Page 36 of In Cold Blood (High Peaks Murder, Mystery and Crime Thrillers #1)

N oah awoke to a barrage of thumps and Axel barking.

He lifted his head, exhaustion clinging to him like molasses as he reached over and flipped his phone to see what time it was. It was just after seven.

“Axel. Quiet!”

Axel continued barking with another thump.

Noah swung back the sheets and climbed out of bed, scratching his ass as he ambled over to the window and looked down. Outside was an Adirondack County Sheriff’s SUV. He couldn’t see who was at the door because of the porch cover.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming,” he yelled.

He slipped into some jeans, donned a long sleeve white T-shirt, and made his way down. Axel was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

“You know the saying, someone’s bark is far worse than his bite, they coined that after you, Axel,” he said jokingly as he made his way to the front entrance.

Opening the door, he was greeted by the sight of Deputy Hendrix.

Noah pawed at his eyes. “Hendrix?”

“Morning. May I come in?”

“Sure.” He stepped to the side. “What’s this about?”

Hendrix eyed the place as he strode in, only stopping to stroke Axel.

“Where were you last night?”

“What?”

He got this sinking feeling in his gut. Had the owner of the island caught him on camera?

“Last night,” Hendrix repeated, turning toward him straight-faced. Gone was the smile, the warmth he’d seen when he’d first been introduced at Kerri’s.

“At my father’s for supper.”

“And after?”

“Here. Why?”

Hooking one thumb on his service weapon, and the other inside his ballistic vest, Hendrix shifted from one foot to the next. His gaze roamed. “There was an incident in town last night. Investigator Owen Parish was involved.” He paused as if expecting Noah to fill in the details.

“And?”

“I was hoping you could tell us.”

“Tell you what?”

“Your name came up on his phone. You spoke briefly. What was that about?”

“Um. Right. Yeah. He called me late last night. Wanted me to meet him. Said he had something to show me.”

“And? Did you meet?”

“No. It was late. Even if I wanted to go, which I didn’t because I was meant to see him and Thorne today, I didn’t have a ride. My truck was trashed last night.”

“By who?”

“Didn’t Thorne fill you in on the fiasco?”

“No. So how did you get home?”

“My sister.”

“So, she can confirm you were here all night?”

“No, she left. But my neighbor saw me last night and…” He thought about Alicia. Now he kind of regretted not kissing her. That would have been a solid alibi. Still, it was better than nothing. “A friend of mine. Alicia Michaels dropped by.”

“You know her?”

Noah nodded. “We go back. She owns this place.”

“Is that so?” He looked around again, striding over to the table and scooping up a home magazine, and flipping through it. “You and Parish have known each other for a long while, correct?” He glanced at Noah.

Noah folded his arms and leaned against one of the posts in the cabin.

“We worked together for four years until he transferred to this region.”

“And that relationship wasn’t a good one from what I hear.”

Noah’s eyebrow shot up. He could tell where this was going.

“We didn’t see eye to eye, deputy. Just like you might not agree with those you have to rub shoulders with at the Sheriff’s Office. Just like most who work with people. I’m sure you have a couple that you don’t jell with.”

He tossed the magazine down. “Can’t say I do. I get along with everyone.”

Noah stifled a laugh. “Good for you.”

“So, Parish wanted to show you something. Did he say what it was?”

“No. Look, what happened? Is he okay? ”

“No, no he’s not. Not good at all. He’s in critical care but stable for now.

He was found outside the lodge near his vehicle, beaten badly.

A few broken ribs, several teeth missing.

A smashed orbital, and a fracture to his skull.

Someone really did a number on him. They worked him over pretty well.

The chances of him remembering who it was are slim to none.

However, the last person he spoke to that we know of was you. ”

Noah shrugged. “And I’ve told you what that was about. Look, where is Thorne?”

“Busy. Thorne told us that your brother was using this place, that he had police reports, files, and so on, here. Is that right?”

Noah pushed away from the wall. He could feel the situation was getting more uncomfortable by the second. “That’s correct. I told her yesterday that I would box it up and hand it over to her today.”

“You arrived Tuesday. Right?”

He nodded.

“Why didn’t you provide it then?”

“Because… look, does it matter?”

Hendrix’s eyes shot up. “Does it matter? Your brother was murdered. It’s an active investigation. We’ve got a game warden’s body on our hands and now one of your own is lying in critical care. I sure as hell think it matters. You want to show me where this is?”

“Sure.”

He took him upstairs and led him into the attic. It was tidy in there. After Alicia had left, he’d spent the rest of the evening boxing everything up. Of course, he’d taken photos of what he could to ensure he had some record. Evidence was known for going missing. “It’s in all these boxes.”

“Now you say Alicia Michaels owns this place?”

“She rents it out. She rented it out to my brother.”

“So, she knew about this? ”

Instead of lying, he simply said, “She does now. She didn’t before I came here.”

“But she’s seen it?”

“Briefly.” There was no point in lying. He had no reason to. There was nothing earth-shattering to be found among the files. Most of it was newspaper clippings that were available to the public, and copies of police reports from the department. The rest were photos, personal ones that he’d taken.

Hendrix crouched and flipped open the flaps on the top of the boxes.

He didn’t take anything out, just poked around.

“Four days of holding this. Still not sure why you wouldn’t have just told us the first night you were here.

” He picked up two of the boxes and had Noah go down so he could pass them down.

“Still, I’ll see to it these are taken back to the office. ”

Noah helped take them out to the SUV and place them in the back.

Hendrix wanted Alicia’s phone number so he could pin down a timeline. He also went over and spoke with Ed.

When he returned, he knocked one final time.

“So, I’ve spoken with both of them. Seems it all checks out.”

Of course it would. While a drive from his place into town took just over ten minutes, walking would have taken a good two hours.

“You know, Hendrix. Think about it logically. Why would I set back an investigation into my brother’s death?”

“I don’t know but then again you held onto the material for four days. That might have set it back.”

“Hardly. Everything that’s in there is either available in the press or was a copy of what your department already has.”

“But you didn’t know that until you looked.”

“Hendrix. As you said. My brother was murdered. What would you have done?”

“Alerted the authorities immediately. I think as law enforcement officers we know that people do a lot of shady things to get what they want.” He smiled. “If we need anything more, Mr. Sutherland, we’ll be in touch.”

Noah closed the door. He looked out the window as the SUV reversed, spun around, and drove out. He didn’t hold it against him. He may have said the same thing in his position. But he wasn’t in his shoes. His brother wasn’t dead under suspicious circumstances.

Noah chewed over what he’d been told. He tried to contact Thorne but she didn’t pick up.

Parish being jumped was exactly that, an attempt to stall the investigation.

What had he found? And why did he want to show it to Noah?

Of all the people that he should have discussed it with, why him? And who else knew what he’d found?

It was midafternoon by the time the rental company dropped off a replacement vehicle. It was a black Ford Bronco. Sturdy. Roomy. Modern. Wasn’t great on gas but certainly capable of handling the rough terrain of the Adirondacks. Had he lived in the area, it would have made a good vehicle.

Noah placed a call to his father to make sure he was okay but as usual, it went to voicemail. After taking a shower, he picked up the phone, his mind chewing over something he hadn’t seen in the police report so far.

“Savannah. The love of my life.”

“Not even in a parallel universe,” she replied.

He laughed.

“How’s it going out there?” she asked.

He muttered under his breath.

“That good?”

“Hey look, um, that genetic genealogist you worked with. The one who helped with the Alman case. Didn’t you say they had a friend who assisted with the Golden State Killer investigation?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t they get his DNA from his car?”

“Off the door handle. Yeah. The DNA from the vehicle helped tie some of the cases together. Then a day before they arrested him, they collected some pieces from his trash. A tissue for more DNA.”

“But the DNA from the car was enough to tie things together?”

“I guess. They used one of those public genealogy websites to compile a family tree for those in the age range and those who lived in the region when the crime happened. Why?”

“How long does that process take?”

“Depends who’s doing it. It used to take a long time but now in the right hands, it can be done within hours, a day at the most in some cases. I mean, there are times when it takes longer, but yeah, it can be done fast.”

“And we still have the genetic genealogist’s contact?”

Savannah went quiet.

“Savannah?”

“I thought you weren’t getting involved, Noah.”

“I’m not. I… well, things have changed. I wanted to follow up with something that could help. Something I think they may have overlooked.”

“Okay, and how do you think Parish will take that?”

“Parish is in the hospital right now.”

“What?”

“Someone jumped him last night.”

“Is he going to survive?”

“From what I hear, yeah. “

“Geesh, Noah. What is going on out there?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. The deeper I look into it, the more tangled it seems to become. But get this, they think I had a hand in beating him up. Can you believe that?”

“Actually…”

“Forget I asked.”

She chuckled. “No, that’s hard. I mean, sure he was an asshole, but I wouldn’t wish that on any of us. So, what are you going to do?”

“Well, by the sounds of the way things are, I can’t see Parish being back at this anytime soon.

And by the time State gets around to finding someone to assign, they might lose vital evidence.

You know how these things work. Time is of the essence.

Anyway, I’ll find out more this evening.

I was supposed to have the deputy sheriff who was assisting Parish come over for dinner, but that was to collect some information from the cabin. I’m not sure if she’ll show now.”

“She?”

“Yeah. She knew my brother well.”

“Uh-huh. Dinner?”

“It’s not like that.”

“No? Hey! I wouldn’t fault you. It’s about time you got back on that horse. The damn tools of your trade will shrivel up if they don’t get some usage.”

“Savannah.”

Savannah laughed. That was just like her, bringing humor in at the darkest of times.

Many cops were like that. It was a way of dealing with all the crap they saw daily.

In some ways, he needed that conversation as a strange heaviness had fallen over High Peaks, and he could feel it deep in his core.