Page 116 of In Cold Blood

“He wasn’t done with me. As I told you. Luke knew Cyrus wouldn’t go down based on the little evidence he had. That arrest was nothing more than smoke and mirrors. He hoped that by causing a scene, rattling a few bushes, it would draw people out, and cause people to talk and make mistakes. Maybe even get a confession from Cyrus. It didn’t work. But it did help him connect a few dots. You’ve got to remember, Noah. Luke had his eye on the prize. Cyrus was a small fish. He knew that he was nothing but a pawn in a larger game. He wanted the king. The one at the top. But in doing so…”

“He put a crosshair on his back,” Noah said, nodding.

Dax closed his eyes.

“That’s why you went to work for Harry, after, isn’t it?”

Dax exhaled hard. “Harry paid for Cyrus’ lawyer. That was the first connection Luke got between Cyrus and the High Peaks Pub and Brewery. The Graysons, well, they were just a shield. Harry picked them like it was some big fuck you. Knowing their ties to the Sutherlands. He didn’t have to convince them. Cyrus’friendship with Jack was made out of convenience. To give them an ace in the back pocket, so to speak. No doubt, he had something on him too. It also helped muddy the waters of...”

“Of what?”

“What’s going on.”

“Which is?”

“It doesn’t matter. Luke said he had something. Evidence. Something to connect it all. But even he couldn’t stop it. Don’t you see, there’s no easy way out of this.”

“With you, there could be.”

Dax laughed. “No one is going to believe a junkie with a record.”

“Turning yourself in is your only hope.” Noah extended his hand. “Give me the gun, Dax.”

Dax jabbed his firearm at Noah to get his point across. “No! You’re not listening. You won’t be able to prove it. Don’t you get it, the reason why Luke was so cautious was that…”

Crack.A single round erupted.

Dax dropped and hit the floor with a thud.

Noah whirled around to see Callie standing in the doorway, her service weapon up.

“Put it down! Put it down!” Noah bellowed as she entered the kitchen still holding it but then slowly lowered the weapon.

“What the hell? What the hell?! He wasn’t a danger.”

“He had a gun on you.”

“That he was about to hand over.”

“Didn’t look like that to me.”

“Fuck!” Noah yelled.

Sirens could be heard in the distance.

She’d called for backup.

“I thought he was going to kill you.”

Noah dropped to the ground beside Dax to check on his pulse. Callie walked to the back door in preparation for thearrival of the local PD. The round had gone through his chest, blood was blooming beneath his shirt. As Noah leaned in to check his breathing, at that moment, Dax managed to summon one word, it came out as a whisper. “Yeast.”

Noah gripped his hand, leaning in closer in the hope of getting more but all he caught was his final breath.

30

Alight rain fell from a gunmetal sky as morning arrived in High Peaks. A somber heaviness hung over him like swollen clouds that might never break.

After dealing with the aftermath, Noah had gotten less than a few hours of sleep. He’d tossed and turned, contemplating all that Dax had told him and that final moment.