Page 9 of In Cold Blood
The mundane. The hours between.
One day they were close, the next they were worlds apart, nothing but ships passing each other in the night. They’d tried. They really had. They’d gone to see a counselor multiple times but eventually, they realized it wasn’t working. If he had to put his finger on it, they’d rushed into marriage without really getting to know each other. So, the parting was amicable. In many ways, he still loved her. How could he not? She was the mother of his children.
But she deserved better. Both of them did.
Lena had returned to High Peaks two years ago, taking Ethan and Mia with her.
Noah crouched and picked up some of the cards.
Who were all these people? Condolences, touching words about heaven, and angels, and finding justice, were scrawled inside. Kids had sketched out police vehicles in crayon, others had left a photo of him and his K-9 from a local school he’d visited, thanking him.
“We’ll always remember you and Axel.”
That was the first moment he’d gotten a name.
The last time he’d spoken with Luke, he’d said he was training to be a K-9 officer, the first and only one in the county. He admired that. It took a lot of heart and determination. Training a dog to serve wasn’t easy. Yet it was just the way Luke was. He never recalled him saying much about his day-to-day work as a deputy. He’d always opted to keep his personal and work life separate. And, well, because they were both working in law enforcement, it was the last thing they wanted to discuss when they got on the phone.
As an avid outdoorsman, Luke was more eager to tell him about snowboarding, camping, or fishing, and how when he visited next time, maybe they could take the kids out to Whiteface Mountain.
Next time.
They both thought there would be a next time.
The weight of his brother’s death bore down hard. Whoever had done this had given it a lot of thought. It was methodical. But who? A local angry at cops? A group trying to send a message to the Sheriff’s Office? The media had received an anonymous threat to the office that more officers would be shot. No reason was given.
Would the killer attend the funeral?
His phone jangled in his pocket. Distracted, he peeled hiseyes away from the photo of his brother in full uniform as he fished the iPhone out. It was his sister Maddie.
He tapped accept.
“Hey, sis,” he said before she said anything.
“How far out are you?”
“About thirty minutes.”
“Look, they pushed up the time of the funeral.”
“What?”
“It’s changed.”
“You meanthechanged it.”
There was a pregnant pause. She knew he was referring to their father. Maddie was like their mother, a peacemaker, never wanting to rock the boat in the family, though if given the chance — like the phone call she was making — she was always first to be the one to smooth things out.
“You know how he is, Noah. Impatient. To be fair though, I think it was something to do with the large crowds. He wants to get it over with.”
“Over with… You’re joking, right?”
“No. I tried to reason with him, heck, even the funeral officiant tried, but…”
“He knows I’m coming, doesn’t he?”
Another pause. “I did tell him. Yes.”
“And let me guess, that’s when he decided to change the time.”
