Page 21 of The Catcher (High Peaks Murder, Mystery and Crime Thrillers #5)

N oah sat nestled on the couch at Callie’s one-bedroom apartment, cradling a cup of hot coffee in his hands.

The warmth seeped into his chilled bones, offering a welcome reprieve from the harshness of the storm raging outside.

The caffeine was quick to alleviate the pounding headache from too much alcohol, along with the Tylenol he’d knocked back.

A small grandfather clock ticked away the seconds, its rhythmic sound comforting in the otherwise quiet room.

Callie returned from the back of the apartment, her arms laden with bedding — a sheet, a duvet, and a pillow. She arranged them on the couch with practiced efficiency, ensuring Noah would be as comfortable as possible for the night.

“That should do. Listen, if the power goes out here and it gets colder, there are more blankets in the cupboard,” she informed him, tucking a loose strand of her dark, curly hair behind her ear.

Her icy blue eyes sparkled with warmth and kindness in the soft glow of the lampstand nearby.

She was attractive. Dressed in a cream long-sleeve shirt and comfortable pants, she exuded an aura of calm.

She folded her arms and offered him a gentle smile before moving to draw the curtains closed, shutting out the wild storm raging beyond the window.

“I hope this lets up soon,” she remarked, her voice full of weariness.

Noah observed her with gratitude. Despite the chaos of the night, Callie remained composed.

He had visited her apartment several times over the past year, occasionally sharing dinner with her, but he had never stayed the night. Yet now, in the aftermath of a harrowing ordeal, the barriers between them seemed to fade away, washed clean by the raw vulnerability of the moment.

“Anything else you need?” Callie asked, turning to face him once more.

“No, I’m good,” Noah replied, his voice soft but sincere.

“Well, I should turn in,” Callie said, her gaze drifting toward the doorway to her bedroom.

“Callie,” Noah called out, his voice catching in his throat.

“Yeah?” she responded, turning back to face him, her expression curious.

“Thank you,” he said, his words heavy with emotion.

“For what?” she asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.

He shrugged, a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips. “For this. And for not judging. ”

A flicker of understanding passed between them, a silent acknowledgment of the unspoken bond that had formed.

Callie offered him one last smile with a nod before disappearing into her room, leaving Noah alone with his thoughts and the comforting embrace of darkness.

Noah climbed below the blankets, interlocked his fingers behind his head, and stared at the ceiling, watching the shadows of tree branches outside dance and form ghoulish shapes. Minutes passed. He heard Callie tossing and turning, clearing her throat.

“Still awake?” he asked.

“This shift doesn’t make it easy,” she replied.

“How come I’ve never seen you with anyone?”

“What do you mean?” she replied.

“You know, dating and all that.”

There was a long pause.

“I don’t know. I’ve just been focused on my career. With our shifts, it’s not easy on relationships, right?”

“For sure.”

“Was that why you and Lena broke up?”

Noah shifted beneath the blankets. Memories of Lena and Alicia intertwined in his mind, their faces blending into one another in the darkness.

“Not exactly,” he admitted, his voice quiet as he wrestled with the tangled web of his past.

“So it’s complicated,” Callie offered, her tone sympathetic.

“Yeah,” Noah agreed, a hint of bitterness creeping into his words. “Complicated doesn’t even begin to cover it. ”

The room fell into silence once more, broken only by the steady rhythm of the storm outside. Noah closed his eyes.

After a few moments, Callie spoke again, her voice soft and tentative.

“Did your relationship with Alicia have something to do with it?”

“That and other things. The reality is Lena and I shouldn’t have ever gotten married. We were young and naive. At least I was. But everything in hindsight, right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Do you want to meet someone?” Noah asked, shifting the topic away from him.

“Doesn’t everyone?”

He scoffed. “Do you see yourself settling down, maybe having a few kids?”

“I guess — one day. I haven’t given it much thought.”

“From the moment Lena and I got married, she wanted kids.”

“And Alicia?”

“Oh, no. She was a free spirit. A wild child, you could say.”

“Was that why you were drawn to her?”

He chewed over her question. “Lena asked the same thing before we left High Peaks over twenty years ago. It’s a long story," Noah continued, his words slow and measured. “Lena and I were together for years, but Alicia…” He trailed off, the memories too painful to put into words.

“You were in love with her,” Callie stated rather than asked, her voice soft and empathic .

Noah hesitated, the truth of her words cutting through him like a knife. “Yeah,” he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. “I thought I was.”

The room fell into silence, the only sound the distant rumble of thunder echoing through the night. Noah closed his eyes, the memories of Alicia swirling around him like a whirlwind, pulling him back into a past he had long tried to forget.

“And Lena?” Callie's voice broke through the silence, her question drawing him back to the present.

“We tried to make it work,” Noah replied, his voice full of regret. “But sometimes it isn’t enough, you know?”

“I get it. I’ve been there.”

“Yeah? With whom and why haven’t you told me?” He let out a small laugh.

She didn’t answer.

“Callie?”

Another pause before she replied, “I lied, Noah.”

“What?”

“You asked me if I had been involved with anyone.” She paused. “I had.”

He smiled, thinking finally he was going to get some big confession about some guy from her college days, some meathead who had been an asshole.

“Well, don’t hold back. Who?”

There was a short pause before she replied, “Your brother.”

He heard her clear her throat. Noah slipped out from under the blankets and went to her bedroom doorway. He looked at her as she shuffled upright in her bed, the duvet cover pulled up to her chest. “You already told me about Luke.”

She shook her head. “Not everything.”

“Everything?”

She nodded.

“What else is there to say?” he asked, referring to his identical twin, who had taken her under his wing long before Noah had arrived. He could tell she was uncomfortable telling him, yet at the same time, she was at ease with him enough to come clean.

“But you told me you initiated it, and he turned you down.”

“You had just lost your brother. I didn’t want you to think badly about him or me. But that’s not the truth. It was Luke who initiated it. I put a stop to it.”

“Does Kerri know?”

“No. Look, we never slept together. Not that it makes it any better. Emotional ties and whatnot. It just happened.”

“For how long?”

“Six months, give or take. He wanted to take things to the next level. He wanted to leave Kerri.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t let that happen — those kids. I just couldn’t. I was foolish, young, and naive.”

Naivete he knew about.

He nodded and exhaled.

“Working so closely. We…” she trailed off. “Look, I shouldn’t have even told you this. I don’t know why I’m telling you this.”

“Then why are you?”

“Because I’ve gotten to know you. We’re close. ”

Her gaze drifted away from the curtain to him. He read between the lines, and maybe he read the signal wrong, or perhaps it was all the alcohol he’d had that night, but he took a few steps into her room and began to close the door.

“What are you doing?” Callie asked in a measured way.

“I… thought…”

“No. I just wanted to tell you.”

“Right. Yeah. Well then, good night,” he said quickly, exiting the room and closing the door behind him. He stood there for a second longer, eyes closed, jaw clenched, feeling like a fool.

They lapsed into silence again, the weight of their shared experiences hanging heavy between them.

In the darkness of Callie’s apartment, Noah found himself grappling with the ghosts of his identical twin brother’s past and the uncertainty of the future, unsure of where the path would lead him next.