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Fear swept through Jonah with the force of a raging river. “Did they say what’s wrong?”
“No.” Nate shoved a piece of paper at him. “Call this number,” he said, and shuffled off.
Jonah recognized the number. He’d called it earlier, just after he’d spoken to Dr. Price to let her know he was off the case and while he waited to board his plane. He hadn’t felt one hundred percent comfortable leaving Francesca behind, so he’d purchased a little insurance.
As he closed the door, he turned to glance at the clock. Four.
Nothing good ever happened so early in the morning.
Powering up his cell, he stood at the window, gazing out at the headlights snaking along the streets of L.A. far below.
A male voice answered on the second ring. “Ray Leedy.”
“Ray, it’s Jonah. What’s going on?”
“Where have you been, man? I’ve been trying to reach you since midnight.”
Jonah hadn’t really expected trouble. He’d hoped Finch and Hunsacker would keep a close eye on Butch, as promised. This security guard was basically an afterthought, a backup system, a way to put his mind at ease. “Forget it. You’ve got my attention now. What’s happening?”
“Your man was busy last night, bro.”
Jonah’s stomach muscles contracted. “What do you mean by that?”
“He’s been up most the night. Wasn’t easy to tell what he was doing. I couldn’t see a whole hell of a lot, especially when he came home from wherever and went into the junkyard. Then I spotted him carrying something in a heavy-duty garbage bag to his truck.”
No… “What’d he do with it?”
“He loaded it in the back and took off.”
Jonah sucked air between his teeth. “What time was this?”
“Around midnight. That’s when I first tried to call you, to see what you wanted me to do.”
“I hope you followed him.” Jonah wished he’d given Ray more detailed instructions, but he hadn’t expected him to have to do anything more than sit outside and watch. Besides protecting Francesca, Jonah had thought it might be handy to be able to confirm Butch’s whereabouts should another murder take place. He hadn’t anticipated this….
“I followed him, all right. You said I wasn’t to let him out of my sight. But he didn’t go to Chandler, like you were worried about.”
“Where’d he go?”
“The mountains.”
Jonah gripped the phone tighter. “Which mountains?”
“The Juniper Mountains, to the west.”
“What for? What was he doing?”
“I’m not completely sure. I couldn’t get too close. What with all the trees and having to stay back far enough that he wouldn’t see me…”
“You lost him.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry.”
At least this guy was willing to accept responsibility. “Can you take me to the general area?”
“Sure.”
“That should help.”
