Page 43 of The Smart Killer (High Peaks Murder, Mystery and Crime Thrillers #4)

I t was the break they wanted. They now held the key to it all. The Adirondack Sheriff’s Office buzzed with an undercurrent of anticipation as Noah burst through the entrance the following day. He’d received the phone call a little after eight thirty.

The atmosphere crackled with urgency, the energy palpable in every corner of the bustling office. Phones rang, keyboards clicked, and the distant hum of conversation filled the air as officers moved with purpose.

Maisie Callaway, the lady at the reception desk, acknowledged Noah with a nod as she buzzed him in. “Who’s in with him?” Noah asked, determination propelling him forward.

“No one yet,” Maisie replied, her voice carrying the weight of the unfolding situation. Noah nodded and entered the viewing room that afforded a clear shot of the interview room through a one-way mirror.

Inside, State Police Investigator Porter and Detective McKenzie were engaged in conversation with Sheriff Avery Rivera. Noah approached them, his gaze fixed on Landon Emmett.

“Noah.”

“Sheriff. Where did they find him?” Noah inquired, his focus unwavering.

Rivera turned to face him. “They didn’t. He walked in here and gave himself up,” she revealed, the revelation hanging in the air like a charged current.

Noah stared through the one-way mirror, trying to fathom the unexpected turn of events. “Here? But hold on, he was in Plattsburgh, over an hour away. Why come here?” The question lingered in the room, an enigma wrapped in uncertainty.

“I couldn’t tell you,” Rivera admitted.

Determined to unravel the mystery, Noah turned decisively. “Then let’s find out.” He moved to the interrogation room, but McKenzie stood resolute, blocking the doorway.

“Not this time. He’s asked for a lawyer,” McKenzie stated, his tone underscoring the situation.

Noah’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief. “He’s lawyered up?” The realization hung in the air, a barrier between them and the answers they sought. All three nodded in confirmation.

“Yes. So that’s where it ends until we hear from the lawyer,” Rivera declared, a note of frustration in her voice. Noah clenched his jaw, his eyes narrowing as he stared at Emmett.

Noah ran a hand over his jaw. “His lawyer is not even here.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Rivera pointed at him.

“Don’t you go pulling any of that cowboy shit!

The lawyer is supposed to be here soon.” With that said, Rivera exited the room, leaving the three of them alone to observe the scum through the window.

It was the first time he had gotten a good look at him since their brief exchange in the apartments.

His bearded visage bore the rugged marks of a man who had spent time in the wilderness, the facial hair framing his face in a wild, untamed manner.

He was dressed still in the black T-shirt that clung to his torso, and Noah noticed scratch marks down his arms. Were they from the branches and foliage as he tried to escape through the forest?

His jeans, stained and worn, hugged his legs.

Despite the weariness in his appearance, there was a glint of defiance in his eyes as if he was untouchable.

“What do you think his angle is?” Porter said.

“I doubt we will know,” McKenzie replied. “Once the lawyer gets his hooks in him, we will kiss goodbye to any chance of questioning him, and he will be shuffled off into the court system.”

“He’s not done,” Noah said, meeting Landon’s gaze as he turned his head, almost as if he knew he was being watched.

“No. I don’t think he is,” Porter added, pressing up against the window. “What I would give to get in there and speak with him. Just a moment to prick his mind and find out why.”

“I think we already know why,” Noah added. “Lakeridge. His past. The curious part is why he didn’t target Michael Taylor first and why he waited so long before beginning his killing.”

Then it happened. So fast they didn’t have time to register it.

The sudden burst of the interview room door sent shock waves through the Sheriff’s Office. Out of nowhere, Callie stormed in, dressed in civilian clothes, catching everyone off guard. McKenzie’s exclamation echoed the surprise shared by the others.

“Shit. Who let her in?” he cried out, hurriedly opening the other door to enter the interview room, trying to control the unexpected chaos.

“Why? Why did you kill her?” Callie screamed.

“What did she do to you?” Her anguish pierced the air as she lunged at Emmett; his hands were still cuffed in front of him, a loose chain attached, extending down to the floor.

The chair toppled backward, and chaos erupted as Noah, McKenzie, and Porter rushed in to intervene.

“You son of a bitch!” Callie screamed. The room became a battleground of emotions as Callie landed on Emmett, demanding answers.

“Get her out of here!” Sheriff Rivera’s voice boomed from the doorway as she appeared on the scene. McKenzie managed to get hold of Callie, struggling to restrain her, attempting to calm the volatile situation.

“All right. All right, lassie, calm down!”

Rivera scowled, her frustration evident, and decisively closed the door, leaving Noah and Porter alone with the now-downed Emmett. The abrupt fall had caused a head injury and left Emmett with a trickle of blood marking the impact.

“I’ll get the med kit,” Porter said, exiting the room with purpose. Meanwhile, Noah carefully lifted Emmett and his chair back upright. The atmosphere in the room was tense; the aftermath of Callie’s emotional outburst still lingered like an electric charge.

“It was the drone, wasn’t it?”

Emmett’s whispered words near his face cut through the air, a haunting sound in the aftermath of the chaos.

“What?” Noah responded, his gaze fixed on the blood trickling down the side of Emmett’s face. Emmett brought up his cuffed hands, emphasizing the question with a twisted smirk playing on his lips.

“You know. How you found me,” he clarified, the gravity of his words hanging in the air like an unspoken truth.

Noah stared back, his mind racing with countless questions.

Yet he maintained his composure, unwilling to break police procedure.

He glanced towards the door, silently urging Porter to return.

“You saw the books, didn’t you? You know now what he did, don’t you?” Emmett continued the urgency in his tone, matching the moment’s intensity. Noah clenched his jaw, retrieving scattered paperwork from the floor.

“It’s a pity three families had to die for everyone to take notice,” Emmett remarked callously, his words a bitter commentary on the harsh reality that had led to this confrontation. Noah placed the papers on the table, his expression unreadable.

“But the reality is, he is the one that killed them, not I,” Emmett asserted, his gaze locked onto Noah.

“I don’t give a fuck. You will have plenty of time to tell your lawyer.”

As Noah turned to leave, Emmett’s parting words sent a chill down his spine. “But will you have enough time to save them?”

Noah halted, his eyes narrowing as he faced Emmett.

“What did you say?”

Emmett leaned back in the chair, a sinister grin spreading.

“You know Ashford is behind the narcotics. I heard him that day talking to your father. About Alicia. About Ethan. I eavesdropped on the entire conversation,” he said, tapping his ear.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it? People buy smart devices for dumb people,” he said with a chuckle.

“Save who?” Noah questioned him again.

Emmett ignored his question and continued, “Your son. Your ex-wife, your brother. Even that sweet little lady of yours. They mean nothing to these individuals. You are all just pawns in their game. Useful until you aren’t.

But you are different. They know that. It scares them.

The only one that is keeping you alive is your father.

Did you know that?” He paused. “But how tangled he has become.” He made a tsking noise with his lips.

“I wonder how quickly you would rush to his aid if you knew what else I heard.”

“What do you know?”

He wouldn’t answer. He just laughed.

Noah turned to leave.

Then Emmett became dead serious.

“The real question, detective, is are you willing to do what is necessary to get their attention? Some people only understand this,” he said, touching his head and bringing his hand in front of him, rubbing blood between his fingers. “Are you willing to spill it?”

“You son of a bitch.”

The tension in the room escalated, breaking only when Porter returned with the med kit. The room was fraught with unspoken truths. As Porter began treating him, Emmett stared at Noah, a deadpan expression as if looking right into his soul.

As soon as Porter was done, he snapped the med kit closed.

“He’s thirsty,” Noah said.

“Uh? He had a bottle of…” Porter went to say but he saw the bottle that had been there was no longer there. Noah never took his eyes off Emmett, even as Porter asked him where it was.

Porter glanced back at Emmett before he walked back out again.

“See. You understand,” Emmett said with a smile.

“The others.” He shook his head. “They don’t get it.

” He lifted his cuffed hands and pointed.

“But you. You do. Oh, this is exciting. To finally find someone else with an IQ that matches mine. That’s why I told you about Ashford.

About your father. That’s why I can’t wait to see who you choose. ”

“What?”

“To save.” He laughed.

Noah started backing up, feeling like he was being lured into a game.

His eyes went to the camera in the corner of the room, pointing down at him.

He still hadn’t broken protocol. “Well, detective? Don’t you want to know?

I think you would as… well… time’s ticking,” he said, lifting his eyes to the clock on the wall.

Noah took out his phone and placed a call to his father.

Emmett began to laugh harder.

It kept ringing and then went straight to voicemail.

“I wonder if anyone is home behind door number two?” Emmett said, laughing all the more. “Or is she behind door number one?”

Noah frowned at the mention of her.

For a second, his eyes widened.

“Detective. Have you ever heard the saying, keep your friends close and your enemies closer?” he asked.

“Oh, they do it so well. I can see why you fell for her. I really can, but she has played you like a fiddle, my friend, just as Michael Taylor did to me. She knows! She knows!” He continued to laugh.

Emmett’s insinuation about Alicia’s involvement in the drug trade hit Noah like a gut punch. The tension in the room soared as he grappled with the implications.

Noah tried to phone Alicia, but it also went to voicemail.

“Oh dear, no luck? That’s probably because she got a call from your father. Or was that me? It’s hard to remember. The lines blur when you are having so much fun with deepfake voice technology and eavesdropping on conversations.”

Noah clenched his hand, his eyes lifting to the camera.

Rage began to swirl, clouding his judgment. He backed up for a second, one last attempt to reel it in.

“What have you done?”

“Don’t you wish you had left that tracker in her truck now?”

He laughed.

Noah lost it.

He scooped up a chair, and in an instant, he smashed the video camera in the corner of the room. Then, in desperation to uncover the truth, Noah slammed the doors shut and locked them, the metallic click echoing in the confined space.

“Save who?!” he shouted. His temper was a simmering storm beginning to spiral out of control.

Within seconds, from the other side, he heard banging.

“Noah. Noah! Open up,” Porter yelled.

He rushed over to Emmett and put a hand around his neck while he was still seated. He dragged him to the back wall, slamming him up against it. “What have you done?”

“Oh, well, that’s to be seen.”

“Who? WHO!” he shouted.

“Who else. The two people closest to you. The backstabbers. The liars, the keepers of truth. Those who have caused you untold pain. Your father…” he paused for a second. “… and the Fish and Game warden.”

“Where are they?”

“Um, let me see. The last I recall, she’s gone to your father’s home to see him, and him, he was on his way to 1320 Blake Way, an appointment with Luther and Michael Taylor, a melding of investors and liars.

I do love to kill two birds with one stone.

The only question now isn’t who will survive, but who should? ”

He laughed again.

Noah released his grip and flew out of the room, the door closing with a decisive thud behind him. In the corridor, he shouted to anyone who could hear, his voice cutting through the station’s buzz. He began relaying the critical information. A flurry of words masked by panic.

The urgency reverberated through the corridors, and officers sprang into action. The once-controlled environment now pulsed with the chaos of an imminent crisis.