“I know your mind’s racin’, Brantley. I can practically hear it. And while I’m on board with runnin’ in without a plan and saving Kate, we have to consider a couple of things.”
“Such as?” he bit out, hating that he already knew what Reese was going to say.
“For one, Juliet Prince needs to be brought to justice. If we rush in there and steal Kate away, the police aren’t gonna have anything to go on.”
True.
“And two, if Juliet did take Kate but stashed her elsewhere and we go off the reservation, we’re only puttin’ that little girl in danger.”
True again.
“So, what do you wanna do?” Brantley snapped. “Waltz up to the door like a couple of Jehovah’s Witnesses? Knock and see if she’ll answer?”
“Actually, I was thinkin’ more along the lines of you sneak around the house, see if you can get eyes inside. I’ll watch the front in case Juliet tries to run for it. Once you give me the go-ahead, I’ll call the police and we’ll sit on the house until they get here. Small town. Can’t imagine it’ll take the cops long to roll up.”
Sounded incredibly anticlimactic.
It also sounded like the best option to keep Kate safe.
“Fine,” he agreed.
“Really? It was that easy to convince you?”
Brantley grinned at his sarcasm. “Provided it doesn’t go sideways, we’ll do it your way.”
“Thank you.”
“But I want you to call JJ the minute I give the signal.”
“Will do.”
Brantley pulled the Tahoe to the curb a couple of houses down from the address JJ had given them. He scanned the surroundings, checked out the house where they believed Juliet was holed up, hopefully with Kate. There was a nondescript silver Kia parked in front of a single-car garage that was separate from the house.
There was nothing to show that there was possibly a child inside, but Brantley hadn’t really expected there to be.
He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, then popped the center console. After pulling out his Sig, he checked the weapon, then tucked it into the waistband of his jeans at his back, letting his T-shirt fall down to conceal it.
Before reaching for the door handle, he glanced at Reese, who simply nodded as though he understood the severity of the situation and was ready to do whatever was necessary to get the little girl back.
If any of the neighbors were watching, they would most definitely see a suspicious man lurking, but Brantley couldn’t very well blend into his surroundings out here. However, he could act normal, as though he had as much right to be hanging around as those who lived here.
When he was convinced no one was outside, he slipped easily beyond the hedges that separated the target house from its neighbor. Once he was shielded from the street, he moved with stealth, his back to the siding as he reached the first window. He quickly peeked in, noticing there were no blinds, but there were curtains blocking his view. He shifted, finding the opening between the panels, and looked inside. It appeared to be the kitchen, which was empty save for the white cabinets and a wooden rolling cart that worked as a makeshift island.
At the next window, Brantley was unable to see in at all. He continued his trek around the house until he made his way to the front, on the opposite side from where he’d started. Except for taking a peek in the windows facing the street, there was only one more and he prayed like hell he located Kate. Otherwise his next step would be to knock on the door and announce his presence.
Hugging the wall, he scanned the street in front of the house, the yard at the back. From his vantage point, no one was watching him, so he stepped forward, peeked into the window. It was then his breath halted in his lungs.
Between the gap in the curtain panels, he saw a small white bed with a metal headboard and footboard. Curled in a ball on top of a stripped-down mattress was a little girl, her face obscured by her position, but he saw enough to know whoever that child was, their situation was dire. It was the little wrist handcuffed to the headboard that made his blood burn as fury raced through him.
Thankfully, he’d been trained by the Navy to deal with situations such as this one, so he didn’t lose his cool. Rather, Brantley pulled his phone from his pocket, keyed in a quick message to Reese, then tucked it away. For now, he would stay right where he was and wait for the cavalry to arrive.
But if they didn’t hurry their asses up, he was going in regardless.
***
Reese jumped when his phone buzzed in his hand. He’d been staring out the window, scanning the neighborhood to ensure no one approached the house and that no one tried to leave while Brantley did his thing.
