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 Brant
ley’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.
Chapter Twenty-One
“You okay?”
Travis looked up, saw Gage standing in the doorway to his home office. “Yeah. Why?”
Gage’s response was a quirk of his eyebrow.
“I’m good,” he assured the man. “I promised I would sit on the information Brantley gave us.”
“You did say that, yes.” Gage didn’t look convinced. “Doesn’t mean you have.”
Travis considered what he wanted to tell his husband. Since Gage used to be a police officer, having gone the route of undercover for a long time, he knew the man leaned more on the right side of the law. He believed in the justice system.
Travis, on the other hand, believed in taking care of your own shit. Probably had something to do with growing up in a small town. They tended to deal with their own issues, settle things between them without involving the law. Growing up, when someone wronged another, it was settled with fists, not phone calls. They didn’t call the police in to deal with their problems. Sure, the sheriff’s department had always had their own agenda, sticking their nose in where it didn’t necessarily belong, but that didn’t mean they were invited.
Gage strolled around and took a seat on the couch directly across from Travis’s desk. He propped his ankle on his knee and regarded Travis carefully.
Travis could see the curiosity in Gage’s eyes, knew he wasn’t going to leave until Travis started talking.
“Did you call him?”
Travis considered playing dumb, pretending he didn’t know who Gage was referring to. However, they were making strides in repairing their relationship, and the last thing he wanted was to cause a setback.
“Not yet.” Travis held Gage’s stare. “I was about to.”
“What’s stoppin’ you?”
“I wanted to talk to you first.”
And that was the God’s honest truth. From the moment Brantley had informed them that they had an actual location—albeit seventy-two hours old—on Juliet Prince, he’d been itching to call Max. He knew the Mafia boss would deal with the problem, make it go away once and for all without Travis ever having to get his hands dirty.
The only thing that had stopped him was the fact Gage deserved a say in what happened to the woman. After all, Kylie was Gage’s wife, too. Maybe not in the eyes of the law, no, but he was where it counted.
“Talk to me about what?”
“He can take care of her,” Travis said. “All I have to do is say the word.”
“I’m sure he will. But what’ll you be in for? We both know Adorites don’t do favors for free.”
No, they certainly did not. And though Travis had asked for a few favors from Max over the years, he’d only been called on once to return it. That particular incident had required Travis to manipulate a situation, maneuvering a person to a certain spot by using his resort as the carrot.
He had no idea what’d happened after that, nor did he care to. What Max did was his business. Whether it was legal or not was also his business.
“If it ever came down to it, can the feds tie you to him?” Gage asked.
“As an acquaintance, maybe,” Travis admitted. “But it’d be circumstantial at best.”
Gage seemed to consider that before he said, “And what is it you’re askin’ him for this time?”
Travis opted for honesty. “I want him to make her disappear. Permanently.”
Gage nodded, as though processing that information.
Travis wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but it wasn’t for Gage to slowly get to his feet and head for the door.
But what shocked him the most was when Gage turned back around and said, “Then I suggest you don’t let the task force find her. It’d be best if no one ever lays eyes on her again.” He started to pull the door shut. “I’ll just close this so you can make that call.”
When Gage left the room, Travis stared after him for a few minutes, letting his instructions sink in.
Travis should probably have worried that he didn’t have a crisis of conscience when it came to ordering a hit on Juliet Prince. And that was what it was, no matter how he wanted to pretty it up and call it a favor. He was asking one human being to eliminate another.
The question he had was who would he rather do it? Did he call Max and finalize his request, or did he take matters into his own hands? No, he’d never killed anyone, nor had he actually considered it before.
Had he played a part in having some really nasty people taken care of? Yeah. When his cousin Wolfe’s wife, Amy, had been running from a sadistic fuck who’d used his position of power to abuse and beat her, to kill her family and imprison her, Travis had called Max. And he’d never lost a moment of sleep for it.
And when his cousin Jared’s ex-wife used her own child to manipulate Jared, to punish him for absolutely no reason, Travis had stepped in. No, Sable wasn’t dead, but to this day Travis kept an eye on her, e
nsuring she did not come back and interfere in their lives.
Travis didn’t pretend to be a saint. Never had. Nor was he going to lose sleep over the decision he had to make now.
Taking a deep breath, Travis opened his top drawer, pulled out the burner phone he’d been sent for this specific instance, and dialed the familiar number.
“Yeah?” the gruff voice answered.
“I’m finalizin’ my request.”
“Where?”
“Port Isabel, Texas,” he stated firmly. “It’s a rush job.”
“Understood.”
When the call ended, Travis pulled the battery out of the phone. His next order of business was to destroy it as he’d been instructed.
Still sitting, he glanced at the picture of Kylie on his desk. “It’s almost done, baby. Just like I promised.”
Maximillian Adorite stood on the veranda overlooking his estate.
He sipped coffee, enjoying the pleasant weather and the cool breeze. He’d been up much of the night dealing with urgent business and he was slow going today. But he didn’t mind the downtime. In fact, he enjoyed what little bit of peace he could find in a day.
When Rock stepped forward, Max passed the phone over to him. “Destroy it.”
“Consider it done.”
Since Rock, born Taye Smith, was one of his most loyal enforcers, he knew the man could be trusted to protect him, to ensure nothing would blow back on him in the end. It was because of people like Rock that Max’s family had been able to build the life they had. And it was Rock and the others in Max’s employ who he would ensure were taken care of for as long as they were loyal and true.
“Where’s my wife?” Max asked.
“She went to visit her parents, then she was gonna put in a few hours at the office. Said she’d be back by dinner.”
Max smiled. He recalled the conversation that had taken place. The one in which Courtney had done her wifely duty of inviting him to go with her to her parents’ house. They’d both known before she made the request that he would decline, yet she’d done it anyway because that was what they did.
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