Page 59 of In Cold Blood

“Lena. This is me.”

“Hunting. Okay?”

“All right. I’ll ask him myself,” Noah said, turning to walk away.

“Noah.”

He stopped.

“I just told you.”

“You expect me to believe that out of the umpteen thousand acres out there that Jack just happened to stumble across his body? The body of a person that no one else could find and who his pal Cyrus supposedly bumped heads with? C’mon. Lena. Do I look like a fool?”

“We report what we are told. That’s what he told me.”

“Then he told you a lie. There was a reason why Luke had his eyes on Jack and Cyrus. Now perhaps he was way off base but?—”

“He was,” she said, cutting him off.

“But maybe, he just didn’t have all the pieces. I just hope for Jack’s sake, and your family’s, that he hasn’t thrown himselfunder the bus to help out a pal.” He paused. “What time can I swing by today to see the kids?”

“They’re with their grandmother at the moment. It will have to be Saturday.”

He locked eyes with her. There was a time they would have told each other everything. No secrets. No lies. No holding back. It was strange how two people could be head over heels in love and then feel worlds apart years later. “All right. Text me a time. I’ll be there.”

“And Noah. Don’t go bothering Jack. Please.”

He raised a hand but didn’t look back. He couldn’t promise that.

Noah returned to his vehicle that was parked just down from the sub store. As he got closer, some guy was looking as if he was about to break the window on the side of the truck.

“Hey, hey. What are you doing?”

“You know you can’t leave a dog inside.”

“The window is open.”

“Not enough. It’s a hot day.”

“And I parked in the shade. I wasn’t gone long. Besides, had you smashed that window, you might have found yourself mopping up your blood. He’s a police dog.”

“You’re a cop?”

“That’s right.”

“Where’s your badge?”

“Left it at home.”

“Bullshit.”

“Thank you for your concern,” he said, getting in the driver’s side. He’d made a point to leave all four windows down halfway and parked below a tree where the truck wouldn’t be in direct sunlight. He’d also left water in the vehicle in a bowl. Still, he had to wonder how Luke managed to do this, day in and day out.

“Seems you have admirers,” he said to Axel.

Axel sniffed his pockets. Noah pulled out a treat and handed it to him. He then checked his phone messages.

Ray had texted him to remind him that his father wanted him there for dinner that evening. He knew it wasn’t Ray’s choice. That was his father’s way. Always using someone else to communicate. He shook his head. Noah was just about to start up the truck and drive back to High Peaks when he saw Lena return to the newspaper. He waited. Call it an instinct. Sure enough, she came out a moment later juggling keys, and went around the back.