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

by Nicole Edwards

  “She’s in the past,” Reese stated. “I haven’t talked to her since that day. The day she broke things off.”

  He glanced back at Reese. “Did you love her?”

  “I thought I did. At the time.”

  Brantley nodded, but he looked away again.

  How had he not known this? What else didn’t he know about Reese?

  More importantly, what other things in Reese’s past would he have to compete with?

  Chapter Two

  Several hours later, after a tense flight home, after they’d picked up Tesha from JJ’s and returned to the house, Reese was doing his best to give Brantley some space. Not because he wanted to but because he could tell Brantley preferred it.

  Ever since Reese had revealed that he’d been almost engaged, Brantley had been acting strange. And while he said he wasn’t pissed, Reese wasn’t sure he believed him. He’d seen Brantley angry before and the man didn’t resort to violence. He was far too controlled for that. No, Brantley leaned more toward passive-aggressive, shutting down completely, closing himself off, pushing everyone away. Anything to avoid confrontation.

  Which was exactly what he was doing now.

  And Reese was letting him.

  Because he preferred not to sit on his thumbs and wait for Brantley to come around, after a quick trip to the grocery store, Reese had made a call to Magnus Storme, the man they’d hired to handle Tesha’s training, hoping Magnus could squeeze an extra session into his busy schedule, grateful when the trainer had agreed.

  The owner of Camp K-9, a highly sought-after dog daycare and search-and-rescue training facility just a few miles down the road, was well regarded by his clients and came highly recommended. Kennedy, Tesha’s veterinarian, had recommended Magnus to Brantley. In turn, Brantley’d done his research and decided to check him out prior to mentioning him to Reese. By the time Reese was officially introduced, Brantley had deemed the man capable and deserving of their business.

  And by business, Reese was referring to his desire to train Tesha to assist with their cases. More along the lines of search and rescue—assisting with finding missing people—but also patrol training, which consisted of obedience, agility, tracking, and the like. And they were starting from the beginning with basic training and whatnot.

  Now, as Reese waited for Magnus to arrive, he tossed the ball for Tesha, sat patiently on the step while she scampered across the brittle, dry grass, retrieved it, and returned. She was getting better, no longer wandering off aimlessly unless she’d already dropped the ball at Reese’s feet, but they still had a long way to go.

  “Tesha, here,” he commanded, watching his four-legged friend as she trotted his way.

  She came to a stop directly in front of him, plopping her butt on the ground and staring up at him with such hope in her eyes. Yeah, there was no doubt about it, when it came to this dog, he was a goner.

  It’d only been a few weeks since, during a witness interview down in Houston, he’d found Tesha malnourished and chained to a stake with no water and no shelter in sight. Because her video-game-playing, chain-smoking, whiskey-chugging owners felt it was okay to ignore her, Reese had decided she deserved better.

  Perhaps his actions had been technically illegal, but Reese hadn’t lost a minute of sleep since he’d personally relocated her, carrying her right out of that backyard and putting her into their SUV. He could still remember the fury he’d felt that day, seeing her helpless and neglected. It had filled him with a pain he hadn’t experienced before, and he couldn’t, in good conscience, walk away from her.

  So here she was. And under the close eye of the town veterinarian, he was happy to say Tesha had put on a solid ten pounds and sported a happy-go-lucky grin more often than not.

  Reese found himself smiling. “I take it you were good for JJ while we were gone?”

  Tesha’s head cocked to the side, and Reese would’ve sworn she was smiling back at him.

  “Maybe not too good.” He reached down to scratch her head.

  Tesha’s tongue lolled out of her mouth and her eyes closed, making him laugh.

  “Well, look at you.”

  Reese glanced over to see Magnus strolling toward them, his full attention on Tesha. She spared Magnus a brief look only to have her interest piqued. She barked once, stood momentarily, then sat directly in front of Reese, facing away from him this time, her tail thumping with barely restrained anticipation.

  Magnus laughed as he neared. “Hello, Tesha.”

  Reese could admit he’d been skeptical upon first meeting Magnus when Brantley had dragged him over to the dog day camp to introduce them. It didn’t have anything to do with the camp itself, which he learned was well maintained and well staffed. The five-acre facility held a single-story house, where Magnus lived, a decent-sized metal barn behind it, which was the main office, training room, and luxury kennels, as well as several outbuildings, a few penned-in areas, and a large swimming pool specifically for the dogs.

  That didn’t include the three hundred acres of rocky terrain the facility sat on that Magnus utilized for training search-and-rescue dogs.

  Reese thought back to his first introduction to the twenty-four-year-old Magnus, which had been shortly after they’d happened upon a young woman—clearly rocking her going-out clothes from the previous night out—slipping out of Magnus’s house and right into the backseat of an Uber as they were pulling in. He wouldn’t have thought anything of it except it wasn’t a drop-in type of meeting. Magnus had been expecting them, yet his flavor of the night had been lingering upon their arrival.

  Turned out, if it hadn’t been for the woman doing the walk of shame, Reese would’ve been highly impressed. He’d given Magnus the benefit of the doubt, and after a solid hour of Magnus working with Tesha, Reese’s pessimism had been quashed. More so when Magnus had informed him that Tesha wouldn’t be the only one undergoing training. Evidently, Reese and Brantley would learn just as much as Tesha, and they had been for the past few weeks.

  The good news was, Tesha had taken to Magnus, something Reese had been worried about in the beginning. She still rarely left Reese’s side when they were together, but she didn’t cower or quiver when Magnus was around. In fact, he’d go so far as to say Tesha liked the man. Then again, it was easy to like Magnus. He was just … likable.

  “Doesn’t look like you partied too much with JJ,” Magnus said to Tesha.

  The man had been introduced to Jessica James, the Off the Books Task Force’s hacker extraordinaire, several months ago, even worked with her a few times on how to handle Tesha in regard to training. Being a bit on the protective side where Tesha was concerned, Reese had asked JJ for her opinion of the man. Her honest answer: “He’s got bedroom eyes and really, really nice arms.”

  Not exactly the type of feedback he’d been looking for, but that was JJ. Ever helpful if you were looking to date someone, but not necessarily when you wanted to utilize their professional services.

  “Probably in bed by ten,” Reese commented. Seemed to be what JJ did these days, ever since she’d broken things off with Baz.

  When Tesha stood, Magnus held up one finger. She immediately sat again.

  “Good, girl,” he crooned, praising her with a scratch on the head.

  “Keepin’ up with the training, I see.”

  “It’s our main focus,” he admitted. “Now that we’ve mastered house trainin’, anyway.”

  Magnus squatted down to get on Tesha’s level. “Mastered, huh? Very impressive, Tesha.”

  It really was. For the first two weeks of her being in the house, Reese had felt as though he spent most of his time at the back door, urging her to go out in order to avoid any accidents. As time went by, she’d started announcing her need to go out until it was second nature. Then, like they’d done in the barn, once the fence had been put up, they’d installed a dog door, giving her free rein.

  “And the leash? How’s that goin’?”

  “She has no problem with t
he harness,” he admitted, remembering how Tesha had been terrified when he’d first started training her on a leash. He figured it had to do with the fact she’d been tied up for so long. Magnus had suggested trying the harness rather than the collar and, sure enough, no issues.

  “And your bed?” Magnus grinned. “She still fightin’ to sleep there?”

  Reese chuckled. “No. Definitely not.”

  That had been the main thing Brantley had been focused on, ensuring they didn’t have to share a bed with the dog.

  Speaking of Brantley…

  Reese glanced up at the house, wondering if Brantley was going to come out or if he would stay inside, hiding from the world. Last he’d seen him, Brantley had headed upstairs to his office, claiming he had things to catch up on. Reese wasn’t buying it, but he knew better than to argue. That would come later, if and when Brantley’s mood didn’t improve.

  No sooner had Magnus asked Reese to leash Tesha than his watch buzzed, signaling someone’s arrival. Since he didn’t have his phone with him, he had to wait for their visitor to stroll around. These days he had no idea who might be making an appearance. Could be JJ coming to work for a bit or Baz or even Charlie, for that matter. Those three were known to spend a day off catching up on email or researching a case they were working on.

  But the new arrival was none of the above.

  Reese watched as Brantley’s older brother ambled over, Trey’s focus on Magnus as he approached. He was wearing sunglasses, which shielded his eyes, but Reese knew Trey was watching Magnus like a hawk. Trey was like Brantley in that way, innately curious and inherently skeptical.

  “What brings you by?” Reese asked when Trey came to a stop beside him.

  “Thought I’d see how the trip went and tackle a couple of things,” Trey answered, although his attention was still on Magnus.

  “Trey,” Magnus greeted with a smirk.

  Trey removed his sunglasses, hung them on the neck of his dark blue Henley before tucking his hands in his pockets. The two men stared at one another, their eyes locked as though they were in some sort of battle for who would blink first. Reese watched with interest.

  Rather than acknowledge Magnus verbally, something Reese had noticed Trey rarely did, Brantley’s brother turned to him. “Any luck in Mississippi?”

  “Nope. We staked it out for two days. Nothin’.”

  “But you didn’t expect it, either.”

  Reese shook his head. “Couldn’t be that easy.”

  “Never is.” Trey gave a curt nod. “I’ll be in the barn if you need me.”

  “Brantley’s in the house,” Reese told him. “If, you know, you wanna talk to him.”

  Reese was hoping someone would.

  Once again Trey’s gaze swung to Magnus as he said, “Yeah, sure. I’ll go in, say hello.”

  And then Trey was walking toward the house and Magnus was watching intently.

  “You two have a problem?” Reese asked, too curious not to.

  “What?” Magnus’s gaze slammed into him. “No.” He shook his head. “No problem here.”

  “How’s your … uh … girlfriend?” Reese inquired, referring to the woman who’d been with Magnus the last time they’d gone to Camp K-9. For the record, there had been a different woman there nearly every time Reese had stopped in for a training session.

  Magnus frowned, his black eyebrows lowering. “No girlfriend.”

  “Oh. You were with… Sorry, her name eludes me.” Only because he’d never gotten her name.

  It was obvious Magnus was attempting to think back. It took a second before he smiled and shrugged. “That was … um … Mich—uh, Melanie. Yeah. I’d just met her. We’re not a thing. Just a one-nighter.”

  Interesting.

  More so when Magnus’s gaze shifted to the house once again, as though he might possibly lure Trey back out that way.

  *

  Trey Walker stepped into Brantley and Reese’s house, forced himself not to turn around and look at the trainer who for some stupid reason had snagged his attention from the jump. Since the day he’d met Tesha’s trainer, he found himself fantasizing about him for no good reason.

  And fine, Trey would admit there was something strangely appealing about Magnus Storme, with his closely cropped brown hair, hazel eyes, square jaw, and a nose that was slightly crooked. The previously broken nose didn’t even detract, only lent a rugged appeal to Magnus’s otherwise good-looking face.

  Initially, he’d tried to tell himself it was a good thing that Magnus invaded his thoughts from time to time. That fantasizing about a man he wasn’t intimate with, nor would he ever be, was no big deal. It didn’t matter that the guy plagued his dreams, because Trey had no intention of acting on his attraction. And not only because he knew Magnus was straight.

  No, Trey’s biggest reason for not acting on his attraction was the simple fact that he was doomed to fail at his relationships, and after Cyrus had up and left for a job in California, Trey realized it was easier to give up altogether than to hope that one day he would find a man who’d give as good as he got. So, for now, he was abstaining. Indefinitely.

  Heading for the stairs, he went up, proud of himself for maintaining his focus and not lingering on Magnus for too long. He even managed to avoid looking out the sliding doors that overlooked the yard to see if the man was in view. Just because the guy was good-looking, or because he could swear there was a mischievous gleam in Magnus’s eyes when he looked at him, did not mean Trey needed to entertain—

  “Why’re you here?” Brantley asked, pulling Trey from his thoughts.

  Realizing he was standing in the doorway of Brantley’s office, he raised his eyebrows. “What?”

  “You. Here. Why?”

  Trey smiled, understanding why Reese had suggested Trey talk to his brother. “What’s got your panties in a twist? Somethin’ go wrong on your stakeout?”

  “It’s almost Christmas. Shouldn’t you be at the mall gettin’ those last-minute gifts?”

  “Shouldn’t you?” Trey countered.

  “I plan to. Later.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Fuck you,” Brantley bit out with a smile.

  “Fuck you, too.”

  Then they were both quiet, staring at one another.

  He knew Brantley had changed the subject for a reason, and while he didn’t have a problem giving any of his brothers or sisters shit, Trey knew when to hold off. Right now felt like one of those times.

  Trey jerked his chin in the direction of the barn. “Figured I’d follow up on a couple of things,” he told his brother, leaning against the doorjamb. “You know, before everyone’s out of the office for the long weekend.”

  Brantley was still leaning back in his chair. Every so often his gaze would shift to the window. Trey figured he was attempting to see Reese, but there was no way. Not from where he was sitting.

  “You’re comin’ to Mom and Dad’s for Christmas breakfast, right?” he asked when Brantley didn’t say anything. “And gettin’ with Reese’s family for dinner?”

  “That’s the plan,” Brantley muttered, and Trey could tell his mind was elsewhere.

  He stood tall. “Well, then. I guess I’ll leave you to it.”

  “Yep.”

  He paused for a moment, watched his brother.

  “You sure everything’s cool?”

  “All good.”

  Clearly something was bothering him, but Trey couldn’t bring himself to dig. At the moment, he didn’t have the energy to shoulder the weight of anyone else’s problems. Not with his own bearing down on him.

  Trey made it back down the stairs and glanced at the front door, tempted to go out that way, hop in his truck, and head back to his house. He didn’t really have anything pressing that needed his attention. Plus the thought of seeing Magnus didn’t sit well with him, but he had no fucking clue why he’d even care. The guy might be a flirt, but he was harmless.

  Okay, so he did know why he cared. Because he h
ad sworn off men, dammit. Enacted a vow of celibacy. Abstaining. A born-again virgin. Just call him a monk.

  No. Men.

  And he was fucking lonely because of it. Dammit.

  Trey snorted, then forced his feet toward the back door. No way was he going to run like a scared fucking rabbit. Damn sure not because of some … some … kid.

  And that was exactly what Magnus was. At least compared to Trey. Thirty-six minus twenty-four equaled … hell, Trey was likely getting his first kiss by the time Magnus popped out of his mama. No fucking way would he even entertain the idea.

  No. Fucking. Way.

  But he wasn’t a coward, so he marched his ass right out the back door, onto the deck, down the steps, and made a beeline for the barn. Trey forced his gaze to remain on his destination, doing his damnedest not to listen for the slightest sound that might tell him where Magnus was.

  He was almost home free when the blasted man appeared on the other side of the barn, walking Tesha on a leash. Magnus lifted his gaze as he turned the corner, and Trey stopped mid-stride.

  Like every single one of their previous encounters, Magnus’s gaze raked over him slowly before stopping on his face.

  It was the eyes. The hazel color was such a unique mix of brown and green and blue, it didn’t seem real. Add in the fact they contrasted perfectly with the dark brown hair, the long lashes… Definitely fuckable.

  No, dammit. Not. Not fuckable.

  Not anything.

  Trey realized Magnus was still staring at him.

  “What?” Trey asked, frowning.

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “But you were thinkin’ somethin’.”

  “Was I?” Magnus’s cocky smirk irritated the shit out of him.

  “Where’s Reese?”

  Magnus’s chin jerked in the direction of the house. “Went to grab his phone.”

  Remembering he was not going to see this guy as a challenge, Trey nodded, relaxed his shoulders, and closed the distance between him and the electronic panel that opened the barn door.

  “Don’t let me keep you,” Trey said absently, glancing back over his shoulder just in time to catch the man staring at his ass.