Page 17 of Tracking Down the Lawman's Son

“Several people posted recordings of a fight, and I saw you on one of them,” Bree explained. “I saw Brighton on another. It’s possible though you weren’t there at the same time, that Brighton left before you showed up.” She stopped, gathered her breath. “Did you find out what was going on with Brighton when you went there?”

Sandra shook her head. “No. I talked to a couple of people, just to get a sense if anyone there knew Brighton. I talked to a bartender, Tara...”

“Tara Adler,” Bree provided. “I spoke to her, too,” she added when her mother gave her a questioning look. “She said she didn’t know Brighton.”

“She told me the same. I tried to talk to Manny, but he had Tara tell me he was too busy to see me. And there was that fight. A regular brawl, and it scared me so I left.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “If I hadn’t, if I’d stayed and found out what was going on with Brighton, she might still be alive.”

“Wait,” Sandra said a moment later. “You think Manny’s the one who had me kidnapped? You think he had something to do with your father’s murder?”

“We’re looking into that,” Duncan assured her. “We’re looking into a lot of things. But in light of what happened to Bree and to you, I want you in protective custody. I could arrange for a safehouse.” Now it was Duncan who paused, and he looked at Joelle as if maybe confirming—or questioning—something they’d discuss.

Joelle nodded and turned to her mother. “You can go home if you’d like. Duncan, Izzie and I live there now.”

What Joelle didn’t spell out was that it was the place where her father had been killed. If Sandra had read the article about his death, she would know that, and it might not be easy for her to deal with it.

There was another side to this situation though. Luca believed Sandra was telling the truth about her abduction, but there were still plenty of blank spots as to what had happened. And why.

Especially why.

Sandra apparently wondered that as well, and she came up with the same concern that Luca and Duncan had. “I want to be there with you. All of you,” she amended, glancing at Slater, Duncan, Bree and Luca. “But what if that woman comes after me again? It’d put you in danger.”

No one could dispute that. As long as her captor was at large, the threat was there. And not solely for a kidnapping either. Those shots were proof that this person could and would kill. If the woman hadn’t been the shooter, then the likely suspect was the person she’d been talking to on the phone. So, two people who could come at them anytime, anyplace.

“We’d have to take precautions,” Duncan said. “Lots of them.”

“One possibility is that Slater and I could be at the ranch with you,” Joelle explained. She glanced at Slater, and he nodded, indicating this was something they’d already discussed. No doubt when Bree had been in the break room with Coral, Gabriel and him. “We could also ask one of the reserve deputies to stay with us as backup.”

Duncan’s attention shifted to Bree. “But you’re in danger, too. Which means so is Gabriel.”

Yeah, Luca had already gone there. Obviously, so had Bree because she made a quick sound of agreement.

“We could all be at the ranch,” Joelle spelled out. “All,” she emphasized, glancing at Luca. “We could conduct the investigation from there while putting security measures in place.”

Luca thought of the McCullough ranch and the house. It was big, with five bedrooms, but there were a lot of adults and two babies. Added to that mix would be Sandra, a woman he wanted to trust but wasn’t sure he could.

Bree turned to Luca, and she lifted her eyebrow. “Well?”

“I’ll be wherever Gabriel and you are,” he assured her.

Bree nodded. “All right. Then, we’ll all go to the ranch.”

He heard the worry in her voice. Saw it even more on her face. And he knew something else. Bree hadn’t been back there since her father’s murder so this was going to be an emotional avalanche. Then again, the same could be true for Sandra.

Slater took out his phone. “I’ll make arrangements for Gabriel’s baby things to be moved to the ranch.”

Luca would need to pack a few things as well, but before he could even consider a mental list, the door opened, and Ruston came in. His gaze fired around the room and landed on his mother. Unlike Joelle though, he didn’t rush to pull her into his arms.

“Does she know anything about Dad’s murder?” Ruston immediately wanted to know.

“No,” Sandra said at the same moment Bree, Duncan and Joelle indicated with headshakes that she didn’t.

The disappointment seemed to wash over Ruston. Obviously, he’d hoped his mother would be able to give them that closure.

“We have a lot to fill you in on,” Bree said, going to Ruston and giving him a quick hug. Their gazes met. “There’s trouble.”

“Yeah, I heard. Are you all right?” Ruston asked.

“I’ve been better,” Bree muttered. She took in a breath through her mouth. “I’m going to check on Gabriel.”

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