Page 48 of In Cold Blood (High Peaks Murder, Mystery and Crime Thrillers #1)

A nswers to the arson wouldn’t come in the manner they expected.

Ed was far from being capable of answering questions. He’d suffered a bad concussion and had been given strong pain medication. Blunt force trauma was what the doctors called it. They weren’t sure if he would pull through because of his age but then again, they’d never met Ed. He was a tough SOB.

The hospital advised returning in a day or two.

With the cabin gone, Noah thought about checking into a motel for the remainder of his stay, but with Kerri having offered, he made the call.

“Of course you can stay,” Kerri said. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s all being handled.”

“There’s a key in the hanging basket at the rear of the house.”

“Thanks.”

“And Noah.”

“Yeah.”

“Thank you. ”

“For what?”

“For everything. For helping with Axel. Taking a risk to help with the case.”

“You just look after those kids and rest.”

After he let himself inside, Callie followed him in, a small bag in her hand.

Luke’s home was warm and inviting, the way it had been in the past when he’d seen it. Except without him, it was missing an essential part — his laughter. Axel immediately darted into each room as if expecting to see the family. Finding no one, he wandered over to a bed and curled up.

“You know you really don’t need to do this,” Noah said.

“With all that’s happened, we can’t afford to have another BCI investigator end up in the hospital or worse — dead. It’s fine. I’ll sleep in the spare room. I’m a light sleeper.”

“As is Axel.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

“I can handle myself.”

“I know. But it would give me peace of mind.” She emphasized “me” and it was then he understood.

“You’re afraid you’ll be targeted.”

“Well, it’s a possibility, right? First Parish, then you, who’s to say they won’t come after me? Someone is feeling threatened.”

“You mean Dax.”

“Him. Someone else. We don’t know, right?”

He nodded and closed the door behind them. That evening Noah went around to every window and door and made sure they were locked before they settled in. It had been an exhaustive day of discoveries and heartbreak.

Noah put the kettle on to make a hot drink while Callie perused the living room.

“Was this you when you were younger?”

Noah came out. “Yeah. Luke and I used to go camping with Ray. Was a long time ago. I think I was eighteen in that photo. One last hurrah before I headed off to the military.” He paused, studying her. “Luke never invited you here for dinner?” he asked.

She glanced at him and lifted an eyebrow.

“I meant as a colleague.”

“Still doesn’t look good, does it?” she replied.

“I guess,” he said, going back into the kitchen. He poured out the hot water and began stirring. “You know, I wonder if that’s what Parish was going to tell me.”

“What?” she asked.

He glanced back to find her standing in the doorway between the living room and kitchen.

“Parish. I wondered if he’d figured out Dax’s involvement.”

“Oh. Yeah. Possibly.”

Noah noticed the edge in her response. “What did you think I was going to say?”

She shrugged.

Noah continued. “I just can’t wrap my head around why Dax would lie to me. I’m usually pretty good at picking up on deception, you know, but… well…” Noah handed her a cup of hot cocoa. The two of them went into the living room and took a seat.

“So, you think Alicia didn’t know anything?”

“I think she’s as baffled as we are.”

“It is a little odd, don’t you think?” Callie said, leaning back.

“In what way?”

“Well, it seems your pal Dax is a good friend of Alicia. Allowing him to use her truck, I mean. He must have known that he might get caught trashing your vehicle or be seen in her truck driving away. Would you do that to a friend who you claim has been nothing but kind?”

“Yeah, it’s odd. ”

Noah cocked his head and set his drink down on a side table.

He went back into the kitchen and retrieved the folder and opened it again.

He looked at the photos that had been printed off, snapshots of the video.

“The thing is, you can’t see the driver,” he said, turning a photo around to show her. “So, was it Dax?”

“Who else would it be?”

“Dax was sporting a shiner the night we chased Cyrus. He didn’t have that the day I visited him after the funeral. If he got into a scuffle on that Friday, there was only a cut on the lip. No shiner. Now, of course, maybe he was telling the truth about the door but I have to wonder…”

“You think Cyrus or someone else used the truck?”

“Certainly would explain the shiner. Dax wouldn’t have wanted Alicia to get into trouble. Cyrus and Dax both work for Harry. Until I speak to him it’s merely an assumption to think he was driving.”

“If he even gives you that chance. You know, with burning down that cabin.”

“Yeah…” He was at a loss for words. “That doesn’t make sense either.”

“Seems like a fulfillment of the warning on the truck,” she said.

He shrugged.

“I imagine you’ve considered the possibility.”

“That he could have done it?” Noah asked.

“Not the truck or cabin. Your brother.”

Noah’s chin dropped for a moment before he nodded.

“I’ve considered it. Dax is not the same person I once knew.

Then again, how many friends from your school days are?

” He’d seen so many changes over the years through his social media accounts.

While the majority were just average folk, single or with someone, some were on their third marriage, others were locked up in prison, and a few were dead from illness or overdoses.

It was a mixed bag. Age brought challenges that few could navigate without the aid of prescription drugs, alcohol, or narcotics.

The two of them talked for a good hour before turning in.

Axel retreated to his crate in the room just off the mud room.

It felt odd crawling into Luke’s old bed. Noah noticed a pair of reading glasses on the side table and a dog-eared Stephen King novel with a bookmark in it. Lying in bed, he could hear Callie in the washroom brushing her teeth before the light in the hallway shut off. “Night, Noah.”

“Night.”

He reached over and shut off the lamp. Images of the cabin on fire played again in his mind.

As much as he didn’t want to think Dax wasn’t responsible, it had all the makings of someone that had come unhinged.

Dax’s past drug use, his run-in with the law, and his disappearance around the time of Luke’s death only added fuel to the theory of his involvement.

Noah had drifted off to sleep for no more than twenty minutes when he was awoken by Axel barking. Instincts kicked in, and he scanned the room in a bleary state before quietly climbing out of bed and extracting his Glock from its holster on the chair. Noah inched up to the door and eased it open.

Although the landing was dark, a small plug-in nightlight offered some illumination. Beyond its glow he saw Callie at the far end of the hallway, her door open. He brought a finger up to his lips and with a gesture told her to hold back.

Axel continued to bark incessantly.

As Noah went downstairs, he saw Callie clutch her cell phone.

Noah kept his back to the wall as he worked his way downstairs. All the while he could only hear the dog. No other movement. He peered into the living room. It was dark .

Noah inched down the hallway and glanced into the kitchen. He could make out the silhouette of furniture, the fridge, and counters but not much else. He noted the front and back door were closed.

Flipping on a light in the mud room, he stood there for a second, listening.

Nothing.

He opened the door to the room where Axel was.

“Hey. What’s up?”

Axel was in his crate, moving around. “You need to go out?”

The dog pawed at the crate.

“All right. All right.”

He took the leash off a hook and opened the crate. He latched it to the dog’s collar and took him out the side door, around to the back of the house. As Axel relieved himself, Noah eyed the tree line and every shadow. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck and arms lifting. “Axel. C’mon.”

He led the dog back in and put him back in his crate.

The dog whined. “It’s late. Sleep.”

He shut off the light, made sure the rear door was locked again, and made his way back to the hallway.

As he passed the doorway that led into the kitchen, his eyes caught the same silhouettes as before except something was different.

His brain only registered the difference a few seconds after he walked past.

Noah froze.

His hand clutched his Glock tightly.

He whirled around and entered the kitchen, slapping the light on the wall.

The bulb at the center of the kitchen illuminated him.

Dax was sitting on the counter, tapping a gun against his thigh.

“I slipped in while you were outside. ”

Axel didn’t just want to go to the washroom. He’d heard movement.

“Why, Dax? Why did you have to attack Ed?”

“That was an accident.”

“Like the cabin?”

Dax slipped off the counter. He continued to tap his gun against his leg. “That wasn’t me. Why the hell would I destroy Alicia’s cabin? They’re trying to make it look like it’s me.”

“Don’t bullshit me, Dax.”

“I’m telling the truth. When I got there, the cabin was on fire.

I thought you were inside. The neighbor came out and thought I’d started it.

I tried to tell him it wasn’t me. But he wouldn’t listen.

Kept rambling on about drug deals and how he’d seen me over at the island.

He was going to call the cops. I tried to stop him.

He swung at me… and…” He lifted the gun to his head and tapped it gently against his temple.

But it was clear he was indicating that he’d pistol-whipped him.

Dax’s dreadlocks hung low; his eyes looked sunken from a lack of sleep. “Is he okay?”

“I don’t know. Doctors said he might not pull through,” Noah replied.

Dax brought his head back and got this painful expression on his face. “Oh, God!”

Noah took a step forward. “How about you put the gun down.”