Chapter Fourteen
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Lauren’s heart pounded as she and Jesse strode into the bullpen, the evidence still on the screen of his laptop that he was carrying. The air felt charged, every step toward Reardon heavy with the confrontation that was about to take place.
And there would be a confrontation because Lauren wanted answers.
Reardon was still in the middle of giving his statement when Jesse stepped forward, his tone low and firm.
“We know you requested that Reggie’s juvenile record be sealed,” Jesse said, holding up the laptop that clearly displayed the record. “Explain that.”
Reardon’s eyes narrowed as he glanced at the screen. “I did it for all the troubled kids I mentored,” he snapped. “It means nothing—just a standard procedure to give them a second chance.”
Lauren’s stomach churned. She felt a mix of raw anger and disgust rise within her.
Before she could voice the accusation, Belinda’s gaze fell on the photo that was also displayed on Jesse’s screen.
In an instant, her face went white and she gasped—a sound that sliced through the tension.
Lauren watched in shock as Belinda’s eyes locked onto the aged image.
Recognition, horror, and pain flashed across her features.
“No,” she muttered. “No, no, no,” she repeated before Belinda bolted from the bullpen, her footsteps echoing as she ran out of the police station.
Reardon’s expression went even colder, even darker, and he barked, “Belinda, come back here!” Before anyone could stop him, he raced out after her.
Jemma muttered some profanity under her breath and went out after them. Not alone, though, as Griff headed out with her.
Lauren did her own round of silent cursing, and she got hit with a fresh round of anger over Reardon’s action. But there was also fresh concern for Belinda, too. It wasn’t a good idea for the woman to be out there because she’d been right. Reggie could come after her.
Lauren exchanged a glance with Jesse, whose jaw was set and eyes full of some anger and frustration as well. Once they were sure Belinda was safe and Reardon was held accountable for anything illegal he might have done, they would get to the bottom of every lie.
Even if it meant unearthing every dark secret buried in the past.
Lauren sighed, and she and Jesse headed toward the door to go after Reardon and Belinda, but it opened before they reached it, and Isabel Markham rushed in.
Dressed in a designer outfit and with her blonde hair sleek and perfect, she looked every bit the wealthy heiress that she was—except for the fury burning in her eyes.
“This is unacceptable,” Isabel snapped, marching straight toward them. “Have you seen the news articles? Nearly every one of them refers to Abilene as the stepsister of the Austin socialite, Isabel Markham. Do you have any idea what this is doing to my reputation? People are gossiping about it.”
Lauren arched an eyebrow. “Your reputation ?” she repeated, crossing her arms. “Your stepsister is dead, and that’s what you’re upset about?”
Isabel’s nostrils flared, and she fanned her hand through the air as if waving off that question. “Abilene was always trouble. Always. She had it too easy, and her mother never did anything to stop her.”
“And that pissed you off,” Jesse remarked, and his tone was clear to any cop.
Jesse was spelling out possible motive for Isabel wanting her sister dead.
“Maybe pissed off enough to…well, I don’t know, maybe get your hands on someone else’s phone and use it to make a call to convince Abilene that her life wasn’t worth living. ”
Isabel made a sound of outrage, but she didn’t seem puzzled as to why Jesse would make that sort of investigative leap. She only became even more angry.
“I did no such thing,” Isabel snarled. “And this is why these new articles have to stop. Because people like you will read them and make assumptions about me.” She jammed her perfectly manicured thumb against her chest. My family is furious.
My mother is mortified that our name is being dragged into this circus, and now the man I’ve been seeing is suddenly reconsidering our relationship because of the scandal. ”
Jesse let out a low breath beside Lauren, clearly biting back whatever sarcastic remark was on the tip of his tongue.
Lauren, however, had no such restraint. “A scandal? Isabel, Abilene was likely abducted and God knows what was done to her before someone provoked her into ending her life. And if you’re done worrying about how this affects your social status, maybe you’d like to hear something actually important.”
Isabel’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Fine,” she snapped, the word bursting out of her mouth. “What?”
Lauren glanced around. Her fellow deputies were clearly trying to get on with their work, and that wasn’t going to happen with a heated discussion going on right in the bullpen.
“Let’s take this in my office,” Lauren insisted.
Jesse and she headed there, but Isabel stayed put. For a couple of seconds anyway. But then Isabel must have realized the bullpen wasn’t the place for a conversation about the damage to her reputation because on a huff, she followed them into the office, stepped in and slammed the door behind her.
“All right, what is so important?” Isabel demanded.
Lauren didn’t waste time. “We’ve identified the man who kidnapped me sixteen years ago,” she said, watching Isabel’s face closely. “And we have reason to believe he might be the same man who abducted Abilene and Nicky.”
Isabel’s eyes widened slightly, but Lauren wasn’t sure if it was from shock or because she finally realized this was bigger than a tabloid scandal.
“Wait,” Isabel said, her voice quieter now. “You’re saying the man who took you—he might have taken Abilene too?”
Lauren nodded. “And we need to figure out exactly what that means. So, if you’re ready to stop worrying about your image and start focusing on what actually matters, let’s talk.”
For the first time since Isabel had stormed in, she didn’t have a snapped-out remark. Instead, she hesitated before she finally exhaled and gave a slow nod.
“All right,” she said, her voice barely louder than a murmur now.
Lauren watched as Isabel absentmindedly brushed her hand over the long sleeve of her top. Isabel had done that on her last visit to the station, and when they’d asked her if she had a tattoo, Isabel had rushed out.
So, obviously it was a sore subject.
But why?
Lauren couldn’t help but go back to her theory that Isabel and she had a shared past. An ugly, horrific one that definitely wouldn’t look good to a socialite eager to keep her name untainted by, well, anything.
“Isabel,” Lauren said, throttling back on the cop’s tone, “do you have a tattoo on your arm? Were you… one of the victims taken back then?”
The question hung in the air like a challenge.
Isabel’s eyes flashed with anger again. “What? No,” she snapped, her voice rising.
“I was never one of those… victims. I don’t know what you’re insinuating.
” Isabel’s expression hardened even more as she folded her arms. “Is this the important news you wanted to tell me? Because if that’s all you have to say, I’m done here. ” She moved as if ready to leave.
Before Isabel could turn and walk out, Jesse stepped in. He swiveled the laptop toward Isabel, the screen illuminated with the prison photo of Reggie.
Lauren held her breath as she waited to see if Isabel would have a reaction to the picture. And she saw one all right. But it wasn’t fear or horror of a victim looking at the face of someone who’d abducted and branded her.
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.
Isabel shook her head. “No. No,” she repeated a moment later. “The man I was meeting wouldn’t have done that.”
Maybe. But Lauren had her doubts. “This man didn’t report you missing when you didn’t show up to meet him?”
“No. He thought I’d changed my mind. He had no idea what’d happened to me,” Isabel added in a mutter.
Lauren decided to go with a hunch. “Was the man you were supposed to meet Dr. Graves?”
Isabel’s mouth tightened, but she finally nodded.
Hell. Why hadn’t Graves mentioned that? That was something Lauren wanted to know. Jesse, too, and he took out his phone to fire off a text to Hallie so she could ask the doctor about that during their interview.
“The person who took me was a stranger,” Isabel went on. “I’m sure no one I know would have done something like that to me.”
Lauren wasn’t so sure. Graves could have been Reggie’s accomplice. And it would explain why Graves had volunteered his profiling services. It would have allowed him access to the investigation to maybe make sure his involvement didn’t come to light.
“The man who took me kept me in a bunker in the woods,” Isabel continued, her voice cracking. “There were other girls there. I don’t know how many, but I heard them. He… he put a tattoo on my arm.” Her hand instinctively went to the spot on her sleeve where Lauren had noticed her touching earlier.
Lauren’s chest tightened, but she kept her focus. “How’d you get out?”
Isabel’s breath hitched. “One of the girls escaped. I don’t know how, but she got out. He chased after her, and that’s when I ran too. I didn’t look back. I was too scared. I think… I think there might’ve been a third girl, but I don’t know what happened to her.”
The tears came harder now, Isabel’s polished veneer crumbling. She leaned forward, her hands gripping the edge of the desk like it was the only thing keeping her grounded.
“Please,” she whispered, her voice raw. “Please catch him before he comes for me again.”
Lauren exchanged a look with Jesse, her jaw clenched, heart pounding. They would catch him. They had to.
Reggie had stayed hidden for sixteen years, but he wasn’t hiding anymore. And this time, they couldn’t let him slip away.