Page 52 of Justice for JoElla

Time froze as she processed what he was saying. “How did you know to call me?”

“You know those memorial brochures they make at the funeral homes? They had a little pile of them by the door, the one for the boy. Friends don’t keep a pile of them. That’s a relative. Am I right?”

“You are. They’re Josie’s parents. Holy shit. I’m calling Roy to see if he can get over there before somebody else makes a mess of the scene. Did you hear any of the LEOs say anything?”

“They were talking about how they were found. A neighbor who can’t see their house from hers heard something last night, and then she tried to call them but no one answered, so she went to check on them. Their spare key wasn’t where they kept it, and when she approached the door, the key was sticking out of the lock.”

“The perp knew where they kept it.”

“Exactly. Do you think this has something to do with the case?”

“I absolutely do. Okay, so I’ve gotta call Roy. Keep your ears open and if you hear anything, please, call me back.”

“Most definitely. And I’m sorry I bothered you.”

“No, I appreciate it. That’s important info to know, seeing as how they’re dead and our suspect was definitely here today. He’s moving around?a lot.”

“You coming back soon?”

“I have no idea. When do you get off?”

“Eight.”

“I’ll call you when I get back.”

“How ‘bout you call me when youstartback so I won’t worry?”

JoElla smiled. She thought about the butterfly farm, the gentleness in his hands, and his tenderness from that afternoon. He really did want to make sure she was safe?at least as safe as a law enforcement officer could be. “Yeah. I’ll do that. Thanks… babe.”

“You’re welcome. Be careful. Bye, baby.”

Jesus! I called him babe! What the fuck is wrong with me?Mick had joined her and Quint as they stood there, and the tall Texas lawman had stared at her the whole time she talked to Brandon. “You’re not going to believe this.”

Mick rolled his eyes and sighed. “Try me.”

* * *

Something had been bothering Brandon,and he couldn’t shake it. Ever since he’d confronted JoElla about the gunshot wound she’d received in the ambush at the warehouse, he’d been suspicious. Something in her expression had told him there was more to the story than he was getting, and he didn’t quite know how to find out what it was. If he was still on staff at the hospital, he’d… Had they thought to remove his access to medical records? There was only one way to find out.

His laptop was in the car, so he retrieved it, brought it into the station house, and sat down in the lounge. Everyone else was doing whatever it was they did when they weren’t doing anything, so he had privacy for as long as they kept at it. His first few attempts to get into the records system were wasted, and then he remembered something. He had Robert’s log in information. His father had told Brandon once that if he was incapacitated, he wanted someone in the family to have access to his records, and Brandon was betting his dad didn’t even remember doing that. The tiny scrap of paper was still in his wallet, so he pulled it out, typed in what he had there, and hit ENTER.

The medical records program sprang to life in front of his eyes. He opened a browser window and did a search for the date of the shooting. That only took two tries. Armed with the date, he started to muck around in the system, looking at the files from the night of the shooting. There weren’t that many, and it wasn’t long before he found what he was looking for?JoElla’s records. He made screenshots of every page, then logged out and shut it down. If the system flagged the search, he’d just tell his dad that he was cleaning out his wallet and was intending to tell Robert that he still had access to the account. That was believable enough.

“Need me for anything?” he called out to the guys downstairs.

“Nah. Just shootin’ the shit,” Froggy called back.

“Gonna do a little reading,” Brandon answered.

“Oh, is that what they call it now? A little reading?” There was laughter as he made his way back to the bunkroom. Once he’d dropped onto the bunk, he opened his laptop again and pulled up the screenshots. It started with all the usual?name, sex, age, height, weight, blood type. When he got to the “Presented with”section, he got down to business. Gunshot wound, left upper extremity. He already knew that. Didn’t appear to have nicked an artery. Knew that too. Then the radiologist’s report?it had been done by Lexi, so he knew the reading would be accurate. Bone fragment noticed in the x-ray, and that was removed surgically. Position, position… “the humerus noted proximal to the lateral epicondyle and forced to the anterior aspect.” So the bone fragment was close to the elbow, on the outside of the humerus bone and pushed toward the front of her body.

What?Brandon read it again. “Bone fragment presented in x-ray. Shearing to the humerus noted proximal to the lateral epicondyle and forced to the anterior aspect.” Anterior aspect? Brandon sat there, unable to process what he was reading. If he was reading it correctly, and he knew he was…

What the ever-lovin’ fuck?Did JoElla know that? Had anyone explained it to her? Or had she known all along? Maybe she didn’t want to admit it to herself. Maybe she was too afraid to. Maybethatwas why she’d quit the department, not because she’d been suspended, but because… “Dear god,” he whispered to himself. JoElla hadn’t been shot by the guys she was facing.

She’d been shot by the only one behind her.

* * *

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