Page 80 of Hunting Justice
The perp ran toward the back exit.
Noelle changed her direction, her new course intended to cut the man off. She leaped over grave markers, hating the disrespect of her action. She hoped those who’d gone before understood.
Thanks to Raven’s fascination with weird historical facts, Noelle had toured the cemetery multiple times and had the layout committed to memory.
She ducked under the low-hanging Spanish moss, keeping her target in sight. Her breaths came in pants, but she continued to press on. She refused to let the man get away.
After exiting out the back of the cemetery, the guy dashed across the street.
She hurdled the last of the tombstones and followed him out the gate.
The man jumped on a tour trolley before the driver pulled away from the curb.
Noelle yanked her Glock from the small of her back and followed him on. “Stop!”
The passengers clapped at the confrontation, unaware that the showdown wasn’t part of the scripted tour.
The attacker stood at the back of the trolley, the bloody knife used on Jonah held out in front of him.
The driver slammed on the brakes.
Noelle maintained her hold on her weapon and grabbed a seatback, steadying herself. The forced halt caught the suspect off guard. He dropped the knife and tumbled against the bench seat. His sunglasses flew to the floor.
Screams filled the air, the passengers now aware of the danger.
No matter how hard she tried, Noelle couldn’t move her gaze from the man’s eyes. She knew those cold, heartless, ice-blue eyes. She’d stared at them each time the serial killer had come in to torture her.
The guy scooped up the knife, jumped out the back window, and dashed away.
Unable to respond, she stood stunned.
“Noelle!” Jonah’s frantic tone jerked her from the black hole her mind threatened to fall into.
She secured her Glock, flashed her credentials, and apologized to the driver. After directing the man to call Savannah PD and give a statement about the incident, she stepped off the trolley and met Jonah and Juliette on the sidewalk.
Jonah’s hand covered the blood-soaked cloth on his side.
“You should be at the hospital getting that taken care of. And you, Juliette, should have kept him away from the danger.”
“I’m not going to bleed out. I couldn’t let you go after that guy alone. Don’t get mad at Juliette. I didn’t give her a choice.”
The adrenaline crash edged its way in, and she had to sit down before it struck. She pointed to a bench not far away. “Let’s go over there.” Not allowing herself to get complacent, she continued to scan the area in case the attacker circled back around.
Jonah clutched his side and ambled over to the bench. He lowered onto the seat and patted the metal next to him.
Noelle joined him and tipped her head back. She sucked in several deep breaths. The attacker had gotten away, and now Jonah sat beside her with a knife wound that he refused to have tended.
Juliette stood to the side, arms crossed. “I can connect the dots as to what happened. But why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”
Noelle exhaled. “Because I think I did.”
Jonah shifted to face her. “Come again?”
“I got a good look at your attacker’s eyes.” Noelle clasped her shaking hands together.
“And?” Juliette raised a brow while her gaze assessed their surroundings.
“They were those of my serial killer.” The words came out as a whisper.