Page 40 of In Cold Blood (High Peaks Murder, Mystery and Crime Thrillers #1)

“I know it sounds implausible but if Jack or Cyrus had anything to do with his death, Jack would be incriminating himself and throwing Cyrus back under the bus when his family had only barely managed to get him off the hook. Then there’s the problem of ten months of being in the elements.

That body is just bones now. Most of it is gone.

The coroner will be hard-pressed to figure out how he died.

The cause of death will be marked undetermined. ”

“Was his skull there?”

“Yeah. It was intact. No bullet wound.” Callie downed the remainder of her drink. “Jack Grayson has a clean record, Noah.”

“He won’t if he continues to hang around with the likes of…”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cyrus Keller enter the establishment.

He was a rough-looking individual, tall and heavily built, with a goatee and unkempt hair.

His clothes looked worn and dirty, the kind of garb that a hunter might be seen wearing after days in the bush.

He had this menacing scowl on his face. There was no hesitation, only confidence, power, and a hint of aggression.

It was clear that he commanded attention and instilled fear in those around him.

Noah rose, and Callie followed his gaze. “Cyrus. Hey.”

Cyrus turned.

“Can I have a word?” Noah said as he began to cross the pub. Cyrus’ eyes bulged, he turned and burst out of the brewery.

“Callie!” Noah cried out as he took off in pursuit.

Outside a hard rain was coming down. It had turned the ground into a slick surface of puddles and mini streams. Noah had made it only a few feet beyond the pub’s main entrance when gunshots rang out.

He ducked.

Cyrus raced into the maze of vehicles under the cover of night.

“Where did he go?”

The sound of an engine revving and tires screeching answered that. A slick red Trans Am burst into view, tearing out of the lot.

Noah was already within a few feet of the Bronco. All the commotion had stirred Axel from his nap. Noah climbed in and fired up the engine just as Callie got in the other side.

Only the glow of taillights in the distance provided an indication of which way he’d gone. Noah floored it, giving the engine as much gas as he could. The tires bit into the asphalt and the Bronco surged out of the lot.

“Son of a bitch opened fire.”

Callie wasn’t listening, she was already on her cell phone calling dispatch to get them on the lookout for a 1970 red Pontiac Trans Am and give them directions on where it was heading.

Cyrus tore around the roads, swerving and dodging traffic and narrowly avoiding collisions as if he was in a Formula One race.

As new as the Bronco was, it was having a rough time trying to keep up.

At some point, Noah lost him in one of the many neighborhoods nestled in the woodland not far from the main stretch.

“You see where he went?”

“Nope.”

As they crawled along, they glanced at every single driveway on the chance that he might have parked and shut off his lights. Someone darted out in front of them, a woman in her early twenties. “You looking for a Trans Am?”

“Yeah. You seen it?”

“It went that way. Nearly ran my kids over.”

“Thanks.”

He tore off, heading down another road that looped back to the same road they’d come in on just off the city’s main downtown. Noah slowed again, and Callie asked a couple if they’d seen the vehicle.

They nodded and pointed further down the road.

As they came around the next bend, they were met with a collision.

A Ford van had pulled out and the Trans Am had crashed into the side of it. Noah brought the Bronco to a halt, climbed out, and withdrew his service weapon. Callie called through to have dispatch contact all cruisers in the area.

“Where is he?” Noah shouted to a pedestrian.

They pointed to a six-story hotel. “He abandoned the vehicle and darted in there.”

Noah went to the rear of the Bronco and popped the door open. “Let’s go, Axel.”

All eager, he bounded out. They hurried over to the collision.

Noah kept his eyes fixed on the hotel, unsure of what they would face.

He only knew that they were dealing with someone armed and dangerous.

“You all okay?” he asked those who had been in the van.

Fortunately, they had made it out of the accident with just a few cuts and bruises .

Not wasting any time, Noah and Axel took off toward the hotel.

As soon as they entered, the staff pointed without saying anything. The fear on their faces was palpable. “Does he have a room here?”

The staff members shrugged.

It was a big risk venturing into the maze of corridors and levels.

Axel pulled on the leash, eager, ready to do his job, but wisdom told Noah otherwise.

He backed out of the hotel but not before telling the staff to leave.

They couldn’t evacuate the entire building without backup, it would have been suicide.

He wasn’t wearing a vest and Cyrus had already taken a few potshots at them.

Callie appeared at his side.

“Local PD is on the way.”

The response was swift. Sirens wailed but before cops made it inside, the fire alarm rang out. Guests exited their rooms, filling the corridor. “Clever.”

Cyrus had pulled the alarm.

One by one they watched guests make their way out of the building. As multiple doors led out, there was any number of ways he could escape. Although everyone had been brought up to speed on what he was wearing, the opportunity to slip out of his clothes and switch into someone else’s was there.

Once everyone was out and accounted for, each room was cleared on every floor including staff rooms and cleaning closets.

It was an arduous task, but once done, Cyrus was nowhere to be found.