Page 9 of Outlaw Ridge: Jesse
Jesse pulled the cruiser into a parking spot near the emergency room entrance, cutting the engine. Lauren exhaled, trying to shake off the tension coiled inside her. Before either of them could move though, her phone buzzed.
“It’s Hallie,” she relayed to Jesse, and she took the call on speaker. “Did you change your mind about coming to the hospital?” Lauren asked. Something that wouldn’t have surprised her.
Hallie had been on an important call with the CSIs when Jesse and she had told her about Abilene’s message so Hallie had told them to go on without her, that she’d follow later.
“No, I’m still in my office,” Hallie said. “I just spoke to the lab, and the blood in the shop isn’t Abilene’s.”
Lauren’s pulse skipped. “Then whose is it?”
“Nicky Holden. Reported missing out of Austin a week ago.”
Lauren exchanged a glance with Jesse, who frowned and leaned in closer to listen.
“Do we know anything about her?” Jesse asked.
“Not much yet. Griff is running a deeper search, but so far, it looks like she vanished without a trace. No known ties to Outlaw Ridge, either.” Hallie sighed. “We’re looking at two missing women now, one who came to our police station covered in blood, and the other whose blood was at that shop.”
Lauren pressed her fingers to her temple, her mind spinning. “And no body.”
“No body,” Hallie confirmed grimly. “I don’t like this, Lauren. Someone’s playing a sick game, and they want you in the middle of it.”
Lauren swallowed hard. She already knew that. She’d known it the second she saw that tattoo on Abilene’s arm. “We’re at the hospital, about to go in and talk to Abilene.”
“Good,” Hallie replied. “Keep me updated,” she added, ending the call.
Lauren didn’t sit there a moment longer. It was obvious they needed answers, and the sooner, the better.
They got out of the cruiser and headed for the entrance, stepping into the cool air conditioning of the ER. Lauren walked alongside Jesse through the waiting area and into the hall with the patients’ rooms.
The low murmur of voices and the occasional beeping of machines filled the space, but she barely registered any of it. Her mind was locked on Abilene Joyce, the young woman covered in blood, clutching a knife, with a tattoo that tied her directly to Lauren’s past.
They reached Abilene’s room, where a uniformed officer stood guard outside the door. Lauren didn’t recognize him, but Jesse clearly did, and they exchanged a greeting before the guard stepped back, allowing them to enter.
Inside, the lighting was dimmer, casting soft shadows against the pale green walls. Abilene was sitting up in the hospital bed, still looking fragile, her blonde hair damp as if it’d recently been washed. Her eyes were clearer now, more alert.
Lauren’s gaze immediately dropped to Abilene’s arm. The area around the tattoo was red and swollen, an angry-looking infection spreading from the ink.
Abilene winced as she shifted. “It hurts.”
“The doctors think it’s infected?” Lauren asked, stepping closer.
Abilene nodded. “And that I was drugged. I guess that explains the headache.” She pressed her fingers to her temple and exhaled. “I don’t remember being taken. I don’t remembergetting this tattoo. I don’t remember anything about the person who did this to me.”
Jesse didn’t come out and give her athere, therecomforting look, but he did that Jesse thing, the laid-back half smile that put people at ease. Her great-aunt Sissy who’d raised Lauren had said Jesse was a charmer. Or rather could charm the pants off a girl if she wasn’t too careful. Lauren had agreed, and she’d been looking forward to some Jesse charming before her world had gotten turned upside down.
“What’s the last thing youdoremember?” Jesse asked the woman.
Abilene’s forehead creased in concentration. “I remember leaving class and walking to my dorm. But the last four days are a complete blank.”
“No smells, no flashes of images, no gut feelings?” he pressed.
She shook her head. “Like I said, I was going to the dorm. After that, the next thing I remember… is seeing you.” Her gaze locked onto Lauren, and she seemed to have a lightbulb over the head moment. “At the police station. I knew who you were.”
Lauren’s pulse skipped though she had seen recognition, or something, in Abilene’s eyes. “Me?”
Abilene swallowed. “Someone showed me a picture of you. I don’t know who.” She groaned, pressing her hands to the sides of her head. “I can’t remember their face, but I know they wanted me to give you a message.”
“What message?” Lauren managed to ask.
