Page 63 of In Cold Blood

“Ray asked me not to mention it, I figured you would. As for Luke, well, his track record was pristine. You couldn’t ask for a better cop. I trusted his instincts. Even though I did warn him to be careful. You’re staying at the cabin, aren’t you?”

“Ray told you that too?”

Hugh laughed as he tossed two thick steaks on the BBQ and they hissed loudly. “I might be getting old, son, but my eyes still work. I saw you speaking with Alicia. I put two and two together when Ray and Madeline said you weren’t staying with them, and Kerri headed out of town.”

Noah went inside and scooped up his drink and came back out to find Hugh tossing a ball for Axel. “What do you think happened?”

Noah was curious to get his take on it.

Hugh returned to the BBQ as smoke poured out of the sides.

He looked as if he was contemplating a thought he’d chewed over for days. He turned the steaks with steel prongs. Plumes of smoke and fire engulfed the meat. The aroma made Noah’s mouth water. “Someone wanted him out of the picture. He was sticking his nose in where it wasn’t wanted.”

“But who and why?”

“Who knows? Cyrus. Associates of those he busted in Operation Heat Wave. He took the head off a snake but that drug business is like Medusa, there are many others ready to take over. Luke brushed up against the worst of society more than others. But he was no dirty cop.”

“What are you talking about?”

Hugh went inside and then came out with a manila folder. “This is what I wanted to show you.” He handed it to Noah.Noah flipped it open to find inside the police report and autopsy.

He shot his father a look. “How did you get your hands on this?”

“I might not wear the badge anymore but our family’s reputation and all the hours I clocked can open a few doors where others can’t.”

Noah sat on the garden furniture, flipping through the paperwork, eager to find out who responded to the call, what the woman who called it in had said to dispatch, and ultimately what evidence they found when they arrived on scene. There was also a sheet that showed a breakdown of the calls that Luke had responded to that evening. His mind churned over as he scanned the pages and began reading portions of it. It would take some time to get through it all.

He picked out some key moments.

“Deputy Hendrix was the first to arrive followed by Deputy Thorne to assist with scene security. The forensic team was there within the hour to begin processing the scene.”

The woman who called it in was missing. There was a rough sketch by Hendrix detailing the placement of the vehicle and any evidence gathered. Luke’s cruiser was parked at an angle as if he was attempting to block the two-lane road on both sides. His lights were on, his door wide open. The road was clear and dry. He was found lying in the road, face down. Multiple gunshot wounds to his body. Confirmed deceased on scene.

“They say he never drew his gun but I have a hard time believing that.”

“Why?” Noah asked.

“The way he positioned his car. If there was an accident, he would have put out cones and tried to keep one lane open for traffic. It seems to me he tried to stop someone. He was facing athreat. If it was an ambush, why not just shoot him in the car? Why wait until he was out?”

“You think he stopped someone?”

“Or tried. Again, I’ve looked over that report countless times trying to make sense of it. Especially the part about him having a large number of narcotics in the trunk.”

“He was a part of the drug unit.”

“According to the report, they found narcotics marked and bagged that had already been taken out of the evidence locker from a sting operation weeks earlier. They’re saying he never signed them out that night. They were just missing. Now with the body of Erikson found in a known drug dealing area, a few theories are being tossed out there that Luke and Erikson were working together to sell, and that it wasn’t Erikson that stumbled upon something big but Cyrus.”

“What?”

“Corruption. Dirty law enforcement. That’s the angle.”

“Roberts never said a word.”

“Why would he? They’re only four days into the investigation. He wanted the funeral out of the way before he began following that lead.”

“Yeah, a lead. That’s all it is. And you and I know that leads often go nowhere.”

“Not this one, Noah.”