Chapter Five #2
Gage looked at Travis, then back to Brantley. “Travis told me you’re workin’ on a case involving Censorious. I’d like to see what information you have.”
Brantley narrowed his gaze, stalling so he could come up with an excuse. He did not want to share that information with anyone, least of all Travis and Gage. Not until they could narrow the scope and flesh out the details.
“Look,” Gage said, clearly catching onto his tactic. “I know you’re workin’ this thing like it’s hot. Maybe it is. But I might have some information that’ll help.”
Reese moved up beside him. “What information?”
Gage looked at all the faces staring back at him before settling his attention on Brantley again. “A while back, I was workin’ a case in Dallas to take down a corrupt senator. At the time, our focus was only on him, but in the course of the investigation, I came to learn about Censorious.”
“How so?” Archer inquired, joining the conversation.
Gage glanced at Archer, a curious gleam in his eyes.
“Gage, Archer,” Brantley said quickly. “Archer, Gage. How so?”
“Archer Halligan,” Archer said formally, holding out his hand to Gage. “I work with Simon Jennings, and I recently joined the task force.”
Brantley huffed. He did not have time for this shit.
“Nice to meet you. Gage Matthews, Travis’s better half,” Gage said to Archer.
Atticus chuckled from behind them.
Unable to hide his frustration, Brantley interrupted the pleasantries. “That’s Atticus. You can be all touchy-feely later. How’d you come to learn about Censorious?”
With a smirk, Gage shifted his attention back to Brantley. “There was a rumor of a corrupt FBI agent lookin’ to take down the Southern Boy Mafia. I was restricted from lookin’ into it at the time, but I did a little digging of my own.”
“And?”
Gage’s smirk returned. “You show me yours, I’ll show you mine.”
“As much as I’d like to do that, we’re gettin’ ready to go to Dallas,” Brantley lied. Well, the first part was a lie.
“For?” Travis asked.
“To meet with Max,” Archer informed him.
So much for keeping that on the DL.
“We’ll go with you,” Travis said, his tone lacking any sort of request.
Gage frowned, his gaze shifting to Travis.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Brantley told him.
“But it’s a good idea for you to meet with him?” Travis snorted. “If I recall correctly, you were plannin’ the man’s demise after he left this one”—he jerked his chin at Reese—“for dead.”
Brantley’s blood heated the same way it did whenever he thought about how Max Adorite had sent in his goon to sweep his sister off to safety while turning a blind eye to the man who’d taken a bullet for her.
He had no problem admitting he hated Max with all that he was, but in this case, he would put aside his anger in order to deal with the matter at hand.
“Before I agree to anything,” Gage interrupted, “I’d like to see what you’ve got.”
“We’ve got some time,” Reese said beside him. “It might help.”
Brantley huffed, then gestured toward the conference room. “Atticus and Archer have it outlined in there.” He jerked his chin at Archer. “Show him.”
When Gage followed Atticus and Archer into the conference room, Brantley got Travis’s attention. “What’d you tell him?”
“What you told me.”
“How’d he take it?”
“He doesn’t believe it any more than I do,” Travis said, eyes cold. “But he thinks the information he has might help to take down the corrupt FBI agent.”
“His name’s Martin Calloway,” Brantley supplied, although he wasn’t sure why he did. They didn’t need Travis sticking his nose in.
“When are you meetin’ with Max?”
“I left a message,” Reese answered.
Travis’s gaze passed between them a few times before he pulled his phone from his pocket. He tapped a few things on the screen, then it started ringing, the sound coming from the phone’s speaker.
“Why’re you botherin’ me this early?” a familiar voice answered.
Travis smirked. “We need to meet. Today.”
“We?”
“Brantley and Reese are here with me.”
“I left you a message,” Reese added.
“I’ve been busy this mornin’,” Max said. “Haven’t gotten around to callin’ you back.”
“No shit,” Travis said. “If you had, he’d have the meeting time and I wouldn’t have to call.”
“You’re just a giant ray of fuckin’ sunshine, you know that, Walker?”
“So I’ve been told. What time can we meet?”
“You comin’ here?” Max asked.
“Yep. Take us a few hours to get things in order and get up there. I’d say this evening works best.”
“Seven?” Max offered.
Travis’s eyebrows lifted in question.
“Seven works,” Brantley said, trying to keep his tone cool. He did not like being put on the spot like this. And he damn sure didn’t like Travis bulldozing his way over his op.
“You got a place in mind?” Travis asked Max.
“I do. I’ll send you the address an hour before. See you then.”
The call ended.
Travis cocked an eyebrow. “I guess I’ll be taggin’ along.”
Son of a bitch.
While he generally preferred not to go toe to toe with Travis, Brantley’s frustration had skyrocketed to DEFCON 3, which meant he was only two levels away from hitting an imminent nuclear war. He stepped forward, met his cousin’s eyes as he invaded his personal space.
“I’m in charge of this. Understand?”
Travis held his own, not backing down. “Did you honestly think I’d slink back home and hide under the covers when you told me someone thinks my wife’s alive? You know me better than that.”
Actually, Brantley hadn’t thought that. He’d hoped. And in this case, there was a big difference.
“You told me to keep you apprised. That’s my intention.”
“Now you don’t have to. I’ll be right by your side.”
“The fuck you will. I don’t need you goin’ off half-cocked like you usually do.”
“Let me tell—”
“Let’s play nice,” Gage said, talking over Travis as he walked up to stand beside him.
Brantley continued to stare into Travis’s eyes, ensuring he knew how serious he was. “I’m in charge of this op.”
“Yes, you are,” Gage agreed, grabbing Travis’s arm and pulling him back. “And now we’re askin’ if we can be part of it.”
“No one’s asking,” Travis growled softly.
“Yes, we are,” Gage insisted, urging Travis back more, taking his place in front of Brantley. “I know you think we’ll get in the way, but I know how to play nice in the sandbox.”
“He doesn’t,” Brantley said, his gaze darting to Travis.
“You’re right.” Gage grinned. “He doesn’t. But he will. You have my word on that.”
Brantley took a step back, exhaling heavily. He did not want to fight. It wasn’t helping matters.
“Technically, Archer and Atticus are runnin’ this show,” Reese said. “So it’s really up to them.”
Inside, Brantley was grinning. On the outside, he kept his expression impassive as they all turned their attention to the two men watching them from the sidelines.
“Our objective is to talk to Max.” Archer stepped forward. “It’s not to piss him off. If you think you can refrain from doing so, I don’t have a problem with you comin’ along. We need as much information as we can get.”
Brantley refrained from chiming in. Reese was right. Archer and Atticus were in charge, and he had already agreed to let them run it how they wanted.
“Appreciate that,” Gage said. “We’ll—”
“What the hell’s your brother doin’ here?” Brantley asked Reese when he saw movement on the monitor, showing RT’s Cadillac Escalade parking beside Gage’s truck.
“Don’t know. I didn’t call him.”
Just what they needed, more overbearing people looking to stick their noses where they didn’t belong.