Page 88 of In Cold Blood

“Yeah. Harry sent him packing.”

“For what?”

“What do you think? Striking a patron.”

Noah regarded him. “Luke was called out to that. I don’t recall him arresting Cyrus.”

He got quiet and leaned across. “That’s because, by the time your brother showed up, Harry had handled it. It was notched up to a few too many drinks. No one wanted to press charges. It was just a rowdy group that got out of hand and self-defense on Cyrus’ part.”

“Was it?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t see it.”

“You sure?” Noah was beginning to doubt what came out of Dax’s mouth. “What was the argument over?”

He didn’t reply.

“Dax!” a waitress said, standing by the doorway.

“Yeah, coming.” He turned back to Noah. “Look, I have to get back to work. It’s good seeing you again, Noah. I’m here until two. If I wasn’t working so late, I would have a drink with you but...”

“Dax.”

“Look man, it was just a group of tourists who’d had one too many to drink. It happens all the time. I got to go.”

“What about an address for Cyrus?”

“Speak to Harry. I don’t know it. If you stick around, I heard Cyrus is supposed to be dropping in this evening.”

With that said, he darted into the kitchen. Noah returned to his table with even more questions than answers.

“All good?”

“Yeah.”

“You know him?”

“He’s an old friend.” Noah inhaled a breath and let it out. “Harry’s not here tonight. Seems Cyrus hasn’t been around since the night Luke died. I was looking over the call report of thatnight. Luke was called out here because of a fight. While no one was arrested, Cyrus told him that night to keep his nose out of things if he knew what was good for him. I think Luke was onto him. I think he had this whole place in his crosshair.”

“I think the part of Cyrus is self-explanatory. He probably resented Luke for arresting him and trying to pin the Erikson disappearance on him,” Callie said. “If he didn’t have anything to do with it, it would make sense.”

“Then why disappear for a week?”

“Maybe Harry fired him.”

They continued eating and Callie shared what Jack Grayson had told them. “That’s beautiful. He expects us to believe that because Grayson hunts in those woods every weekend that he happened to find the body.”

“I know it sounds implausible but if Jack or Cyrus had anything to do with his death, Jack would be incriminating himself and throwing Cyrus back under the bus when his family had only barely managed to get him off the hook. Then there’s the problem of ten months of being in the elements. That body is just bones now. Most of it is gone. The coroner will be hard-pressed to figure out how he died. The cause of death will be marked undetermined.”

“Was his skull there?”

“Yeah. It was intact. No bullet wound.” Callie downed the remainder of her drink. “Jack Grayson has a clean record, Noah.”

“He won’t if he continues to hang around with the likes of…”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cyrus Keller enter the establishment. He was a rough-looking individual, tall and heavily built, with a goatee and unkempt hair. His clothes looked worn and dirty, the kind of garb that a hunter might be seen wearing after days in the bush. He had this menacing scowl on his face. There was no hesitation, only confidence, power,and a hint of aggression. It was clear that he commanded attention and instilled fear in those around him.

Noah rose, and Callie followed his gaze. “Cyrus. Hey.”