* * *
Jonah resisted the urge to demand the team stop after Noelle had given the account of her abduction and torture. His jaw ached from clenching his teeth. The tremble of Noelle’s hands in his unleashed a protectiveness within that he hadn’t experienced in a long time—if ever. He wanted to take her away to a private island so she never had to worry about her serial killer again.
“Now that we have information and possible suspects to investigate on the cold cases, what do we have on the current ones?” Jonah steered the conversation away from Noelle. The team had asked a lot from her, and he’d risk everything to give her time to regroup.
“I’d like to reinterview the congressman and everyone in his office.” Decia tapped her pen to her lips. “Something about the conversation with that man bothers me.”
“Me too, but I’m not sure what.” Noelle’s tight grip relaxed.
“I’ll take that assignment.” Juliette spoke up. “Decia, if you’ll shoot me the notes, I’ll dig a little deeper and see what I can find.”
“As soon as we finish, I’ll email them to you.” Decia jotted down the reminder.
“Has anyone interviewed the waitstaff at the restaurant about the two young woman who dined with the congressman?” Alana’s gaze touched on everyone around the table. “Since that’s a no, I’ll do that.”
Matt leaned back in his chair and swiveled side to side. “Since those girls were last seen there, that’s a good call. And who knows, maybe there’s a connection besides to the congressman. Another patron, maybe?”
“If the original killer was a tattoo artist, someone might know him from his work.” Jonah shifted to face Noelle. “Let’s get Raven’s input on the tattoo shops in Savannah, then make a plan.”
She nodded. “That’s a great idea. Raven should be able to narrow down our search radius so we don’t waste time.”
Decia’s phone buzzed. She glanced at it, then gathered her things and stood. “We have to go, but I think we have a good way forward. Stay in touch. We’ll compare notes after we finish our assignments. Matt, you ready?”
The detective’s chair popped forward. “Sure. See y’all later. Happy hunting.” Matt strode from the room. “Yo, Decia, wait up?”
“Let’s go pick Raven’s brain.” Noelle pushed from her seat.
Jonah closed his eyes and groaned. “Are we going to hear a history lesson about each tattoo shop?”
Alana laughed. “Probably.”
“Fine. Come on, Elle. Raven awaits.” He placed his hand on the small of Noelle’s back and escorted her from the room.
After retrieving her purse, they maneuvered down the stairs in silence.
“Noelle. Doc. The detectives just left. I assume the meeting is over.” Raven tucked a strand of long black hair behind her ear, highlighting her dangling skull earrings.
“We’re finished.” Jonah rested his elbows on the counter of her desk. “We need your help.”
Raven mimicked him. “Shoot.”
“What are the top five tattoo shops in Savannah?”
Her perfectly manicured brow rose. “Looking to get some ink, Doc?”
He chuckled. If only Raven knew his secret. After his white-coat ceremony as a doctor, he and his classmates had piled into a tattoo parlor. He’d chosen the tat Primum non nocere, the Latin phrase for First, do no harm, for the celebration—a mantra his mentor had drummed into him. Jonah shook his head at the memory. “Nope. Part of an investigation.”
Raven grabbed a pen and notepad. “Anything special about the artwork?”
“Chinese symbols,” Noelle added.
“Do you have a picture? A lot of artists sign their work.”
Noelle froze. “Excuse me?”
The goth receptionist rolled her eyes. “Not like that. They leave a special flare to designate their art.”
“Oh. In that case, hold on.” Noelle retrieved her phone and scrolled through the photos. She stopped on one from the victims. “Here.”