Page 21 of In Cold Blood (High Peaks Murder, Mystery and Crime Thrillers #1)

T he Daily Grind Cafe was a funky establishment that touted itself as the best neighborhood restaurant in the Adirondacks. What had started as a coffee bar, run by a couple eager to showcase coffee, tea, and baked goods, soon found its footing as a full-fledged diner.

Everything about it conveyed the love of all things local.

The pictures on the walls ranged from historic aerial photos of the region to portraits by well-known locals.

It had an old-school charm, serving homemade goods, fresh coffee to die for, and mouth-watering lunch and dinner options for those seeking a little comfort at all hours.

Inside, a handful of bar stools lined a mahogany bar.

Against the far wall were square tables full of young and old.

That morning, the staff were rushed off their feet due to one of the waiters calling in sick.

“You never answered the question,” Noah said, stirring his coffee as Dax spooned out sugar. Heat swirled off their drinks. “What was your involvement with my brother?”

“Before I answer that, I’ve got to ask you what your involvement is in his case? ”

Noah shrugged. “I’m not officially involved so far.”

Dax leaned across and shifted Noah’s shirt to one side.

“Are you serious?” Noah shot back in surprise.

“I had to check.”

“You do know with today’s technology we don’t need to be wired anymore. That’s the stuff of the ’80s. Today, mics are as small as the head of a pin. Besides, why would you be worried?”

Dax looked around, his leg bouncing nervously, causing the table to rock ever so slightly. It was clear now why they weren’t having breakfast in High Peaks.

“A few years back Luke busted me on possession of cocaine. It was large enough to land me inside for a good stretch. I could have easily ended up with a couple of decades inside as it wasn’t my first conviction.

I figured I was toast. But then he said he could make it all go away if I helped him.

He wanted the name of the dealer and wanted me to work with him as an informant.

He wanted to work his way up the chain, find out who the real big dogs were.

” He shook his head and emptied a spoon of sugar into his mug and stirred.

“What can I get you, gents?” A waitress in her late fifties with her hair in a net sidled up beside the table with a notepad in hand.

Dax rolled off his order: pancakes, eggs, bacon, home fries, and rye toast. Noah got the same.

He figured this conversation was the closest he would get to knowing what his brother had gotten himself involved in.

The longer it lasted, the more he could extract.

This was what Parish would never be able to get.

Locals didn’t trust outsiders, and a man like Dax would have never opened his lips if it wasn’t for their history.

As the waitress strolled off, Dax continued.

“Anyway, what was I to do? Go to jail for the next twenty years or help him out? He had me by the balls. And you know the worst part of it? He didn’t stipulate when I would be off the hook, but I knew… I damn well knew it wouldn’t be for a while. ”

“You resented him for that?”

“Had you asked me at the time, hell yeah. This was a guy that I went way back with. I mean, c’mon, how many nights did I sleep over at your house?

Luke was like a brother to me. But none of that mattered at that moment.

No, he had his eyes set on the grand prize — the big daddy, and nothing but nothing was getting in the way.

” He drew a deep breath. “Anyway, I agreed. I threw him a few bones here and there, you know, names, locations, etc. He had me buy different types of drugs and always wanted to know who were the distributors, and how the drugs were getting in. Each time he wanted more. Different names. New information. People started to get suspicious. These guys have a nose for this kind of stuff. You know? All of these purchases I was making were drawing their attention. I got accused of selling the shit.”

“Were you?”

“Hell no! Whatever I had on me was for my personal use. Look, Noah, I might have made some mistakes in my life and dabbled in things I shouldn’t have but even I know where to draw the line.”

“So these names? What did he do with them?”

Dax sipped his coffee and nursed the cup, staring intently into it like a crystal ball.

“Heck if I know. He said he’d put them under surveillance.

I figured he’d arrest them.” He paused and looked Noah dead in the eye.

“Luke believed there was something bigger. Something more to go after than a chain of lowlifes selling coke. He wanted me to help him uncover it. But that’s not how these guys work.

You don’t get to the person at the top. I told him that drugs were coming in from outside the county and it all passes through many hands.

That way if they get busted there is no connection.

They are hidden behind aliases, burner phones, and a slew of foot soldiers. ”

“And what did he say? ”

“Ah,” he groaned. “It’s not what he said, it’s what he didn’t say.

Half the time he wouldn’t give me an answer.

Just the same orders. Get out there. Rattle some cages.

Get me names, locations, more deals, and more drugs.

I warned him. I told him that if he kept doing this it would eventually backfire.

I mean, seriously, my neck was on the chopping block.

If these guys had found out that I was working for the cops, well. ..” He trailed off, shaking his head.

The waitress returned with their breakfast.

Dax splashed his pancakes in syrup like it was going out of fashion and stabbed bacon, eggs, and home fries a few times before looking at him.

“Look, there is no good way to say this. Did you sell him out?” Noah asked.

“What?”

“You heard me. Did you sell Luke out?” he said slowly.

Dax set his cutlery down on the plate. “Huh, I guess what they say about time is right. We do change. Do you honestly think I was behind your brother’s murder? Is that it?”

“I didn’t say that. I asked if you sold him out.”

Dax scoffed. “You know, twenty years ago you would have never asked me that.”

“Twenty years ago, you weren’t snorting cocaine.”

Dax offered back a steely gaze. “Okay. You got me there.”

“So who was behind the hit, Dax?”

He chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. “If I knew that, don’t you think I would have come clean to the cops? If I knew, I’d probably be dead myself. C’mon, Noah. I can’t believe you’ve asked me that. I loved Luke as much as you.”

He wasn’t just saying that. It was true.

He’d spent a considerable amount of time around his house, especially after his parents divorced.

Noah’s home became a safe place. Somewhere Dax was welcomed and not criticized.

At times he’d spent so many nights sleeping on the couch that Noah’s mother had begun to treat him like one of her own.

“Listen, all I know is that when he eventually made his move, he took down some heavy hitters. Operation Heat Wave netted fifty-four people, most of them weren’t even from our county.

After that hit the news, I went underground.

I stopped showing my face. Your brother called me but I didn’t answer. ”

“So that’s why you were out of town.”

He shook his head. “No, I had things to do, but seriously, after his name was attached to that operation, I knew it was only a matter of time before someone took him out or my name got connected to him.” He took a bite of his food and chewed it, his eyes welling up. “Who knows if I’ll be next.”

“Then why are you still in the county?”

“Because it’s my home. It’s the only place I have connections. Where someone is willing to give me a job.”

“The pub and brewery?”

“Yeah. I applied everywhere, Noah and only a few places are willing to touch a guy who has a record.” He paused, picking at his food. “Anyway. If you want to know why I think they killed him… I think they wanted your brother out of the way. Payback for his involvement.”

Noah nodded thoughtfully. It made sense; however, he couldn’t help but wonder if it was something more than retribution.

Something about it didn’t sit right with him.

If that was the case, whoever had targeted him would have taken out others.

These kinds of stings weren’t a one-man operation.

Multiple agencies would have been involved, including the DEA, local PD, and county sheriff’s offices, especially since it had crossed into a different county.

“All right. So eventually Luke got those he was after.”

“No. He thought that was just the tip of the iceberg. I thought he would get the fifty-four they arrested to flip and spill the beans but he came back to me. Left multiple voice messages.” Dax dipped into his pocket.

“Here, you can listen to them if you want,” he said, taking out his phone with a set of headphones attached to it.

Dax swiped the screen with his thumb and then set it down.

Noah hesitated for a second but he wanted to verify what Dax was telling him. He picked up the earbud and stuck it in his ear and accessed the voicemail.

It was eerie to hear his brother’s voice again.

The first few messages were just him asking Dax to call him back, the final two were him venting, threatening to put him inside if he didn’t get back in touch.

It was unlike him. There was an edge to his tone.

The tension and fear were almost palpable.

There were no names but from what he could tell, Luke seemed convinced that the recovery of 850 bags of heroin mixed with fentanyl, sixty-five grams of heroin, and three kilos of cocaine was nothing but low-hanging fruit.

Luke felt it was smoke and mirrors, for something far bigger. However, he didn’t say what that was.

Noah hit stop and took out the earbud and then slid the phone back across the table. “Give me a name?”

“What?”

“A name.”