Page 9 of Tracking Down the Lawman's Son

“I’m on my way,” Slater insisted. “I’ll call Duncan, Joelle and Ruston and fill them in.”

That meant the four of them would also soon be on their way here, too. Well, maybe not Joelle since she was on maternityleave and had a baby of her own. Still, she would likely find a way to join the others. So would any available deputy. And Luca had to believe that would be enough help for them to find and recover Gabriel.

“Uh, how’s Bree?” Slater asked. “Never mind. She’s a wreck. I’ll be there soon,” he added before he ended the call.

Bree was indeed a wreck. She was strong and had survived going through hell and back, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t break. This was enough to break even the strongest person. That’s why he needed to help her focus on the things that could be done rather than letting the fear take over. Luca tried to do the same for himself.

“Look for any signs of footprints,” he instructed. “Especially beneath the windows.”

She did, pinning her gaze to the ground as they hurried along the side of the house, but there was nothing to indicate the kidnapper had been here.

“Stay right behind me as we go through the backyard,” he told her. Because there was a strong possibility of footprints being there.

“We’re going to the barn,” she muttered.

They were, and Luca knew it wouldn’t do any good to ask Bree to stay in the house while he did that. If their situations had been reversed, he sure as hell wouldn’t have stayed put and neither would she.

But it could be dangerous.

If they cornered a kidnapper, then Gabriel’s captor might do anything and everything to escape. Still, there was no other option, not even waiting for backup. Luca intended to do everything possible to find his son now, and then he’d have to deal with whatever they were about to face.

“Look for tracks,” he reminded her.

Luca did the same, but he didn’t take the direct route across the yard. He stayed on the perimeter, hurrying, while he made his way through the flower beds and shrubs and toward the barn. They reached the wide metal gate, and Luca slowed down to check for footprints.

And he saw something.

Of course, that something could be Bree’s own tracks since he knew she tended her two horses. Still, Luca skirted around them, climbing over the fence and approaching the barn from the side.

“Are the barn doors usually shut like this?” he asked Bree in a whisper.

“Yes. I open them if bad weather is coming.”

Since there was no such weather in the forecast, then this was the norm, but Luca hoped Gabriel’s abductor had ducked in and shut them. That way, his son would be nearby, and he’d be within seconds of finding him.

The horses whickered and lifted their heads, but they must have picked up Bree’s scent because they went back to grazing. Luca and Bree went past them and ran to the barn. There were no footprints on the side of it. None that Luca could see anyway, but there were also enough patches of grass that anyone could have used them like stepping stones.

When he reached the door, Luca lifted the latch to ease it open, and he winced at the creaking sound it made. No way to sneak it with that noise. Then again, the spears of sunlight would have alerted anyone inside, too.

They stepped in, and Luca paused so his eyes could adjust to the dim light and so he could listen for any sounds. Nothing.

Not at first anyway.

Then, he heard something or someone rustling. It came from the far corner of the barn where there were some stacks of hay bales. Bree must have heard it as well because her attentionzoomed in that direction while she took hold of a muck fork rake that was propped against the wall. It wasn’t a gun, but it could be an effective weapon if it came down to it.

Luca was praying it didn’t.

Keeping his footsteps as light as possible, he made his way toward those bales. Not approaching them directly where Bree and he would be easy targets. Again, he kept them to the side of the barn so he could approach from the side.

Of course, there might not be a kidnapper. The sound could have come from a mouse or some other critter that had gotten inside. Still, Luca moved as if their lives depended on it.

Since they could.

Luca stopped when he heard another sound. More rustling. Followed by what could be a whimper. That got Bree and him moving even faster, and he had his gun aimed and ready when they reached the stack of hay bales. Bree moved to his side, the muck fork raised.

And then they both froze.

There, seated on the floor was a woman, and she had Gabriel cradled in her arms. Not a stranger. Far from it.

---