Page 24 of Hunting Justice
Jonah let out a long breath. Time to get it over with and pull the bodies noted on Ken’s docket. He memorized the case numbers and tucked the files in his bottom desk drawer, which held his protein bars and other snacks. With the documents hidden under the mess, he pushed from his office chair and headed down the hall.
He opened the door to the cold storage room. Several metal tables occupied the middle of the room. Stainless-steel cold drawers lined the wall to his left. An exterior exit sat on the far wall, and floor-to-ceiling supply cabinets filled the area to his right. If he wanted a cursory view, he’d stay in this room, but he wanted to visually examine both bodies, so he’d wheel them into autopsy two, where he’d told Noelle to meet him.
The latch popped on the first drawer. He slid the body from the middle drawer and scooted it onto a rolling table without lowering the sheet that covered the person’s face. Then he retrieved a second rolling table and did the same for the body in the lower drawer. He pushed the table toward the middle of the room, next to the first one, and returned to close the storage door.
A cord wrapped around his throat, closing off his airway. He clawed at the cable, attempting to get his fingers underneath. The breath of the person strangling him hissed in his ear. Jonah wasn’t a small man. He was muscular, but being taken by surprise had left him defenseless. Refusing to go down without a fight, he kicked out. His shoe clanged against the metal drawer, knocking him off-balance. The cord tightened on his neck. Jonah twisted and flailed to no avail.
If he didn’t get air soon, he’d die from asphyxiation. He struggled against the tightening ligature. He fell forward, causing the cord to press harder against his neck. With his head tipped down, he took the opportunity and slammed back into his attacker’s face. The man grunted and loosened his grip slightly, enabling Jonah to get a sip of air, but it wasn’t enough.
The assailant recovered and yanked the cable tighter.
God, are You still there? If so, I really need Your help.
“Jonah.” Noelle’s voice floated down a long tunnel.
I’m here. He tried to call out, but black dots whirled in his vision and pushed him toward the abyss.
Seconds later, his body went limp.
The cold, hard surface of the storage drawer broke his fall, and the world fell away.
* * *
A disinfectant smell reached Noelle’s nose. She released the air from her lungs, thankful the odor of a decomposing body hadn’t greeted her. She hated autopsy rooms, but she’d sacrifice her comfort for Jonah. She peeked into autopsy two and called out a second time, then moved inside and scanned the empty space. Her days as a detective with the Savannah Police Department came roaring back. Her hands fisted. When she’d worked in law enforcement, witnessing autopsies had ranked high on her dislike with a passion list. It brought back too many memories of how close she’d come to lying on the cold metal table.
A shiver snaked up her spine at the stillness surrounding her. She moved to the hallway. “Jonah, where are you? I thought you said autopsy two.”
A clunk from two doors down had her moving in that direction. “Jonah?”
A faint odor of smoke mixed with an accelerant drifted in the air. She halted and tilted her head, searching for the source and a clue as to what had her on edge.
The slam of a door jerked her from her thoughts. She drew her weapon from the holster on her hip and sprinted to the cold storage room.
Gun at the ready, she eased the door open and stood stunned at the sight before her.
Two bodies lay on roller tables, their skin eaten away, and the sheets that had once covered them were on the floor, engulfed in flames.
“What in the world?”
Noelle did a quick visual sweep of the room, then shoved her Glock into the holster. She rushed to the fire extinguisher on the wall and released it from the holder. With the nozzle aimed at the flames, she squeezed the trigger on the extinguisher. White foam sprayed the red-and-orange fingers flickering near the bodies.
Whoever had set the blaze hadn’t done it that long ago. The sprinkler system hadn’t kicked on yet. Was the arsonist still around?
Satisfied she’d smothered the fire, she placed the canister on the floor, then raced to the back exit and propped open the door. The smoke hanging in the air dissipated. With the ventilation complete, she withdrew her cell phone from her pocket and made the first of several calls.
“Detective Slaton.”
“Decia, this is Noelle.” She wiped the sweat from her forehead while she gave a quick rundown of what had happened. “The weird thing is I have no idea where Jonah is.”
“Hang tight. Matt and I are on our way.”
“Thanks.” Noelle hung up and moved to the desk in the corner of the room to call the building’s security. She lifted the receiver on the phone and stared at the lack of cord attached to the headset.
She jumped at a thump behind her and dropped the phone. It clattered to the floor. On instinct, she yanked her Glock from the holster.
A loud bang came from inside one of the cold storage drawers where they kept the dead bodies. Palms sweating, she aimed her weapon at the bottom drawer. Her heart pounded.
Dead people did not make noise. She inhaled, steadying her breathing, and pushed away the ridiculous thoughts.