Page 50 of Tracking Down the Lawman's Son

And that’s why she would have to push the visit to Nathan.

Duncan, Slater and Luca weren’t just going to agree so she needed to come up with an angle to convince them. She considered that while she made a call to the next jeweler on her list. As with the other calls, it took her a couple of minutes to work her way through to speak to the manager, and thena perky-sounding woman who introduced herself as Laine Martinez came on the line. Bree went through her spiel again, and as she’d done with the others, she gave the woman three names to search. Nathan’s and two others that Bree had plucked from A&M class rosters. That way, the person wouldn’t solely home in on Nathan’s name and try to contact him.

“The ring would have been purchased about eight or nine years ago,” Bree explained. “But please check for a couple of years in either direction in case—”

“Nathan Bagley,” Laine confirmed. “Yes, he did purchase a ring from us.”

Bree practically sprang to her feet, and it got the attention of the others, except for Duncan who was still on the phone. Slater, Luca and Joelle, however, came closer.

“I’m putting you on Speaker,” Bree informed the woman. “I have three police officers with me who’ll want to hear this. You can verify that Nathan Bagley bought a ring from you?”

“He did. The ring had the Texas A&M School of Medicine logo and is fourteen-karat yellow gold with a full carat diamond in the center. A custom design,” she went on. “And because of the design, it was priced higher than most class rings. He paid just under five thousand dollars for it.”

Not a fortune but still expensive. Maybe so expensive that Nathan hadn’t been able to part with it.

“Do you have a receipt for the purchase?” Bree asked.

“Not a paper one, but all the information is here in my computer files. Would you like me to send you a copy?”

“Yes,” Bree couldn’t say fast enough, and she gave the woman her email address. The moment Bree saw the info pop into her inbox, she thanked Laine, ended the call and pinned her attention to Luca.

“No, I don’t want you going into Nathan’s house to look for the ring,” Luca snapped, and then he sighed, and his expression softened. “It’s too dangerous.”

“It is,” Duncan verified, having obviously heard the gist of what Bree had learned. He put away his phone and joined them. “We’ll get to the ring and Nathan, but first, I need to tell you about Aubrey. The tech’s got the number she called, but it was made to a burner. The recipient of the call was in Saddle Ridge.”

Bree wasn’t sure whether to groan or curse so she did both. “All three of our suspects were in Saddle Ridge at the time of the call,” she pointed out.

Duncan did some groaning and cursing of his own. “They were, which means the footage didn’t help us narrow down anything. Well, nothing except Aubrey being responsible for the fire, and there’s no sign of her.”

Bree had to hope that would soon change since there was an APB out on the woman. Of course, Aubrey might have already fled.

“I went ahead and told Brandon to cut Manny loose,” Duncan added. “His lawyer was squawking about no evidence to hold him, and he’s right. So, I told Brandon to let him go with the warning that he not leave the state.”

If he was truly guilty, Manny might run, but Bree figured he’d just stand his ground and fight any charges. Nathan would no doubt do the same, which was why they needed more proof. Or something they could use to exclude them as suspects.

Duncan took out his phone again. “I’m calling the hospital to see if Nathan is on duty.” They waited, and like her calls to the jewelers, it took him several connections to get to someone who knew the answer. “He went home about an hour ago.”

“I have an idea of how to deal with Nathan,” Joelle said. She didn’t continue until everyone faced her, and she kept her attention on her husband, maybe because she knew she’d haveto convince him to go along with any sort of plan. “Since we now have proof that he bought a ring, I could go to his place with backup,” she quickly added, “and ask him about it.”

This time there were three negative responses. Luca, Slater and Duncan. Duncan’s was the loudest.

“Hear me out,” Joelle demanded, and Bree noticed her sister instantly switch to cop mode. “We aren’t going to get a search warrant, not without alerting Nathan that we could be onto him being a killer. He’d just toss the ring before we got there and maybe say he lost it. But if I show up in an official capacity, with backup,” she added again, “then I could question him about the ring. If he denies owning it, then you could use his lie to get a warrant and come straight over before he has the chance to dispose of it.”

“And if he attacks you?” Duncan snarled. In contrast, he sounded more like a worried husband than a cop.

Joelle sighed. “He won’t because Bree and Slater will be with me.”

A hushed silence fell over the room. But it was short-lived. Then, the grumbles and complaints came.

“Nathan could be behind the attacks on Bree,” Luca was quick to point out.

“Yes,” Joelle admitted, “but he’s also smitten with her. Mercy, what a word,” she muttered. “But it’s the truth. He’ll be on his best behavior if Bree is there because he’s trying to win her over.”

“That’s true,” Bree said, earning sharp looks from Duncan, Slater and Luca. She went to Luca and ran her hand down the length of his arm while she met him eye to eye. “The attacks have to stop, and Aubrey is still at large. If I can do something to prevent Gabriel from being in danger, then I’ll do it. And I’ll go in armed,” she said. “With Joelle and Slater.”

Judging from the tight sets of their jaws, Luca and Duncan weren’t convinced. Slater, however, seemed to be seeing the logic of this so Bree continued with the argument.

“The three of us can just show up at Nathan’s,” Bree spelled out. “Joelle or Slater could read him his rights, and I could hang back, looking sympathetic and acting as if he’s being railroaded. That’ll make him less defensive and more inclined to play nice. More inclined to lie, too, since he won’t want to admit he has anything that can be linked to Brighton.”

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