Page 36 of Outlaw Ridge: Jesse
Graves’ lawyer stepped in then, clearing his throat. “Dr. Graves is here voluntarily. He has nothing to hide.”
“Neither do I,” Reardon shot back.
Jesse had seen enough standoffs to know this one was about to escalate. Before it could, Hallie stepped between them, her patience obviously razor-thin.
“Enough,” she snapped. “Reardon, Belinda, you’re with me. Deputy Salvetti will take your statements.”
Reardon sent one last glare Graves’ way before following Hallie. Belinda hesitated, clearly still rattled, before trailing after her husband.
“Show the doctor the mockup Griff sent us,” Hallie muttered to Jesse. “I’ll question him about it in interview, but I want his initial impression. Oh, and you’ve already been Mirandized,” she added to Graves, “so best not to say anything that could be used against you.”
The lawyer started to bark out an objection to that, but Hallie walked away, heading to Deputy Salvetti, no doubt to fill her in on the statements she needed to take from Belinda and Reardon.
Once Hallie was gone, Jesse turned his attention back to Graves, and he tapped on the mockup of Reggie. Without saying a word, he turned the image toward the doctor and watched his expression.
Jesse turned, holding up the phone so Dr. Graves could see the screen. “You recognize him?”
He expected Graves to look confused. Maybe a dismissive shake of his head. What Jesse didn’t expect was for Graves to frown, his mouth tightening as he leaned in for a closer look. Then the doctor’s expression shifted, something like realization flickering across his face.
“That’s Derrick Martin,” Graves said.
Jesse’s pulse kicked up a whole lot of notches and beside him, Lauren made a soft gasp. “Who?” Jesse pressed.
“Derrick Martin,” Graves repeated. “He recently got out on parole. Part of his release conditions require him to seek counseling, and he’s been coming to me for about a month now.”
Silence stretched between them. Thick, smothering. And the realization and dread rolled in right behind it.
Lauren inhaled sharply, her face draining of color. “Oh, God,” she whispered.
Hell. Hell. Hell.This couldn’t be happening. Not again. But it was. If Reggie Lincoln was alive—if he was walking around under the name Derrick Martin—then the man who had abducted Lauren, who had hunted her like prey, had been right under their noses this entire time.
And he was free.
“Where is he?” Jesse blurted to Graves. “When’s the last time you saw him?”
Now, there was some confusion in Graves’ eyes. “Uh, we had a session three days ago. Why….” He looked at Lauren. “Is this the man you’ve been looking for? Is he the one who killed Nicky Holden?” He stopped again. “Is he the one who abducted you?”
Lauren didn’t answer. Didn’t have to. No way could she have a poker face after what Graves had just confirmed.
“You have an address for this Derrick Martin?” Jesse asked.
As if he’d slipped into some kind of shocked trance, Graves shook his head, and he looked unsteady enough for his lawyer to take his arm. “Come with me. Don’t say anything else until we’ve talked.”
Graves gave a robotic nod and allowed his lawyer to lead him to the other side of the room. Hallie must have noticed what was going on because she hurried to Lauren and Jesse.
“Graves identified him as Derrick Martin,” Jesse explained, keeping his voice low because Reardon was watching them like a hawk. “He’s on parole, and Graves has been counseling him.”
“Shit,” Hallie muttered, sliding glances at Graves, Jesse, and Lauren. She took a few breaths as if to steady herself and think. “All right,” she went on a moment later. “Get Lauren into her office, and the two of you put out an APB on this guy. Find out everything you can about him while I see what I can get out of Graves in an interview.”
Hallie paused again. “You think Graves was working with Derrick AKA Reggie?” she came out and asked.
“I don’t know,” Jesse had to admit. “But maybe that’s something we can find out.”
He took hold of Lauren’s arm and got her moving. Once they were inside her office, he shut the door and pulled her into his arms.
“Hey,” he murmured against her hair, his fingers drawing soothing circles on her back. “We’ll figure this out. We’ll find out what Graves is really up to—and if he’s been in cahoots with Derrick, we’ll know soon enough.”
He felt her tremble under his touch, and he tightened his hold, silently promising that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Silently cursing, too, that once again Lauren had been dropped into this pit of hell.
