Page 71 of In Cold Blood

“Yeah, well, it seems Luke never told a lot of people about what he was doing. The Adirondack Sheriff’s Office might be gunning to pin him as someone involved in illicit behavior, but I think they are way off base.” He looked past the cabin toward the lake. Noah sighed as he climbed out. He shut the door and then leaned in through the window. “Remember what I said. Be sure to tell him. The sooner the better, Maddie.”

She gave a pained smile. “It’s good to have you back, Noah. I know you and dad have your issues but I would love to see you back here.”

“Yeah. Never say never, right?”

He slapped the top of her car and Maddie raised the window, honked her horn, and reversed out, leaving him and Axel standing in the dark. After going inside and before turning on the lights, Noah waited in the dark, peering out to look for movement. Had someone followed him to his father’s? What if they showed up here?

Satisfied, Noah flipped on the lights.

He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and slid open the rear French doors that led out to the back porch. The fresh evening air was invigorating. Noah leaned against the porch post and took a sip of his drink while Axel headed off to relieve himself. He eyed the silhouette of the islands across the lake that separated him from the town. His gaze drifted to his nearest and only neighbor, Ed Baxter.

Lights were on in his property. The drone of light jazz music was making its way over. Noah stepped off his porch and headed down to the end of the dock. Axel followed. The rain had let up.The only illumination came from a few flickering tiki torches on Ed’s property and his cabin light.

Moored to the dock, a small white fishing boat bobbed gently; its thick rope tied around a post. Inside were rowing paddles. There was a black outboard motor on the back.

Across the water. Noah eyed Hawk Island.

“Tempting isn’t it,” Ed cried out.

Noah turned to find him strolling down, looking every bit as good as he did the last time. Fortunately, this time he was wearing more than shorts. He had on dark brown slacks, suspenders, and well-worn boots. He had a pipe in the corner of his mouth.

“How are you, Ed?”

“Oh, you know, still above ground.”

“Did you see much happening tonight?”

“No. Whoever was there must have left this morning. No fires. No loud music. The water is as calm as can be. A good time to explore, if I don’t mind saying so myself.”

Noah grinned. “Great minds think alike.”

“I can keep an eye on fuzzball if you like.” Axel let out a low growl and Ed took that as disapproval. “All right. All right. No need to get salty.”

“Would you? I wouldn’t be long.”

“You sound like your brother the first time he asked the same.”

“He went over?”

“Many times. Not just that island either. The other two.”

“Did he ever find anything?”

“He came back one night with a bag from Hawk Island. He never showed me what was in it. I never asked.”

He set his drink down. “Axel. Stay here. Be good.”

Noah stepped into the boat and felt it sink ever so slightly. Ed untethered the rope and tossed it in. After he fired up thesmall motor on the back, Ed gave him the thumbs-up and the boat glided smoothly away from the dock.

The lake rippled before him as the boat surged through the still, dark waters and he approached the ten-acre island. The silhouetted tip of the Olympic Whiteface Mountain loomed over the island across the way. Having grown up in the region, like most locals, he was familiar with the history of all three islands, specifically Hawk. It had been developed as a summer residence for the bishop of New York back in the early 1900s. They’d designed it with trails and well-manicured lawns, and built a historic six-bedroom house with an additional boathouse and dock. Out of the three islands, this was the only one that was available for renting a week at a time.

Noah skirted around the island, taking it in from the water.

He was mindful that it was private property.

The investigator in him wanted to step onto the island but if it was being used to traffic drugs, he figured there had to be some form of surveillance in place even when no one was there. Game trail cams attached to trees or some home security that could let them monitor any lookie-loos. The last thing he wanted was to be pulled in for trespassing days before he was about to head back.

But if Ed was right about Luke returning with a bag. Maybe not.