Page 67 of In Cold Blood

She looked at him staring at the truck.

“Did you see anyone following you?”

“No.”

“Who else knew you were coming here tonight?”

“My ex. I think that’s about it.”

Callie gestured toward the house and they went inside.

Aaron and Callie peppered them with questions: who, where, when, what, why. The usual. As the questioning drew to a close, Callie conferred with Aaron outside. Noah watched. He couldn’t hear what they were discussing but he saw Aaron walk back to his SUV and get on the radio. Callie came back into the house.

“Mr. Sutherland. I noticed you have cameras outside. I gather you’d be willing to provide a copy of the recording. Might give us something to work with.”

“Can’t do that,” Hugh said.

Noah frowned. Hugh was quick to explain. “Sorry. It’s because there is no recording. They’re dummy cameras.”

“Are you kidding me?” Noah said.

“What? Do you think I’m shelling out hundreds of dollars for crap that will break down the second the temperature drops below freezing? I know times have changed, Noah, but I don’t have that much confidence in technology. Hell, they can’t even make a decent phone nowadays,” he said, lifting his old flipphone. It was typical. Like many his age, he was slow to move into the future. It was easier to bellyache about the times and reminisce.

“It’s okay,” Callie said. “We can video canvass the neighborhood. Although it’s dark, we might be able to at least determine the make and rough estimate of the year of the vehicle. If we’re lucky we might even nab ourselves a license plate.”

Hugh was quick to answer. “Best of luck with that. You’d need one hell of a camera to pick up anything along this street at night. Zero lighting. It’s as dark as hell out there.”

“And you didn’t see anything?” Callie asked again.

Noah shook his head. She nodded, looking around. Her eyes fell upon the manila folder with the police report inside.

“Any other damage?”

“No, that was it,” Noah replied. As he was saying that, Ray burst through the front door all wide-eyed and worried.

“Pops?”

“In here,” Noah replied.

“Great. Why don’t we throw a block party!” Hugh said, going over to the alcohol cabinet and pouring himself another one. Ray looked windswept. He was in grey sweatpants, a white T-shirt, and Nike sneakers.

“Everyone okay? Aaron gave me the heads-up,” Ray said.

“Yes, we’re okay. Is this necessary?” Hugh asked, turning back to Callie. “If you don’t mind, I would like to enjoy my steak before it goes cold.”

Callie wasn’t done yet. “Since Friday, have you noticed any other unusual or suspicious behavior in the area?”

Hugh rolled his eyes. “Lady, you are preaching to the choir.”

“Just doing my job.”

“Yeah, well I was doing mine while you were still in diapers.”

“Ignore him,” Noah said, motioning for Callie to step outside so she didn’t have to put up with his father’s abuse. Hegestured to Ray to speak to him. He didn’t need to explain. Ray would no doubt inform other officers and have them drive by the property on a more frequent basis just to ensure that no harm would come to Hugh, even though he wasn’t the one being targeted.

Outside, Noah ran a hand over his face, feeling a wave of tiredness.

“I’m sorry. My father tends to speak his mind.”