Page 15 of In Cold Blood (High Peaks Murder, Mystery and Crime Thrillers #1)

T he mystery deepened.

Inside the cabin, Noah stared at a hefty padlock on the attic access door.

He used a chair to get to it and gave it a rattle to see if it was loose.

It wasn’t. Dropping down, he leaned against the Adirondack-style railing that separated the second floor from the main floor.

He figured if his brother had taken measures to lock it, he wouldn’t have been so careless as to leave the key in plain sight.

He would have taken it with him. And, as Kerri didn’t know about this place, and well, Alicia still hadn’t gotten back to him, he figured he’d have to deal with it another way.

After doing a quick search just to be sure, Noah fished around in the garage and returned with a crowbar to pry it off.

The lock didn’t break easily. Eventually it gave way.

He coughed as a thin layer of dust settled on his face.

Noah tugged at the cord and stepped back.

A metal ladder clattered as it slid down.

Ascending the steely steps, Noah stepped into the warmth of a musty attic.

He coughed again then brought a hand up to his mouth.

He squinted, trying to make out the silhouette of a light cord using only a few bands of moonlight that filtered in through a dormer window.

After a moment of stumbling around in the dark, he caught it.

A quick pull and the full-size attic was now visible.

His mouth widened.

Noah turned 360 degrees to soak in the crazy wall.

It was a catch-all term used for boards on which investigators might collect an array of leads, suspects, clues, and theories and try to find a connection.

What had Luke gotten himself involved in?

This was usually left for investigators, not someone working with the K-9 unit. And what was he looking into?

On both sides of the A-framed attic were sticky notes, full-blown photos, addresses, timelines, maps, and diagrams, along with newspaper clippings and county and state police reports.

Red string interconnected it all. The room had multiple brown boxes that were open, some of them were filled with thick binders.

There were stacks of legal paperwork. A couple of folders were out on the floor, open in full view as if he’d been working his way through the material and then been called away.

It was a startling find. He never expected to see something like this. Noah squinted, noticing two chairs at the far end, and a small table with a desktop computer. There were two mugs. The insides were discolored by old coffee stains.

One was smudged with lipstick.

Huh.

As Noah perused the many photos lining the wall of strangers, his eyes fell upon three that were familiar.

“What the…?” His ex-wife, Lena; her brother Jack; and Lena’s father, the prominent lawyer Doug Grayson.

These weren’t mugshots, they were taken from a distance.

It was as if Luke had been conducting a stakeout and had snapped them with a long-lens camera.

There were also various other shots of Doug’s law firm .

He was beginning to wonder if he ever really knew his brother at all.

Was this why she hadn’t shown up for the funeral or stopped answering his texts and phone calls?

Why was Luke watching them? Did her family know something about his death?

And what on earth was he investigating? Noah’s thoughts shifted into overdrive as he pored over police reports, recent drug busts, and cases thrown out of court.

Some of it went back a good ten years. This wasn’t new. It was ongoing.

Noah picked up a newspaper. One article was circled in red, referencing a drug bust called Operation Heat Wave where fifty-four people had been accused of flooding the county with heroin and fentanyl.

He knew Luke had been involved in several large drug busts. Had his death been payback? Retribution for his involvement, and if so, how many other officers might have been targeted?

Right then, Axel started barking.

A glow swept over the house. Noah went to the far end and looked out the dormer window slats to see who it was. An engine rumbled. It was Alicia. Good timing. Maybe she could shed some light. Noah headed down and made sure he had a firm grip on Axel before opening the storm door.

It creaked.

“I see you found the place,” she said.

“It’s out of the way, that’s for sure,” he replied, giving Axel a swift tug on his collar and telling him to sit. He obeyed immediately. Alicia didn’t look the least bit intimidated by the dog, instead, she leaned over and rubbed his jowls.

“Is he treating you good, boy?”

Alicia straightened up and Noah gestured with a jerk of the head for her to come in. He peered out into the darkness, giving the tree line a once-over before closing the door. “By the way, I forgot to mention Ed,” she said .

“The neighbor?”

“You’ve met him?”

“Yeah, quite the character.”

“On occasion, I drop off supplies for him when I’m in town. He doesn’t get out much.”

“You think?” Noah said, sarcastically thinking back to his conversation.

She chuckled. “Ah, he’s harmless. He enjoys the peace out here.” She set her motorcycle helmet down on the chair and looked at Axel. “So, you’re looking after him?”

“Yeah.”

“I was talking to Axel,” she said before winking at Noah and walking into the kitchen to help herself to one of the beers in the fridge. She cracked off the top and took a big swig. “You need a hand setting up his kennel or will he be sleeping on the bed with you?”

“Oh, he’s already pushed the line. If he’s not careful, he’ll be sleeping outside.”

She laughed, taking another swig before wiping her mouth. “Don’t worry, he takes some getting used to.”

“Are you talking to me or him?”

“Him of course,” she said, slumping down on the sofa with a smile. It was good to see her again. All the feelings he felt came rushing back. Their conversations. Her humor. The way she seemed to light up the room when she entered with her bigger-than-life persona. Noah took a seat across from her.

“So… were you seeing my brother?”

She almost spat out her beer. “Don’t beat around the bush, Noah.”

“Well?”

She eyed him for a second or two. “You know I don’t kiss and tell.”

“That’s not funny. ”

The smile left her face. “Give me credit. I did that once with you and look how that ended. What? You think just because he looked like you, I couldn’t restrain myself? Please. I’m not a homewrecker.”

She took another swig and narrowed her eyes.

“So what about the key then? Why did you have it?”

She answered instantly, “Simple. It’s my place.”

“You said it was Luke’s.”

“Sure did. For the amount of time he used it, it might as well have been. However, it’s mine. That’s what I meant. Bought and paid for by me but with a verbal agreement that Luke would buy it once he’d finished working on a case.”

“Why did he want it?”

“Said it was a gift for Kerri.”

“Huh. She said that he was ready to move.”

“Yeah,” Alicia said, tapping one of the log cabin walls.

“I’ve had it for five years. Figured I would use it as a second property.

With my work, I’m on the road more than I’m home.

I usually stay in town but if I’m out this way and the weather is bad in the winter months, I crash here.

Anyway, it turned out to be more of an investment than anything else. ”

He cocked his head. “How so?”

She clarified. “Renting it out to tourists. Airbnb. Quite profitable. At least I was doing that until your brother showed an interest. Luke said he wanted a property near the water. He wanted to rent it for a while with the hopes of eventually buying it if he liked it. You know — try it out. He said he wanted to keep the arrangement all hush-hush, and if he decided to move ahead, he would let me know closer to the end of the year.”

“Why hush-hush?”

“A surprise for Kerri. But…” she trailed off and Noah picked up on it.

“But what?” he said .

She met his gaze. “It was just a little odd.”

“In what way?”

“Well, there are other cabins around the lake that were for sale and a few others for rent. He was adamant that he needed this one. He said he liked the view.”

Noah nodded. “You didn’t believe him?”

“No, I did. I mean it kind of made sense. I was already renting it out. He said he would make me a good offer if I gave him a discount for long-term use.”

“How long?”

“Six months, maybe a year. You don’t get many tourists wanting it that long. There are months when no one is here. It’s just…”

She looked upstairs and squinted.

“The attic?” Noah asked.

“You’ve seen it?” she replied.

He nodded. That was the second question he was about to get to. “I was going to ask you if you knew what he was working on.”

Alicia began to make her way up the steep staircase to the second floor. Noah followed. “You removed the lock.”

“I couldn’t find the key… I’ll buy you another…” he trailed off for a second before shifting topics. “Listen, the photo of my ex-wife, her brother, her father, and all the rest of it. Why does he have it? What the hell was he investigating?”

She shrugged.

Noah looked back at her, hand on the ladder before going up. “Don’t screw me around.”

“I’m not,” she said. “I never locked it. Luke did. Like I told you, a bad element had come into the county. Luke busted a few key players in some large drug operation. He ruffled a few feathers. I told him he was barking up the wrong tree and that it would only get him and his family hurt but he wouldn’t listen.

No, he had this big theory that it went deeper than just a few local deals. That was the case he was working on.”

“Operation Heat Wave.”

“That’s it. But he didn’t think it ended there.”

Alicia climbed the ladder and he followed.

“So you’ve seen all of this,” Noah said, climbing in behind her.

Her eyes widened and she glanced around the attic full of missing posters, notes, maps, and photographs pinned to chipboard. “Nope.”