Chapter 5

The paramedics argued with Jonah before accepting his refusal of further treatment. He sat on the office chair in the cold storage room, wrestling with his thoughts while the crime scene techs scurried around collecting evidence. A hint of smoke lingered in the room, and the chill from his time in the refrigerated drawer had eased. But the bruising on his throat throbbed with a vengeance. Not to mention the terror from the flashbacks of his attack.

"Is there anything you want before we leave?"

Jonah jolted at Noelle's question.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." She rested her hand on his forearm. "What can I do?"

He shrugged. He had no idea what he needed. Over the last twenty-four hours, his world had collapsed and his life had turned upside down. A glance at the disfigured bodies had his mind pinging from one thought to another that included things nightmares were made from. "Drop me off at home so I can forget any of this ever happened."

"You really think I'm going to leave you alone?" Noelle made a sweeping motion with her hand that encompassed the room.

"Right." A multitude of snarky remarks came to mind, but he clamped his mouth shut. "I have a change of clothes in my office. The crime scene techs took mine and left me with these scrubs." He pulled the front of his shirt out to make his point. "Plus, I want to search Ken's office for his planner. I don't know where else it might be. There has to be something in there that explains his actions."

"Let's get your things. The girls are meeting us at the EGA office to discuss your case."

His gaze met hers. "My case?"

She tilted her head and arched a brow, as if daring him to challenge her.

"Fine." Jonah pushed from the seat. His knees threatened to buckle, causing him to sway.

Noelle's hand shot out and grasped his elbow, steadying him. "Easy."

"Just the fade of adrenaline."

She snorted. "Keep telling yourself that."

"I don't need you?—"

"All I'm saying is, your body requires a little downtime to recover. You're a doctor. You know this stuff."

"Yeah, I do."

Once he gained his balance, she released his arm and gestured toward the door.

He strode out of the room and down the hall to his office. His attitude had everything to do with the day's events. Claustrophobia hadn't been an issue in the past, but Jonah had a feeling tight spaces and restrictive shirts around his neck had become his kryptonite.

He pushed open his office door and stepped in. Noelle followed on his heels. Why did he suddenly feel self-conscious about the disaster he called his office? She knew his faults. Most of them, anyway. But she doesn't know you failed your wife.

"It'll only take me a minute to gather my things. I have a duffel bag with a change of clothes and basic shave kit." He motioned to the small closet on the far wall.

"Take your time. No need to hurry." She moved to his "me" wall and examined his diplomas and certificates.

A lot of good those had done him when he'd failed at the most important time of his life. He huffed and headed toward the closet to gather his things. Taking a long look at the space, he tried to think of anything else he should collect before they left, but his brain refused to cooperate. The desire to flee was overwhelming. He wanted out of the building—now.

Jonah drummed his fingers on the outside of his thigh, forcing himself to stay in the moment. "All I have left to do is to find Ken's planner, then we're out of here."

Noelle turned to face him. The scrutiny behind her gaze made him shiver. It was as if she could see into the deepest, darkest places of his life. After what seemed like forever, she nodded. "Lead the way."

He hefted the duffel strap onto his shoulder and tamped down the urge to race to Ken's office.

The voices of the crime scene techs drifted in the hall. Jonah wondered what they'd discovered, but he had a mission: figure out where Ken hid his planner and get out of there.

He entered his friend's office and stopped behind his mentor's desk. "I looked in the normal places, but nada. He either had it with him or hid it. My vote is a hiding spot."

Noelle placed her hands on her hips. "Then let's think about this logically. He keeps his office tidy, so I'm guessing it'll be somewhere where it blends in or is out of sight. Like a bookshelf, closet, or cabinet."

"I'll take the bookshelf. You take the closet." Jonah strode across the room and checked out each book one at a time while Noelle headed to the single door in the office.

"Any luck?" Noelle asked as she slid Ken's lab coats aside to look behind them.

"How about you?"

"No." She stood on her tiptoes and patted the top shelf. "There's nothing…wait a second." She spun and retrieved a chair. She dragged it to the closet and stood on it. "Bingo." A black book in her hands, she jumped down and repositioned the chair at Ken's desk.

He accepted the leather-bound planner and breathed a sigh of relief. "Now that you've found it, can we please leave?"

"Gladly." Noelle accompanied him through the main lobby to the glass door at the entrance. "Wait here for a minute."

She moved outside before Jonah had a chance to respond. He took three deep breaths, but the calming technique didn't work. He pressed his fingers to his carotid artery and winced. The bruises on his neck ached. With a lighter touch, he tried again. His pulse rate bordered on tachycardia. Then again, he wasn't relaxed enough for it to be at a resting rate.

A minute later, Noelle returned. "From what I can tell, it's clear. Go straight to my car. Don't stop."

Again, she cupped his elbow and moved without his agreement.

Exposed. If he were to put a name to the trek across the small parking lot, that's what it would be.

The one positive…the warmth of the sun chased away the last bit of chill—at least physically. Make that two. He wasn't inside the death trap of the morgue anymore.

Noelle opened the passenger door, and Jonah slipped in.

Once he was safely inside, his mind spun, grappling to make sense of all the things that had happened. But Jonah knew without a doubt, Ken's final action of telling Jonah about the falsified documents had put him in danger.

He leaned his head back, rolled it to the side, and stared at Noelle. She'd stay by his side until they sorted out the whole mess, but that placed her in danger.

Could he live through Noelle placing her life on the line for him?

The thought made bile crawl up his throat. Even if they were only friends, he couldn't fail another woman that meant the world to him.

* * *

A slight breeze trickled through the open window of the car that Jack had parked a block away, but it wasn't enough to prevent sweat from beading on his upper lip. He stared at the entrance to the county morgue and grinned. The acid had destroyed the evidence of his art work on his latest victim. The other poor soul had been sacrificed so as to not draw attention to the girl that mattered. The doctor, on the other hand, was an uncertainty. So Jack watched—waited.

He glanced at his hands. The phone cord had left marks but hadn't cut into the skin. Given time, the reddish lines would disappear. He rolled his wrist to look at his watch and cringed. Time was something he didn't have. He had to get back to work before someone got suspicious.

Jack glanced at the office and sat up straight in the driver's seat. His target waltzed out the front door. He gritted his teeth and slammed a fist against the wheel.

If he'd had another two minutes, the doctor would have joined Dodson in the afterlife. Instead, that stupid woman—whoever she was—had to come looking for the doc, requiring Jack to leave the job unfinished. Not only had the doctor somehow survived, but Jack hadn't had time to find Dodson's planner.

Maybe once he silenced Harris, he'd show the woman his skills.

He chuckled. Yeah, that would be fun. Not one of his normal choices—a little old for that—but who's to say he couldn't deviate a little from the mission?

A plan formed. The doctor first, then he'd do a little bit of research on the chick before he snatched her.

* * *

Noelle gripped the steering wheel tightly enough her fingers hurt as she drove toward the EGA office. Finding Jonah in a cold storage drawer meant for corpses and seeing the markings on his neck sent fury coursing through her. An unknown attacker had come close to killing her best friend. She vowed, at that moment, to hunt the person down and make him pay for hurting Jonah.

The memories of her own time trapped by a madman wiggled into her thoughts, but she forced them aside. She couldn't afford the distraction. Jonah and the increasing threats required her full attention.

A quick glance at him squeezed her heart. He sat staring out the passenger window, the normal sparkle in his eyes no longer visible.

She wanted to cry and scream in rage at the same time. But this wasn't about her. She had to do something to get his mind off what had happened. "In all the time we've spent together, I don't think I've ever asked why you wanted to become a doctor and why the emergency department."

Jonah sat motionless long enough she thought he wouldn't answer. Then he sighed. "My sister."

"You've told me about her, but why did she make you choose medicine as your degree?" A two-word answer from the man who loved to talk told all she needed to know. Getting him out of his funk wasn't going to be easy.

His shoulders drooped. "When I was six, my parents told me to watch my little sister."

"That's a bit young to babysit, isn't it?"

He continued to gaze out the window, but at least he was talking.

"No, nothing like that. Mom and Dad asked me to keep an eye on her while they fixed dinner. She was around three at the time and had a habit of climbing on everything." He ran a hand over his face. "I was distracted with my Legos. She scaled the bookshelf next to the fireplace and called out for me to look. She'd climbed too high for me to reach. I yelled for my mom, but Wendy reached for the next shelf. Before I could tell her to stop, she fell. Her head hit the brick hearth."

"Oh, Jonah." Noelle's heart ached for the little boy who'd watched his sister get hurt. "Was she all right?"

"She had an inch-long gash, which to a child seemed like four inches. And like a typical head wound, it bled like crazy. But it was her motionless body that scared me the most."

"What happened next?"

"The ambulance came and transported her to the hospital. She had a concussion and required stitches. Mom and Dad never blamed me. But I had nightmares for weeks."

"I can understand that." Noelle turned into the EGA courtyard lot and put her car into Park. She shifted to face him. "You have to know it wasn't your fault. You were only six."

"I know that now. But then…let's just say I felt guilty for years." He leaned back and closed his eyes for a moment, then he met her gaze and gave her a sad smile. "It was then and there that I decided I'd never be helpless again. I wanted to be a doctor so that the next time something bad happened, I'd know what to do."

"I'd say you succeeded in knowing what to do. According to the word on the street, you were the best ER doctor on the east coast—and throughout the US, if my sources are correct—until you gave it all up. And that's saying something."

"Yeah." Jonah turned away from her and stared out the window again. "I'm not all that great."

He'd never opened up to her about why he'd taken a different path in his career. The few times she'd asked, he'd said he'd needed a change and then switched topics. She'd never pressed him to divulge the reason, but the pain in his expression made her want to pry. If only to know how to wipe away the sadness from his life.

For now, she let his comment go. "I've called Alana and Juliette. Just so you know, I told them about Ken."

He jerked to face her.

She held up her hand to halt his disapproval. "They won't disclose the information until we're ready, but they're my team. I trust them with my life and yours. Bottom line, we need their help."

He studied her for a moment, then nodded. "If you say we need the others, I believe you."

Noelle released the breath she'd held, having been uncertain how Jonah would react. She laced her fingers with his. "Thank you."

"That's my line. I don't know what I'd do without you." He squeezed her hand.

In the whole time she'd known Jonah, she hadn't witnessed the vulnerability in him that she did at this moment. Noelle glanced at their entwined hands. When had her heart gotten involved? She had to tamp down those thoughts and remember a relationship beyond friendship would never happen. Not with Jonah—not with anyone.

Besides, she had a job to do and had no intention of letting her feelings cause her to lose focus. But with no idea who was behind the attacks or why, protecting him became a challenge.

She wouldn't—couldn't—let him down.