Page 28 of Hunting Justice
He entered his friend’s office and stopped behind his mentor’s desk. “I looked in the normal places, but nada. He either had it with him or hid it. My vote is a hiding spot.”
Noelle placed her hands on her hips. “Then let’s think about this logically. He keeps his office tidy, so I’m guessing it’ll be somewhere where it blends in or is out of sight. Like a bookshelf, closet, or cabinet.”
“I’ll take the bookshelf. You take the closet.” Jonah strode across the room and checked out each book one at a time while Noelle headed to the single door in the office.
“Any luck?” Noelle asked as she slid Ken’s lab coats aside to look behind them.
“How about you?”
“No.” She stood on her tiptoes and patted the top shelf. “There’s nothing…wait a second.” She spun and retrieved a chair. She dragged it to the closet and stood on it. “Bingo.” A black book in her hands, she jumped down and repositioned the chair at Ken’s desk.
He accepted the leather-bound planner and breathed a sigh of relief. “Now that you’ve found it, can we please leave?”
“Gladly.” Noelle accompanied him through the main lobby to the glass door at the entrance. “Wait here for a minute.”
She moved outside before Jonah had a chance to respond. He took three deep breaths, but the calming technique didn’t work. He pressed his fingers to his carotid artery and winced. The bruises on his neck ached. With a lighter touch, he tried again. His pulse rate bordered on tachycardia. Then again, he wasn’t relaxed enough for it to be at a resting rate.
A minute later, Noelle returned. “From what I can tell, it’s clear. Go straight to my car. Don’t stop.”
Again, she cupped his elbow and moved without his agreement.
Exposed. If he were to put a name to the trek across the small parking lot, that’s what it would be.
The one positive…the warmth of the sun chased away the last bit of chill—at least physically. Make that two. He wasn’t inside the death trap of the morgue anymore.
Noelle opened the passenger door, and Jonah slipped in.
Once he was safely inside, his mind spun, grappling to make sense of all the things that had happened. But Jonah knew without a doubt, Ken’s final action of telling Jonah about the falsified documents had put him in danger.
He leaned his head back, rolled it to the side, and stared at Noelle. She’d stay by his side until they sorted out the whole mess, but that placed her in danger.
Could he live through Noelle placing her life on the line for him?
The thought made bile crawl up his throat. Even if they were only friends, he couldn’t fail another woman that meant the world to him.
* * *
A slight breeze trickled through the open window of the car that Jack had parked a block away, but it wasn’t enough to prevent sweat from beading on his upper lip. He stared at the entrance to the county morgue and grinned. The acid had destroyed the evidence of his art work on his latest victim. The other poor soul had been sacrificed so as to not draw attention to the girl that mattered. The doctor, on the other hand, was an uncertainty. So Jack watched—waited.
He glanced at his hands. The phone cord had left marks but hadn’t cut into the skin. Given time, the reddish lines would disappear. He rolled his wrist to look at his watch and cringed. Time was something he didn’t have. He had to get back to work before someone got suspicious.
Jack glanced at the office and sat up straight in the driver’s seat. His target waltzed out the front door. He gritted his teeth and slammed a fist against the wheel.
If he’d had another two minutes, the doctor would have joined Dodson in the afterlife. Instead, that stupid woman—whoever she was—had to come looking for the doc, requiring Jack to leave the job unfinished. Not only had the doctor somehow survived, but Jack hadn’t had time to find Dodson’s planner.
Maybe once he silenced Harris, he’d show the woman his skills.
He chuckled. Yeah, that would be fun. Not one of his normal choices—a little old for that—but who’s to say he couldn’t deviate a little from the mission?
A plan formed. The doctor first, then he’d do a little bit of research on the chick before he snatched her.
* * *
Noelle gripped the steering wheel tightly enough her fingers hurt as she drove toward the EGA office. Finding Jonah in a cold storage drawer meant for corpses and seeing the markings on his neck sent fury coursing through her. An unknown attacker had come close to killing her best friend. She vowed, at that moment, to hunt the person down and make him pay for hurting Jonah.
The memories of her own time trapped by a madman wiggled into her thoughts, but she forced them aside. She couldn’t afford the distraction. Jonah and the increasing threats required her full attention.
A quick glance at him squeezed her heart. He sat staring out the passenger window, the normal sparkle in his eyes no longer visible.