Page 39 of Outlaw Ridge: Jesse
No.
This was confusion.
After a pause, Isabel said, “I don’t know his name,” Isabel said after a short pause, “but that’s the man my gardener hired as an assistant for spring clean-up. Why do you have his picture?”
Lauren felt her stomach drop. The weight of Isabel’s words pressed on her. This was more evidence that Reggie—Derrick Martin—was not only alive but connected to multiple people in their investigation If he had worked at Isabel’s estate, it might explain why Abilene was targeted. Perhaps Reggie didn’t stumble upon her by chance. Maybe he planned it all.
“I’ll alert Austin PD and have them send someone out to the estate now,” Jesse said, taking out his phone to do that.
“Wait a minute,” Isabel snarled. “Why are you doing that?”
Lauren forced herself to remain steady. She would answer Isabel’s question, but first she went with one of her own. “How long has this man worked for you?”
“I have no idea.” She shot Jesse a look of pure fury when he not only made the call to Austin PD but requested a unit to her estate ASAP. “Like I said, my gardener hired him. The only reason I recognize him in that photo is because I saw him working outside my office window.” She stopped and looked at the picture again. “My God. Is that a prison photo?”
“It is,” Lauren verified.
Isabel huffed. “Well, I’ll be having a word with my gardener about that. I don’t want people like that anywhere near me.” She paused. “Wait, do you think this is the man who took Abilene?”
“It’s possible,” Lauren settled for saying. “He has a criminal record for abduction. And he had access to the grounds of your home. Maybe to Abilene. He might have seen her for weeks before she was taken.”
Isabel opened her mouth and closed it as if she had changed her mind about what she was about to say. “I’ll definitely be having a talk with my gardener,” she muttered. “If he took Abilene, he could have been the one to kill Nicky.”
Lauren nodded, her mind racing. “I don’t believe this is a coincidence, Isabel. This man had a reason for being there at your place.”
Isabel crossed her arms. “I didn’t even know he worked there,” she muttered, turning away.
Lauren studied her. Whether Isabel realized it or not, she was part of the puzzle. Now, more than ever, Lauren needed to figure out how the pieces fit before it was too late.
“Here’s what we know,” Lauren went on, tipping her head to the picture. “Sixteen years ago, this was the man who abducted me.”
The color drained from Isabel’s face. But she didn’t say anything.
Lauren continued to spell this out. “While I was held captive, I know there were others in that bunker with me. I escaped, but I don’t know what happened to the others. Do you?”
Isabel’s gaze flickered away from hers. “If you know this was the man who took you, why isn’t he still in jail?”
No way would Lauren spill about Belinda leaving her brother for dead. “He was in prison for another abduction but was released on parole.”
“Well, he obviously shouldn’t have been let out,” Isabel muttered. There was no anger or outrage in her voice.
But Lauren was pretty sure she heard some fear.
Jesse finished his call and went to stand by Lauren’s side. His hand brushed against hers. More of that steadying comfort. Which she desperately needed right now. Every question, every answer, every glance at the photo of Reggie, brought back the nightmare. And she had to wonder if it would ever end.
Lauren tipped her head toward the photo of Reggie. “Did this man abduct you too, Isabel? Did he hold you captive sixteen years ago?”
Isabel opened her mouth, shaking her head as if the denial was automatic, rehearsed. But then her face crumpled, and the word slipped out like a wound torn right open. “Yes.”
Her answer wasn’t a surprise, but hearing it felt like a vicious punch, and Lauren had to fight to keep her composure.
“Tell us what happened, Isabel,” Jesse pressed, his voice steady even though Lauren knew this had to be punching away at him, too.
Isabel’s hands trembled as she wiped at her face, the first tears spilling from her eyes. “Sixteen years ago, I was still living with my mother. I told her I was going on a school trip with friends, but I sneaked out to meet a boy. Someone she definitely wouldn’t have approved of. He was a lot older than me, and we’d planned on going to Cozumel together.”
She swallowed hard, her gaze distant, locked somewhere far away. “That’s when it happened. I was abducted. I don’t know by who. I never saw his face.”
Jesse shifted beside Lauren, silent but tense. “Is it possible the man you were supposed to be meeting was also the one who abducted you?” he asked.
