Page 42 of Tracking Down the Lawman's Son

When Woodrow resumed the call, Luca got confirmation that the camper was indeed small, with a kitchen on one side and a seating area on the other that had been let out into a bed. An unmade one. There were clothes strewn on the floor and take-out bags on the narrow strip of counter.

The bathroom door was open so Morales headed there while Woodrow focused on going through the pockets of the clothesat the foot of the bed and on the floor. “Nothing,” he relayed, moving to the small table next to the bed.

There was a phone charger plugged in but no phone or laptop, though Luca saw a charger for that as well.

“I think someone’s cleaned out the place,” Morales relayed from the bathroom. “I can see where some things were, but the shelf and the trash can are empty in here.”

That sent Woodrow to the cabinet under the sink where he, too, found an empty trash can. Considering the take-out bags were still there, it did appear that someone had almost certainly gone through it and removed anything incriminating.

And that someone was no doubt Shannon’s killer.

“Any sign that the door had been jimmied open?” Luca asked, though he believed he already knew the answer.

“None,” Woodrow confirmed while he checked behind the trash can. Nothing there. He moved on to checking the bags, stopping to check the receipt that was taped to one of them. “This was a pickup from this morning at eight, and it came from the diner in Saddle Ridge.”

Slater and Duncan both cursed, and Luca figured Bree was mentally doing the same. This meant Shannon had likely been the one who’d set the fire in the parking lot, though it was beyond risky of her to order takeout from the diner since it was so close to the sheriff’s office.

“She must have come back here after being in Saddle Ridge,” Woodrow concluded, panning the camera around again. “But there’s no blood. No signs that anything violent happened in here.”

“No signs of that in the bathroom either,” Morales added.

The deputy started going through the fridge while Woodrow went back to the bed. He lifted it and muttered, “What’s this?”

The camera angle wasn’t right for Luca to see what had caught Woodrow’s attention, but it obviously got the other deputy’s aswell because Morales joined him and took Woodrow’s phone so he could aim it at a piece of paper.

“It’s a torn-off piece of a white delivery bag,” Woodrow explained, “and there’s some writing on it.” He paused, did some cursing of his own. “It’s Bree’s address.”

Luca heard the quick breath that Bree took in. Of course, Bree had known that Shannon was likely involved in the attempt to kidnap Gabriel, but it still had to feel like a punch to the gut.

“There’s something else,” Woodrow went on. “It’s the nameAubreywith a circle drawn around it. There are some doodles, too.”

Morales shifted the camera so they could see it, and it did indeed look as if someone, Shannon probably, had done some crude drawings of a rifle and a baby. Now it was Luca who felt the gut punch. Because one of the doodles was another name.

Manny.

The last letter of the name had a little heart dangling from it.

“Manny claimed he didn’t know Shannon that well,” Bree muttered.

Yeah, he had. “If we confront him with it, he’ll probably just say he has no idea why Shannon wrote his name.” Luca paused. “But Manny might own up to knowing who this other woman is.”

“Aubrey,” Slater repeated, and he hurried to his laptop. “I’ve seen that name before.” It took him nearly a minute before he finally got thatahagleam in his eye. “Aubrey Kincaid. She was arrested with Shannon about four years ago when they were caught doing a B and E. Aubrey didn’t have a previous record so she got parole.” He continued to type on his keyboard. “And Shannon and Aubrey were in the army together.”

Bingo. That was a solid connection. “Contact information?” Luca asked, grabbing a notepad so he’d be ready. Slater rattled off an Austin address and a phone number.

“Slater, try to call her,” Duncan instructed, “but block your number. If she sees a cop calling, she probably won’t answer.”

“True,” Slater muttered, and he made the call and put it on Speaker. It was answered on the first ring.

“Shannon?” a woman immediately said. “Is that you?”

“Yes,” Bree lied, making her voice a hoarse whisper.

“Where the hell are you?” the woman demanded. “We were supposed to leave for the McCullough ranch by now.”

Hell. That was another gut punch. They’d planned to come here, and Luca figured that meant they’d planned another attack.

“Shannon?” the woman repeated. “Are you there?” She sounded suspicious.

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