Ride the Lightning - Aimee Nicole Walker Page 0,33
after two o’clock this morning typing the article. I sent it to Minerva after the print deadline. Hell, she should’ve been sleeping. I had no idea she’d see it and possibly delay print production to include it. I never intended for it to get published before I had a chance to give you a heads-up. Your aunt is going to kill me.”
Ellie was going to kill him when she learned about Jonah’s involvement.
“I’m so sorry, J.”
“I haven’t read the article yet. Was the information I found about Cahill correct?” Jonah asked.
“Yeah, there’s no way in hell Bo Cahill killed Earl Ison,” Felix replied, then yawned.
“I’ll let you get back to sleep. Call me later when you get up.”
“Will do. Later, J,” Felix said before hanging up.
Jonah read every word in the article twice, not because he learned anything new, but because Felix had irrefutably validated the information Jonah had found. Bo Cahill was arrested on June 10, 1982, for murdering Maurice Vanderwahl and held without bail until his trial. Upon conviction, he was transferred from the county jail to the state facility, where he remained incarcerated until his death thirteen years later. Who really killed Earl Ison on June 12, 1982? With or without GBI backing, Jonah was going to get to the truth.
His phone rang, and Jonah glanced down to see Rocky’s name on the screen. “Hey, man. Did you see Felix’s article?”
“I did. Why didn’t anyone tell me Felix got his hands on the case files?” Rocky asked.
“He didn’t tell me either. I found out by reading the paper just like you and everyone else,” Jonah said, then shared the excuse Felix gave him for not calling them. Rocky didn’t sound convinced. “Trexler is going to have a stroke, and I won’t be there to witness it.”
Rocky chuckled. “What do you think will happen when you arrive at work tomorrow?”
“Nothing fun. I should’ve at least given my aunt Ellen a warning.”
“You would’ve warned her if Felix hadn’t jumped the gun. I thought we were going to discuss our approach before moving forward,” Rocky said.
“Me too,” Jonah grumbled. “We’ll be sure to bring it up when we talk to Felix. I have a feeling he’s going to want to meet later. Will you be free?”
“I’ll make time. Right now, I’m working on another cheating spouse case. The missus attends a high-dollar yoga class. The owner is this beefcake named Jacque. Dude is built like a bodybuilder. He looks familiar too, but I can’t place where I recognize him from.”
“I’m bored,” Jonah said. “Send me a picture, and I’ll run it through Stella 2.0 here at home. Her facial recognition software might give you the answers you need.”
“Perfect,” Rocky said. “I’ll send them over soon. The missus is on the move again. I gotta go.”
“Talk to you later.”
Jonah puttered around his kitchen until he couldn’t put off making the dreaded phone call another minute.
“Do you know anything about Felix’s article?” Ellen asked, getting straight down to business.
Ellen was the younger sister to his mother, Jane Anne, or Janie to her friends and family. Janie had only been seventeen when Jonah was born, and she was ill-prepared for motherhood—then and now. Many people called her flighty and selfish, but Jonah learned she was just a free spirit, unwilling to be tied down to any one person, including her son. She refused to name his father, so Jonah had no paternal family to speak of. Oscar and Maeve became his guardians, and Jonah was grateful every day that Janie had left him behind when her wanderlust grew too strong for her to ignore.
Ellie was only fifteen years older than Jonah, so she was more like a big sister than an aunt. Ellie and Maeve’s unconditional love more than made up for Oscar’s belligerence and Janie’s indifference. Ellie had always been fearless, placing herself between Oscar and Jonah when the old man was in his darkest moods. Oscar admired that about Ellie, even if he disapproved of everything else about his youngest daughter.
She’d stuck her neck out for him again to help him land an interview with the bureau. How had he repaid her kindness? By allowing her to get caught up in the kind of firestorm that ruins careers.
“Yeah,” he admitted. “Felix hadn’t expected the article to run today, which meant I should’ve had time to prepare you for the shit storm.”
“I’m going to kick his ass the next time I see him,” Ellen groused.