Page 25 of Outlaw Ridge: Jesse
“Dr. Graves, of course,” she spat out without hesitation. “They’re both sick, and he should be punished for what he did to my stepsister.”
Jesse frowned again. She was putting on a show, but was it real? The way she kept touching her arm drew his attention, over and over.
That tattoo.
The matching one on Abilene’s body. The same one Nicky had.
A chill spread through Jesse’s chest.
“What’s on your arm, Isabel?” he asked, keeping his voice level.
Isabel’s head snapped up. “Excuse me?”
“Your arm.” He nodded toward it. “You keep touching it. Do you have a tattoo?”
Her lips parted, but she hesitated just a fraction of a second too long.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said smoothly. “And I don’t see how this is relevant.”
“Let me see,” Jesse said, his voice a quiet challenge.
Isabel sat perfectly still, her face an unreadable mask. Then, slowly, she picked up her purse and stood.
“This was a mistake,” she said, chin lifting. “I came to tell you what I know. But if this is the way you’re going to treat me, then I’m done here.”
Jesse didn’t say a word as he watched Isabel Markham stride out of the office, her heels clicking against the tile floor. Controlled. Composed. But she wasn’t as unaffected as she wanted them to believe.
Lauren exhaled, low and sharp. “She was lying.”
“No question.” Jesse’s jaw tightened. “She damn near sprinted out of here the second I asked about the tattoo.”
Before Lauren could respond, Sheriff Hallie McQueen stepped in, her sharp eyes flicking toward the front door Isabel had just walked through. “She left in a hurry.”
Jesse dragged a hand down his face. “She gave us a story about Abilene being obsessed with Lauren’s case after seeing Dr. Graves for anxiety. She thinks Graves pushed her toward it, and that’s what made her snap.”
Hallie frowned. “Dr. Graves was Abilene’s doctor?”
“That’s what Isabel says,” Jesse confirmed. “And that’s something we need to get out of Graves.”
Hallie made a quick sound of agreement. “I’ll make sure I question him about that when he’s in interview.”
Jesse nodded, glancing at Lauren. She hadn’t taken her eyes off the door, her arms crossed tight, fingers pressing into her sides. Thinking. Processing.
And maybe wondering the same thing he was.
If Isabel wasn’t just hiding something.
If she was part of it.
Jesse was wondering the same thing as he saw two people coming into the station. Tim Reardon stepped inside. His wife, Belinda, clung to his arm, her face pale and drawn. Her hands were clasped together like she was holding herself together by sheer force of will.
Jesse exchanged a glance with Lauren, who straightened. Reardon’s icy exterior hadn’t cracked before, but now there was concern in his eyes.
“We need to talk,” Reardon insisted the moment Belinda and he were through the metal detector and in the bullpen. “Privately.”
Hallie was already moving. “Let’s take this to Lauren’s office.”
Jesse followed, studying Belinda as they settled inside the small room. She perched on the edge of the chair, her fingers twisting in her lap, while Reardon stood behind her like a protective wall.
