Chapter Seventeen

Tara .

The woman’s name hammered through Bree’s head as Luca, Slater and she ran. Tara had Gabriel. And that meant Tara had likely been the person who’d fired those shots inside the house at the ranch. She was in on this with Nathan and Manny.

All three had worked together to create this nightmare.

She didn’t ask why Duncan, Joelle, her mother or Woodrow hadn’t stopped Tara from taking Gabriel. Because Bree couldn’t deal with the sickening dread that they were all now dead. If Tara had Gabriel, then she’d managed to neutralize them in some way.

No, she couldn’t ask about that.

She could only focus on getting to the ranch so she could find Tara and get her son.

They ran out onto the road just as a cruiser braked to a loud stop next to them. Sonya was behind the wheel with Carmen in the passenger’s seat.

“What the hell happened?” Sonya asked.

Luca didn’t answer. He threw open the back door, and Slater, Bree and he all piled in. “Get to the ranch now,” Luca demanded.

Sonya didn’t hesitate. She gunned the engine, the tires squealing against the asphalt, and she got them moving while Luca yanked out his phone. Bree saw that he was trying to call Duncan. If she’d had her phone, she would be trying to call Joelle or her mother.

Luca cursed when Duncan didn’t answer, and Bree nearly lost it. She wanted to scream. She wanted to tear the world apart to get to her son, but losing it wouldn’t help. They had to focus. They had to get to the ranch and find Gabriel.

Slater took out his phone, too, and he called Joelle. Since he put it on Speaker, Bree could hear the rings as she watched the scenery fly past the window. Her heart crushed with each unanswered ring.

And then Joelle answered.

“I’m a little busy here,” Joelle said, sounding out of breath but very much alive. “Are you all okay? Did you get Bree?”

Bree didn’t want to respond to those questions. Not when she only wanted to know one thing. “Gabriel,” she blurted. “Did Tara take him?”

“She tried,” Joelle confirmed. “But she didn’t succeed.”

Bree went limp with relief, and she sent up a thousand prayers. “But Tara sent a message saying she’d taken him.”

“Sorry about that. The text was already composed on her phone, just waiting there, and during the scuffle to retain her, it was accidentally sent. We didn’t know who the recipient was since it was being sent to a burner.”

Bree was beyond thankful that was how things had played out. “Is Gabriel hurt?”

“No,” Joelle was quick to assure her. “No one here is. Well, except for Tara. She’s got some cuts and bruises from Duncan and Woodrow tackling her to get that gun and phone away from her. Duncan’s cuffing her now.” Joelle paused. “Please tell me Luca, Slater and you took care of Manny and Nathan.”

So, her sister knew. “They’re both dead.” That prompted Carmen to make a call to dispatch to get someone out to the scene to secure the bodies.

“Good,” Joelle murmured, and she repeated that as if trying to steady herself. “Tara’s talking, and she said Nathan and Manny put this plan together.”

Soon, Bree would want to hear all about that plan, but for now, she just needed to see her baby. Sonya was trying to make that happen. She was driving as fast as possible while Carmen continued her call to coordinate the efforts to secure the crime scene.

“They were all three in on this,” Bree managed to say.

“Yeah.” That was all Joelle said for a long time. “How far out are you?”

“Under a minute,” Bree said after she glanced around. A minute that was already feeling like an eternity.

Joelle made what sounded to be a sigh of relief. “Mom’s still in the bathroom with both babies, and Woodrow is there standing guard.”

Bree didn’t ask why he was doing that. She knew there could be other hired guns around.

“Some of the ranch hands are searching every inch of the house while others are going over the grounds,” Joelle explained. “Every available deputy and reserve deputy will be here soon to help us make sure everything is secure.”

“Thank you,” Bree managed.

“You’re more than welcome. Just get here,” Joelle said. “I’m signing off so I can better aim my gun at Tara in case she thinks about trying to escape.”

Her sister ended the call, and Bree turned to Luca. She hadn’t allowed herself to really look at him because she’d known what an emotional punch it would be. And it was. She couldn’t fight back a sob any longer, and she practically tumbled into his arms.

“It’ll be okay,” he murmured, brushing a kiss on her head.

She winced a little because she realized she probably had some bruises there from being manhandled by Nathan. It felt as if she’d popped a couple of stitches as well. But that was minor stuff. They were all alive, and Gabriel was safe.

“I’m sorry,” Luca said, and she got the feeling he wasn’t apologizing because of the pain that had caused her to wince. No. Luca was putting all of this nightmare on his shoulders.

Bree eased back, caught onto his chin and kissed him. She made it long, hard and deep, and when she ended it, she looked him straight in the eyes.

“You did everything to put a stop to the danger,” she told him. “You saved me.”

Bree would have added more. So much more. But Sonya took the turn to the ranch, and both Luca and Bree readied themselves to jump out. That’s what they did even before the cruiser was at a full stop, and they ran into the house.

Duncan and Joelle were indeed there, and Joelle had a gun aimed at Tara who was cuffed and belly-down on the floor. Duncan was in the process of bagging her phone and gun.

“I want a deal,” Tara shouted when her attention landed on Bree. “Immunity for testifying against Nathan. He’s the one who got me into this, and Nathan killed my sister.”

“Manny and Nathan are both dead,” Luca snarled, and he hurried up the stairs with Bree.

Tara continued to shout, but they ignored her and went to the bathroom door where Woodrow was indeed standing guard. He quickly let them in to the quiet room. Emphasis on quiet . Her mother was still in the shower stall with a baby in each arm, but both Gabriel and Izzie were sound asleep.

“Thank you,” Bree told her mother and figured she’d be saying that a lot tonight.

Bree went to the shower and eased Gabriel into her arms. She immediately pressed against Luca so he could get in on kissing their son and making sure he was okay. There was so much relief in that moment. Relief that likely would have brought her to her knees had she not been leaning against Luca.

They both examined their little boy, making sure there were no injuries. Physically he was fine. And he thankfully wasn’t showing any obvious signs of trauma because he continued to sleep.

Bree wanted to just stand there and hold him until some of the raw nerves had settled in her body, but there were still a few loose ends to wrap up. Added to that, she wasn’t sure the hands had finished their search of the house.

“Just stay in here a little while longer,” Bree told her mother and put Gabriel back in her arms. “As soon as Duncan gives us the all clear, we’ll be back up to get you.”

Her mother nodded, blinking away tears, but Bree thought they were definitely of relief. They’d all had a horrible scare tonight. A scare brought on by three people who’d joined forces to create a living hell.

Bree wanted Tara to pay for that.

Luca slipped his arm around Bree as they headed out of the bathroom and toward the stairs. He stopped on the landing, and even though they could hear Tara cursing and sobbing below, Luca still took a moment to kiss her. That helped with the nerves. Helped generate some heat, too, but she could practically feel the apology coming off him.

“Not your fault,” she reminded him.

“I should have realized they were lying,” he argued.

“You did realize it. You just didn’t know what they were lying about. You need to request to be issued a crystal ball.”

He gave her a flat look. “I needed to have been a better cop.”

She could have reminded him that none of them had seen this unholy alliance between all of their suspects, but Bree figured a kiss was the way to go here. She kissed, and kissed and kissed until she finally felt some of the tension slide right off her. She might have continued but she heard Tara break into a sob. On heavy sighs, Luca and she went down to see what was going on.

“Manny’s really dead?” Tara asked. Duncan had moved her to a sitting position, and both Carmen and Sonya were getting the cruiser ready to take her into custody.

“He is,” Luca verified.

That brought on more sobbing from Tara. “He’s dead,” the woman said and she kept babbling it. “You didn’t have to kill him.”

“I beg to differ,” Slater spoke up. “He was about to shoot Luca and me.”

Tara sucked in a hard breath, nearly choking on it, and she shook her head while tears streamed down her cheeks. “This is all Nathan’s fault. Manny and I wouldn’t have gotten mixed up in this if it weren’t for him.”

“She’s been Mirandized,” Duncan informed them. “And she’d obviously decided not to remain silent.”

“I want the world to know what Nathan did,” Tara snarled. “All of this is his fault.”

“How so?” Bree asked.

“Because he started up things with that woman. Brighton,” she snapped out like profanity. “Nathan must have known that Manny was still sniffing around her, but that didn’t stop him. So, Manny decided to go to Brighton’s place to confront her. I followed him because, well, because.”

“You were in love with him,” Bree provided.

“Yes,” Tara readily admitted, “and I was hoping once Manny saw Nathan and Brighton together that it would get her out of his system. It didn’t.” Her voice broke and she began to cry again. “Everything got messed up.”

“How?” This time it was Luca who pressed for more details.

“A heated argument. Brighton said some horrible things about both Manny and Nathan.” She paused. “Nathan slapped her, and Manny stepped in. A fight broke out, but then Brighton attacked Manny. She was punching, and I tried to stop her.”

“Who actually killed her?” Bree asked.

“Nathan,” she snapped but then shook her head. “Both Manny and Nathan. It was awful. Everything was out of control, and Brighton wouldn’t hush. She just kept telling Nathan and Manny that they were pathetic losers. She said she was going to file charges against both of them for assault and stalking.”

“Only one of them stabbed her to death,” Duncan snapped.

Tara shook her head. “Both of them did. Manny lost it. He just lost it, and he grabbed a knife from her kitchen counter. It seemed to go on forever, and she didn’t die. She just kept fighting and clawing at them. Then, Nathan shoved Manny aside and finished it.”

So, Nathan was the killer. But Manny and Tara were accessories.

“Nathan said Manny and I would be charged with murder if we went to the cops,” Tara went on. “He said as accomplices that we’d get the same sentence as if we’d actually killed her. I looked it up, and it’s true.”

Yes, it was. And while it likely wouldn’t have been a capital murder charge had they reported it, they still would have ended up with life sentences.

“Nathan took Brighton’s top because he said it would have all of our DNA on it,” Tara added. “He said that was his assurance that we wouldn’t try to save our own skins.”

Bree shook her head. “So, you created a pact of silence. How did my mother fit into that? And my father?”

Tara’s denial was fast and frantic. “We didn’t kill your father. I swear. We were all stunned when it happened.”

Maybe. But it was possible that Nathan was faking his reaction. Then again, he had denied killing her father when he’d been holding her at gunpoint.

“Your mother, well, we took her,” Tara said. “Or rather Shannon and Aubrey did. Manny set that up, but he messed up by using Nathan’s real name. Nathan was so mad and threatened Manny and me until Manny fixed it by linking it to some offshore account deal.”

Manny had hidden those steps well. His business experience had likely helped with that.

“Your mother was continuing to dig and had made the connection between Brighton and the bar,” Tara went on. “Manny and Nathan were worried she might learn the truth. So, we took her and thought we could somehow set her up for Brighton’s murder, but we found out she had an ironclad alibi.”

Hearing that gave Bree a fresh slam of fury. “So, you what...just decided to hold her captive?”

Tara nodded. “Nathan knew you were digging, too, and he wanted to be able to use your mother as leverage.” She swallowed hard. “Your son, too. He said you’d cooperate with anything if we had your son.”

This time, it was more than fury. It was a whirl of sickening disgust at this trio who hadn’t wanted to take responsibly for what they’d done.

“But Nathan wanted more than my cooperation,” Bree pointed out. “He told me he was going to frame me for Brighton’s murder.”

Tara gave another nod. “It was all supposed to be over tonight. We’d have the baby to make you confess to the murder, and the investigation would all go away. We’d be in the clear.” She shook her head. “But now they’re both dead. Shannon, too. Manny killed her when she screwed up and let your mother escape.”

So, Nathan and Manny had murdered at least two people, and they’d orchestrated a whole litany of other crimes.

“I didn’t want to do any of this,” Tara insisted. “But Nathan drew up the plan and said I’d go to jail if I didn’t do everything he told me. Manny and I were to lie and point the finger at each other. Nathan said that way, it would mess with the investigation.”

It had done that. All the lies. All the accusations. Peppered with attacks. In hindsight, those attacks hadn’t been meant to kill her, but they could have. In fact, all of them could have been killed.

“You gave us that video of Manny,” Luca reminded Tara.

Tara lowered her head. “Because I was so angry that Manny had killed Shannon. I thought, well, I wasn’t thinking straight, but I couldn’t come and say Manny had killed her so I’d hoped you’d arrest him for Brighton’s murder. I figured Manny would accuse Nathan and me of helping him do that, but there wouldn’t be any proof. Manny would end up paying.”

“So, why’d you go through with the plan tonight?” Bree demanded.

“Because I was scared of Nathan. Of what he might do. I’m not a killer like Manny and him. I’m not. I was supposed to kill the hands when we sneaked onto the ranch,” Tara murmured. “I just couldn’t. I used a stun gun on them instead, tied them up and took their keys so we could escape in their trucks. That counts for something, right? It counts that I didn’t kill them?”

Disgusted, Bree only shook her head and stepped back. Luca was right there to take hold of her and walk with her into the dining room when Sonya and Carmen began to walk Tara out to the waiting cruiser.

“She’ll spend the rest of her life behind bars, and that doesn’t feel nearly enough,” Bree muttered.

She felt the anger taking over, and she quickly shoved it aside. The anger was justified and would maybe always be there, but she didn’t want this moment to be about that. Luca, their baby and she were all alive, and that’s what she wanted to latch on to. Later, she’d deal with her feelings for Tara, but for now, she needed Luca.

Bree pulled Luca to her and dropped her head on his shoulder. Instant relief and comfort. Everything about it felt right.

Because it was.

Luca and she were right together.

Part of her had always known that, and it was why she’d found herself going back to him time and time again. It was why she wanted to be with him now.

“You know I’m in love with you,” she admitted.

He eased back, lifted his eyebrow. “Really? You never said.”

“Well, I’m saying it now. I’m in love with you, and I don’t want to co-parent our son. I want the whole parent deal with you with us for, well, everything.”

Now, he smiled and brushed his mouth over hers. “Good.”

He kissed her. Really kissed her. And she felt the remnants of the anger and fear just vanish. The man could certainly work miracles. But he stopped the miracle kiss and stared down at her.

“You know I’m in love with you,” he said, giving her back her own words.

She mimicked his gesture of a raised eyebrow. “Really?”

“Really,” he verified, and he finished that off with exactly what she needed to hear. “And everything is exactly what I want with Gabriel and you, too.”