Page 5 of Hunting Justice
Jonah chuckled, then groaned. “Give me time to figure out what’s going on. You’ll be my first call once I do.” But not a minute before. He owed Ken that much. He’d given Decia and Matt the probability the explosion wasn’t an accident. He knew the detectives. The information would not go uninvestigated.
“I can live with that…for now.” Matt dropped his boot to the ground. Glass crunched under it. “But we still need to take your statement. I’m willing to wait a little while for the shock to wear off and that headache to ease, but it needs to happen sometime tonight.”
“I appreciate that.” If his head didn’t stop pounding, he wasn’t sure how much help he’d be.
Aaron packed his medical bag. “I’ve done all I can do. I hope you change your mind about the hospital.”
“If I need it, I’ll go.” He examined the paramedic’s handywork and signed the refusal to be transported paperwork. “Thanks, Aaron.”
“Sure thing, Doc.” Aaron bade Matt and Decia goodbye, then took off to join his partner.
“Would you like a ride since yours is toast?” Matt gestured to the broken windows of the SUV.
“I…uh…I think I’d like to stay for a bit.”
“Does your phone work?” Decia asked.
Jonah pulled the device from his pocket and tapped the screen. It lit up. “Thankfully, yes.”
“We’ll be around until we can get a look at Ken’s body. Let us know if you change your mind about the ride.”
“Thanks, Ladecia. I appreciate it.”
The two detectives strode down the cordoned-off street.
Jonah sat alone in the back of his SUV, staring at the mess that used to be his friend’s home. Fire hoses sprayed the remaining flames while the captain yelled instructions to the firefighters. The stench of charred wood and who knew what else burned his nose.
He toyed with his cell phone, pondering what to do next. Ken was gone, along with the explanation behind the falsified autopsy reports.
The urge to call Noelle had his fingers hovering over the speed dial. If he asked, she’d come. That was the kind of friendship they had.
But at the moment, he wasn’t ready to face her—or anyone.
* * *
Elite Guardian Noelle Burton turned the lock on her three-bedroom craftsman-style house. She pushed the door open, placed her keys on the hook next to the entry, and lugged her duffel bag into her bedroom. Fatigue shrouded her body from the long week of protecting a celebrity model from a stalker while on vacation in Hilton Head.
Earbud in, she called Raven, the administrative assistant at Elite Guardians Agency Savannah, while she unzipped her bag.
“Hello.”
She smiled at the chipper greeting. “Hey, Raven.”
“Noelle. How’d it go?”
“Everyone’s safe.” She’d thought her last assignment would end in tragedy, but thankfully it hadn’t. Beyond the potential loss of life, it wasn’t a blemish she wanted on the new EGA Savannah office that she managed. “Chrissy Logan is doing as well as can be expected, and her stalker is behind bars.”
“That’s good to hear. Take tomorrow off. You deserve it.”
“Maybe.” Noelle appreciated the faith Lizzie and the other Guardians had placed in her to make the new branch office a success. She refused to let them down.
“Look, we know who really runs the office.”
She chuckled. Raven wasn’t wrong. The woman with the penchant for all things goth ran EGA Savannah flawlessly. “When you put it that way…I’ll consider it.”
“Good. Now get some rest.”
The line went dead. Noelle shook her head and unloaded her duffel.