Page 60 of In Cold Blood (High Peaks Murder, Mystery and Crime Thrillers #1)

“I don’t need to — Luke will.” Noah reached into his leather satchel and pulled out a thumb drive.

“You see, in all your attempts to cover up your deception, you couldn’t remember every little detail.

No one ever can. Nor do they need to when they’re the one at the helm guiding the ship.

Like informing Sergeant Emerson. You forgot.

So she queried Deputy Thorne and Thorne went to my brother and was then caught on video arguing with him because he was down as having accepted the narcotics.

However, like any good investigator, Luke knew he hadn’t accepted them.

That’s when I think Luke realized you were involved.

See, unlike Hendrix, you were very careful not to be tied to it all, that’s why you brought Hendrix on.

If he went down, you could just stand in denial.

What evidence did he really have on you?

But you screwed up. Not just with logging evidence on your computer under Thorne’s name but the most damning evidence was meeting with Harry Carter to reassure him that it was business as usual the day after Luke was found dead.

You see, Luke took a lot of photos and videos of the island and Harry’s establishment, far more than I could imagine one person could take without being seen or spending most of the day and night out on the water.

Most of that footage was taken in the days leading up to his death.

However, not all of it. As I was going through it, I noticed the date of several videos stored on iCloud.

They were dated one day after Luke’s death.

Impossible, right? That’s what I thought until I found this,” he said, pulling out of his bag an Apple phone.

“I didn’t even know he had a second phone.

But when I logged into iCloud I went under ‘Find Devices’ and from the drop-down list, it showed he had two.

The one you had Hendrix collect and wipe and the one he had set up among the trees near the water in the hopes he might capture the manufacturing process.

And he did. Just like a hunter might use a trail cam.

In fact, he did one better and caught you and Harry together standing beside the addition and you receiving a tidy little payment.

Probably a payment which pays for this place. ”

He stopped, waiting for Roberts to say something, but he simply took a drink, looking confident.

Noah continued. “Of course, you didn’t worry about being seen because Luke was no longer around and any photos and videos found on Luke’s tech, Hendrix would have deleted them.

But his iCloud was turned off on his computer so they still existed online.

” Noah smiled. “Never send a boy to do a man’s job.

” Noah was referring to Hendrix. “Incidentally, that’s another one of Rishi’s quotes. Ah, I love that kid.”

Noah leaned back, confident that he had him.

Roberts glanced down, nodding. But Noah wasn’t done.

“It was quite an operation you were running until Luke figured it out. He was out there that night to stop one of those delivery trucks but you took his regular vehicle off the road and put it in the shop. Faulty transmission, right? Yeah, you see, I called the auto place. Seems everything was fine. Whose name is down to approve it going in? Yours. Can’t have Luke driving a cruiser with a dashboard camera.

And the one on his vest was easy to shut off.

Then we have Axel. Who mysteriously gets sick.

You can’t have him in the mix either, dogs are too smart, right?

That could have been a problem. Probably had Hendrix handle that one, yes? ”

Roberts looked down at Axel who was eyeing him as if he understood every damn word Noah had said.

Roberts chuckled. “I guess it’s true what they say about you Sutherlands. You really do see things differently. Well done. You figured it out.”

“A little too late.”

He snorted. “It’s never too late, Noah. As far as State, local PD, and the Sheriff’s Office are concerned, this is a closed book. A done deal. It’s in the bag. What is it you want? Money? To be elected? Cause I think we could make that happen.”

“Of course, you could,” he said, shaking his head. “But at whose expense?”

“Hendrix did it for the money. He didn’t give two shits about becoming sheriff.

He didn’t care for this county the way I do.

I put his name into the hat to run in case I didn’t get enough votes.

I figured if I could double our chances, there might be hope.

Hope at having a life beyond the shit pay you earn and the handshake they give you when you leave office.

You know that doesn’t cut it.” Roberts paused before continuing.

“Do you know how many police marriages end up in divorce, Noah? Well, I don’t need to tell you; of all people you understand.

The hours. The sacrifice. What it truly costs to go out there and serve and protect.

And for what? To have people hate you? To spend most of your career burying your brothers in arms?

And those are just the ones who kill themselves.

” He took another sip of his drink. “The public doesn’t care about us. All they care about is themselves.”

“Is that so bad?” Noah asked.

Roberts stabbed a finger at him as he leaned forward.

“That’s the very question I would ask you.

” He paused. “Is it so bad for us to take care of ourselves? Our families? To take a little something when we literally bleed every day for others?” He sat back.

“I did it for this community. For Janice, for my kids, and myself.”

“You’re living off the backs of addicts.”

“And you don’t think you are? Please. Away with your self-righteous bullshit. Tell it like it is. You wanted another Sutherland to be sheriff. Well, that’s not going to happen.”

“Maybe not. But neither are you.” Noah shook his head. “You know the Alman case?”

“I sure do. It was plastered all across the news.”

“I took the hit on that. The blame for an investigation gone wrong. But the truth was, I wasn’t the one who made the mistake, another investigator on the team did.

What the media doesn’t know is that I told them it was me.

You see, sheriff, real risk doesn’t come without sacrifice, and there is no bigger sacrifice than laying down your career, your reputation, or your life for another.

‘To Protect and Serve’ doesn’t end at the community but it extends to those we serve alongside.

That’s why Sutherlands held your title for four generations, not because we wanted a little something for ourselves but because we wanted something better for others. ”

“Addicts’ lives end every day across this country. You can’t stop it. It’s inevitable.”

“Maybe so, but you don’t get to make that decision.”

Roberts downed the remainder of his drink. “The way I see it, all you’ve got is circumstantial evidence. It won’t hold up in court. No one will believe you. ”

“Maybe,” he said, reaching to his lapel and speaking into a mic button on his shirt. “But I’m sure this conversation will help. Take him in.”

The roar of engines could be heard as tires crunched over gravel followed by blinding headlights shining directly through the windows.

Roberts lunged at Noah, his hand reaching for his throat, all spit and fury.

It was the worst mistake he could have made.

Before he could make contact, Axel intervened, taking down the sheriff with a powerful leap. The dog latched onto Roberts’ arm, holding him securely as he struggled to break free. Roberts cried out in agony as the K-9’s jaw clamped down harder.

As the trained dog shook his head, controlling Roberts with ease, the doors burst open, and State Police, local PD, and Callie flooded in like a wave. Pulsating strobe lights lit up the night, bleeding red and blue and revealing a convoy of police cars around the property.