Page 68 of In Cold Blood

“I’m used to it. I was going to ask if you’ve run into any trouble since you’ve been here. Anything new you think I should know?”

Noah had to wonder if she was fishing.

“Well, now that you say it.” He glanced back at the house and motioned her to follow a short distance away just in case he was within earshot of his father through an open window. “I’ll be heading back home soon.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“However, you recall I mentioned this morning about the cabin that Luke was renting before his death. Kerri wasn’t aware of it. At least that I know of.”

She nodded.

“Remember I said there was a lot of material at the house? Incident reports, news articles, photos, and information about Operation Heat Wave. People Luke was looking into. I was hoping to box it up and give it to you and Parish. I was wondering if instead, you wanted to drop by tomorrow evening and collect it? Maybe have supper?”

“Supper?”

“Yeah. You do eat, right?”

Her eyebrow shot up. Noah could tell she was hesitant or assumed something else.

“Oh. Um. Look, bring Parish. I should probably smooth things out with him anyway before I leave. I have all this meatand veggies in the fridge. It would be a shame for it to go to waste.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“No pressure. I just figured we could kill two birds with one stone. Minus the killing and… stoning…” He trailed off, wondering what the hell he was saying as he got tongue-tied.

Callie smiled and looked away. “Well, I should get back to it. Speak with Officer Morgan. You should encourage your father to install a proper security system. The town isn’t what it used to be.”

“People keep telling me that,” he said. “I will.”

As she went to walk away, Noah thought of something.

“Oh, Callie. I mean, Deputy Thorne. I spoke with my ex-wife today. She confirmed Jack Grayson found the body of Erikson and he was the one that leaked it to her. If you haven’t done so already, you should speak with him. He knows more than he’s telling.”

“We’ve got this, Noah.”

“I trust you do. But whatever people think about Luke. Whatever connection they are trying to make between him, Erikson, and drugs. They’ve got it wrong. He wasn’t a dirty cop. I guarantee you that.”

“Would you lay a bet on that?” she asked.

“I would bet my kids’ life,” he shot back in an instant.

Callie regarded him for a second.

“Trust me, that’s a bet you don’t want to make,” she muttered before walking away. Noah could have sworn that she knew something he didn’t, something that may have only been shared between her and Luke.

“Oh. Dinner will be at six,” he called out. She didn’t turn, just stuck a hand in the air to acknowledge she’d heard.

Back inside,Noah found Ray flipping through the police report. One thing Hugh had been right about was investigation was everything. It was in their blood. Hugh had filled Ray in on the direction the current case was heading, based on Ray’s reaction.

“If they think they are going to paint Luke in a bad light, they are mistaken. I’m going to have a word with County,” Ray said, tossing the folder down. “What an insult!” He charged toward the front door but Noah stopped him by grabbing his arm.

“Leave it. You’ll only make things worse.”

“Worse? How the hell can it get any worse? Does it take another one of us to be murdered for them to wake up and smell the coffee? Luke was a damn fine officer and I won’t have them spin it another way. And you. You should be speaking with Lena. If she catches wind of what’s in that report, it will be front-page news. Kerri and the kids don’t need to see that.”

“It won’t happen.”

“Really? Would you like me to show you the last few issues of theAdirondack Daily Enterprise?Lena has had her eyes on County and Luke since the Cyrus case was dropped. I know you’ve been away, Noah, but maybe it’s time you catch up. Anyway, I’ve gotta go.” He looked back at Hugh. “You good, Pops?”