Page 30 of Outlaw Ridge: Jesse
Hallie sighed. “You and I both know that the statute of limitations doesn’t cover murder or manslaughter.”
“It was neither of those things,” Reardon howled. “It was self-defense,” he repeated again.
“Maybe,” Hallie said, not sounding completely convinced. She shifted her attention to Belinda. “I’ll need you to do a couple of things.”
Belinda gave a quick nod.
“You’ll have to make a formal statement,” Hallie spelled out. “And you should have a lawyer with you for that.”
“She’ll have a lawyer, a damn good one to stop her from being railroaded,” Reardon insisted.
“I don’t want a lawyer,” Belinda insisted right back. “I’ll give you my statement now. I want to finish this. What else do you need me to do?”
Hallie kept her gaze on Belinda. “You have to take us to those woods. You have to show us where you buried your brother’s body.”
Chapter Eleven
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Jesse studied Lauren as she sat at her desk, her fingers lightly tracing the edge of the photograph Belinda had given her. She hadn’t said much since Belinda and Reardon had gone into the interview room with Hallie, but he could see the storm raging behind her eyes.
Not an anger storm. Though he figured she was experiencing some of that particular emotion. Probably a whole nasty stew of other feelings, too.
If everything Belinda had told them was true, Lauren’s abductor was dead and had been all this time. Lauren was probably relieved about that. But here’s where the anger had to come in. If she’d known he was dead sooner, she wouldn’t have had to worry about him coming after her for the past sixteen years. Then again, without that fear, that raw edge, she might not have become the woman, the cop, she was now.
Still, Jesse couldn’t think of Belinda’s confession as a mixed blessing. It was a shitstorm, plain and simple, and Lauren was caught smack dab in the middle of it.
He pushed off the doorframe where he’d been standing, shut the door and went closer to her. “You don’t have to go, you know.”
Lauren’s head lifted, her gaze locking onto his. “Yes, I do.”
He expected that answer, but it didn’t stop him from trying. “We can handle this without you.”
She let out a soft, humorless laugh. “That’s not the point.”
Jesse sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I know.”
Because the truth was, she needed to face this. Needed to see it through. He just hated that she had to.
Yeah, she was definitely the epicenter of this shitstorm.
Without thinking, he reached for her, pulling her to her feet and into his arms. She came easily, her hands sliding up his back as she pressed her cheek to his shoulder. He felt her exhale, as if she’d been holding her breath for too long.
“You’ve got me, Lauren,” he murmured against her hair. “I’m right here.”
She tilted her face up, and for a moment, neither of them moved. Then Jesse lowered his head, and their lips met in a slow, lingering kiss.
No desperation. No urgency.
Just a quiet moment in the middle of the chaos. Man, he needed it. Needed to have the taste of her stir through him. Needed for her to be in his arms like this if only for a couple of seconds. And those seconds seemed to ground both of them. To shift their focus.
Not completely away from the heat of the kiss.
Nope, that part stayed hot and clear. But when she eased back from him, he could see a different kind of focus. Not that of a teenage victim. Of a cop.
“My abductor might be dead,” she said, sitting down and booting up her laptop. “But the person who killed Nicky could still be out there. And we need to find out everything we can about what happened sixteen years ago to learn if it applies to what’s happening now.”
Lauren settled into her chair, her fingers flying over the keyboard. Jesse watched as she first accessed Belinda’s maidenname was Lincoln. Then, she typed inReggie Lincolnand scanned the search results.
