Chapter Four
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Lauren had a much too tight grip on the side of the passenger’s seat as Jesse steered the cruiser down Main Street, heading toward the hospital.
The ride was short—five minutes at most—but with every passing block, the tension in her chest tightened.
She wanted and needed to hear what Abilene had to say, but Lauren knew this was going to fire up those flashbacks with a vengeance.
The drive was firing up some as well. Heck, everything was. Especially when they drove past Harper’s Hair & Nails.
The bright pink and white sign hadn’t changed. Neither had the small parking lot in back, where she had stood sixteen years ago, checking her phone to see if she had any texts from Jesse.
Except she’d never gotten a chance to see any texts. Because someone had abducted her, taken her phone and brought her to that hellhole place where she’d been held captive.
She swallowed hard, dragging her gaze away from the salon’s parking lot.
The memories pressed in, crystal clear and relentless.
The blindfold. Her wrists and ankles secured with duct tape.
The cold, damp air in that tiny cage-like room in the bunker where she’d been held.
The distant sound of another girl crying.
Of another screaming. The feel of the brand searing into her arm.
Lauren shifted in her seat, forcing the images away. But not the thoughts. She couldn’t keep those at bay. She’d spent years trying to find the man who took her. She’d torn through every case file, every interview transcript, every scrap of evidence. And she’d failed.
And now, after all this time, he might be back.
Or she could be wrong.
Her stomach twisted. What if I made a mistake? What if I pushed the wrong person too hard?
A couple of months ago, she’d confronted Dr. Ethan Graves about the date on that profile report, demanding answers. He’d brushed it off. A simple clerical error. Nothing sinister. But what if her questions had been enough to trigger something?
What if she’d been the reason Abilene Joyce had shown up bleeding in the police station?
The thought coiled inside her, dark and suffocating until Jesse’s voice cut through it.
“You know,” he said, glancing at her, “if we’d actually gone on that date, I’m pretty sure I would’ve been broke by the end of the night.”
Lauren blinked. “What?”
He smirked. “I only had thirty bucks on me. You wouldn’t have ordered something expensive, would you?”
The unexpectedness of it caught her off guard. A laugh—small, but real—escaped her lips. “I don’t remember. But I probably would have.”
Jesse chuckled. “Figures. I had a whole plan, you know. I’d already mentioned to you that we’d be going for pizza at Arlo’s, but then I intended for us to hit up that arcade at the strip mall. I was gonna let you win at air hockey.”
She arched a brow. “Let me?”
He grinned. “Okay, fine. You probably would’ve destroyed me.”
The tension inside her loosened just a little. For a moment, she let herself picture it. The date they never had. The one normal night that had been stolen from her. From both of them.
But the hospital loomed ahead, bringing reality crashing back. And somewhere inside, Abilene Joyce was waiting for her.
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 remember getting this tattoo. I don’t remember anything about the person who did this to me.”
Jesse didn’t come out and give her a there, there comforting 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 you do remember?” 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.
Abilene’s lips parted, but it took a second for her to speak. When she did, her voice was barely above a whisper. “Yes, I’m sure this is what I was supposed to tell you. Lauren, we have unfinished business.”
The words slammed into Lauren like a physical blow. Her breath caught, her pulse started hammering in her ears.
No. Not again. Not after all these years.
She gripped the foot of the bed to steady herself, but the room still seemed to tilt. The past wasn’t just knocking at her door. It was breaking it down.
Jesse shifted closer, his presence solid, grounding. “Lauren,” he said, his voice as cautious as the look he was giving her. “You know, I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”
She nodded and forced herself to meet his gaze. Yes, she did know that. But she also knew it might not be enough to stop what had already been set into motion.
Someone was coming for her.
Again .