Page 64 of Tracking Down the Lawman's Son

Nathan chuckled. “Oh, Manny has just as much to lose as I do. Don’t you, Manny?” He put his mouth to her ear as if telling a secret. “Because you see, Manny was there when Brighton died. In fact, he was the one who set all of this in motion.”

Manny didn’t address that other than to huff. “Nathan, we need to get out of here. More cops will be coming soon.”

“You don’t think I know that!” Nathan snapped. “I’m not an idiot. I know they called for backup, and they’ll be here soon. Two minutes. If we haven’t gotten the text by then, we both start shooting.”

“What text?” Bree asked.

“More leverage. The best kind,” he added with that despicable taunting in his voice.

Bree had to fight the panic. Had to fight the groan that was trying to claw its way past her throat. She couldn’t handle worst-case scenario right now. She had to focus on getting Luca, Slater and her out of this alive.

“I thought you wanted me back,” Bree said to Nathan. “I thought you cared about me.”

“I despise you,” he admitted through what had to be clenched teeth. “You took my love for you and threw it back in my face.It sickened me to act all moony-eyed around you, but I endured because I knew one day I’d make you pay.”

In the distance, she heard the wail of sirens. A welcome sound for her, but it caused Nathan to curse and tense even more. He laughed though when his phone dinged with a text.

“Well, the payment you owe me is about to start,” Nathan boasted.

Bree pushed aside any thoughts of what the text might be. Pushed aside everything but what she had to do. She gathered her strength and waited for Nathan to take out his phone so he could read the message.

Nathan kept his arm around her neck, kept the pressure so tight that she could barely breathe. But he finally lowered his hand, and therefore the gun, to his pocket. That’s when she moved.

“Now!” she shouted to warn Luca and Slater, and she rammed her elbow into Nathan’s stomach.

She didn’t stop there. Bree scrambled away from him, landing on her back so she could kick him. She landed a hard blow to his face, and she heard the satisfying crunch of his nose breaking. Her satisfaction didn’t last long though.

Cursing her, Nathan turned the gun toward her. Ready to kill her.

And the shot came.

The sound of it blasted through the air, and Bree waited for the pain. Waited for her own death.

But it didn’t come.

Nathan stopped, his head or torso freezing while his arms dropped limply to his sides. The rest of him dropped, too, and that’s when she saw the gunshot wound to the center of his head.

Bree snapped toward the ditch and spotted Luca. He still had his gun aimed at Nathan and had obviously been the one to shoot him.

“Stay down, Bree,” Slater yelled.

“Manny,” she muttered on a rise of breath. He was there, and he could finish the job that Nathan had started.

Before she could even look in Manny’s direction, she heard the shots. Two back-to-backs that caused the fear to slam through her. Oh, God. Had Manny managed to shoot Luca and Slater?

Bree was terrified of what she might see, but she forced herself to look at Luca. He was still standing. So was Slater, and her brother had his gun on Manny. Or rather what was left of Manny anyway. Like Nathan, he was on the ground, and his lifeless eyes were staring up at the night sky.

The relief rushed through her so fast that Bree lost her breath again, but she still tried to get to her feet so she could go to Luca. He made it to her first though and pulled her into his arms.

“Are you all right?” he asked, fishing through his pocket to come up with a small knife. He used it to cut the plastic cuffs and then pulled her right back to him for another hug.

“I’m okay,” she said. It was a lie. She was shaking and maybe in shock.

Because this wasn’t over.

“The text,” Bree managed to say. “We need to see what was in that text.”

Luca was already steps ahead of her on that, too, and he snatched out Nathan’s phone. The screen was still lit with the message.

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