Page 41 of Tracking Down the Lawman's Son

That caused everyone in the room to freeze. “Why would you think that?” Luca asked.

“Because he’s an SOB, that’s why,” Tara was quick to say. “He fired me, did you know that?” Again, she didn’t wait for an answer. “Manny’s a lying lowlife scum, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was using my sister. Used her and then killed her.” A hoarse sob tore from her throat. “If he did kill Shannon, I will bury him.”

“Tara,” Luca warned, “you need to calm down. And you need to stay away from Manny. Leave this to the cops. Like I said, we’re investigating several possibilities. Some cops are headed to Shannon’s apartment in Austin now to see if there’s anything there that’ll point us in the direction of her killer.”

“Her apartment in Austin?” Tara questioned. “She moved out of there close to a year ago.”

Bree was certain Luca, Duncan and Slater didn’t miss the timing of that. It meshed with when her mother had been kidnapped.

“Do you know where Shannon had been living?” Luca asked.

“The last time I saw her, she said she was staying in a travel trailer our grandparents left her. She had it parked on a lot she was renting... Hang on a sec,” Tara muttered. “I put the address in my phone.” A couple of seconds later, she read it off. “It’s 116 Wilmer Cranston Road, Bulverde.”

Slater immediately pulled up a map on his laptop and showed it to them. It was less than five miles from the burned-out cabin and where Shannon’s body had been found.

“Get someone out there right now,” Duncan told Slater, and Bree understood the urgency. Shannon’s killer might intend to destroy the trailer if he or she hadn’t done that already.

Slater stepped into the dining room to make a call while Luca continued with Tara. “Thanks for the address.”

“I hope you find something there that tells you who killed her,” Tara was quick to say. “And if it’s Manny, then I think I can add a nail to his coffin.”

“What do you mean by that?” Luca asked, obviously just as unnerved by the comment as Duncan and Bree were.

“I mean, I might have some proof that’ll help you convict Manny of murder,” Tara spelled out.

“What kind of proof?” Luca demanded.

But he was talking to the air because Tara had already ended the call.

Chapter Eleven

Luca, Bree, Duncan and Slater stood in the living room of the ranch, their attention pinned to Luca’s phone. They watched as Woodrow, who had FaceTimed them, approached the travel trailer where Shannon had supposedly lived.

This was not the way Luca wanted to conduct a search. Especially a search that could finally give Bree and him answers as to who was trying to kill them. But Luca also hadn’t wanted to leave Bree behind while he joined the search. Duncan had agreed, and that’s why he’d sent Woodrow to accompany County Deputy Morales.

Thankfully, Beatrice and Joelle had agreed to stay upstairs with the babies. Both Izzie and Gabriel were way too young to know what was going on, but neither Luca nor Bree had wanted them in the room in case something god-awful was discovered in the search.

Like another body.

After all, Shannon might not be the only loose end a killer wanted to tie up.

Woodrow panned his phone the entire length of the trailer, and Luca could see it wasn’t that large, but it seemed to be in good shape with no obvious damage to the sleek silver exterior. Woodrow then turned his camera back on Morales as he went up the narrow trio of steps. He already had his weapon drawn, and he knocked on the door.

“I’m Deputy Morales,” he announced. “Anyone here?”

There was no response, which wasn’t a surprise since there’d been no vehicles in the gravel driveway that led to the trailer. From what Luca had been able to see so far, this wasn’t the sortof campground where people normally parked their RVs and such. There were no community buildings, no pristine trails. This was basically just a partially cleared area in the woods, with an old mailbox to indicate the address. It was secluded, and with no neighbors in sight, no one would have seen Shannon coming or going, which was probably why she’d chosen this particular location.

“Anyone here?” Morales called out again, and when he didn’t get a response, he gloved up and tested the doorknob. The deputy frowned and glanced back at Woodrow when the knob turned. “It’s not locked.”

Even though Luca couldn’t see Woodrow’s right hand, he knew his fellow deputy already had his weapon drawn, and judging from the movement of the phone, Woodrow was adjusting his aim in case someone inside the trailer started shooting. Morales was doing the same.

Morales eased open the door and immediately stepped to the side. A classic cop move so he wouldn’t be in the line of fire.

But no shots came.

In fact, nothing happened. There was only silence and darkness in the trailer.

Still staying to the side, Morales reached in with his gloved left hand and turned on the lights. He must have not heard or seen anything alarming because he stepped in with Woodrow right beside him. Woodrow set his phone aside for a couple of moments while he, too, put on some gloves.

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