Alibi by Nicole Edwards

Chapter Twenty

Tuesday, March 2, 2021

“We’ve got her!”

Brantley stared at the phone sitting on his desk. Z’s words were still echoing in the room and all eyes were on Brantley.

“As in you found her?” he clarified. “Or you picked her up?”

Z exhaled, his voice calmer when he spoke again. “As in we know roughly where she is.”

Roughly? Brantley didn’t like the sound of that. He wanted that woman found.

Reese perched on the edge of the desk, glanced at Brantley, then down to the phone. “And that would be where, Z?”

“After we received two tips tying her to the same location on South Padre Island, we sent a guy down to scope out the area. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to get eyes on her, and he held off on askin’ around because we didn’t want to spook her if she was there. So I set up a grid search. We were able to scan cameras in the area and we can confirm Juliet Prince was just south of there in Port Isabel, Texas, within the last seventy-two hours.”

Brantley huffed, dropping back in his chair. “Seventy-two hours, Z? Seriously? There’s just as much of a chance she’s back here in Coyote Ridge by this point.”

“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger,” he grumbled. “My suggestion is you hop on that private charter RT set up to get your happy asses on down there.”

He sat up again. “What time does it leave?”

“He was bein’ generous and got you two hours.”

Brantley reached to disconnect the call but stopped when Z said, “Take me off speaker, Brantley.”

He glanced at Reese, then picked up the phone, tapped the screen to return the audio to the phone. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“I know you’re gonna do whatever the hell you want to do, but I’d like to suggest you keep this information to yourself.”

“Meanin’?”

“Meanin’ don’t share it with your cousin. You and I both know it’s in everyone’s best interest, especially Travis’s, if he stays out of this.”

“You’re right,” he growled softly. “I will do whatever the hell I wanna do. Got a flight to catch, Z. We’ll keep you in the loop.”

Brantley tucked his phone in his pocket and glared at Reese, a silent warning for him to let it go. As much as Brantley wanted to keep this to himself, as much as he agreed with Z that it was in everyone’s best interest, he couldn’t do that. He had already made a promise to his cousin, and he had no intention of breaking it.

“Does this mean we’re takin’ a trip?” Baz inquired.

“We are.” He looked at each team member. “Any volunteers?”

Charlie was the first to speak up. “If you absolutely need me, I’m there. But if you think you’ll have enough without me, I’d prefer to sit this one out.”

Brantley knew Charlie was dealing with some issues with her mother, so he understood her need to remain here.

“Same,” JJ noted.

Brantley looked at Baz. “You game?”

“I go where you tell me to, boss.”

When he looked at Trey, his brother said, “Same.”

“The four of us then,” he decided, turning his attention to JJ. “Tell me what we’re lookin’ at.”

Instantly, a map appeared on the television screen.

“Port Isabel is twenty-three miles northeast of Brownsville, close to the border. You’re talkin’ a total area of roughly fourteen square miles, half of which is water. Plus, you’ve got access to South Padre Island via the Queen Isabella Causeway. From the looks of it, there’s nowhere to hide but a few options for hightailin’ it outta there.”

Exactly what Brantley was afraid of.

But he had to think positive on this. They’d gotten further than they ever had. No sense in dooming them to fail at this point.

“We’ll do what we can,” he told the team. “We’ll need vehicles and possibly a place to stay while we’re there. Check with RT, see if they’ve got somethin’ that doesn’t stand out in or around the area. We need to go in as silently as possible.”

“You think she’s there?”

“There’s only one way to find out.”

*

Reese didn’t bother asking Brantley where hewas going when the man up and left the barn. He didn’t have to.

If they truly were close to finding Juliet Prince—and he prayed to fuck they were—then Brantley was heading out to tell Travis.

“You think he’ll let Travis come along for the ride?” Baz asked, coming to stand beside him.

Still staring at the door Brantley had just exited, Reese shrugged. “I don’t think he wants to make that decision.” Changing the subject, he met Baz’s gaze. “You sure you’re cool to go? How’re things goin’ with Molly?”

He saw the instant Baz’s expression fell, that mask falling in place.

Reese had been doing his best to stay out of Baz’s business for the past few weeks, but he couldn’t help but worry. His one-night stand was now his future baby mama, and Baz had been spending a tremendous amount of time dealing with the woman. And while Reese understood personal issues sometimes took precedence, this was one that seemed to be bogging Baz down.

“I asked about her next appointment,” Baz answered, his voice lacking any luster whatsoever. “Told her I’d like to go with her if I’m in town.”

“What did she say?”

“She didn’t answer me.”

“As in she ignored you?”

“More like she avoided the question. Changed the subject.”

Ah, hell. That was fucked up.

Reese didn’t say as much, but he found this woman’s responses suspicious. She’d bombarded Baz with the news that she was pregnant only a couple of days after they’d slept together, yet she was unwilling to provide absolute proof. Admittedly, Reese didn’t know anything about pregnancies, but he thought it took a little longer than two days for a woman to know for certain.

Not that he was questioning it. If Molly Ryan said she was pregnant, he had no reason to believe otherwise. What he found odd was the fact that she was withholding the big things from the man she claimed was the father. When Baz asked to see the pregnancy test, she refused. When he asked to go to the doctor when she got the test to confirm—something she said she was doing—she refused him. Now, when she was going into her ninth week and could get an ultrasound, she wasn’t willing to let Baz be part of it? Something was off.

And fine, maybe the woman was private. Maybe she wasn’t comfortable letting him be part of it in that regard. But she had no qualms texting him three dozen times a day in an attempt to see him. The woman had messaged and called him so many times, Brantley’d finally had to say something about it. She had become a disruption to their work, and Brantley asked Baz to deal with it.

For the record, it hadn’t worked. The woman was relentless.

Reese didn’t bother asking Baz how things were going between him and JJ. He was there. He could see that it was … well, the word he’d use would be weird. Those two seemed to have become best buds in recent weeks. They were working side by side, still living together, going to and from work together. It was as though they’d never had a romantic entanglement at all.

Speaking of JJ…

“I think you’ll have company on your trip,” she said, speaking directly to Reese. “When I called RT for housin’ options, he mentioned he was sendin’ someone down there ahead of y’all. A Decker Bromwell, I think. Said he’d be waitin’ at the airport.”

“Good. We could use the help.” Unless this was the guy who had failed already. If so, it was probably a waste of manpower.

As far as Reese was concerned, the more boots on the ground they had the better, but he preferred someone capable. Although he wouldn’t stop until they found Juliet Prince, he wouldn’t deny he hoped they found her sooner rather than later. As it was, they’d been at it full throttle ever since Kylie’s funeral, and they had little to nothing to show for it.

Sure, Z was busy perfecting their facial recognition algorithm, and they’d compiled a list of people they knew to have associated with Juliet at some point in her life. Thanks to social media posts mostly, they’d documented quite a few people they were keeping an eye on to ensure she didn’t seek their help, but so far, those had turned up nothing.

Hunting door to door was their only option. And if that didn’t work … well, Reese was fairly certain it was going to come down to drawing Juliet out from her hiding spot.

Truth was, he wasn’t quite ready to see what that entailed. Whatever it was, it didn’t sound good. For anyone.

Two hours later, they were boarding Sniper 1 Security’s private jet.

It had taken less than an hour for the team to get everything in order, another half hour to swing through and grab go-bags and whatnot. JJ and Charlie had stayed behind, agreeing to get access to the camera feeds Z was monitoring so they would know what they were dealing with.

“What’re we waitin’ on?” Reese asked Brantley as they sat on the tarmac.

“We’ve got one more comin’.”

Reese sighed. “You couldn’t talk him out of it?”

Brantley glanced over, frowned. “Who?”

“Travis? I assume he’s joinin’ us?”

Brantley relaxed again, stared straight ahead. “Actually, no. He and Gage are sittin’ tight. I promised to keep them in the loop.”

Reese knew his shock was evident. Never would he have predicted Travis would back off of this. Sure, the man had calmed some since Kylie’s funeral, what with the tree-planting ceremonies and all, but Reese knew he hadn’t stopped completely.

“You tell him where we’re goin’?”

“I did.”

That was the first mistake.

It all made perfect sense now. There was no reason for Travis to make the trek as long as he knew where she was. He understood Brantley’s need to ensure Travis realized how hard they were working on this. After all, they all felt responsible because they hadn’t caught Juliet back when she’d kidnapped Kate. However, Reese knew Travis. He figured it was safe to say he knew the man better than Brantley did. Had to do with the fact he had worked for Travis for so long, spent time with him and his family over the years while Brantley was still in the navy. And what Brantley didn’t know was that Travis had gotten pretty good at keeping his hands clean in matters such as this one.

He would bet good money Travis was already on the phone with Max Adorite. Reese still fully believed that man was going to interfere in this investigation, and they’d be lucky to find Juliet Prince’s body when all was said and done.

And while he didn’t give a shit what happened to Juliet, he did not want to see anyone go down for it. Not Travis, not Brantley, not anyone close to them. Not even Max. Everyone who knew Max knew what the man was capable of. But just because he hadn’t been caught up to this point didn’t mean he’d be home free forever.

With a sigh, Reese glanced at Brantley. “Who’re we waitin’ for then?”

“Magnus,” Brantley said so softly Reese hardly heard him.

Reese knew he shouldn’t look at Trey, but he couldn’t help himself. The man had no idea he was about to be thrust into a situation that might not be comfortable for him. No one knew exactly what had happened on New Year’s Eve when he left Moonshiners at the same time as Magnus Storme, but it wasn’t difficult to draw his own conclusions.

“There he is,” Brantley announced.

All eyes went to the door, remained there until Magnus appeared, a four-legged partner with him.

“Glad you could make it,” Brantley said, half standing and holding out his hand to Magnus.

“Glad I could, too.” Magnus shook Brantley’s hand and nodded toward the dog at the end of the leash in his other hand. “This is Adira. She’s my most reliable tracker. If anyone can help us, she can.”

Reese’s attention shifted to Tesha, who had been snoozing on the bed Reese had brought for her. Now she was sitting, head lifted, eyes locked on the newcomer.

“Don’t worry,” Magnus said, as though reading Reese’s mind. “She’s good with other dogs.”

“Yeah,” he muttered. “But is Tesha?”

Clearly he heard him because Magnus answered with, “Absolutely. These two ladies were introduced long ago. In fact, Adira’s helped with some of Tesha’s training.” He lowered his voice, commanded Adira with a single word. “Greet.”

Tail wagging, Adira trotted the few feet to Tesha, then leaned in and nuzzled her nose before sitting once more.

Tesha was instantly up, her full body wagging as she whimpered at Adira.

“Home,” Magnus instructed.

And just like that, Adira turned into a lovable pup, yipping and hopping like she’d been born to play with Tesha.

“I’m impressed,” Brantley told Magnus.

“You should be. I’m damned good at what I do.”

Reese barked a laugh as he caught the way Magnus was looking at Trey when he spoke. When Trey’s gaze slammed into Reese, he clamped his mouth shut, trying to hold it in.

This was going to get interesting.

Especially since Brantley chose that moment to inform Trey that he was now partnered with Magnus while Baz would be working with Decker Bromwell.

Yep. Very, very interesting.

*

“You did that on purpose.”

Brantley looked over at Reese. “Did what on purpose?”

“Invited Magnus.”

“I assure you, I had no ulterior motives,” he lied, glancing back at his brother briefly.

Reese sighed, probably thinking that, of all the people he knew, he’d never expected Brantley to be such a meddler.

In his defense, he wasn’t necessarily meddling. More like paying Trey back. Being older, Trey had picked on him endlessly growing up, and now that Brantley was in a position to give back, he couldn’t resist.

Or it could be the fact Brantley’d seen something different in Trey recently. Initially it had been what he believed was depression. Since he wasn’t a doctor and couldn’t very well make a medical diagnosis, he’d been keeping an eye on his brother. And the one thing he noticed that did bring Trey out of his funk … well, it happened to be the dog trainer.

So.

Here they were.

Turning his head toward Reese, Brantley said, “Tell me what you know about Max Adorite.”

“Not a whole lot, honestly. Probably not any more than what you’ve read about him. Mob boss. Took over the Adorite Crime Family, a.k.a. the Southern Boy Mafia, when his father, Samuel, was murdered.”

“Murdered? By whom?”

“No one seems to know.”

“Not even Madison?”

Brantley saw the shock on Reese’s face when he mentioned the name.

“If she does, she never said.” His gaze swung to the window. “She never really said much of anything about her family.”

That surprised Brantley. For whatever reason, he’d conjured up this loving, open relationship between Reese and Madison. One that involved dinners with the family, date nights, flowers, and breakfasts in bed, a lot of laughing and smiling.

Yeah, so his imagination had likely superimposed a bunch of flowery bullshit, but it didn’t change the fact that Reese had asked the woman to marry him.

“I read somewhere that he owns a club?” Brantley said, wanting to keep Reese talking.

“Devil’s Playground. Several locations across the country. Hot spot for the young and hip.”

“You go there often?”

Reese chuckled. “I haven’t been young and hip for a damn long time.”

Brantley knew Reese wasn’t referring to his age. Being that he was thirty-one, Reese would fall into the young category. However, it was the storm clouds in his eyes that told the story of how he’d come to live too hard, too fast. One day, Brantley hoped to learn what had happened that put those clouds there.

“This club … it a front for his businesses?”

“I’m not a forensic accountant, but I figure it’s a safe bet he launders money through. Certainly a perfect cash-producing setup.”

“What else is he into?”

“Guns and drugs mostly,” Reese answered easily. “He’s got some legit stuff goin’ on, too. He’s acquired more since he married Courtney Kogan.”

Brantley still had a hard time wrapping his head around that one. The head of a criminal organization marrying the daughter of a private security firm that worked diligently to remain on the right side of the law. He’d been even more surprised when Hunter and Trace had spoken somewhat affectionately for their brother-in-law. Granted, he didn’t think they were best buds with the man, but still.

Brantley considered all he’d just learned, then turned to Reese once more. “You think Travis called Max yet?”

“If not, then he’s on the phone with the guy right now.”

Yeah. He figured that, too.

And strangely, Brantley wasn’t as bothered by it as he probably should’ve been.