’ hurt.”

  He was lucky she’d taken her shoes off.

  “I’m serious,” JJ said, keeping her voice low and without an ounce of mirth so he would know she really was serious. “I can’t go out tonight. And even if I could, I wouldn’t go to Moonshiners.”

  No way would she risk running into Baz. She couldn’t.

  When Brantley looked her in the eye, JJ held his gaze, ensuring he saw her sincerity. He of all people knew how difficult the past month had been on her. It didn’t matter that she was at fault, that she’d brought her little world crashing down all on her own. It still had been hard to walk away from Baz.

  “Fine,” he said through clenched teeth. “We’ll go out and you can stay here. I’ll spend the night worried about you. If that’s what you want…”

  “You are not gonna guilt-trip me, Walker. No way, no how.”

  “Then I guess you’ll have to go with us.”

  JJ shook her head. “Can’t.”

  “Can.”

  “Brantley.” She dragged out his name in warning.

  Surely he understood. He’d been there for her this past month. He and Reese both. Ever since she stood Baz up on Thanksgiving, she’d been in a bad place, and they hadn’t given her shit about it. It had been doubly hard on her considering she worked with the sexy blond detective she was doing her best to avoid.

  Plus the holidays, being alone for them. Or rather, the third wheel since Brantley was determined to drag her around with them so she wasn’t completely alone.

  Needless to say, JJ didn’t want to relive the month of December.

  Brantley clearly got the message, because he held up his hands in a sign of surrender. “Fine. You win.”

  JJ exhaled, a little surprised but overwhelmingly grateful he was giving up.

  “But you have to call me when you leave here,” Brantley insisted. “And when you get home. That way I know you made it safe.”

  “I will.” JJ looked past him at Reese. “You want me to take Tesha to my house tonight?”

  Reese was immediately shaking his head. “No. I’d like her home with us. We’ll be back around midnight.”

  “No problem. I’ll make sure she’s safe and sound in the house before I go.”

  “Thanks.”

  JJ nodded, looked back at Brantley. “I’ll be fine. I promise.”

  “I know.”

  When he reached for her, she gave in to the hug but stepped back before he could pull another stunt like throwing her over his shoulder and going all caveman.

  “Now go. Get. Y’all need to go out, get your drunk on. Have fun. And be sure to kiss at midnight. It’s good luck, you know.”

  Brantley frowned, clearly not believing her. Not that she believed it either, but the goal was to send him on his way before he could sweet-talk her into joining him. If he tried hard enough, they both knew she would eventually give in.

  “Fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he said cryptically as he turned and headed for the stairs.

  “What does that mean?” she asked, watching as they both headed down. “Brantley! What does that mean?”

  “Happy New Year, JJ,” Brantley called out, not looking back as they walked out the door.

  She stood there, staring down for the longest time, trying to process what he’d said. What was he warning her about?

  Exhaling heavily, JJ turned back to her desk. She had things to do. Important things.

  She took a deep breath, pushed her chair back to her desk, and eased into it. After flexing and wiggling her fingers, she settled them on the keyboard, eager to get back to it. One of these days, she was going to find Juliet Prince. It would happen, but only if she was diligent. Meaning she didn’t have time to go out anyway.

  “Even if I wanted to,” she muttered.

  Not that she did.

  Nope.

  As long as she kept telling herself that, it would be true.

  A few minutes later, her phone dinged. She didn’t bother pulling up the camera. JJ knew it was a notification that Brantley and Reese had triggered the motion detector as they were leaving.

  “Just you and me, girl,” JJ said to Tesha, who was curled up on the dog bed in the corner. “Exactly as it should be.”

  *

  Sebastian Buchanan knew what he was about to do could quite possibly be the worst idea in the history of all ideas.

  Worse than the Snuggie for dogs or Smell-o-Vision, or—for God’s sake, why change a good thing?—New Coke.

  Unfortunately, Baz didn’t know another way.

  For the past month, he’d waited patiently for JJ to talk to him, to explain why she’d stood him up rather than go to his father’s house for Thanksgiving dinner as she’d agreed to do. It was the least he deserved, although he already knew why. He merely wanted to hear it from her.

  Baz remembered that day clearly. He’d been waiting for her that morning, expecting her to arrive at his apartment, only to get a text from Brantley to let him know she had cold feet, and rather than letting her spend the day working, Brantley was talking her into going to his parents with him and Reese.

  What was Baz supposed to say to that? No, sorry, she already promised me?

  It didn’t work that way, so he’d conceded after attempting to contact JJ only for his texts to go unanswered. Knowing he would drive her further away if he pushed too hard, Baz had gone to his father’s without her. And despite the fact he would’ve preferred she be there, he’d had a good time with his family.

  However, leaving it to JJ to explain why she’d ghosted him or maybe just apologize was like waiting for hell to ice over. In other words, it wasn’t going to happen. Hell, the woman had a way of avoiding him even when they were in the same room. She was good at it, too.

  And yes, he’d considered making the same offer at Christmas but feared it would be a repeat of their previous ordeal, so he’d resisted the urge only to see on social media how she’d enjoyed her time with Brantley’s and Reese’s families. It was then he decided it was time they addressed this issue once and for all, only that was thwarted when Trey had uncovered a hot lead on a very cold case. The task force had spent the past three days and nights vigorously searching for the needle in the haystack, only they’d come up empty.

  In an effort to reset, they were taking a break for one night. One single night.

  So here he was, in Brantley and Reese’s driveway, climbing out of his truck, mentally gearing up for one of the most important conversations of his life, all the while praying he could maintain his composure and not launch into the many reasons JJ should just give him a chance. He had a list, after all, and was fully prepared to plead his case if she needed him to. His only concern was that he was going to look like a whining, pathetic idiot and she was going to hate him for a different reason.

  As he closed the truck door, inhaling the cool night air, he heard footsteps on the front porch, turned to see Brantley and Reese strolling toward him.

  Oh, right. They were headed out to Moonshiners. They’d invited him, but Baz had politely declined, fully intending to wallow in his own pity by his lonesome.

  Yet here he was.

  “Thought you were gonna stay home,” Brantley said as they approached him in the driveway.

  “I was,” he admitted, the
n nodded in the direction of the barn. “Figured I’d…”

  There was sympathy in Brantley’s gaze when he said, “She’s in her office. Perfect timing, too.”

  Baz glanced between his two bosses as he tried to decrypt Brantley’s comment. He hadn’t told anyone he was coming, so how was his timing perfect?

  “He’s assumin’ you were goin’ for stealth,” Reese explained, patting him on the shoulder.

  Baz cocked an eyebrow, still not understanding.

  Reese motioned toward the eave of the house. “Camera. Motion detector? She’ll just think the alert’s from us leavin’.”

  Ah. Yeah, he could see how that could be construed as perfect timing. Since the grounds were monitored, streaming live video that JJ kept running on the big screen downstairs, the only chance he had of getting by undetected was if she was upstairs in the loft working. Considering JJ was definitely a flight risk, if she saw him on the cameras, he might just find the barn empty.

  “If you crash and burn here, head over to Moonshiners,” Brantley said. “The first one’s on me.”

  “Thanks.” Baz had a feeling he was going to need a beer or three after this conversation.

  “Happy New Year.” Brantley smacked him on the back. “And good luck.”

  He would most definitely need it, Baz thought as he rounded the house and headed for the barn. There was a good chance JJ was scaling down from the second-floor window at that very moment.

  Chapter Seven

  When Baz disappeared around the side of the house, Reese got settled in the passenger seat of Brantley’s truck, buckled his seat belt with a resigned sigh.

  Although it was usually the first thought he had when there was a destination in mind, Reese knew better than to insist he be the one to drive because it would get them nowhere. Brantley wasn’t keen on being a passenger, hence the reason they were always in Brantley’s truck rather than Reese’s. Not that Reese was all that fond of riding shotgun, but he figured someone had to compromise. And since there were plenty more compromises to be made in their relationship, Reese had conceded this one. Mostly.