Page 35 of Tracking Down the Lawman's Son

Yeah, I’ve seen him before, Manny texted.He was in the bar with Brighton a couple of times.

Bingo. They now had the verification they needed in case Nathan lied to them. Of course, this was still just hearsay, but it’d be strong hearsay if Tara confirmed seeing Nathan as well.

Do you know if Brighton was dating him?Luca messaged back.

They were together, that’s all I know. They weren’t like having sex on the bar or anything like that, but I did see her kiss the guy. I figured she was doing that to try to make me jealous because I’d recently ended things with her. Why? Are you going to grill him the way you did me?

Luca definitely intended to do some grilling when it came to Nathan. For now though, he reread Manny’s text. Bree was obviously doing the same thing.

“Interesting,” Bree said.

It was indeed, and Luca could see one way this might have played out. “If Brighton was truly using Nathan to make Manny jealous and Nathan found out, Nathan wouldn’t be happy about that. In fact, he could have been so angry that he attacked her.”

Of course, there was no proof of that, not yet anyway. And it was equally possible that Manny was lying. The bar owner might say or do anything to point the finger at someone other than himself.

Thanks, Luca texted to Manny.Please let me know if you remember anything else about the guy in the picture.

He didn’t get an immediate response from Manny, but Luca did see something else he’d been waiting for. Nathan’s car as he pulled into the driveway. Duncan must have heard it because he, too, went to the window to stand behind Bree and Luca.

“I want you to do the interview,” Duncan told Luca. “I figure if the doctor has any hot buttons, you’ll be able to push them better than I could.” He looked at Bree. “And I want you close to Luca while he’s questioning him.”

Bree’s eyebrow lifted. “You want Luca and me to pretend to be together so that it’ll rile Nathan?”

Duncan gave them a flat look. “Just sit close to each other. If Nathan’s not an idiot, he’ll pick up on the vibe between you two, and it could set him off.”

Luca could tell Bree wanted to deny there was anyvibe. She couldn’t though because it was indeed there.

“I just got these texts from Manny,” Luca said, passing his phone to Duncan. “I’m waiting to hear from Tara.”

Duncan smiled when he read Manny’s responses. “Definitely use this,” he insisted.

When Nathan parked and got out of his car, the three of them stepped away from the window to go to the front door. Bree must have taken Duncan’s advice to heart because she stood arm to arm with Luca while Duncan ushered in Nathan. Duncan also immediately riled the doctor by checking him for weapons and reciting the Miranda rights.

The annoyance was building on Nathan’s face. Until he turned his attention to Bree. Then Luca saw the quick change. Worry and concern rather than anger.

“Are you all right?” Nathan asked Bree. Completely ignoring Luca, he went to her and laid his hand on her shoulder. “Are the stitches hurting?” He proceeded to examine them.

“I’m okay,” Bree said, stepping back and aligning herself with Luca again.

And, yeah, Nathan noticed all right. It’d been a good call on Duncan’s part to go with this ploy since it caused a spark of fresh anger to flare in Nathan’s eyes,

“Good,” Nathan muttered, but his tone indicated her actions were anything but. “I’m betting you’ll be glad when you can get back to your own place,” he said, speaking to Bree. “It can’t be easy being cooped up here in a house that holds so many horrible memories for you.”

Luca silently cursed because the remark had hit pay dirt. Bree flinched, but it was obvious to Luca that she was trying to suppress her reaction. Hard to do though when there were indeed bad memories here of her father’s murder.

“Not all bad,” Bree said. “I grew up here so there are plenty of good memories, too.”

Bree’s remark hit pay dirt as well because she coupled it by brushing her arm against Luca’s. A subtle gesture, but it obviously packed an emotional punch for Nathan. He practically snapped to attention toward Duncan.

“So, where are we doing this interview?” Nathan asked him.

“Actually, Luca will be conducting it in the living room,” Duncan was quick to say. “I’ve asked Bree to stay in the room as well as an observer.” He’d no doubt added that to cover any legal bases. “Hope you don’t have a problem with that,” Duncan added like a challenge.

“No,” Nathan muttered, his response in direct contrast to his expression. It was obvious he did have a problem, but Luca figured it wasn’t because Bree would be there but rather that Luca would be the one doling out the questions.

They went into the living room where Duncan had already turned around the incident board and Slater was working on his laptop at a makeshift desk in the corner. Duncan motioned forNathan to sit in one of the chairs that he’d obviously positioned like a hot seat directly across from the sofa and chair that Duncan, Bree and he would be using. Duncan revved up the tension some more by turning on the recorder and putting it on the coffee table only a couple of inches from Nathan.

For the record, Luca read in the date, time and those present, and he added, “Dr. Bagley has consented to Attorney Bree McCullough being present as an observer for this interview. Could you state your consent for the recording?” Luca added.

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