Page 10 of Tracking Down the Lawman's Son

Because the woman was someone who’d been missing and presumed dead for nearly a year.

Bree’s mother.

Chapter Four

Bree’s breath stalled in her throat, and the only sound she managed to make was a strangled gasp of raw shock. That shock anchored her feet in place. Her mind, too. She just couldn’t grasp what she was seeing.

Her mother.

With Gabriel.

What the heck was her mother doing here in the barn, and why had she stolen Gabriel?

Her mother didn’t say anything. She just stared at Bree with her own stunned silence. She was pale. No color except for some red scratches on her right cheek. Her hair looked as if it hadn’t been combed in a very long time.

Gabriel made a sound, a soft whimper that yanked Bree right out of her stupor. Her maternal instincts kicked in. Mercy, did they. The boiling anger and urgent need to protect her baby slammed through her, and despite who was holding him—a woman she’d once loved and trusted—everything inside her screamed for her to get to her son.

Bree flung the muck fork aside to hurry to Gabriel. She didn’t even acknowledge the woman holding him. Bree just reached down and took him.

Her mother didn’t resist. Just the opposite. Her grip on Gabriel melted away as Bree’s own grip gathered him into her arms. Cradling Gabriel against her chest, Bree stepped back.

Luca moved in front of Gabriel and her. Protecting them. And giving Bree a jolt of a different kind. Luca and she were a unit. Parents. Together. For this nightmare anyway. Even though she was holding their son, the fear of him being kidnapped wascausing adrenaline to fire through her, and the only person who could understand what she was feeling right now was Luca.

Or rather, he could understand what she was feeling about finding their son.

He probably couldn’t grasp what she was going through over seeing her mother. Then again, Bree couldn’t quite grasp it either.

“You’re hurt,” her mother said. “Were you attacked?”

Bree had forgotten about her fresh stitches and the nicks on her face, and it definitely wasn’t a high priority for discussion right now. “You took my son,” Bree managed to say.

Her mother nodded, and tears spilled from her already red eyes. “Yes. To protect him.”

Nothing about this felt like protection. But Bree immediately rethought that. Just an hour or so ago, someone had run her off the road and had possibly tried to kill her. Was that connected to her mother?

“To protect him,” Luca repeated. “Explain that,” he snapped, and it was obvious from his tone that he was still getting some adrenaline jolts of his own. Equally obvious, too, was that he wasn’t just going to dole out a welcome home to the woman who’d stolen their child.

Her mother opened her mouth but didn’t get a chance to answer before there was the sound of running footsteps. “Bree?” Slater called out. “Luca? Where the hell are you?”

“Here,” Luca said.

That brought on more running footsteps, and he wasn’t alone. Coral was with him.

“Did you find...” Slater’s words trailed off when he saw them. He, too, had his weapon drawn, and his gaze swept from Gabriel to Luca and Bree.

And then to his mother.

Slater shook his head, clearly not able to process what he was seeing. Coral was having a similar reaction. The nanny didn’t know Sandra well, but it was obvious she recognized her.

“What are you doing here?” Slater asked Sandra.

“Sandra’s the one who took Gabriel,” Luca supplied.

“I did it to protect him,” her mother insisted. She moved to get to her feet, a gesture that caused Luca and Slater to take aim at her.

“Are you armed?” Luca demanded.

Luca and Slater were clearly treating her mother like a kidnapper, and Bree didn’t object. Too many things weren’t clear right now, and she didn’t want Gabriel in any more danger than he might already be.

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