Page 54 of Hunting Justice

However, at the moment, she had an odd urge to visit Jonah. One she couldn’t shake.

* * *

Jonah drew the curtains closed on the new window in Ken’s office and moved to unlock the file cabinet. Call him paranoid, but he refused to take a chance on the shooter using him for target practice. He honestly had no idea if he’d find what he was looking for. He only hoped that Ken hadn’t been too stealthy.

Between his friend’s unethical actions and Noelle’s story, the nerves in Jonah’s skin mimicked a thousand bugs crawling on him. He hated what Ken had done. And from the little he’d discovered, money had driven the man’s choices. If only Ken had taken the time to ask him for financial support instead of selling out his integrity, Jonah would have given it to him willingly. Between his career as a doctor and wise investments, he had money to spare.

Matt sat in the office chair, searching through the desk drawers. “I don’t think Ken left evidence in his desk. All I’m finding are notepads and basic miscellaneous items.”

“I figured as much.” Jonah opened the cabinet and walked his fingers through the files. “I’m hoping he hid the information among the other autopsy reports.”

“It’d be a great place to put it. Who’d look for an extra autopsy report there?” Matt shut the bottom drawer and stood. “I’ll check the bookcase next.” His friend strode across the room. Hands on his hips, he scratched his jaw, then started on the top shelf.

“I can’t believe Ken did this.” Jonah opened a file, took a long look, and slipped it back into place.

“I guess you never know what you’ll do when faced with a tough decision. It couldn’t have been easy for him with his wife’s life at stake.”

“I suppose that’s true.” Jonah closed the first drawer and glanced over his shoulder. “I just wish he’d said something.”

“Me too.” Matt removed a thick medical book and thumbed through the pages. “Speaking of saying something…Noelle dropped a huge bombshell about her abduction.”

Jonah’s thoughts drifted to the past year. The signs had all been there. The long-sleeve shirts in the summer. The top-of-the-line security system in the house. Her murder wall in her office. Even her OCD tendencies probably stemmed from her time in the hands of a killer. “I should have realized something wasn’t right.”

“We all saw the same things, and no one had a clue.” Matt shifted to face him. “Except for that insanely organized murder board that you didn’t tell us about.”

“There is that.” Jonah shrugged. “But I think back to last summer. I spent a lot of time at her house. The clues were there.”

“Don’t take the guilt on yourself. She hid it well from all of us.”

“Maybe.” The next tab caught Jonah’s eye. “Well, what do you know?”

“Got something?” Matt moved to his side.

“I’d say. The little sneak labeled the file M.S. Takes”

“I don’t get it.”

“And you call yourself a detective. M.S. Takes as in mistakes.”

“You have got to be kidding me. What does it say?”

Jonah opened the file. “Ken might have handed us evidence on the flash drive, but there are two Jane Does in the large cold storage here at the morgue that he never released.”

Matt dropped his head back and stared at the ceiling. “Thank you, Ken.”

“I’ll go pull the bodies and do a visual on them.” Jonah handed Matt the files. “Here, take those.”

“I’ll add them to the other evidence. We’ll pull the documents when we have time to review them.” Matt’s phone rang. He held up a finger. “Williams…Okay.” He checked his watch. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” Then hung up. “Sorry. I’ve got to go. Let me know what you find.”

“You know I will.” Jonah followed Matt into the hall and spotted Noelle.

“Later, kids.” Matt waved.

“See ya, Matt.” Noelle tilted her head and watched him hurry toward the lobby. “What’s up with him?”

Jonah lifted his hands, palms up. “Who knows? How’d your visit with the congressman go?”

“Interesting. I’m not sure what’s going on, but the whole conversation felt…off. Did you and Matt discover anything?”

---