After getting Reese’s agreement, Brantley hopped out of the truck, headed inside the hotel. He found a pleasant-faced woman standing behind the check-in desk, her eyes glued to a computer screen.
“Welcome,” she greeted, glancing over at him, her smile widening as he approached. “Are you here to check in?”
“Actually,” he said, casually leaning a forearm on the counter, “I was wonderin’ if you could help me. I’m lookin’ for a friend of mine.” He flashed a smile, laid on the country charm. “Actually, she’s a friend of my mama’s. She was comin’ for a visit, said she was runnin’ a couple days behind, but Mama hasn’t heard from her since then. That was three days ago. You know how it is. Mama’s worried about her, asked me if I’d check on her, make sure she hasn’t gotten herself in a bit of trouble.”
The woman stared back at him, her eyes softened with worry. “Do you know what room she was staying in?”
“See, that’s the problem. She told Mama she was stayin’ just down the road, but … well, I know Juliet. She likes to, you know, play the tables. She wouldn’t want Mama to know that, though.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t divulge information on guests.”
“Oh, no,” he said, offering his best grin. “I wouldn’t dare ask for that. I’m just wonderin’ if maybe you’ve seen her around here.” Brantley pulled up the image of Juliet on his phone, passed it over.
The woman peered down at the screen, leaned in closer, eyes narrowing. “No. I’m sorry, I haven’t seen her.” She looked up at him once more. “Then again, it’s possible she went to the casino. There’s enough people coming and going…”
“Is there anyone I could talk to there? Maybe they’ll recognize her?”
She seemed to consider it for a moment, then reached for the phone. “Let me call Rick.”
While she placed the call, Brantley waited patiently, glancing around the lobby, pretending to admire the space. He knew this was a long shot, but he was running on the theory they should leave no stone unturned.
A few minutes later, Brantley was wandering over to the security office, where he flashed Juliet’s picture at the man he assumed was Rick only to hear that, no, he didn’t recall seeing the woman there in the last couple of days, and yes, he was good with faces, tended to remember people, especially a woman who looked like that. In fact, Brantley was fairly certain the guy had swiped a thumb over the picture as though he could touch her that way.
Feeling dirtier than when he’d gotten out of the truck, Brantley returned to find Reese pacing the parking lot, the phone to his ear.
“Yeah. He’s back now. Thanks, JJ. Let me know.”
“What’s up?” he asked when he approached.
“She’s gonna see what she can find on any rentals, but it’s after five, so she figures it’ll be a long shot on getting answers from apartments or condos, but she said she’d do what she could and pick it back up in the mornin’.”
Fuck.
Brantley hadn’t wanted another day to slip by without finding Kate. The little girl had been missing for roughly fifty-three hours now and every minute that passed was one too many. He couldn’t imagine how Travis, Kylie, and Gage were faring, but he had to think that if they didn’t get her soon, Travis was going to break the leash they were keeping him on.
“I take it you had no luck?”
“No. Woman at the front desk didn’t recognize her, and Rick, the sleazy security guy at the casino, was more interested in ogling the image. Said he would’ve definitely remembered her if he’d had the pleasure of her presence.”
“Real sly one, huh?”
“Oh, yeah.” Brantley motioned toward the truck. “Wanna head over to Diamondhead?”
“Yep. Maybe we could hit up the Dairy Queen, grab some dinner.”
“Dairy Queen?”
“You got a problem with that?”
Smiling, Brantley shook his head. Nope, no problem.
***
Reese was exhausted.
Sure, it had been a long day that involved a whole hell of a lot of walking, but it was more than that. Probably had more to do with his mental state than anything.
Not that there was anything wrong with it. He was feeling fine and dandy. Or as much as any man who’d recently discovered he had the hots for another man could. And no, he wasn’t fretting over the idea that he was attracted to Brantley. In fact, it made sense. The guy was … well, he was a lot of things, but intense came to mind first.
Spending the entire day watching him work, chatting it up with people in an effort to get information out of them was like watching an artist. He had a way with people, that was for sure. Beneath all those hard layers was a man who was comfortable with himself and those around him. Almost as though he didn’t have a care in the world.
