Chapter Fifteen
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Jesse sat on the edge of Lauren’s desk, watching the door click shut behind Isabel. The echoes of the woman’s ordeal still lingered in the room, as sharp and heavy as the words she’d left behind.
Please catch him before he comes for me again.
He had no doubt that Isabel’s fear was the real deal. And right now, everything was pointing to Reggie as being the sole abductor of not only Isabel and Lauren but another unknown, unnamed woman as well. Reggie could have also been operating solo in taking Abilene and Nicky.
One man and a nightmare that had spanned sixteen damn years.
And it was continuing.
Because Reggie could indeed go after Belinda, Lauren, and Isabel. That’d been the reason Isabel had said she’d be hiring a bodyguard. Maybe Reardon would do a thorough job protecting Belinda. And Jesse sure as hell intended to protect Lauren. He wouldn’t let this sick sonofabitch get to her again.
Even if they couldn’t find him.
After Jesse’s call to Austin PD, they’d immediately sent a patrol car to Isabel’s estate, but Reggie hadn’t been there.
Not only that, the gardener had insisted he hadn’t seen Reggie in days, that the man had quit showing up for work.
Maybe because Reggie hadn’t gotten what he wanted.
Not Isabel but a young version of her in her stepsister.
Did that mean Nicky had been taken as a substitute for Lauren?
Possibly.
But Jesse figured that substitutes weren’t Reggie’s end game. He could have used them for practice. Or to torment Lauren and to force Belinda into confessing what she’d done to him. Now, with the mind games done, Reggie could try to move in for a final kill.
Trying not to let his anger and frustration gnaw away at him, Jesse shoved that thought aside and glanced at Lauren.
She was in her chair, staring at the laptop screen though Jesse knew she wasn’t seeing it.
The muscles in her jaw were stirring, her posture rigid, but it was the tension in her eyes that told him just how deep all of this had rattled her.
Without overthinking it, Jesse reached out, his hand resting lightly on her shoulder. “We’re going to get him, Lauren. This ends with us finding Reggie.”
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 of them, 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 an eternity, 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.
Jesse grabbed her shoulders, grounding her with his touch. “Lauren, look at me.” His voice was firm but gentle. “You’re here. You’re safe.”
Her eyes finally shifted, meeting his. There was a storm behind them—fear, rage, grief—but she was back.
Griff’s cruiser screeched to a stop behind them, but Jesse didn’t look away. Because right now, Lauren needed him more than anything.
“I’m okay,” Lauren muttered, her voice low and shaky.
She wasn’t. Not by a long shot. But Jesse could see her pulling herself back from the edge, her breaths ragged but slowing, her eyes darting around to assess the scene. She was fighting through it—refusing to be pulled under by the weight of those memories.
Jesse stayed close, his hand still lightly on her arm, grounding her. The photos scattered across the yard fluttered in the breeze, cruel reminders of the past they thought was buried.
Across the street, Elsie Peters stood on her porch, clutching a broom like it was a weapon. “Those kids ran off!” Elsie hollered. “What did they throw all over your yard? I can’t see it from here.”
Jesse opened his mouth to respond, but before he could get a word out, movement caught his eye.
A man stepped out from the side of Elsie’s house. He was wearing a ski mask and dressed in dark clothes.
Jesse didn’t have time to shout a warning. The man lunged, knocking the broom from Elsie’s hands and grabbing her from behind. A flash of metal—a gun—pressed to the elderly woman’s temple.
Jesse’s instincts kicked in. He drew his weapon, stepping slightly in front of Lauren, his heart pounding.
“Let her go!” Jesse’s voice was steady, cutting through the tense air.
Griff was already moving, his weapon drawn, positioning himself to cover from the side while he was also using the voice command on his phone to call for more backup. But Lauren wasn’t staying put behind either of them. She drew her gun as well and stepped out into the line of fire.
Elsie’s face was twisted in fear, her hands trembling as the man’s grip tightened around her neck.
Then the man spoke. “Long time, no see, Lauren.” His voice sharp and twisted with dark amusement.
The words sliced through the air like a blade.
Jesse didn’t have to look at Lauren to feel her tense beside him, her breath hitching just slightly. But it was her voice, low and raw, that confirmed what his gut already knew.
“Reggie,” she muttered.
The sound of that name flooded Jesse with rage over the past injustice that Lauren had had to endure. This wasn’t a flashback. This wasn’t a nightmare from the past creeping in through fractured memories. This was real.
Reggie was here.
Jesse’s grip tightened on his gun. His mind raced through options, calculating distance, cover, and the shaking figure of Elsie caught in the middle.
“This ends now,” Jesse muttered, his jaw clenched.
Because Lauren’s nightmare had returned.
And Jesse was going to make damn sure it didn’t take her down this time.