Page 2 of Her Final Hours (High Peaks Murder, Mystery and Crime Thrillers #3)

T he nightmare began when Noah Sutherland was at the dining table in his waterfront rental.

The hands on the grandfather clock ticked over.

The only other sound was the scrape of cutlery as Ethan and Aunt Gretchen tucked into their food.

His spaghetti was untouched. Seconds turned into minutes, and there was still no sign of her.

He glanced at his phone expectantly. No text.

No missed phone calls. He couldn’t shake off the unease gnawing at his gut for the past hour.

He’d tried calling her cell phone multiple times, but it went straight to voicemail.

“Noah. Eat. It will go cold,” Gretchen muttered.

“She should have been home by now.”

Parental worry had already set in an hour ago.

“I’m sure she just got sidetracked.”

“Then she should have called.”

“You know how teens are. ”

He wasn’t one for being heavy-handed, but with all that had occurred in High Peaks since losing Lena and his brother Luke, it had given him good reason to be concerned. Then, of course, there was the fact that this wasn’t the first time he’d had trouble with Mia.

Noah rose, scooping up his phone and calling the martial arts school that Mia had enrolled in several months ago.

She’d blindsided him when she asked to join.

It was only a month after Lena’s death. Noah had taken martial arts as a child and knew the benefits for the mind and body.

So, he agreed. Even more so when she said she would pay for it with the money she’d made from babysitting.

He’d attended her first class to get a feel for it.

After that, her friend would collect her by car, and they were usually back by six-thirty.

She’d rolled in ten or twenty minutes late a few times, but nowhere as long as this, and she constantly texted or phoned.

That’s what struck him as odd. Noah stepped out onto his balcony that overlooked High Peaks Lake.

He still hadn’t gotten his head around the fact that he was living in one of the most desired houses on the lake.

A five-million-dollar waterfront property owned by a private LLC that he came to find out was co-owned by Luther Ashford — head of a powerful family that also owned the Ashford Royale Casino.

Now he was living in it, rent-free. With work and the kids consuming most of his time, he’d yet to dig deeper into the Ashford family or find out what his father’s tie was to them.

A cold breeze bit at his ears.

The phone rang a few times and then was answered by a peppy kid. “Peaks Martial Arts!”

“Hi, um, is… Allan Mansfield there?”

“Yeah, hold on.” The phone was muffled. He heard him call out .

A second later, the phone changed hands as an out-of-breath middle-aged man came on the line. “Allan here.”

“Oh hey, Al, you might not remember me. Noah Sutherland. I came in a few months ago to enroll my daughter in classes.”

“Sutherland. Ah, right. The cop.”

“That’s right. Is Mia still there?”

“Your daughter?”

“Mia. Yeah.”

“No. I haven’t seen her in months.”

“What?”

“I thought she would have told you. After that class, she returned a day later to say she decided it wasn’t for her and asked if she could get those checks.” He’d seen her write out checks for the first three months.

Noah heard him tapping a keyboard.

“Here we go. I issued a refund the day after.”

“Is that so?” His eyebrow arched.

“But hey, if she’s considering returning, we would love to have her.”

“Appreciate that.” He hung up and stood there for a moment longer, trying to make heads or tails of the situation. He paced and then decided to take matters into his own hands. He slid open the French doors and returned to the kitchen’s warmth.

“Any luck?” Gretchen asked with a mouthful of food.

“No.” His eyes darted to Ethan, who looked a little sheepish. His head was down. He glanced up for but a second, then averted his eyes down again.

“Where is she, Ethan?” he asked tiredly.

“Um?” he responded. “What?”

If he knew anything about the two of them, it was that they were stuck together like glue.

They might have been good at hiding things from their parents but from each other — nope.

That bond only deepened after the death of their mother.

His fourteen-year-old son had become like Mia’s shadow.

He was rarely out of her sight for but a few minutes.

“Mia.”

“I thought you said she’s taking martial arts?” Gretchen asked.

“That’s what I thought. Seems not. She hasn’t been there since the day I took her.”

Gretchen’s eyebrows shot up, and she gulped water before diverting her attention to Ethan.

“Do I have to confiscate your phone?” Noah asked. It was an empty threat. It wasn’t his way to be heavy-handed with his kids. In many ways, they had him wrapped around their little fingers. However, that didn’t mean he couldn’t dive into the parental bag of tricks occasionally.

“She’s at the Sanctuary.”

“The where?”

“It’s a place teens hang out.”

“Is it now?” he replied, folding his arms before glancing at Gretchen, who could tell this was about to escalate fast. “And this uh… Sanctuary. Is that all they do? Hang out?” He knew that was rarely the case, but he wanted to hear it from him.

Ethan chewed a little slower; guilt masked his expression. He shrugged. “It’s a party spot.”

“And where can I find it?”

He’d never heard of it in all his years of growing up in High Peaks.

“Dad, she’ll probably enter the door in the next few minutes.”

“Where?” he said with a firm tone.

“All right, but you didn’t hear it from me. She told me not to say anything.”

“Ethan. ”

“All right. It’s on the west side of McKenzie Pond,” he shot back.

“That’s near Saranac.”

He shrugged. “Speak to her; that’s all I know.”

“I intend to,” he said, skirting around the table and snatching up the keys to the Ford Bronco. As he headed out into the cool night air, Gretchen’s chair screeched back as she hurried after him. He was about halfway to the vehicle when she caught up with him.

“Noah. Hold up.”

“What?”

“Look, son. Stay calm.”

“I am calm. She is mistaken if she thinks she can do whatever she likes.”

“She’s sixteen. You were a teenager once.”

“Ah, I was, but there’s no way I would have gotten away with this,” he said, pointing in a random direction.

“She’s lost her mother, Noah. Give her some slack. Mia has a good head on her shoulders.”

“I don’t deny it, but this isn’t the first time. Do you know I got a call a few weeks back from the school? She punched someone. Just lashed out. And then I found out that she was skipping classes.”

“You pulled her out of Saranac High School and put her in High Peaks. What did you expect?”

He got defensive. “It takes thirty minutes to get there. Then another thirty to get back. That’s four trips in one day. I’m the only one doing this.”

“You could put them on the bus.”

“No. They’ve only been in that school for two years.”

“Her friends are there.”

“Why are you defending her?”

“Because I know what you were like after your mother died. Or have you forgotten?” He stared back at Gretchen.

She had the wisdom of her years. He respected his aunt.

In many ways, she and Patrick had been like parents to him.

“Noah, those kids don’t know how to process this.

It’s only been four months since her funeral.

Ethan is withdrawn. Mia, well… She misses her mother. ”

“Don’t we all?” he said in frustration.

“It’s normal, Noah.”

“No, normal is picking up the phone and calling to say you’ll be late.

Normal isn’t lying to your parent and telling them you’re at a class while you’re out partying.

Normal isn’t punching a kid in the face for looking at you the wrong way.

Look, Gretchen. I know you mean well. Hell, I appreciate you being here and the support.

I do. More than you know. But let me be the parent here. ”

“All right, son. But take a breath. Give her a chance to explain.”

She gave a pained smile and then turned and went back inside as Noah got in his vehicle and tore out of there, heading northeast into Saranac.

The drive to McKenzie Pond was long and winding; Noah’s mind raced with worry but even more with frustration.

He’d recalled Lena mentioning having a hard time with Mia, especially after she started dating someone two years older than her.

As a protective father, the thought of something happening to his only daughter made him break out in a cold sweat.

McKenzie Pond was sandwiched between Saranac and High Peaks, nestled in the McKenzie Wilderness.

The picturesque water, surrounded by tall trees, was a secluded spot known for fishing, hiking, and camping.

There were only a few roads that got close.

Most who wandered in approached it on foot along a two-mile trail.

Noah headed in from the Brandy Brook and Pine Street intersection and then crossed the railroad tracks to the right before heading east along McKenzie Pond Road. About 1.1 miles along, he veered off into a parking area full of vehicles — he assumed they had to belong to the teens.

Climbing out, he noted the Jackrabbit Trail sign on his left.

Noah clicked on his flashlight and began to make the trek through to the pond.

As he got closer, the peaceful sound of water gently lapping against the shore was replaced by the ear-bleeding drone of rock music.

He could see the light of fire flickering through the trees and a cluster of figures, some were in groups, others dancing.

He breathed in the crisp fresh air, taking in the scent of pine and earth.

A group of teens was gathered on a small beach area where people could be found swimming or sunbathing in the summer months. Instead, tonight was cold. Snow had fallen, making it the strangest place to hold a party and yet secluded enough that they knew nosy neighbors wouldn’t call the cops.