Page 32 of Tracking Down the Lawman's Son
Duncan cursed and made a frantic motion for them to move faster. They did, but it wasn’t easy. Ronnie was unconscious now so Luca hefted him over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry so he could put some distance between them and the cruiser.
Bree and Sandra thankfully stayed against the wall of the building, and they all moved together. All keeping watch as best they could, considering the slashes of smoke that kept coming their way.
It seemed to take a lifetime or two before they finally reached the door, and the moment they did, Duncan got Sandra and Bree inside. Luca moved to do the same to Ronnie, but he caught some movement from the corner of his eye and whipped around in that direction.
Luca caught just a glimpse of Tara running from the scene.
Chapter Nine
Bree just wanted to stop feeling as if she were about to jump out of her own skin. She wanted her heart rate to go back to normal. She wanted to stop being afraid for her precious little boy.
But none of that was likely to happen anytime soon.
She was back at the ranch with Luca, Woodrow and her mother. Away from the fire and smoke-filled parking lot. Away from immediate danger. But nothing felt safe right now.
Probably because it wasn’t.
If their attacker could come at them in the parking lot of the sheriff’s office, then he or she could come after them here. Luca obviously understood that was a possibility because the ranch was on high alert with the security system activated and ranch hands patrolling the grounds.
Bree watched the laptop screen as Duncan was finishing up his interview with Tara. Not at the sheriff’s office. That entire area had been evacuated so when they’d seen Tara running from the fire, Duncan had gone after her, caught her and ultimately taken her to an office in city hall. He’d then set up a laptop to do a live feed of the interview so Luca, Woodrow, Joelle and Bree could watch from the ranch.
So far, Tara wasn’t saying anything Bree wanted to hear.
“I didn’t start that fire,” Tara insisted for the umpteenth time. “I told you that I was walking to my car that I’d parked up the street. I saw the fire and ran.”
“We’ve requested the camera feed from the bank,” Luca muttered to Bree while he stood right next to her. Right next to her had been his default position since they’d escaped the fire.
And Bree wasn’t complaining.
As bad as her frayed nerves were right now, she knew they’d be even worse if Luca wasn’t there. Ditto for Gabriel. Even though the baby was asleep, she was holding him because she wanted him as close as possible.
“The angle of the bank camera won’t help with the parking lot,” Luca added, knowing that Tara couldn’t hear him, “but it might be able to confirm or disprove what Tara is saying.”
Bree considered the location of the bank, which was more than a block away from the sheriff’s office. It was the only security camera in the area. Still, they might get lucky and be able to see Tara’s movements. If she had indeed parked up the street, then it wasn’t likely she’d spilled that gasoline and ignited it. Well, not likely unless she’d spilled it before she’d ever parked on Main Street and then come into the sheriff’s office. It was possible she’d done just that, but it might be hard to prove unless Tara had left behind some evidence that pointed to her guilt.
Bree continued to watch as Duncan pressed Tara, trying to trip her up with different versions of the same question. But Tara was staying steady, insisting she was innocent.
Luca’s phone dinged with a text, and when he lifted it, she saw Sonya’s name on the screen.Ronnie’s conscious, the deputy texted.Doctor says no serious injuries but he’ll be admitted for an overnight stay.
Bree latched on to the “no serious injuries” part. They’d gotten lucky. With a fire of that size, all of them could have gotten burned, literally.
Luca texted back to thank Sonya for the update, but his phone dinged again before he could put it away.
“The tech picked up the memory stick and copied it,” Luca explained. “He just emailed me the bar receipts.”
Bree glanced at the laptop screen with the interview, then at Gabriel who was deep into his nap and would no doubt still beasleep for at least two hours. “Let me put him down in his crib, and maybe we can go over the receipts in the guest room.” That way, they’d still be able to watch Gabriel while they worked.
Luca took one of the laptops scattered around the room and told the others what they were doing. Woodrow assured him if anything came up in the remainder of the interview with Tara that he’d let them know. They agreed to do the same if they found anything in the receipts.
Bree and Luca made their way up the stairs to the guest room, which was now empty since Coral had already gone home. Bree welcomed the quiet. For a couple of seconds anyway, and then the flashbacks came.
Mercy, did they.
There was a whirl of images of the attack on the road, the shooting into the barn and the fire, all mixed with the memories of her father. It was a volatile combo, and her hands were already starting to tremble when she crossed the room toward the crib.
Luca set the laptop aside and steadied her by slipping his hands beneath hers, and together, they eased the baby onto the mattress. Gabriel stirred just a little but stayed asleep.
“Thank you,” Bree whispered. And it wasn’t just gratitude for helping her with this but also for what he’d done during the fire. “You put yourself in front of me again. You shielded me.”