Free McCullen's Secret Son (The Heroes Of Horseshoe Creek Book 2) by Rita Herron

bed?”
    “Perhaps to frame you.”
    Perspiration beaded on Willow’s hand. “And when the police learn that Leo had another woman, they’ll assume I killed him out of jealousy.”
    “It’s possible. All the more reason we uncover the truth first.”
    Willow glanced up from the stain and into Sam’s room. Horror washed over her as she realized that Sam could have easily seen Leo being gunned down from his room.
    Poor Sam
. What would witnessing a cold-blooded murder do to a four-year-old?
    And if the killer knew that Sam could identify him, he might not let her have him back even if she did pay the ransom...

Chapter Eight
    “Willow?” Brett gently touched her arm. “Are you all right?”
    She blinked back tears. “How can I be all right when my little boy is in the hands of a murderer? What if they’ve hurt him, Brett?”
    Brett made a low sound in his throat. “Don’t think like that, Willow. We’ll find him, I promise.”
    She nodded, although the fear was almost paralyzing. Finally, though, she stood and went into Sam’s room. For a moment, she was frozen in place at the sight of his stuffed dinosaur and the soccer ball and the blocks on the floor. The top to his toy chest stood open, a few of his trucks and cars still inside although several of the toys had been pulled out and lay across the floor.
    She ran her finger over the quilt she’d made for Sam. He’d picked out the dark green fabric because it was the color of grass, and he’d asked for horses on the squares. She’d appliquéd them on the squares, then sewed them together for him just a few months ago.
    Would he ever get to sleep under that quilt again?
    “We should go,” Brett said in a deep voice. “I want to use Maddox’s computer while he’s at his office and see what I can learn about Leo and that man, Gus.”
    Willow grabbed Sam’s dinosaur and the throw he liked, a plush brown one with more horses on it, and clutched them to her. Brett carried her overnight bag, and she followed him outside to his truck.
    Sam’s sweet little-boy scent enveloped her as she pressed the dinosaur to her cheek, and emotions welled inside her. Last week they’d talked about Christmas and finding a tree to cut down on their own this year. They’d planned to decorate using a Western-themed tree with horse and farm-animal ornaments, since Sam was infatuated by the ranches nearby.
    If only he knew his father lived on a spread like Horseshoe Creek, and that he was a rodeo star...
    One day, maybe. Although, Sam might hate her for lying to him about his father.
    * * *
    B RETT PARKED AT the ranch house, grateful Maddox’s SUV was gone and Mama Mary’s Jeep wasn’t in the drive. She usually liked to grocery shop or visit friends from the church in the morning or early afternoon, but came home in plenty of time to make supper.
    Maddox had another cook who prepared food for the ranch hands, and a separate dining hall for them to eat, as well.
    He had no idea where Ray was. He’d made himself scarce since the funeral, probably biding his time until the reading of the will, after which he could head out of town.
    “I’m sorry for taking you away from your family,” Willow said. “I know this is a difficult time for you and your brothers, and you need to be spending time with them.”
    He hated to admit it, but he hadn’t thought much about them since Willow’s panicked phone call. “Don’t worry about us. Our problems have nothing to do with you.” Except of course, Maddox would disagree when he discovered Brett was covering up a murder, and he’d buried Willow’s husband on McCullen land. Land as sacred to Maddox as it had been to Joe McCullen.
    His conversation with his father about Willow having trouble echoed in his head, and he wondered if his dad had known more about Leo than he’d revealed.
    The sound of cattle and horses in the distance took some of the edge off Brett’s emotions as he and Willow walked up to the house. “You didn’t