Page 5 of In Cold Blood

“Still off the booze?” She asked gazing at the label.

“So far.”

“A lot of room for one person. I thought you said you were bringing a date with you,” Savannah said.

“She ghosted me.” There was a pause as his eyebrow shot up. “I mean. He did.”

Savannah nearly spat out her drink.

He clarified. “Yeah, found out it was some fat dude from Idaho.”

She roared with laughter. “Noah Sutherland. You got catfished?”

He nodded, taking a sip and leaning back against the kitchen counter. “But hey, that’s what comes from following your dating advice.”

She tapped the neck of her bottle his way. “Hey, don’t knock it, it worked for me.”

“How is Cora doing?”

She pursed her lips. He was entertaining small talk. Avoidance really. As curious as he was to find out the reason for her visit, in some ways he didn’t want to know. He wasn’t anti-vacations but the thought of trying to find a location, then taking time off, just made his blood pressure rise. But doing the daily grind, well that was just second nature.

Savannah noticed a folder on the table that was open. She thumbed a few sheets and groaned. “Noah.”

“What? It’s just some light reading.”

“The Alman case? It’s over.”

“I enjoy the self-loathing.”

“It’s work. You’re not meant to be doing that. You’ll have enough of that to wade through when you get back.”

“Don’t remind me. I can already see my emails piling up.”

“And phone calls? Have you checked your voicemail?”

“My phone’s been off. It is a vacation after all.”

She rolled her eyes, smiled, and then it faded. She leaned against the counter, gazing out. He could tell she was trying to find the words. “Have you watched the news recently?”

“You know I don’t bother with that. If it’s real news, I’ll hear about it.”

Savannah set her drink down, nodding slowly. “I don’t know how to tell you this.” She dipped her chin and then met his gaze. “Your brother. Um. We got a call a few days ago, on Saturday, from your sister.” She paused. “Luke’s dead, Noah. I’m sorry.”

He swallowed so hard he almost choked. “What?”

Her chest rose. “Friday night. At the end of his shift. Right now, they’re not saying much. They’re not sure if Luke knew if it was coming or not. He never drew his service weapon. I’m sorry, Noah. That’s why I came here.”

“It’s Monday.”

“Yeah, we thought you had your phone on. When your sister couldn’t get through to you, she phoned the office. I tried phoning but you didn’t pick up and… well… I was worried and I figured it was probably best you heard about it in person.”

Noah nodded slowly. He appreciated that.

A mixture of emotions rose. Luke was his identical twin. The only one in the family he had a true bond with. Noah came from a family of four children. They were all involved in law in one way or another. Luke had chosen to follow in their father’s footsteps and work for Adirondack County as a deputy sheriff, while their older brother Ray chose the local High Peaks Police Department — Maddie, well, his younger sister was the anomaly. She’d gone the route of the courtroom as an attorney.

He took a deep breath and let it out.

“They’re not sure what happened, you said?”