Page 41 of Outlaw Ridge: Jesse
She didn’t answer right away, just gave a small nod, her fingers tapping restlessly against the edge of her desk.
The door creaked open, and Hallie stepped in, her face as grim as the news Jesse could already feel coming. She closed the door behind her and crossed the room.
“Just finished with Graves,” Hallie said, getting straight to the point. “He admitted that sixteen years ago, he and Isabel had planned to meet up. Said she never showed, and he figured she’d ghosted him.” She paused, letting that sink in before continuing. “He swears he had nothing to do with the abductions.”
Jesse’s fingers tightened slightly on Lauren’s shoulder. “You believe him?”
Hallie shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I’ve got no proof to hold him. So, for now, I’ve let him go.” She slid glances at both ofthem, her gaze sharp and steady. “But we’re shifting focus. It’s time we find Reggie.”
Jesse exchanged a glance with Lauren, her expression hardening with the same resolve burning in his chest.Good.Jesse thought. They were done chasing shadows. Now it was time to hunt.
“I’m going to press harder on the APB,” Hallie went on. “I want it nationwide in case Reggie tries to flee. I’ve also got a team heading to Reggie’s room at the halfway house in Austin where he’s been staying.”
Those were both good starts. “I can start checking traffic camera feed to track Reggie’s movements from the halfway house to Isabel’s… and anywhere else he would have gone.”
“Good idea,” Hallie said and shifted to Lauren. “Call the gardener and have a chat with him. Reggie might have told him something that can help us pinpoint where he is.”
Lauren nodded, and she reached for her phone, but it rang before she could make the call. “It’s my neighbor, Elsie Peters,” she muttered to Jesse and Hallie, covering the receiver with her hand. “She says some kids are throwing papers all over her yard.”
The words had barely left her mouth when Lauren’s security app chimed—a sharp, jarring sound. She checked it, her face draining of color.
“A window just got broken at my house,” she added.
Jesse was on his feet before she finished the sentence. “Let’s go.”
Hallie didn’t hesitate, either. “I’ll send Griff as backup. He’ll follow in a cruiser.”
They rushed out of the station, hearts pounding. Jesse drove, pushing the cruiser faster than usual, the siren off to keep from alerting whoever might be waiting. The short drive felt like aneternity, adrenaline thrumming in his veins. This felt like the start of a fight.
One that he wanted if it was indeed Reggie.
But he also had to make sure Reggie couldn’t get to Lauren.
Jesse took the turn on Lauren’s street, and he spotted her house just ahead. No kids in sight. Jesse’s instincts yelled that this was no prank.
Lauren jumped out before the cruiser fully stopped, her eyes darting across the yard. Jesse followed, his hand resting on his weapon.
Then they saw them.
Photos.
Strewn across the grass like fallen leaves, fluttering slightly in the breeze. Jesse moved closer, his stomach twisting as he took in the images. They were of Lauren.
Sixteen years ago.
In the photos, she was blindfolded, her wrists bound with duct tape, her face pale and streaked with dirt. Some were close-ups, the angles too intimate, too deliberate—like whoever had taken them wanted to capture her fear.
And her abductor had succeeded.
There was fear. So much of it. Not just on the photos either. But now. Right here, right now.
Jesse heard Lauren’s sharp intake of breath beside him. She froze, her body stiff, her eyes locked on the pictures as her breathing grew ragged.
“Oh, God,” she said, her voice not of a cop but of a terrified teenager.
She turned as if to run, but Jesse took hold of her. “Lauren,” Jesse said softly, stepping in front of her, blocking her view of the pictures.
But she wasn’t seeing him. She was somewhere else, trapped in a memory, her face etched with panic.
