Page 37 of Tracking Down the Lawman's Son

Judging from Bree’s stiff body language, she wasn’t buying it. Caring deeply for someone didn’t mesh with stalking.

“Where were you yesterday morning before you treated Bree at the hospital?” Luca asked.

Nathan pulled back his shoulders, obviously thrown off a little by the shift in subject. “I went on shift at seven, so I’d been there for a couple of hours before Bree arrived.”

“Can anyone verify that?” Luca added.

“Plenty of people.” Nathan had to answer that through clenched teeth. “Nurses and other doctors. If you need names, you can ask for the duty roster.”

“I’ll do that,” Slater volunteered, earning his own glare from Nathan.

“And what about after Bree left the hospital?” Luca went on. “Did you stay on duty or did you leave?”

Nathan opened his mouth as if ready to do that blast, but he reined in again. “I had nothing to do with the shooting at Bree’s. I’m not a killer.”

“Did you stay on duty at the hospital or did you leave?” Luca repeated.

“I stayed on duty until I heard about Bree’s son being missing. I left then because I thought I could help look for him.”

“So, you have no alibi for the time of the shooting,” Luca concluded. “What about for earlier today when someone set the parking lot on fire?”

Nathan got up from the chair. “Enough. You clearly have it in for me.”

Duncan stepped closer. “No one here has it in for you,” he stated. “This is an interview with questions that should be relatively easy for you to answer. The fire was only a couple of hours ago so you shouldn’t have any trouble recalling where you were.”

“I was at the hospital,” Nathan snarled. “You can check the duty roster for that, too.”

Luca had no doubt that Nathan’s name would be there, but that didn’t mean he was innocent.

Duncan’s phone rang, the sound slicing through the heavy silence that had fallen over the room. He took the call, moving away from them. Luca was about to continue the interview when he heard Duncan mutter some profanity.

Alarmed that there was more bad news, Luca went to him. So did Bree and Slater, and they ended up huddled together in the corner.

Duncan put the caller on hold and looked at Slater, Luca and Bree. He cursed again before he said, “There’s been a murder.”

Chapter Ten

Bree watched from the window as Nathan drove away. She’d kept back because she hadn’t wanted him to see her watching him and conclude that she was longing for him or anything like that. She just wanted to make sure he was gone and away from the house. She didn’t want any of their suspects under the same roof as Gabriel.

“All right,” she heard Duncan say after he’d finished his latest call. The third one he’d gotten since delivering the whispered bombshell.

There’s been a murder.

Other than assuring Bree and the others that it wasn’t a family member or one of the deputies, that was all Duncan had been able to tell them. He’d then dismissed Nathan, basically telling him to get the heck out of there, and then had started the calls. Luca and Slater had done the same, and even though Bree didn’t know the specifics, it was obvious some things were happening in the investigation.

Duncan repeated his “all right” as if trying to gather his thoughts, and he slipped his phone back in his pocket. “About two hours ago, a hunter reported finding a dead body in the woods not too far from the burned-out cabin. Not on the grounds but about a quarter of a mile away. According to County Deputy Morales who arrived on scene, cause of death appears to be a single gunshot wound to the head.”

That gave Bree a jolt. Even though that wasn’t the exact way her father had been murdered, it still gave her the flashbacks.

“Any indications it could be a suicide?” Luca asked.

Duncan nodded. Then, shrugged. “Deputy Morales says it’s set up to look that way. The gun is in her hand and positioned more or less the correct way if the shot had been self-inflicted, but Morales believes the position of the body is off. He says it looks staged to him.”

Stagedwould equal murder as far as Bree was concerned.

“The county sheriff’s office had copies of the sketches done by the police artist,” Duncan went on. “The ones that the two witnesses said were of the woman they saw driving the silver truck when Sandra would have been captive. Anyway, the responding deputy says he believes the dead woman is the one in the sketch. So, it could be Tara or her sister, Shannon. I’ve tried to call Tara, but she’s not answering.”

If the dead woman was indeed Shannon, then it was possible she was the one who’d kidnapped Sandra. Sandra had said the woman who’d held her had had phone conversations with someone and appeared to be getting instructions. The person giving those instructions could have been Shannon’s boss, and he or she might not want Shannon around to spill anything incriminating.

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