Page 26 of In Cold Blood (High Peaks Murder, Mystery and Crime Thrillers #1)

Ray sniffed and ran a hand around the back of his neck.

“Anyway, she’s riding me over heading back into work so soon after the funeral.

Like you were… and yet here you are… nose deep,” he looked around, “on the trail of something.” Ray looked away and then back at him and got this serious expression.

“Noah, I want the bastard who killed Luke as much as you do. If I could get my hands on who did this, well…” He breathed in deeply and closed his eyes as if he was trying to center himself.

“But this… whatever this is… It’s way over our heads.

It was way over Luke’s head. And believe me, he was a damn fine cop.

Probably the best in our family. But not even he saw this coming. I don’t want…”

Noah threw up a hand. “Save it, Ray. I know what you’re going to say.”

“I don’t want to bury another brother. Look.

I’m not going to tell you to walk away because I think out of all of us, you’ve always been the one to do the opposite of what this family has wanted, but be careful.

Okay? Just… be careful.” He blew out his cheeks and looked deflated.

“I have to go. It’s been a long day. I said I would make Tanya dinner.

Do you want to come with me? It might save me getting an earful.

” He flashed his pearly whites behind a grin.

“I appreciate the offer. I can’t, but thank you.”

Ray rolled his lower lip in and nodded and patted him on the arm as he turned to head out. “It’s good to have you back, brother. Really.” He smiled and walked away.

As he was climbing down the ladder, Ray stopped and touched his forehead.

“Oh, I nearly forgot. Dad wants you to drop by tomorrow evening, he says he has something for you.” Ray patted the flooring, glancing one last time at the wall of crazy and shaking his head before disappearing.

Noah heard him talking to Axel before he exited.

Callie was hesitant to meet Owen Parish at Ridgeway Lodge.

It seemed too informal. He already gave her serious creepy vibes, the way he looked at her longer than was comfortable. Then of course there was the fact that if Hendrix caught wind of it — she wouldn’t hear the last of it.

Parish hadn’t shared much, only that he felt it would give him a chance to talk. She’d tried to change the location to the Sheriff’s Office for the following day but he was insistent.

An excuse came to mind, having to speak with her realtor about a property she was going to move into at the end of the month — a partial truth — but then she figured she didn’t want the backlash from Sheriff Roberts.

She was already on the razor’s edge with him over comments made in the Cyrus and Erikson case.

To make it clear that she wasn’t interested in anything more than keeping it professional, she showed up that evening still in uniform.

Windswept and damp from a mad dash from the cruiser to the lodge, she entered 46 Peaks a little behind schedule.

Parish was tucked into a booth, a single glass of red wine in front of him.

She gave a wave from across the room and threaded around tables to a cozy booth that was in the far back of the room. It was private. Leather seating. Away from the rest of the locals and tourists who frequented the lodge.

“Sorry, I’m late.” She adjusted her handbag over her shoulder. “Do you mind? I just have to nip into the bathroom.”

“Can I get you a drink?”

“Water and lemon is fine.”

“Sure you don’t want a glass of wine?”

“I drove here in the cruiser. Not a good look. ”

He smiled back. She widened her eyes as she walked away from him. It was another reason why she didn’t change out of her uniform. And it had worked like a charm. She wasn’t opposed to letting her hair down and enjoying a nice drink with a man but, well, this wasn’t what she had in mind.

Inside the bathroom, she took a few handfuls of paper towels, patted her face to dry the rain, and then attempted to salvage the rat’s nest on her skull. A few minutes later she returned, finding Parish glancing at his watch. He didn’t look impressed.

Good. That was exactly what she was going for.

“The weather has really taken a turn for the worse out there,” she said, slipping into the booth and dabbing her face again with a napkin.

“Roberts said you knocked off at five.” He motioned to her uniform.

“On a regular day. With all that’s happened with Luke, I’ve been putting in a few more hours.”

“Determined. I like that.”

“So you’re staying at the lodge?”

“That’s right.”

She took a sip of her drink. Callie noticed he had a manila folder in front of him.

“Did you want to order some food?”

“I ate before I came,” she said. Her words fell like a heavy hammer.

His eyebrows shot up. Unimpressed. She was quick to clarify.

“I got your message after. Otherwise, I would have. Though I could go for some nachos and cheese.” She figured she’d meet him halfway.

Plus, there was nothing more unattractive than someone crunching nachos and sucking up a mouthful of sloppy cheese.

If he had any ideas, a drowned rat slobbering on food would nix them.

Parish kept his eyes on her as he lifted a hand like he had a waitress on standby.

Sure enough, a young girl hustled over and took the order.

“So…” Callie said, leaning back as she took another gulp of water. “What… do you have there?”

“The Sutherland police report and autopsy, and some key incident reports from previous arrests. I figured I would familiarize myself with our victim. I was told by Roberts you worked closely with Luke.”

“Somewhat. Though I would have thought you were familiar with him through Noah?”

She tossed it out there hoping he might bite. Natural curiosity got the better of him.

“What has he told you about me?”

“Only that you worked together.”

“For a while. Whatever he said, take it with a grain of salt. A few things you should know about Noah Sutherland. He’s one hell of a cop, I’ll give him that, but his OCD tends to keep him at arm’s length from those he works with.

He’s incessant. Or let’s say, a pain in the ass.

He needs everyone around him to have the same attention to detail as him.

If you happen to be someone who works a little slower, gets paperwork out of place, or forgets to dot a few i’s, he’s all too ready to jump down your throat. ”

“Is that why you transferred?”

“Among other things. I don’t thrive under criticism.”

“I hear you there.” She thought about her previous boyfriend. “So you said you had questions?”

“What can you tell me about your relationship with Luke?”

Her brow furrowed. “We worked together.”

“Was that all?”

“Excuse me?”

He stared back at her as if the question was clear.

“He was married,” she said firmly .

Parish shrugged. “Hasn’t stopped other officers in the past.”

Callie rose from the booth. “I’ll have Roberts assign someone else to work with you.”

Calmly, he replied, “Thorne. Take a seat.”

“Why? So you can accuse me of having an affair? What’s next? You think I had something to do with his death?”

“In situations like this, we have to cover all bases. I had to ask.”

“And I have to leave,” she said, scooping up her bag. “I thought we were meeting to discuss finding his killer, not to interrogate me.”

She made it a few steps away before she heard him say, “It is. But there is more to this than who shot Luke. They found a large number of drugs in his vehicle that night.”

Callie glanced back, confusion spreading. “No one mentioned that.”

“I just did.”

“And? He worked for the drug unit.”

“The narcotics were missing from the evidence room.”

She walked back and set her bag down. “What are you suggesting?”

“I’m not suggesting anything right now. I’m exploring possibilities.”

“That I helped acquire them?”

“You have access to evidence.”

“As do many others. That doesn’t mean I took them.”

“So you didn’t book them in?”

Callie turned back. “No. And I don’t appreciate you speculating that I did. Perhaps it would serve you better to speak with Cyrus Keller, Dax, Jack Grayson, or Harry, they were all people he had his eye on in the days leading up to his death, instead of wasting time pointing the finger at me.”

“Thorne. We have a dead deputy on our hands. Someone you worked closely with. Someone you were caught on camera having a heated exchange with a mere twenty-four hours before he died. Now, State has sent me to ensure that the investigation is conducted transparently. Everyone is a suspect until ruled out. If that makes you uncomfortable, so be it. But I’m here to do my job.

The sooner you answer a few simple questions, the sooner we can turn our attention to those you’ve mentioned. ”

“Roberts didn’t assign me, did he? You requested me.”

The waitress returned with a plate of nachos. She looked awkwardly at them. It was clear she sensed the tension.

Parish gestured to the seat across from him. The waitress moved past Callie, set the food down, and walked away.

“Sit. Eat. Let’s talk.”

Reluctantly, Callie took a seat. She looked down at her food. What little appetite she had was now gone.

“So… you want to tell me what you and Luke were discussing?”

There was no way to avoid it.

She had opened her mouth to speak when Parish’s phone rang.

He scooped it up and hit accept. “Yeah?” He nodded, still holding his gaze on her.

“Okay. Right. I’m on my way.” He hung up and rose.

“We’ll have to have this discussion later.

Time to leave. That was Hendrix. Seems they’ve found the body of the missing game warden. ”