Page 18 of In Cold Blood (High Peaks Murder, Mystery and Crime Thrillers #1)

“Did he ever drop her name, Jack’s, or Doug Grayson’s?”

“No. Why would he?”

Noah mused, chewing it over. “You available this evening?”

“I could be.”

“There’s something I want to show you.”

With that said, Ray had to go. He agreed to come out to the cabin.

Noah figured that it was best he knew. In the meantime, he would try to get in contact with his old pal Dax and drop by the Sheriff’s Office to see if they could let him view the police and autopsy report, and speak with the officers that were first on scene.

He was curious as to who the woman was who called in, and whether or not they had made any progress finding her.

It had been five days since Luke’s death.

And right now, the only inkling of what Luke was looking at might be found in previous incident reports, and what he had shared with his seniors.

Noah tried Lena again, to see if she would pick up, but it just went to her voicemail.

“Lena, we need to talk. Call me. If I don’t hear back later today, I’ll swing by.

You’re not giving me much choice. I’m here.

I want to speak to you and the kids.” He hung up, clutching the phone tightly.

He felt like he was ankle-deep in quicksand and slowly being sucked into something he didn’t want to get involved in, but it was happening whether he liked it or not.

Walking away right now wasn’t an option especially since he knew Parish was working the case.

He couldn’t help but wonder if his old grievances against him would taint the case or if he might run it into the ground out of spite.

The thought of seeing Luke’s death become another cold case irked him more than the blowback from the Alman case.

Sipping coffee, Noah felt his muscles beginning to ache.

He berated himself for not stretching. He was going to feel this later.

As he sat on one of the two Adirondack chairs on the back porch, he glanced out across the sparkling lake.

The three forest-covered islands in the middle of High Peaks Lake looked like huge stepping stones.

Two were state-owned with homes and lean-to camping, the other private.

Moose Island was the largest, followed by Buck Island and then Hawk Island which was the smallest. Certainly, if someone wanted to circumvent the roadways, it would have been an easy way to get drugs from one end to the other or to store them over there until they could be moved.

It wasn’t like cops patrolled the islands. Unless they had a reason, they didn’t go out there. Local PD’s reach extended to the boundaries of the city; the Sheriff’s Office went further afield covering the county.

Out of sight. Out of mind. He thought about what Ed had said.

It was about staying out of trouble but the same principle could be applied to those trafficking drugs.

Were they using the islands as hubs for distribution?

And why would the Graysons get involved?

They were a reputable law office. The only thing they had was their reputation.

Was that what Luke had stumbled upon or had he gotten himself in too deep and was trying to pull out?

Crossing his legs and setting his coffee cup on a small, round wooden side table, Noah tried the number Alicia gave him for Dax Jameson.

It was no surprise to hear it go to voicemail.

It was strange to hear his old friend’s voice.

So many memories flooded back. Hot summer days smoking cigarettes and people-watching.

Camping out in his backyard. Parties as they got older.

It was strange to think how two people’s paths could go in opposite directions.

Noah hung up. He clutched the phone tight.

It had been twenty-one years since he’d caught up with his old pal.

Back in his teenage years, they were inseparable.Dax was like a shadow.

Both of them came from troubled homes. Dax’s was slightly more dysfunctional than his.

While Noah’s mother had been in the picture for most of his years growing up, Dax’s mom hadn’t.

His parents had separated when he was in grade nine.

It tore the kid apart. Originally a churchgoing kid, he had parents that most in the community would have considered role models.

They lived their life like they were part of some Norman Rockwell painting.

No one could have imagined the marriage would end in divorce, but it had.

He was a different kid after that. Before the divorce, he’d avoided trouble. Spoken out against it. Championed the mission of his local church like he was about to embark on some coast-to-coast crusade for God.

After the divorce, he leaned into anger and welcomed destructive habits of heavy drinking and drugs.

Ink swirled on his body as soon as he could get his first tattoo.

One turned into two, then five, and so on.

It was like he wanted to mar his life in every way he could, just so he could feel something.

Noah tried to understand it but he couldn’t.

His parents had stayed together. If it wasn’t for Dax’s love of all things military and music, well, Noah could have easily seen him taking his life.

Still, buried below it all was a good kid. At least what he could remember. Noah had just notched up the rest to teenage years, no different than any other. But that was then. Alicia seemed to sound like he’d changed and not for the better.

Maybe the years had caught up with him.

The phone rang and his heart skipped a beat thinking it was Lena.

It was Dax.