Page 58 of In Cold Blood

“Right,” she said. “And he never said anything?”

“Nothing that struck me as unusual.”

She nodded.

“This is to do with the Cyrus Keller case, isn’t it?” Noah asked.

She confirmed it with a yes then looked away. “I didn’t want to get caught in the middle of it but I did. Luke thought he could get information from Jack about Cyrus. He overstepped. I told him to stay away. That he was barking up the wrong tree. Then when Cyrus was arrested my father stepped in as the defense attorney and that just tipped him over the edge. That’s when the accusations started rolling in. He accused my father of being paid with drug money to get him off.” She snorted. “As if my father needs money,” she said, shaking her head. Lena was right there. Her family came from wealth. She tossed her cup of coffee into a trash bin nearby. “After that, he acted like we didn’t exist, and that went for Mia and Ethan.”

“No. He wouldn’t do that. Not to them.”

“I’m telling the truth. I would see Luke from time to time parked outside our house in the evenings. He would drive by my workplace. My father said the same. It was getting scary. Intimidating. In the end, I had to get Aiden to speak to him.”

Noah took a deep breath, tightening his grip on the wooden railing.

It didn’t sound like Luke. That wasn’t his way. He wouldn’t have jeopardized his reputation or that of the Sheriff’s Office. That was everything to him.

In the light of day, he saw a twinkling rock on Lena’s finger.

“So, Aiden… he’s not a tour guide?”

She chuckled as if finding that amusing. “What?”

“Dax. He told me you were seeing some outdoorsy type. Who gave tours.”

“He does. But only in his downtime. He’s actually a full-time pastor. He likes to volunteer with a local outdoors facility for troubled youth in the summer months.”

“Of course he does,” Noah replied, running a hand around the back of his neck. “I thought you said you would never marry a religious person.”

“No, I said I wouldn’t marry someone who was married to their work. He’s not.”

That jab cut deep, bringing with it some of their final conversations before parting ways. “No, he’s just married to God.”

She glared at him.

He was quick to smooth things out. “Still, Aiden must be quite the catch.”

“He’s a good man, Noah.” She glanced at him. “Look, are you here to grill me or did you have another reason for coming?”

“I would like to see the kids.”

“Sure, that can be arranged.”

“And I want to know how Jack came to find Keith Erikson’s body.”

She stared back at him as if surprised that he even knew.

“I know he told you. That’s how you got that article out so fast.”

“People deserve to know the truth. If we didn’t get it out, it would have hit the net. That’s my job.”

“And it’s my job to know the truth of how he came to find the body.”

“From what I hear, it’s not. You’re not involved. State sent someone else in to handle matters.”

“For Luke. Not Erikson. Now how did Jack find the body?”

She shook her head.