Page 5 of Ride the Lightning
“Maybe he was protecting someone he loved.”
Jonah considered it. “The real person who killed Earl, maybe?”
“Could be, or maybe there’s no connection at all. Bo just happened to be the first man up for execution after Earl’s death. I think an ambitious person set the confession in motion. Maybe to shut me the fuck up so I’d stop coming into the police station and demanding to know the latest updates in Earl’s investigation,” Marla said.
Jonah wanted to say it was too big of a leap, but Bo Cahill confessing was a win-win for the DA and the police department. “I’ll try to access the case file tomorrow. In the meantime, I need you to make a list of everyone you think I should interview—Earl’s friends, cops, coworkers, and family members.”
“I will start on that now,” Marla said, untangling her fingers from his. She started to rise, but Jonah reached out and stopped her.
“Don’t rush off,” he said. “Tell me the tips and tricks I’ll need to know about Betty.”
Only when she talked about her beloved dog did Marla begin to cry. Jonah wrapped an arm around her slender shoulders.
“She’s the best girl, Jonah. You’re going to be damn lucky to have her in your life.”
“I will show my gratitude for her every day,” he promised.And for you.
“I’m glad you moved next door to me,” Marla said tearfully.
“Me too, Marla. Me too.”
“Yo, Eagle,” a voice called out from the back of the Humvee. “You sure got quiet last night after receiving letters from home. Is everything okay?”
Without missing a beat or taking his eyes off the convoy vehicle in front of theirs, Eagle replied, “I assigned you to look out for insurgents, not bust my balls about letters from my wife, Lion.”
“Uh-oh,” Cobra said in an ominous voice.
“Sounds like someone didn’t live his time on leave to the fullest,” Dragon added
“Fuck off. All of you,” Eagle said, but there was no mistaking the humor in his voice. “Kirsten is pregnant. I’m going to be a dad.”
Excited whooping erupted throughout the tightly packed armored vehicle.
“I take it back,” Dragon said.
“Attaboy,” Cobra cheered.
“I’m scared shitless, man. A baby,” Eagle said, shaking his head. “I—”
A loud boom cut off his words as the Humvee in front of theirs exploded. Eagle cut hard to the right just as a secondary detonation went off, sending their vehicle into a sickening roll.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat.
Jonah jackknifed up in bed as another loud blast shook his house and the drumming sound intensified. Jonah’s raspy breaths sounded loud in the silence as his brain registered he was in his bedroom and not back in Afghanistan. God, he’d never been so relieved in his life to hear thunder and rain splattering against the windows.
The respite was short lived. His friends were gone, and it was his fault.
Jonah flopped back onto his bed and willed his racing heart to slow down. That’s when another thump sounded, but it had nothing to do with the storm raging outside his house. A loud moan and a giggle quickly followed the noise, which meant Kendall was home and he wasn’t alone.
Like Marla, his friendship with Kendall had caught him off guard. He’d met the younger man at a club called The Cockpit where Kendall worked part-time, and they’d spent the entire weekend fucking like animals. When Kendall left his bed in the early Monday morning hours, Jonah hadn’t expected to see him again unless he pursued Kendall at the club. In a weird twist of fate, Jonah received a call from his detective friend Royce Locke, asking him to verify Kendall’s whereabouts over the weekend. Kendall had returned home to find his roommate dead, and the person who discovered the body is always at the top of the suspect list. Jonah’s role in Kendall’s life swerved from random weekend hookup to alibi.
Kendall’s roommate wasn’t just anyone either. Vivian Gross had been a prominent attorney for high-profile clients like Franco Humphries, the serial rapist and killer whose investigation brought Felix and Rocky into Jonah’s life. Royce Locke, along with his boyfriend and partner, Sawyer Key, put a clandestine task force together to nail the man for the crimes he’d committed. They put the sick bastard behind bars and forged wonderful friendships.
Jonah hadn’t known about the connection between his hot weekend hookup and the attorney representing one of the vilest men on earth, but then again, Jonah hadn’t been interested in the other jobs Kendall worked or who he knew. They hadn’t exchanged phone numbers because neither of them had wanted to pursue a relationship. Kendall worked two jobs and went to college, and Jonah wasn’t in the right mental space to entertain a romantic relationship. He liked Kendall and had offered him the use of his guest room since the condo he’d shared with Vivian was a crime scene.
Seven months later, Kendall was still living in his house, but as a paying tenant. The two men shared an easy camaraderie that wasn’t complicated by sexual tension since they’d worked it out of their systems.
Rapid thumping sounded from the room below his as Kendall’s bed frame repeatedly banged against the wall.