Page 166 of Enigma: The Complete Collection
Shandi xx
CHAPTER1
ISAAC
The blood roaring through my veins is nearly as compelling as the fuel surging through the cylinders of my car’s robust engine. My pride and joy, my classic 1963 Aston Martin DB5, is being pushed to its absolute limit as it winds down the grueling St. Thomas Street hill in my hometown of Ravenshoe. My grip on the steering wheel is as tight as the hold I had on Brandon’s neck when he failed to tell me where Isabelle was. I knew something was amiss when the heaviness that’s been plaguing my chest the past week amplified. I just never anticipated for it to be something so mammoth.
The beautiful, kind-hearted, never-says-a-bad-word-about-anyone Isabelle has been arrested for murder.
You’d think I would have recognized the signs. The protectiveness she displayed earlier today, her statement about not being able to breathe without me in her life, and staining her hands to help my family were signs I should have been looking for. Isabelle’s possessiveness of me is as paramount as my protectiveness of her. I’ll do everything in my power to protect her—nothing is above me when it comes to keeping her safe. Clearly, she feels the same way.
One factor leaves me utterly baffled, though. What the fuck happened in the last hour to adjust the perception of reality so immensely? Isabelle went from glistening like a diamond in the afternoon sun to being arrested for murder in under an hour. Mistakes are made when you don’t take the time to evaluate a situation accurately. Hell, I’ve had lapses in judgment myself. Still, Isabelle’s spur-of-the-moment decisions are more based on love and lust, not murder and mystery.
As my car glides over the St. Thomas Street horizon, its tires lifting from the road surface due to my high speed, clarity forms. This is Brandon’s fault. He’s the only person who has seen Isabelle since we left the cabin, so he must have enlightened her with information that caused the change in her demeanor. That’s why he looked so gaunt when he arrived in my office. It wasn’t just remorse tainting his face. It was regret.
Regret he’ll pay for once I have Isabelle back safe in my arms.
A motorist toots when I cut him off to take the entrance ramp of the highway in front of him, but it has nothing on the aggression I disperse when my car comes to a grinding halt a half-mile down. Because of the hour, commuter traffic is at its worst. Regrettably, there’s no alternative route for me to take, so I stick with my original plans.
After beeping my horn at the car in front of me, demanding for it to move, I pull into the emergency lane, narrowly missing a motorcyclist who is also using the lane as his personal road. My speed is reduced to twenty-five miles per hour, but it’s faster than the snail’s pace the other cars are traveling in the bumper-to-bumper traffic.
With my eyes darting between the road and my suit, I dig my phone out of the breast pocket of my jacket. I hit the speed dial for Hugo before squashing it to my ear. It rings numerous times before he picks up. “Hey, Hunter said you found Izzy.”
I did but not where I anticipated.“I need you to go to the Ravenshoe Police Station.”
My request is met with so much silence. If Hugo’s deep breaths weren’t thundering down the line, I would have assumed he’d hung up. I understand his apprehension, but if he’s still in Isabelle’s apartment, he’s closer to Ravenshoe PD than me. Although the tightness around my chest won’t ease until I see Isabelle is safe with my own two eyes, I’ll get a small amount of reprieve hearing it from Hugo.
Sensing his reluctance, I inform him, “It’s Isabelle… she’s been arrested.”
A deep sigh barrels down the line. “I’m on my way.”
As I lower my phone from my ear, it vibrates in my hand. The screen displays it’s a call from Hunter. I press the call button before pushing it back against my ear.
“We can’t get close to Megan. Cops are swarming the motel.” He sucks in a quick breath, remembering he needs to breathe to talk. “There are over a dozen of them, so we’ll scope the premises, talk to some locals, see if we can squeeze any info out of them on what the fuck is going on.”
My jaw tenses as my grip on the steering wheel firms. “I want every detail you unearth relayed directly to me. I don’t care how minute it seems, I want to know everything.”
The sharpness in my voice places Hunter on edge, causing him to rattle when he says, “I’ll gather everything I can find.”
After disconnecting our call, I throw my cell into the console before scrubbing my hand down my face. When my hand glides across the two-day-old stubble on my chin, my jaw ticks. Isabelle squirmed even more than usual when my prickles grazed her sensitive clit on the dining room table this morning. Her excitement has me reconsidering my stance on shaving every day. Not only would Isabelle have an additional thrill added to our already combustible encounters, but I’d also smell her seductive scent hours later.
That alone is enough incentive to grow a full, scruffy beard like Hunter’s.
By the time I make it to the Ravenshoe PD, another thirty minutes has passed. My panic didn’t diminish during the delay. If anything, it’s more noticeable.
After illegally parking in the emergency vehicles’ only bay located in front of the entrance, I fling open my door, then hotfoot it up the steps, taking them two at a time. The lobby falls into silence when I step inside. Even the phones stop ringing. I’d have given it more than a second thought if I hadn’t located Hugo. He’s standing near the reception desk in an angry confrontation with a male officer.
When he notices my gawk, he quickly closes the distance between us, his steps more stomps than strides. “She’s here, but they won’t let me see her.”
As I head to the inquiries counter, I trek my finger over my sweaty brow. An overweight, middle-aged lady whose uniform is bursting at the seams greets me with a wonky smile. She has a lazy eye, so I can’t tell if she’s looking at me or Hugo, who’s standing behind my right shoulder.
Her good eye must be her right as it faces me when she asks, “How can I help you, Mr. Holt?”
I want to say my infamous reputation even surpassed my expectations, but that would be a lie. Everyone in Ravenshoe knows who I am, including local law enforcement officers. You don’t take years building a reputation as prestigious as mine and not have it gain you the attention of others.
“I want to speak to a lady you have in custody.” I add a touch of seductiveness to my voice, hoping it will make her too weak at the knees to deny my request.
She arches her brow, acting nonchalant about the throaty purr of my words, but the hue on her cheeks gives away her deceit. “Are you her lawyer?”
