Page 5 of Outlaw Ridge: Jesse
Lauren latched onto those good memories for a few seconds, letting them level her out. And it worked. Well, until the three of them rounded the corner, heading toward the vacant shopbehind the station, and Lauren saw the real estate agent, Sarah Mendoza. It was obvious from her expression that she’d just witnessed something horrible.
Sarah was pacing outside of the door of what Lauren recalled as once having been a clothing alterations shop. The Realtor’s steps were sharp, frantic movements, her phone clutched in her white-knuckled hand. She looked up as they approached, exhaling in relief.
“Oh, thank God,” she blurted, pushing a strand of dark hair behind her ear. “It’s inside. The blood. It’s inside.”
Lauren’s stomach twisted, and the overwhelming sense of dread washed over her. But beneath that was a strange kind of hope. If her abductor was still out there and had struck again, this could be her chance at finding him. Her chance to find the closure that had eluded her for sixteen years.
“Are you here to show the place to a client?” Hallie asked.
Sarah nodded but then shook her head. “I got a call from someone in San Antonio who wanted to look at the property tonight. A surprise since there hasn’t been much interest in it,” she added. “It’s been empty for nearly a year, since Mrs. Moran died, and her kids are asking way above market value for it. And they won’t pay for a cleaning service to keep it ready to show. I’ve tried to talk them into lowering the price…” She stopped, moaned. “I’m sorry. I’m babbling.”
“That’s understandable,” Hallie calmly replied. “Who’s the client who requested a showing?”
“A Mr. Mark Smith,” Sarah answered. “But he’s not coming. He called me just as I was about to unlock the door to check on the place and told me he had to cancel.”
“Text me his contact info,” Hallie insisted.
Sarah’s hand was shaking when she did that. “I’ve been a Realtor for nearly thirty years, and nothing like this has ever happened. Who did this? Is someone hurt?”
“We’ll find out. You wait here,” Hallie added as she yanked a pair of plastic gloves from her pocket and put them on before she stepped in. Lauren and Jesse did the same.
They all three drew their guns.
The blinds were shut tight on the front window, but someone, maybe Sarah, had turned on the lights so Lauren had no trouble seeing the interior. One fairly small main room with a counter that reminded her of an old-fashioned saloon. The doors to a closet, a bathroom, and what had likely once been a changing room all were wide open, revealing they were empty.
Lauren had to clear her throat. The shop was musky and stale, dust covering the wooden floors. And the too familiar metallic stench was heavy in the air. The shelves, counter, and racks had been stripped bare, the walls showing faint outlines of where posters or merchandise once hung.
It had been empty for nearly a year, the Realtor had said.
But it hadn’t been empty today.
The blood was still wet and shiny in spots and was smeared on the floor near the back of the room. Not a large pool of it, but enough to set off alarms. Enough to mean someone had been hurt here.
Or worse.
Jesse went toward the storage closet. Hallie, toward the bathroom. So, Lauren took the dressing room. No blood on the floor in here, but her breath hitched as she turned.
And she saw the full-length mirror on the wall.
A thin layer of dust coated the glass, but scratched into it were deep, jagged letters. A message that sent an ice-cold shock through her veins.
“Oh, God,” Lauren blurted.
Jesse and Hallie no doubt heard her because they came hurrying in with Jesse getting to her first. His breath wasgusting, the adrenaline and worry obvious on his face, and he looked her over as if checking for injuries.
Then, his attention landed on the mirror.
“Shit,” he muttered, and Hallie added her own single word of profanity under her breath.
There were no more questions about whether or not the woman with the tattoo was connected to what had happened to Lauren sixteen years ago. No questions because the proof was there in that message.
Lauren, you should have saved me, too.
Chapter Three
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Lauren, you should have saved me, too.
