According to the police, he’d admitted to the emergency room doctor that he was drunk, hit the woman, and drove off. There was no explanation for the stolen car. His girlfriend said he drove a new BMW, but the car that was used in the accident was a small Ford SUV.
When he was reported to the police at the hospital, he’d left before anyone could detain him permanently.
For Jonas, it was nearly too much. Luckily, Admiral Harris was there for him. He forced him to attend counseling sessions, take some time off, and get his head on straight. All the while, the police gave him weekly reports of what they were doing in their attempt to find Archie Mansur.
Jonas knew it wasn’t that easy. Until Archibald Mansur was found, his head would never be straight.
When the opportunity came about to return the favor and find Admiral Harris’s killer, he was more than happy to do so. He never expected that he’d be asked to join the team at Voodoo Guardians.
He also never expected to have fate punch him in the nose.
CHAPTER TWO
“Please welcome our valedictorian, Khloe Jones,” said the principal.
Khloe smiled at the people in the audience who had raised her. They were standing, all five dozen of them, yelling and screaming like banshees. She laughed, her face flush with excitement and a little embarrassment.
They weren’t her blood family, but they were the only family she cared about.
After having been kidnapped and forced into a trafficking ring, she thought her life was over forever. But somewhere, someone was watching over her. In fact, it was about three dozen someones.
They came through the door like cape-wearing superheroes. She and more than twenty other girls and boys were rescued, either returned to their families or raised in the most amazing school and home for at-risk youth that you could imagine.
It didn’t matter that they didn’t have mothers and fathers. If there was a school event, a game, a concert, a play, there were dozens of men and women from Belle Fleur in the audience cheering for them. Many of them were their teachers and counselors as well.
It wasn’t lost on Khloe how incredibly lucky they were. Circumstances could have been very different and very tragic had these men and women not intervened.
For many of her fellow classmates, they were happy to graduate from high school, find jobs, or go off to college or vocational schools.
But for Khloe, she always wanted to stay somewhat close to the people she thought of as family. Completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Houston, she entered medical school in Virginia and then began her residencies and internships.
Somewhere in the craziness that was her life, she found herself in a relationship that she wasn’t sure she even wanted to be in. Pressured by girlfriends, colleagues, and others that it was time she had someone permanent in her life, she agreed to start dating the persistent man.
“I don’t know, Claudette,” she said to one of her favorite people in the world, “I said yes, and now I’m not sure I should have said yes. It’s just that feeling like I’ve made a mistake.”
“Then listen to that little voice, honey,” said Claudette. “Look, you deserve some time off. Why don’t you come on down and enjoy some time with us?”
“I just can’t right now. I’m almost done here, and then I’ll have a small break before the next rotation starts. It won’t be long, and when I am done, you can count on me working at the hospital there. I miss you all so much, especially Wade and Hannah.”
“Oh, we have so many new folks since you were here last. We miss you, honey. Come home soon, okay?”
“I will. Oh! Another rush in the ER, Claudette. I’ll call you again soon. Love to everyone!”
It was a whirlwind of activity after that. Motor vehicle accidents, someone fell off a ladder, someone else got their hand stuck in a bottle. On a dare, of course. It was non-stop, and she was reaching the point of exhaustion.
But the entire time, all she could hear were Claudette’s words. She needed to end this engagement and walk away. Archie was an alcoholic. Not a friendly, loving alcoholic. He was an angry man when he drank, and Khloe had been lucky so far to avoid him when he was at the height of his anger. She was also fairly certain that he was lying to her about everything else in their relationship. Seeing other women, spending money, all of it.
From an upper-crust family in Maryland, where his parents thought he walked on water, and he drank whiskey like it was water. Fast-tracked through law school, he was working for his father’s firm, and his parents were determined to make him the next senator of Maryland.
Pulling out her phone, she tried to call him to tell him that they needed to talk when he was sober, preferably tomorrow, but got no answer. Not surprising. It was early evening, so he was more than likely drinking with his friends. She sent a text message though, to be sure he knew she wanted to speak with him.
After that, she couldn’t remember anything that happened other than it seemed the world outside was in chaos, and there was an obvious full moon.
“God, is it a full moon or something?” asked Khloe.
“Sorry, doc, but it’s just a crazy night,” smirked the paramedic. “This one is easy. We had to take a pregnant woman to the morgue earlier. Lost her and the twins she was carrying.”
“Shit, what happened?” she frowned.
