Page 17 of Outlaw Ridge: Jesse
As they turned and headed for the cruiser, Lauren felt Reardon’s eyes on her, like a weight pressing between her shoulder blades. Jesse unlocked the car, but before getting in, Lauren stole another glance at the house.
The curtain shifted.
Belinda was still watching.
Lauren slid into the passenger seat and shut the door, exhaling slowly as Jesse started the cruiser. The last sliver of sunlight had nearly disappeared, leaving the sky tinged in dusky purple.
“Well, that was interesting,” Jesse muttered, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel.
Lauren glanced back at the house. The porch light flickered on, casting Reardon’s silhouette in an eerie glow as he went back inside. “Yeah. He was quick to throw Graves under the bus.”
“He was,” Jesse agreed.
“Or maybe he really does believe Graves is involved,” Lauren muttered.
Jesse’s phone rang, the unexpected sound jolting her out of her thoughts. She glanced at the dash monitor and saw that the call was from dispatch.
“Deputy McCain,” Jesse answered on speaker.
“A woman just called here, asking to speak to Deputy Whitman and you,” the dispatcher said. “She says she’s Isabel Markham. Abilene’s stepsister.”
“Stepsister?” Jesse questioned. “That didn’t come up in a background search.”
No, it hadn’t. But it didn’t surprise her when Jesse told the dispatcher to transfer the call to him. They definitely wanted to talk to anyone who had a connection to Abilene.
From the corner of her eye, Lauren saw some movement and spotted Belinda in the backyard, the dog right by her side. Belinda didn’t look in their direction but led the dog in the direction of some trees behind the house. It wasn’t long before Reardon came out of the house, too, and went toward those same trees. Moments later, Reardon, Belinda, and the dog disappeared from sight.
“I’m Deputy Jesse McCain,” he repeated once there was a click to indicate the transfer had happened.
“Isabel Markham,” the woman replied, and Lauren took out her phone to do a run on her.
“I understand you’re Abilene’s stepsister?” Jesse asked.
“Yes. Or rather I was. It’s complicated,” the woman said, sounding a little flustered. “When I was seventeen, my father married Abilene’s mother. Abilene was only four so she was more like my child than a sister. Uh, her mother wasn’t very involved in her life,” she tacked onto that. “Her mother only stayed married to my dad for a couple of years, but Abilene and I kept in touch.”
Isabel stopped, and Lauren heard the woman make a soft sob. “I just heard about Abilene’s death. Can you tell me what happened to her?”
Jesse sighed and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. “We’re not sure what happened, but we’re investigating her death and possible abduction. When’s the last time you spoke to Abilene?”
“A week ago when she came to my estate,” Isabel said, the words rushing out with another sob. “I’m sorry. I can’t do this over the phone, but I need to talk to you. Could I come to the Outlaw Ridge Police Station? Not tonight,” she was quick to add. “But I could come in the morning.” She paused again. “Deputy McCain, you need to hear what Abilene said to me.”
With that, the line went dead.
Chapter Seven
----- ? ----
Jesse gripped the wheel, his jaw tightening. “Damn it.” He immediately pulled up Isabel’s number and hit redial, but it went straight to voicemail.
“You think someone could have forced her to hang up on you?” Lauren asked.
“Possibly.” He drew in a breath and made another call. “Dispatch, this is Deputy McCain. I need you to call back a recent contact, Isabel Markham. She just phoned and said she had information about Abilene but insisted on meeting in the morning. I want to make sure she’s okay.”
“Copy that,” the dispatcher responded. “We’ll get back to you.”
Jesse glanced at Lauren. “She sounded…off.”
“She just lost her stepsister. That could shake anyone up.”
