Page 26 of Tracking Down the Lawman's Son

Manny nodded, but then he glanced at the large window that looked out onto the squad room and reception. All of them did. Because the front door opened, and they saw a woman come in.

Tara.

Luca was sure of it, and she did indeed bear a striking resemblance to the sketch. She seemed just as nervous as Manny and was disheveled, too, in her wrinkled gray shirt and jeans. She’d scooped back her long brown hair into a ponytail, but there were just as many strands pulled back as were falling onto her shoulders.

Both Sonya and Ronnie were on their feet now, and Sonya started toward their visitor.

“Tara,” Manny muttered. He walked toward her as well. Then, he stopped. Probably because he remembered Tara might have been the one who’d nearly run him off the road.

“Wait here, Manny,” Duncan instructed, and he went into the squad room. So did Bree and Luca. “Tara Adler?” he asked.

She nodded. “I’m looking for Bree McCullough...” Her words trailed off when she saw Manny. “And you,” she muttered. “Manny, I think someone’s trying to kill me.” With that, Tara broke into a sob.

Despite Duncan’s warning for Manny to stay put, the bar owner came out into the squad room, but Duncan stepped in front of him. Just as Luca had done to Bree.

“Tara, I want you to go through the metal detector,” Duncan instructed.

She looked more than a little startled at the request, but she complied. No alarms went off, and when Sonya searched Tara’s purse, she didn’t find anything.

“I’ll call to have the APB dropped,” Sonya said, returning to her desk.

Volleying glances at Bree and Manny, Tara made her way through the squad room toward Luca, Duncan, Manny and Bree. “Why are you here?” she asked Manny. “Did someone try to run you off the road again?”

He shook his head. “The sheriff wanted to talk to me...about you, among other things. Where the hell have you been?”

Duncan motioned for her to hold back on answering that, and as he’d done with Manny, he read Tara her rights.

“I’m a suspect?” Tara blurted once he was finished. She frantically shook her head. “I’m a victim. Someone followed my car this morning. Not a silver truck,” she added. “This was a black one.”

Duncan led her into his office. “Did you report it?”

“No.” Tara suddenly seemed flustered. Or else she was pretending to be anyway. She sank down into a chair in Duncan’s office. “I thought someone was following me,” she clarified, “but I’m not sure. I’m hoping I’m wrong. Am I wrong?” she pleaded.

“I don’t know,” Duncan answered. “Now, tell me why you’re here and where you’ve been for the past eighteen hours.”

Tara certainly didn’t launch into an explanation, but she handed Duncan her phone and pointed to a text from an unknown number. “I got this yesterday, right after Bree talked to Manny.”

“‘Talk and you die,’” he said, reading the text out loud.

“Did you report this?” Duncan repeated.

Tara shook her head. “I was terrified,” she insisted. “And I panicked. My instincts were to run, to get away from the bar. I didn’t want to end up like that dead woman Bree asked about, or have her killer track my phone, so I took out the SIM card.”

That explained why the cops hadn’t been able to find her, but most people wouldn’t have thought to do something like that. Especially if they were in a panic as Tara had claimed.

“It’s the woman’s killer who wants us dead, right?” Tara asked. “He wants to silence us all for good.”

Bree made a sound that could have meant anything. Obviously, she wasn’t going to volunteer that to Tara.

“Sonya,” Duncan called out to the deputy. “I need phone records for this number. See if you can find out who sent that text.” He passed Tara’s phone to Sonya and then turned his attention back to Tara. “We’re looking into connections between the recent attacks and the murder of Brighton Cooper,” Duncan said. “Did you know her?”

“No,” Tara was quick to say. “I told Bree I didn’t remember her, but after I got to thinking about it, I think I recall hercoming into the bar.Think,” she emphasized, “but I’m not positive.”

Luca didn’t read much into that. Witnesses often recalled things long after being questioned.

“And you didn’t know Brighton either?” Duncan pressed, shifting his attention to Manny.

“No.” Manny’s response was equally fast.

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