“Isn’t that the same plastic badge they give to little kids when they visit schools?”
“You better take this one over your knee tonight, Jonah,” Ricky said before sauntering away. “Yoo-hoo, honey. I got injured in the takedown.”
“I’m telling Amos,” Jonah said. Ricky stuck his arm behind his back and flipped Jonah off.
Jonah tugged Avery into his arms and kissed him. “Let’s get this rope off your wrists. I want the paramedics to check you over too.”
“Wait,” Avery said suddenly. “Say it again, Jonah.”
“I want you.”
Adrenaline continued to pump through Jonah’s veins, but it wasn’t the only thing fueling his frenetic energy. Relief, elation, rage, love, and sorrow were powerful emotions warring for dominance inside him. Individually, they created impressive storm fronts. Together, they formed a superstorm that gave a person two options: seek shelter or ride the lightning.
Jonah was fucking tired of hiding.
“St. John,” Trexler called out before Jonah and Avery could slip out the door.
They had just wrapped up four hours of interviews, waiting, more interviews, and more waiting before Trexler finally cleared them to leave. Now he was stopping them again. Jonah bit back the groan and faced his supervisor.
“Sir?” he asked.
“About your resignation,” Trexler said. “I’m shredding it. I know I don’t deserve a second chance, but I’m asking for one anyway. I’m truly sorry for the way I treated you, and I’d like the opportunity to earn your trust and respect.” Jonah was struck speechless. Trexler extended his hand. “What do you say?”
Jonah shook his hand. “I accept, sir.”
“We’ll begin our fresh start next week. Both of you have earned the rest of the week off with pay.”
Trexler shook Avery’s hand also before returning to conduct more interviews.
“What just happened?” Avery asked as soon as they were inside Jonah’s car.
“You want to do this now?” Jonah asked, starting the engine.
“Yes, now. I’ve watched the two of you bicker and fight for eight months, and now you’re working secret missions together,” Avery said. “I have to know how it all unfolded.”
Jonah shifted the car in drive and headed for the exit. “I took a chance and called him last night. I told him about everything we’d uncovered and how it framed him as the fall guy for whatever was supposed to happen to me.”
Avery snorted. “I figured that part out for myself. What made you pick up the phone and trust him after the way he’s treated you?”
“When I realized how wrong I was about Charlie Malcolm, I started evaluating my other relationships. I started wondering how much of my antagonistic association with Trexler was real and how much of it Malcolm had engineered. I thought back to the day I asked Malcolm for permission to investigate Earl’s homicide. It was the only time Malcolm refused to intervene, and I knew there had to be a reason for it.”
“He killed Earl,” Avery said.
“Yes, but my gut told me there was more to the story. I set aside my differences with Trexler and evaluated the man on how he interacted with everyone else. He is a man known for his intellect and fairness, but his behavior toward me was the exact opposite. I never understood what provoked his hostility toward me. A pattern of behavior emerged. Every time Trexler would tear me down, Malcolm would go out of his way to build me back up. It got to the point where I started disobeying protocol and went directly to Malcolm with my problems or ideas. Then it hit me. Malcolm had purposefully engineered the volatile relationship between us.”
“Why?” Avery asked. “There was no way he could’ve predicted three years ago that you would’ve asked to reopen the Ison case.”
“True,” Jonah conceded. “Back in the warehouse, Malcolm insisted he is a good man who spent his life making up for the one terrible thing he did. Malcolm didn’t commit a singular crime. What about the stalking, blackmailing, and sexually assaulting Earl before killing him? Someone so devious and deranged doesn’t just change overnight. Plus, there were the crimes he committed against Bo Cahill thirteen years later. After getting away with the murder and cover-up, his urges to do other sinister things would’ve intensified, not lessened. He just got smarter about choosing his victims and inflicted emotional harm instead of physical, or at least in my case. I realized he’d turned Trexler into a weapon against me.”
“How’d the conversation with Trexler go?” Avery asked.
Jonah smiled. “Trexler hung up on me as soon as I told him why I was calling. I emailed him the proof you had found, and Trexler called me back immediately. He said, ‘I’m listening,’ and it was the opening I needed to lay it all out there for him. He told me that Malcolm was the one who encouraged him to come down hard on me, including the warning for insubordination and the subsequent suspension.”
“Malcolm is the one who ratted you out to Trexler, huh?”
“Yes,” Jonah replied. “We have a long way to go to repair the damage Malcolm caused, but last night and tonight was a big step in the right direction.”
Avery hummed. “The two of you decided to stage the parking lot incident, didn’t you?”
“We did,” Jonah agreed.
“And you didn’t tell me ahead of time because you didn’t trust me?” Avery asked.
“No, I do trust you. I wasn’t certain the confrontation was going to occur. The arrangement was for Trexler to accost me if Malcolm contacted him about the podcast. I needed to be sure Malcolm took the bait.”
“You’re quite brilliant,” Avery said. There was a pensiveness in his voice that troubled Jonah.
“I also wanted to diminish your culpability as much as possible, Avery.”
“Because you want me?”
“I do,” Jonah emphatically said as he pulled into the driveway. He put the car in park and killed the engine before threading his fingers in Avery’s hair and guiding his head to meet Jonah’s halfway. “I could’ve lost you tonight, and you wouldn’t have known that you’re all I want,” he whispered against Avery’s lips.
Instead of kissing him, Avery placed his hand on Jonah’s chest to stop him. “How?”
Before Jonah could answer, his screen door opened suddenly, slapping against the front of the house. A partially dressed man burst out of Jonah’s house like the devil was chasing him. Kendall, apparently playing the role of said devil, stepped onto the porch a second later and flung something at the man, nailing him square in the back before he reached his car parked in front of Jonah’s house. When the object hit the ground, Jonah saw it was a shoe.
“What the fuck?” Jonah asked, shoving his car door open.
“I don’t ever want to see you or talk to you again, Travis. Don’t come back,” Kendall yelled across the lawn.
“How many times have I heard the same thing before, and yet, you still call me?” Travis replied.
“Now, I’m telling you,” Jonah said. “I don’t want to see you on my property, and I better not find out you’re harassing him at work.”
Travis halted and faced Jonah. “Work? Is that what you call wearing a tiny scrap of fabric while serving drinks and chicken wings to horny men? Lose my number, Kendall,” Travis said with a sneer before getting in his car. He gunned the engine so hard his tires squealed before he shot down the road.
“Christ,” Jonah muttered. “I’m ready for this night to be over.”
“That makes two of us,” Avery said, joining him. “I had a gun pointed to my head.”
Jonah looped his arm around Avery’s waist and pulled him against his side. Having his man so close to him was making it hard to remember precisely why they’d wanted to have a conversation. “I got shot, so I win.”
“It’s not a contest,” Avery hissed. He slid his hand over Jonah’s heart, where a bullet would’ve struck him.
“Good thing because I’d win the prize.” Jonah cupped Avery’s face and captured his lips for a kiss
. “I take it back. I’ve already won.”
Avery elbowed him. “I’m not some stuffed teddy bear from a carnival.”
Jonah pressed his mouth against Avery’s ear. “Do you want to be stuffed?” Jonah whispered, nuzzling his nose against Avery’s soft flesh.
Avery whimpered. “God, yes.”
“What the hell is going on here?” Kendall asked from the porch. It sounded like he’d temporarily forgotten his troubles. “Someone held a gun to Avery’s head, and someone else shot you, Jonah?”
“It was the same person,” Jonah replied.
“It’s a very long story,” Avery added.
“Sure makes my guy problems seem small,” Kendall said. “Are you both okay?”
“We’re fine,” Jonah told his friend. “I’ll tell you all about it in the morning.” Kendall nodded and started to head inside. “Kendall.”
Kendall turned around and looked at Jonah. “You don’t have guy problems. You have a guy problem. You can do better than Travis.”
“Thanks, J,” Kendall replied with a small smile. “See you guys in the morning.”
“Maybe I should go home tonight,” Avery said. “Kendall looks upset. He could use a friend.”
“I will always be Kendall’s friend, but there are some battles you have to fight yourself.” He hoisted Avery over his shoulder caveman-style and headed inside.
Avery slapped his ass. “Put me down, you Neanderthal.”
Jonah just ignored him and secured the house before carrying him upstairs like he weighed nothing.
Inside his room, Jonah laid Avery on the bed, covering Avery’s body with his own. “I want you,” he said before kissing a path down Avery’s neck. Jonah felt Avery’s happy purr vibrating beneath his lips.
“How?” Avery asked once more, stopping Jonah in his tracks. “I am a terrible person for getting involved with The Purists.”
“You did a bad thing, but it doesn’t make you bad,” Jonah argued. “How’d you get tangled up with the psychopath?”
“He had proof I hacked into my college’s computers and changed my grades so I wouldn’t fail a class. I’d come down with mono and missed several lectures. The professor wouldn’t work with me, so I made myself even sicker trying to make up for my grades. I fell two points shy. Failing the class would’ve impacted my scholarship and grant eligibility. It was wrong of me to do, and I regret it as much as getting caught up in The Purists’ schemes. He gave me the option of helping him, or he’d report me to the college. They would’ve expelled me, and no college would’ve accepted my application with the transgression on my academic record.”
“How’d you end up meeting my aunt Ellie?”
Avery smiled. “One day, I was web surfing on a computer at Bytes and Brew to avoid detection on my own laptop. Royce came in to get lunch, and there was another off-duty cop there too. Royce started asking the owner if he knew any hackers or anyone familiar with the dark web. I knew it was my cue to leave. Like an amateur, I left the café too quickly, which attracted Royce’s attention. I ran for it when Royce and the other cop pursued me. I made a wrong turn and ended up in a dead-end alley. Um,” Avery said, rubbing a spot behind his ear. “This part is bad.”
Jonah kissed him. “I’ve seen you around Royce enough to know he doesn’t harbor a grudge toward you. Just tell me the rest. You’ll feel better.”
“I picked up a board off the ground and swung it as Royce rounded the corner and ran into the alley. Luckily, his reflexes are amazingly fast because I missed hitting him. He tackled me to the ground and hauled me into the station for questioning. I kept my mouth shut even though they held me there until late that night. I didn’t know it then, but Royce and Sawyer set up a stakeout and followed me to the church where I planned to confront the sadistic bastard whose thumb I’d been living under for too long. I don’t even know for sure what I was going to tell him, but I intended to confess to the police the next day. When I went inside the church…” Avery closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “The Purists’ arsonist had the sick fucker tied up and was dousing him with gasoline. I turned around and ran out of there as fast as I could and nearly collided with Royce.”
“I know the rest,” Jonah said. “You’re the Samaritan who aided the firefighters in saving Royce and Sawyer when they got trapped in the burning building.”
“Samaritan,” Avery scoffed. “I was so fucking scared. I wanted to run and get away from there as fast as I could.”
“But you didn’t. You stayed because you’re a good person. Royce and Sawyer know it. Ellie knows it. I know it,” Jonah said.
“The situation was a horrible wake-up call. I went and spoke to my professor the following week and confessed what I’d done. I was a snotty, sobbing mess by the time I finished and fully expected him to report me to the dean.”
“He didn’t?” Jonah asked.
Avery shook his head. “He apologized to me. Professor Lafferty explained he had been going through a bitter divorce when I’d approached him for an extension to submit my makeup work. He said that he’d taken his bitterness out on me, and it wasn’t fair. We worked out a deal. I tutor students who are struggling with various computer concepts. That’s where I was on the night I couldn’t talk to you. I wasn’t sure how to tell you about that part without confessing to the whole story.”
“I don’t need perfection, Avery. I just need my boyfriend to be honest with me. Trust is a two-way street.”
Avery slid his hand inside Jonah’s hair and massaged his scalp. “Make room for me because your boyfriend is no longer willing to stay in his own lane.”
“Because you want me,” Jonah prodded.
Avery nipped Jonah’s bottom lip. “I want you.”
It was two days before Malcolm was recovered enough from surgery to be interviewed. Jonah wasn’t sure if the deputy director would lawyer up or confess. In the end, he did the right thing and gave a detailed account of what happened with Earl and explained how he was able to coerce a confession from Bo Cahill.
Bo’s daughter, Millie, who was a college freshman at the time, got pulled over for speeding in Fulton County. For reasons unknown to anyone, the officer decided to search Millie’s car and allegedly found a dime bag of pot. She claimed the deputy planted the drugs in her car, but it was her word against his. Malcolm was a deputy in Fulton at the time. The young lady was enraged and furious instead of afraid, and they sent Malcolm in there to calm her down.
The other deputies thought the girl would chew up the soft-spoken deputy and spit him out, but he was able to calm Millie down. She confided in Malcolm and pleaded with him to help her. Millie talked about her father’s pending execution and said her mama needed her. It made Jonah sick to hear the bastard talking about his interaction with the distressed teenager. He knew full well how the man could turn on the charm and inspire a person to trust him. Malcolm showed none of his usual warmth in the hospital room, where he was cuffed to the bed and had an officer guarding his door.
Malcolm was cold as ice, completely lacking empathy and compassion as he talked about staying in touch with people in Savannah after he moved away. He knew Earl’s friends still harassed the police department weekly. He worried a rookie officer looking to make a name for themselves would start poking around in the investigation. Milton and Morrissey had zero gumption to solve the case. Malcolm quoted the two men as saying Earl Ison got what he deserved for his perverse lifestyle.
Malcolm had dirt on his cousin Vinnie Malcolm, who was the guard on death row at GPS they called Bird. Through that connection, they coerced Bo into confessing to killing Earl to save his daughter. Millie was an honor student with a full-ride scholarship on the line, so there really was no choice for Bo.
The day after Malcolm’s confession, Felix, Rocky, and Jonah drove back to Darnell’s house to meet with Bo’s family. Jonah wished he could spare Millie the truth, but they’d promised to get answers for the family. Sometimes those answers were painful as hell.
Agnes held her daughter in her arms, and they wept together.
Darnell heaved a long sigh. “I thought proving my dad didn’t kill Earl Ison would make me feel better, but it doesn’t. Knowing the truth doesn’t bring my dad back.”
“It doesn’t,” Felix agreed, “but you can give him a voice now through our podcast. People can learn about the kind of man Bo Cahill really was.”
“A man who would go to any lengths to protect his family,” Agnes said.
The Cahills asked for time to think about it. Darnell called Felix the following day and said his family had agreed to sit down for interviews for the podcast. The three of them would travel back to Darnell’s house in the coming weeks to go over their plans for the episodes and conduct interviews. Felix stressed they didn’t just want to make the episode about the Cahill family; he wanted to make it with them.
By the time Saturday rolled around, Jonah was exhausted and exhilarated at the same time. He briefly thought about rescheduling the barbecue so he could stay in bed with Avery all day and night, but a cookout with friends was exactly what he needed.
“The guest of honor is here, so the party can really start,” Royce said as he opened the gate and stepped into Jonah’s back yard. He carried a cooler in one hand and a platter of something in another. “Sawyer made fancy-schmancy snacks for everyone.”
“Jalapeno poppers aren’t fancy. Anything requiring more effort than squirting processed cheese from a can onto a cracker is fancy to Royce,” Sawyer said. He snatched the platter out of Royce’s hand and kissed his boyfriend on the cheek as he walked by. “Where do you want my fancy-schmancy snacks?”
Jonah helped himself to a few jalapeno poppers, then said, “Marla and Amos are inside setting up a buffet. She can find a place for them.”
“Guest of honor?” Felix asked. “Is it your birthday?”
“Nah. That’s in October,” Royce replied.
“Why would you be the guest of honor, then?” Rocky asked.
“I saved the day,” Royce replied. “Didn’t Jonah tell you?”
Ride the Lightning : Sinister in Savannah Book 1 Page 27