Page 62 of Tracking Down the Lawman's Son

Still at a full sprint, Luca turned onto the trail and nearly skidded to a stop when he saw the truck.

And Bree.

She was running or rather she was trying to do that, but the thug tackled her, both of them dropping to the ground. Luca started running again, and when the thug pulled back his hand, Luca saw that he was trying to aim the gun at Bree.

The snake was going to shoot her.

“Stop!” Luca yelled, already bringing up his own gun. He didn’t have a clean shot so he fired over the guy’s head to get his attention.

It got it all right.

The man rolled to the side, dragging up Bree in front of him so he could cower behind her.

“Coward,” Luca snarled plenty loud enough for her captor to hear him, and then he had to drop down into the ditch when the guy took aim at him.

He fired, too, and while the shot didn’t come anywhere near Luca, he shouted for Slater to be careful. Luca definitely didn’twant Slater to take a bullet meant for him. Hell, he didn’t want anyone other than this thug dying tonight.

“It’s Nathan,” Bree managed to yell. “He’s the one who took me.”

Luca spat out the name like profanity, “Nathan.” So, he was their attacker.

Nathan did some actual cursing, and he whipped off the mask and the voice alternator he had against his throat. He also latched on to Bree’s hair and pulled her up so that his face was right against hers.

“It’s too late for you to save her,hero,” Nathan taunted. “Too late for Bree to choose the right man.”

“You’re not the right man,” Bree snapped, and she tried to elbow Nathan in the gut.

Luca admired the fact that she wasn’t giving up, but he didn’t want her to fight right now. He didn’t want Nathan to have any reason to kill her. At this point, though, her knowing his identity was probably the only motive Nathan needed to end her life. That’s why Luca got down as low as he could and continued toward Bree. Maybe he’d get that clean shot he needed to take out this SOB.

“I’ve already told him if this is about Brighton, the investigation isn’t going away,” Bree said, straining against the grip he had on her hair.

“I don’t need it to go away,” Nathan was quick to say. “I just need the cops looking at someone else.”

Luca mentally replayed the words while he glanced over his shoulder at the sound of the movement. Slater was in the ditch, crouched down and making his way toward Luca.

“You’re going to set someone up for Brighton’s murder?” Luca asked. “Another cowardly thing,” he added in a mutter.

“I’m not going to jail for what happened to her,” Nathan practically yelled. “It wasn’t my fault.” If he had any composureleft, he seemed to be losing it fast. If he snapped, he just might start shooting before Luca could figure out a way to get Bree out of this alive.

“Are you saying it was an accident?” Luca asked.

Nathan jumped right on that. “Yes, an accident.”

That didn’t convince Luca one bit. Then again, there wasn’t anything Nathan could say that would make Luca believe he was innocent. After all, he was holding Bree at gunpoint.

“Things just got out of hand,” Nathan said, and then he made a hoarse sob as if he was about to break down and cry.

“Did things get out of hand with my mother, too?” Bree demanded. “Is that why you kidnapped her?”

“She was insurance, that’s all,” Nathan readily admitted. “Leverage. If the investigation had turned bad, then she would have been of use to lure out Bree. Or you.”

“Me?” Luca questioned. “Why the hell would you want Bree or me?”

“Because Sandra had an alibi for the night of Brighton’s murder. We didn’t know that at first, but then we found a photo of her on Facebook that would have proved she couldn’t have killed her. We couldn’t set her up to take the blame.”

Luca was surprised Nathan had admitted that since it also implicated him not only in Sandra’s kidnapping but also Brighton’s and Shannon’s murders. So, why would he spill it? And why wasn’t he just trying to get away with Bree?

Was Nathan waiting for a hired gun to show up?

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