Page 188 of Enigma: The Complete Collection
Hating that I’m projecting my anger at the wrong person, I flatten my foot onto the gas pedal. As the driver’s side window in the Bugatti slides into place, I skid out of the gravel lot of the marina. My shift in gears is so brutal, the gearstick buckles under the pressure. I could blame my raging emotions for my excessive speed, but it’s not the reason I’m notching forty miles over the signed speed limit. I want to reach Hugo’s Chevelle so I can have one final glance of Isabelle before she’s thrust back in the limelight she doesn’t want.
My breathing turns heavy when I do precisely that ten seconds later. With my jaw clenched as tightly as my clutch on the steering wheel, I veer onto the opposite side of the road and glide up beside Hugo’s baby. He grins when he spots my creep in the corner of his eye, but it does little to weaken the pain that jabs my heart when Isabelle’s profile pops out from behind his chest. Even from this distance, I can see the wetness glimmering on her cheeks.
One month, Isaac. One measly month, then she’ll be yours again.
I say my mantra on repeat as I increase my speed, so I can pull in front of the Chevelle. My somewhat manic pace soon makes Hugo’s car appear as if it’s a speckle on the horizon, but every inch I gain away blackens my veins with anger.
By the time I arrive at the Dungeon, my mood is woeful. Anger about everything that has happened the past seventy-two hours has finally caught up with me, making me the most unhinged I’ve ever been. Even Tina can sense my unraveling composure as the instant she spots my narrowed gaze and flaring nostrils, she alters the course of her direction, slipping into the staffroom located behind the bar instead of greeting me with the flirty banter she usually runs with.
“Good choice,” I murmur under my breath as I shimmy out of my jacket. I don’t have the time nor the patience to deal with her theatrics today.
The abrupt closure of my office door awakens Hunter. He’s slouched over my desk that’s covered with papers that weren’t there yesterday. After scrubbing his weary eyes, he locks them with me. He hesitantly smiles but remains quiet, not game to speak for fear of retribution.
I store my jacket on the coat rack before shifting my focus from one annoyance to another. “Did you sleep last night?”
Hunter winces before checking the time on his watch. “Does a twenty-minute catnap count?”
While cursing, I drag my hand down my tired face. I didn’t get a wink of sleep last night, either. I was too busy watching Isabelle when she drifted off to sleep a little after three in the morning. I wanted to make sure her dreams weren’t plagued with nightmares. The instant a scared whimper escaped her lips, I calmed her in the best way I know how. Sexually.
“Go home and get some sleep.”
Hunter straightens his spine. “I can’t. I’ve got the facial recognition running, the—”
“It wasn’t a request. You won’t be helpful to anyone if you pass out from exhaustion.” I jerk my head to my hanging open door. “Go home and rest, then meet me tomorrow.”
“Where are we going?”
I arch a brow, unimpressed with his questioning tone. “I have some security matters I need to attend to. Considering you’re my head of security, I figured you’d want to be included.”
Hunter scrubs at his beard before raising his murky blue eyes to me. “I thought the title was negotiable?”
“Is it… until tomorrow. If you prove yourself, it will no longer be negotiable. If you don’t…” The grim expression on my face tells him everything he needs to know. Tomorrow is his final chance.
“All right.” He stands, taking his hemp bag and laptop with him. “What time do you want me back tomorrow?”
“Meet me at the airport hangar at six.”
He nods before striding toward my office door. Just before he exits, he pivots back around to face me. “I forgot to tell you. I scanned the device we found in Isabelle’s apartment. The one with the…pictures.” He fumbles over his last word. “The device hadn’t been downloaded onto any servers, so the only images of Izzy and you are the ones on the USB stick I stored in your safe.”
When he points to the safe next to my desk, relief washes through me. “Thank you. I’ll be sure to have the images taken care of.”
A grin sneaks out from beneath Hunter’s shaggy beard before he exits my office without speaking another word. After taking a few moments to relish in the fact Isabelle’s beautiful naked body won’t be plastered around the country for the world to see, I shift my focus to the work Hunter has been undertaking the past twenty-four hours.
From the amount of paperwork on my desk, it appears as if he’s downloaded every morsel of evidence Ravenshoe PD has compiled against Isabelle thus far. He’s set aside irrelevant information such as witness statements and reports from the officers first on the scene, instead choosing to focus on the damning scientific evidence—for instance, the blood-coated bullet that matches the caliber and brand as the one in Isabelle’s gun.
While I scan the vast collection of photos from Megan’s motel room, the phone on my desk rings. I eye it peculiarly. Usually, any calls I receive come through my cell phones, not my office landline.
After placing the evidence back onto my desk, I gather up the phone off the receiver. “Isaac Holt—”
Not even half my greeting leaves my mouth before I am interrupted. “Please tell me you didn’t do this?”
Recognizing the voice shrilling down the line, I growl, “What are youfalselyaccusing me of today, Ryan?”
Hating the tension bristling between us as much as me, he huffs. We’re not friends, but we were—once. “The two police officers who arrested Izzy.”
“Yes, and...” I leave my question open for him to fill in.
He follows along nicely. “They’re missing.”
