Page 23 of Tracking Down the Lawman's Son

“Do that,” Duncan said. “I want to see if I can get Tara to come in with him tomorrow morning for an interview.”

Bree called Manny and put it on Speaker. She thought Tara might answer again, but this time it was Manny.

“This is Sheriff Holder again,” Duncan said. “I’d like to speak to Tara Adler.”

“Tara?” Manny questioned. “Why?”

“It’s routine,” Duncan answered, which, of course, wasn’t an actual answer at all. “May I speak to her?”

“You could if she was here,” Manny grumbled. “Right after I got off the phone with you, Tara claimed she was sick and had to leave.”

Bree couldn’t believe that it was a coincidence. Was Tara really the one behind her mother’s kidnapping and the attacks? If so, this had to be connected to Brighton’s murder. And maybe her father’s.

“She didn’t look sick to me,” Manny added in a snarl. “You want her number so you can talk to her?”

“Yes, I do,” Duncan verified.

Once Manny had given them the number, Bree ended the call with him, and Duncan used his own phone to call Tara. Or rather, to try to call her. Bree’s stomach sank when she heard the recorded message that she didn’t want to hear.

Tara’s phone had been disconnected.

Chapter Seven

Luca hurried in the shower. Along with not wanting to hog the bathroom, he also didn’t want to leave Bree and Gabriel alone for long. Added to that, there was plenty of work to do, and a long shower was a luxury he couldn’t afford.

He turned off the water and listened to make sure everything was well in the adjoining bedroom. The bedroom he’d shared with Bree and their son the night before and would continue to share as long as there was a potential threat. He could hear Bree murmuring something to Gabriel, but that was it. No sounds of distress or phone conversations that might or might not deliver more bad news.

So far, the bad news was winning out over the good. There was no sign of the gunman who’d fired those shots into Bree’s barn. No sign of Tara either, which meant they couldn’t question her about the sketch that matched her description. Since Manny didn’t have any idea where she was either, it could mean Tara had gone on the run. It was possible she was the one who’d held Sandra captive, but it could also point to Tara meeting with foul play.

When Duncan had shown Sandra a photo of Tara, Sandra had said she recognized her from the Hush, Hush, but that she had no idea if Tara had been the one who’d kidnapped her. That wasn’t much of a surprise since Sandra had been adamant about not knowing who’d been responsible for taking her.

The bad news had continued on the forensic side of the investigation as well. Other than the gloves and Sandra’s prints, the CSIs hadn’t found anything in the silver truck. Manny might be able to help with that though during his interview if he couldtell them anything else about the truck or the driver. Especially if the driver could possibly be Tara.

There had been some good news though in the burned-out cabin. No DNA results yet, but there was evidence to support Sandra’s account of the boarded-up window and multiple locks on the interior door where she’d been held. That was a huge validation for Bree’s mother.

And a relief.

There were enough unknowns in this investigation without adding Sandra to the mix. Now, she could be ruled out as a suspect, and they could focus on Tara. Nathan, too, since Luca was keeping him on the list. Maybe that had more to do with Nathan’s history with Bree, but Luca wasn’t dismissing Nathan’s possible involvement in all of this.

Luca dressed in the clean jeans and shirt he’d had brought to the ranch, and he went into the bedroom to find Bree sitting with a very alert Gabriel who’d obviously just finished a bottle. Bree had the baby against her chest and shoulder and was patting his back, no doubt to get him to burp.

Bree’s gaze immediately went to Luca’s, and he saw the tension in every bit of her expression. It was understandable and wouldn’t be going away until they had a suspect in custody.

Or as long as they had to share such close quarters.

That was definitely causing her some stress. Him, too. They’d been on-and-off lovers for a long time now. Over a decade. His body couldn’t forget that kind of history and neither could Luca. He still wanted Bree. Still cared deeply for her. And that must have shown on his face.

“It’s not you,” she muttered. Then, she shook her head. “I mean, you’re not the reason I get this slam of memories about my dad.”

He was glad to hear that, but there was a flip side to this particular coin. “You get them though,” he said.

She nodded. “So do you.”

Luca had to go with a nod as well and admit it was true. In fact, he’d had a dream about her father’s murder in the handful of hours he’d managed to sleep. Judging from some of the things Bree had muttered in the night, she’d done some dreaming as well.

He wanted to say more. A whole lot more about hoping that one day they could look at each other and not see the past. But the sound of an approaching vehicle had him going to the window.

“It’s Coral,” he relayed to her.

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