Page 25 of In Cold Blood (High Peaks Murder, Mystery and Crime Thrillers #1)

S olving the case was going to be an uphill battle.

It pained him to admit, but if he wanted to know anything about what had happened to Luke, he would have to speak with his father again.

His former position as sheriff and friendship with Roberts was likely to be the only way he was going to get any information.

Noah was aware of the protocol. He anticipated they would turn him away empty-handed.

That’s exactly what any sheriff’s office would do under the circumstances.

Although Roberts had said Thorne would be helping, he knew that would be kept to a minimum.

Police shootings were solely handled by State unless they requested assistance.

In some ways he was grateful that Parish had requested assistance from the Sheriff’s Office, otherwise, he wouldn’t have stood a chance in hell of finding out what Parish discovered, if anything at all.

The State investigator in him wanted to dig in and find out the truth, the other part felt it was best to let Parish deal with it.

He had to believe that he could change, that he had changed, and that Parish would work the case as hard as he could, but deep down, he didn’t have that confidence. His track record told another story.

Axel was curled up in a ball on the passenger side when he peered in. “Glad to see one of us is getting some shuteye.”

As Noah made his way back to the cabin, he thought about what Alicia and Dax had said about Keith Erikson.

If Luke had been looking into him and he’d gone missing ten months ago, there had to be some local articles on it along with reports that Luke would have gathered.

Whatever Erikson had stumbled on, it had to have something to do with Cyrus enough to convince Luke to bring charges.

The question was what?

If he could speak with Cyrus directly, it might provide a better picture, but if everything was to be believed about this man, he wasn’t someone to be taken lightly.

If he had anything to do with Luke’s death, he wouldn’t admit it.

And if Luke had been shot because of Cyrus’ arrest and near incarceration, he probably wouldn’t be too pleased to see someone strolling up to his property who looked like Luke.

But what if he knew something? What if he had given Luke what he wanted already — information that could break wide the case that Luke was investigating before he died?

At least now he had a better picture of some of those involved and their possible connection to his brother.

After returning to the cabin, Noah high-tailed it up into the attic to fish through boxes, searching for any folders, paperwork, police reports, or anything that covered the disappearance of Keith Erikson.

It didn’t take him long to find them. Pushed far back, buried below a stack of boxes, he found one marked with his name.

Inside was a copy of the police report from the day of Cyrus’ arrest.

Based on the incident log, Luke had found Cyrus lingering in a location that was known for drug deals.

According to him, Cyrus Keller became combative when asked for his license and registration and the reason why he was parked in the area.

The contact with the driver ended when Luke called for backup after Axel found traces of narcotics in the back of the vehicle.

How did that get thrown out?

And how had Luke managed to connect him with Erikson’s disappearance?

Beneath the incident report were multiple clippings from local news articles about the heavy hand of game wardens. Their rules and regulations were related to prior arrests by none other than Keith Erikson.

Minor hunting infractions, one for poaching where Cyrus lost his hunting license for three years and received a hefty fine.

Another was of Cyrus’ family speaking out to the media after Erikson shot their dog, claiming he’d received complaints from neighbors about the dog acting aggressive and harassing wildlife.

Then there was another about Erikson being investigated and potentially being charged with allegedly planting drugs during traffic stops.

One of those stops was Cyrus. The charges were tossed.

The headline Bully with a badge stuck out in Noah’s mind as he read them.

Strangely enough, while browsing through more papers, Luke had detailed the defendant’s lawyer who was involved in dropping those drug-related charges.

Doug Grayson — his ex-wife’s father.

No wonder Luke was looking into the Graysons. Noah thought back to what Dax had said about Luke believing the cases were being dropped and covered up. How deeply had they been involved in getting Cyrus’ case tossed? And was it because of his friendship with Jack? Were they covering for him?

His mind spun from one theory to the next .

Noah noted down the cell number for Cyrus from the incident report.

He glanced out the window into the evening, contemplating what he would say.

He didn’t imagine Cyrus would give him the time of day but he’d known many who’d been in the hot seat with the law to be forthright if it meant being left alone.

He expected it to go to voicemail or be picked up. It did neither. Noah’s stomach sank.

The phone number was no longer in service.

He glanced at the address for his home and did a reverse address. Noah had used them in the past when he had an address but no landline.

A few seconds later, he managed to find one.

But when he tried it, that line was no longer in service.

It was possible he’d moved or simply had it disconnected.

It wasn’t unheard of for numbers found on incident reports to no longer work if the person didn’t want to be hassled by the cops.

Many didn’t update it. Some purposely changed it.

Dax had been the first to mention Cyrus. Perhaps he would have his number. Noah tried Dax but it went to voicemail.

“I’m not here right now but if you leave a name and a message after the beep, I’ll decide whether to call you back.” He heard Dax chuckle then it beeped.

“Call me, Dax. I need Cyrus’ number.” He was about to ask him one more question about Erikson when he heard his brother outside.

“Hello!?”

Noah hung up and called out. “Up here, Ray.”

Footsteps bounded up steps. The steel ladder to the attic rattled.

Ray’s mug appeared. “Ah, there you are…” He trailed off as his gaze fell upon the boxes and crazy wall.

Like a child mesmerized by a room full of gifts, Ray climbed up and approached one of the walls.

“So this is what you wanted to show me. ”

“Uh-huh.”

Ray was wearing jeans, black sneakers, and a faded red T-shirt that looked as if he was stitched into it. He was the one person in their family that kept himself in impeccable shape. “Does any of this make sense to you?” Noah asked.

Ray pulled a photo of Lena, Doug, and Jack. “When Luke said he was on to something big, I didn’t think it was to this extent. What the heck did he get himself involved in?”

“Drugs, coverups, murder, and missing people from what I’ve been able to find out so far. It seems you were right about this town. It has changed or maybe we were just too young and na?ve to see. Here,” Noah handed him the police report about Cyrus. “Did he ever talk about him?”

“No. You have to understand, Noah, Luke was tight-lipped about his work. Even though I work for the local PD, unless he thought I could help or unless it involved someone in town, he didn’t come to me.

Probably for the best by the looks of it.

Shoot,” he said, handing back the report and turning toward the wall again.

“When you heard about Luke’s death, where were you?” Noah asked.

“On-shift. Tanya called me. Said that I needed to phone dad. He filled me in and asked me to get over there. I floored it, hoping to get a look at the scene, but it was a media circus. They had everything taped off. They wouldn’t let me through.”

“And no one said anything?”

“Only that they were sorry and they would do everything they could to find out who had done it.”

“Could you see anything when you arrived?”

“No. They’d cordoned off a stretch at least half a mile back. It was the early hours of the morning so it was still dark.”

Noah sighed in resignation and tossed the report into one of the many brown boxes. “I went by the Sheriff’s Office today to speak with Roberts. He wouldn’t tell me much.”

“Do you blame him?”

“Well, I just thought that?—”

“Dad’s sway isn’t what it used to be, Noah. They respect him but that doesn’t mean he has full access to reports or evidence. They’re going to keep that under wraps. I gather you told Roberts about all of this.”

“Not yet.”

“You should. It might be of use to them.”

“They’re not the ones calling the shots. State is.”

“Then you should be more than happy to hand it over.”

“Yeah, maybe if the one heading up this investigation wasn’t a guy I butted heads with four years ago.”

“Oh, right,” he said, lowering his chin and nodding. Ray glanced at the photo of Lena. “Have you talked to her since you’ve been back?”

Noah scoffed. “I would if she would return my calls.”

“Just drop around there. Ask her. Maybe she knows what Luke wanted.”

“Yeah, that would go over well. Showing up out of the blue. Oh, hey, I noticed you weren’t at the funeral, and by the way, Luke was doing surveillance on you and your family, would you know why?” He paused. “C’mon, Ray!”

“Well, I’m sure she had her reasons for not showing up.”

“Ray. My kids’ uncle died. It wasn’t like they were living miles across the country. They are in the same county. You’d think she would have had the decency to show up.”

He lifted his hands. “Hey, I’m not one for getting involved. I have enough to deal with back home. Tanya’s back in the picture again.”

“Again?”

“It’s complicated. ”

He smirked. “Isn’t it always.”