Page 31 of In Cold Blood (High Peaks Murder, Mystery and Crime Thrillers #1)

“I read the newspaper today. Yeah.”

“Jack Grayson. That’s who found him.”

“Doesn’t surprise me in the least.”

“Why do you say that?”

Hugh set his drink down and pulled some steaks out and walked by him, making his way over to the BBQ.

“Luke was very vocal with me about Grayson’s’ involvement in the Cyrus Keller case.

If he was alive now, he would probably be gunning to pull Jack in for questioning.

You know — with his close friendship with Cyrus.

” He sparked up the BBQ and flames burst to life.

“Do you know this Cyrus fella?”

“All the cops do. A nasty piece of work from a family that’s been around these parts for longer than we have. And that’s saying something.”

A warm summer breeze blew in off the lake, bringing with it the aroma of the wild.

Their home had always had a great view of the McKenzie Mountain Wilderness and the small and giant peaks.

The rolling landscape looked like a blanket of green for as far as the eye could see with all the fir, spruce, and hemlocks.

Out on the shimmering lake, several rowboats and kayaks bobbed in the water as the final rays of daylight melted into the horizon.

“Did he tell you much about what he was looking into in the final months?”

“A little,” Hugh replied.

“And the cabin with the?—”

“Wall of crazy?” his father said, cutting him off and looking over at him. “It’s not crazy, Noah, just incomplete. It was my suggestion. A way to keep his work and family separate. You know — for Kerri and the kids’ sake. Though, I didn’t expect him to rent a place. ”

“So, you know about it.”

“Ray told me.”

“Ah.” Noah rocked his head back. “To be expected, I guess. So you haven’t said anything to Kerri or Roberts yet?”

“Ray asked me not to mention it, I figured you would. As for Luke, well, his track record was pristine. You couldn’t ask for a better cop. I trusted his instincts. Even though I did warn him to be careful. You’re staying at the cabin, aren’t you?”

“Ray told you that too?”

Hugh laughed as he tossed two thick steaks on the BBQ and they hissed loudly. “I might be getting old, son, but my eyes still work. I saw you speaking with Alicia. I put two and two together when Ray and Madeline said you weren’t staying with them, and Kerri headed out of town.”

Noah went inside and scooped up his drink and came back out to find Hugh tossing a ball for Axel. “What do you think happened?”

Noah was curious to get his take on it.

Hugh returned to the BBQ as smoke poured out of the sides.

He looked as if he was contemplating a thought he’d chewed over for days. He turned the steaks with steel prongs. Plumes of smoke and fire engulfed the meat. The aroma made Noah’s mouth water. “Someone wanted him out of the picture. He was sticking his nose in where it wasn’t wanted.”

“But who and why?”

“Who knows? Cyrus. Associates of those he busted in Operation Heat Wave. He took the head off a snake but that drug business is like Medusa, there are many others ready to take over. Luke brushed up against the worst of society more than others. But he was no dirty cop.”

“What are you talking about?”

Hugh went inside and then came out with a manila folder. “This is what I wanted to show you.” He handed it to Noah. Noah flipped it open to find inside the police report and autopsy.

He shot his father a look. “How did you get your hands on this?”

“I might not wear the badge anymore but our family’s reputation and all the hours I clocked can open a few doors where others can’t.”

Noah sat on the garden furniture, flipping through the paperwork, eager to find out who responded to the call, what the woman who called it in had said to dispatch, and ultimately what evidence they found when they arrived on scene.

There was also a sheet that showed a breakdown of the calls that Luke had responded to that evening.

His mind churned over as he scanned the pages and began reading portions of it.

It would take some time to get through it all.

He picked out some key moments.

“Deputy Hendrix was the first to arrive followed by Deputy Thorne to assist with scene security. The forensic team was there within the hour to begin processing the scene.”

The woman who called it in was missing. There was a rough sketch by Hendrix detailing the placement of the vehicle and any evidence gathered.

Luke’s cruiser was parked at an angle as if he was attempting to block the two-lane road on both sides.

His lights were on, his door wide open. The road was clear and dry.

He was found lying in the road, face down.

Multiple gunshot wounds to his body. Confirmed deceased on scene.

“They say he never drew his gun but I have a hard time believing that.”

“Why?” Noah asked.

“The way he positioned his car. If there was an accident, he would have put out cones and tried to keep one lane open for traffic. It seems to me he tried to stop someone. He was facing a threat. If it was an ambush, why not just shoot him in the car? Why wait until he was out?”

“You think he stopped someone?”

“Or tried. Again, I’ve looked over that report countless times trying to make sense of it. Especially the part about him having a large number of narcotics in the trunk.”

“He was a part of the drug unit.”

“According to the report, they found narcotics marked and bagged that had already been taken out of the evidence locker from a sting operation weeks earlier. They’re saying he never signed them out that night.

They were just missing. Now with the body of Erikson found in a known drug dealing area, a few theories are being tossed out there that Luke and Erikson were working together to sell, and that it wasn’t Erikson that stumbled upon something big but Cyrus. ”

“What?”

“Corruption. Dirty law enforcement. That’s the angle.”

“Roberts never said a word.”

“Why would he? They’re only four days into the investigation. He wanted the funeral out of the way before he began following that lead.”

“Yeah, a lead. That’s all it is. And you and I know that leads often go nowhere.”

“Not this one, Noah.”

“No. If there was any selling going on, you know it was being done to nab those dealing. Dax told me. Luke was trying to work his way up the chain. He believed that Operation Heat Wave was just the tip of the iceberg. That there was something bigger.”

“That’s not the picture that’s beginning to form based on evidence.

They think Luke was taking out drugs, using them to sell, then nabbing the individuals, bagging the money, and putting the drugs back into evidence for when he needed them next.

They think it’s only a matter of time before they find the trail of money that they were taking and link the two of them together.

The Sheriff’s Office has already put in a request to get his bank account records.

Still, they think he would have stashed money elsewhere.

They even think he might have been responsible for Erikson’s disappearance. ”

“That’s bullshit.”

“My words exactly.”

It was only then that he thought about what Alicia had said about Luke paying her six months upfront in cash for use of the cabin.

Then there was the location of Erikson’s truck.

Alicia had said it was seen near the cabin.

Then what Lena had said about the way Luke was acting strange.

Was it possible? No. There was no way in hell that his brother would risk his career, his reputation, or their family.

Disturbed, Noah thumbed the pages from the dispatch call.

There was very little.

“She never gave her name. No details about what she saw.”

“That’s right. It was called in, and then she vanished.”

“Have you managed to get a copy of that call?”

“It’s right there,” he said, tapping the paper.

“You know what I mean. Audio.”

“No. But I can. I guess you’ll need it,” his father said, taking a swig of his drink and setting it down on the BBQ.

He glanced at his father. “Need it?”

“Well, you’ll be investigating, right? I mean that’s why you came back.”

For a moment he was beginning to think that his father was acting differently but this was it, this was the way it always was.

“I came back for the funeral. And you know, legally, I can’t get involved.”

“That hasn’t stopped you so far from asking questions.”

“Questions are one thing, Dad. I’m entitled to ask questions. He was family. But Roberts was right. Our emotions are raw right now. All of us.”

In a flash, he whipped around. “Don’t give me that crap. This is what we do.”

“No, this is what you want me to do.” He shook his head. “I can’t.”

“What, because you don’t want another error on your record?”

Noah stared, dumbfounded.

“It wasn’t an error.” He couldn’t believe he was having to defend himself. “You know what. Screw you.”

Hugh snorted.

His tone changed in an instant. That dark cloud emptying hard and heavy. “He’s your brother! He would have done the same for you.”

“I knew it. Ray and Madeline weren’t even invited tonight, were they? This isn’t about you wanting to catch up. Shoot the breeze. Or have a few drinks before I go back. Is it?”

“He deserves better.”

“So do I. If you have a problem with those they’ve assigned to investigate, speak to Roberts.” Noah scooped up his drink and headed back into the house.

Hugh followed him inside. “Don’t you think I already have? Why the hell do you think I went to bat to try and get you a position?”

“Oh, don’t give me that bullshit. You just want to control my life. You always have. Every single one of us.”

“Stop making this about you!”

“See, you’re doing it again. You always turn it around and make it our problem. Just like when mother died.”

Seething, Hugh jabbed the BBQ prongs at him. “Don’t you dare talk about her! ”

“Why? Why Dad? She’s gone and neither I, you, nor anyone else was to blame. When are you going to accept that?”

His words lingered.

Hugh went back out and switched off the BBQ. He returned shaking a clenched hand at waist height, teeth gritted. For a second, Noah thought his father would strike him but that ended the instant they heard a vehicle alarm blaring.

They looked at each other for a second, then Noah set his drink down on the table and darted out of the house. His eyes widened. His jaw dropped at the sight of his vandalized truck.

“What the hell?! Son of a bitch!”

His black truck had been immaculate when he went inside.

Now it had the words “GO HOME OR YOU’LL JOIN YOUR brOTHER, PIG!” spray painted down the side. The front windshield was shattered, and the head of a white-tailed deer was perched on the passenger seat, fresh blood dripping onto the floor.

Tires screeched; an engine roared.

Noah took off, all fury and rage.

“Noah!” Hugh shouted in fear as he and Axel dashed up the long driveway just in time to see the red taillights of a truck disappear around a bend in the road. It was too dark to see any more than that.

Noah twisted back toward the garage, thinking of giving pursuit in his father’s vehicle, but his truck was blocking the garage, and the tires had been slashed.

Noah balled his fists.