Page 15 of Vanish From Sight (High Peaks Murder, Mystery and Crime Thrillers #2)

“Thanks, Kerri,” he said before ending the call.

He would have been lying to say he didn’t feel disappointed.

Thoughts of all the crap homes he’d toured in the last two weeks came back to his mind.

He’d considered contacting Alicia to see if she’d managed to have the cabin rebuilt.

He could get into something new, modern, and probably work out a deal that was far better than what he could ever hope to find elsewhere.

Still, there would be strings attached there. He still hadn’t called her since he’d returned. Noah brought up his contacts, his thumb hovered over her name.

He hit dial. It rang a couple of times then she picked up.

“Alicia Michaels, Fish and Game.”

“Hey.”

“Noah? Huh. I almost didn’t answer. Five months without a peep.”

“How you doing?” Noah went into the hallway and opened a towel closet and fished around inside.

“Busy. You?”

“Always. Hey, um, that cabin. Did you get it rebuilt?”

“Why?”

“Just curious.”

The line went quiet.

“Alicia?”

“You’re back, aren’t you?”

“Did you do anything or not?”

“Don’t dodge the question.”

“Yes. I’m back.”

He heard her scoff. “No. It’s not. I mean, it won’t be for a while. You know how these things go with insurance companies. Trying to get them to pay out is like squeezing blood from a stone.” She paused for a second. “Where you staying? ”

“Gretchen’s for now.”

“I’m sure there are other properties out there.”

“Did you have a cash-out option?”

“I think so.”

“Then I have a proposition for you. I will buy the land from you.”

“Why would you do that?”

“I like the view.”

“And the neighbor?”

“I would be living beside him, not with him.”

She chuckled. “Do you have the money?”

He didn’t reply with the answer she wanted. “Do we have a deal?”

“I’ll think about it. I need to talk to the insurance company.”

“So, I heard you’re seeing someone.”

“Who told you that?”

“It’s High Peaks.”

“Right. People are either tight lipped or flapping their gums.” She went quiet for a second or two. “Yes. I am. Why, you jealous?”

He laughed. “You flatter yourself too easily.”

“I gave you plenty of opportunity.”

“I didn’t call to talk about us. Just wanted to ask. I’ll catch up with you later.”

He hung up and stood there, clutching the phone tightly. Thinking about that moment back at the cabin, and what might have become of them had he gone a different way.

Noah pushed it from his mind and turned toward the main bedroom.

It was clean, the bed made. He looked in the closet, lifting clothes, pushing items aside.

Nothing indicated that Nicholas was falling apart without his wife around.

He noticed on her side of the bed a couple of books, along with a photo of the two of them when they first got married.

There was a folded-up newspaper on the floor.

He picked it up and flipped through it but saw nothing out of the ordinary — just the usual mix of national news, sports scores and local events.

Beneath that one was an older newspaper, going back several years. This one had an article circled in red:

Adirondack Daily Enterprise lead reporter accused of workplace harassment by ‘Jane Doe’

He made a mental note of the name of the person who wrote the article, and the one accused, before setting it back down. He continued his sweep of the room but found nothing else of interest.

Back downstairs, Noah entered just as Nicholas’ calm exterior had begun to crack, revealing his desperation.

“I don’t know what else to tell you. I swear I had nothing to do with this,” he said, his voice trembling.

“I loved Katherine. She meant everything to me.” Noah observed him closely, his experience had honed his instincts.

It wasn’t uncommon to hear similar protests from suspects, but something about Nicholas’ tone and body language felt genuine.

“The newspaper upstairs seems old,” Noah said.

“Oh, that. Yeah, after leaving her job, she kind of became obsessed by any local or international cases related to harassment. She was considering taking the Academy to court but…”

“But?”

“We didn’t have the money for that. A case like that would have been dragged out for years. There was no guarantee she could even win, and what would be gained without ruining our reputation?”

“Our?”

“Well, it wouldn’t have just been her reputation, my name would have been dragged through the mud.

I work at the bank. I see locals every day.

Can you imagine if something like that hit the news?

” He groaned. “And really, what proof did she have? Or as I said to Katherine, what evidence did they have against her that made them so convinced that if she didn’t step down, it could jeopardize the name of the Academy? ”

Noah regarded him, studying his mannerisms. “Mr. Evans, while I can understand why your wife might feel under stress, you said your wife did the same thing a year ago, can you share why that was?”

“Like I said, work stress. I think whatever happened this year was already in the works back then. I just think it finally came to a head.” He teared up.

Noah sensed that they had reached the limits of what he could tell them for now.

Noah thanked him for his time and promised to keep him updated of any developments in the case.

Stepping off the porch, Noah turned. “Would you have the name of the shelter Katherine went to last time, and the address of her parents? We’d like to notify them once we have a positive ID. For now, please keep this to yourself.”

Nicholas nodded before heading back in to scribble down the information. He returned a moment later and handed them a scrap of paper.

“I will be in touch to collect Sonny.”

With that he turned and went back inside.

As they walked back to the vehicle, Callie asked, “You buy his story?”

“I don’t buy anyone’s story. But right now, we just follow the breadcrumbs and see where it leads.”