Page 26 of In Cold Blood
The stranger balked, and a look of confusion spread. “The drug trade. C’mon now. Ding. Ding. Round two. Your brother didn’t bring you up to speed, did he?”
Noah shook his head. “Sorry. Um. Who are you?”
“Ed Baxter. Though my friends call me Skipper.”
Noah didn’t want to ask him why. His eyes drifted to the island in the distance. “Here, take a look,” Ed said, handing him the night vision goggles. “They’re adjustable. Zoom in.”
Tired from his long journey, but not wishing to offend the guy, Noah took them and brought them up.
There wasn’t much happening on the island. A firepit was ablaze and there looked to be a young family of five enjoying the night. One of them was playing the guitar while the others roasted marshmallows. Ordinary. Noah handed back the NVGs thinking that Ed must have been one of these guys that saw things that weren’t there. Maybe a flashback from his time in the war? He figured his brother must have encouraged it.
“Quite something, isn’t it?” Ed said.
“Yeah, you really got them,” Noah replied sarcastically, turning to head back inside.
Ed snorted.
The clatter of dog nails brought out the pet owner in the man. “Axel! My good man.” Without hesitation, the K-9 bounded off the back porch. Ed fished into a pocket and tossed something at the dog. He caught it in his mouth and chomped down while Ed ruffled his fur. “There’s a good dog.” He lifted his gaze. “So, are you here to stay?”
“For a short while.” Noah was thinking now he might not stay at all. One of the motels back in town or his aunts place was looking more inviting if it meant having some peace. He was wondering now how to exit the conversation. It required some tact. He was new and he didn’t want to rock the boat, especially with someone who might not be all there.
“Weeks? Months?”
“We’ll see.”
“Good. Well like I told your brother when he was here. I’m up early. I like to get in my laps and a workout on the bars before breakfast. You know what. If you like, you can join me at the lake. You’ll find me down at the dock at six a.m. sharp.” He jabbed his finger. “But don’t be late, I hate to be left waiting.”
He reminded Noah of his old Marine drill instructors. Allballs and glory even after they left the military. Some of them just couldn’t let it go. It was like they had something to prove.
“I’ll take a rain check if you don’t mind. It’s been a long day.”
“Suit yourself.” He tossed Axel another treat and promptly marched off toward his property through the woodland whistling “The Star-Spangled Banner.” No mention of “sorry for your loss” or “we’ll speak again.” It was like he was so out of tune with humanity or so used to death that it didn’t even register.
8
The mystery deepened.
Inside the cabin, Noah stared at a hefty padlock on the attic access door. He used a chair to get to it and gave it a rattle to see if it was loose. It wasn’t. Dropping down, he leaned against the Adirondack-style railing that separated the second floor from the main floor. He figured if his brother had taken measures to lock it, he wouldn’t have been so careless as to leave the key in plain sight. He would have taken it with him. And, as Kerri didn’t know about this place, and well, Alicia still hadn’t gotten back to him, he figured he’d have to deal with it another way.
After doing a quick search just to be sure, Noah fished around in the garage and returned with a crowbar to pry it off. The lock didn’t break easily. Eventually it gave way. He coughed as a thin layer of dust settled on his face. Noah tugged at the cord and stepped back. A metal ladder clattered as it slid down.
Ascending the steely steps, Noah stepped into the warmth of a musty attic.
He coughed again then brought a hand up to his mouth. He squinted, trying to make out the silhouette of a light cord usingonly a few bands of moonlight that filtered in through a dormer window. After a moment of stumbling around in the dark, he caught it. A quick pull and the full-size attic was now visible.
His mouth widened.
Noah turned 360 degrees to soak in the crazy wall. It was a catch-all term used for boards on which investigators might collect an array of leads, suspects, clues, and theories and try to find a connection. What had Luke gotten himself involved in? This was usually left for investigators, not someone working with the K-9 unit. And what was he looking into?
On both sides of the A-framed attic were sticky notes, full-blown photos, addresses, timelines, maps, and diagrams, along with newspaper clippings and county and state police reports. Red string interconnected it all. The room had multiple brown boxes that were open, some of them were filled with thick binders. There were stacks of legal paperwork. A couple of folders were out on the floor, open in full view as if he’d been working his way through the material and then been called away.
It was a startling find. He never expected to see something like this. Noah squinted, noticing two chairs at the far end, and a small table with a desktop computer. There were two mugs. The insides were discolored by old coffee stains.
One was smudged with lipstick.
Huh.
As Noah perused the many photos lining the wall of strangers, his eyes fell upon three that were familiar. “What the…?” His ex-wife, Lena; her brother Jack; and Lena’s father, the prominent lawyer Doug Grayson. These weren’t mugshots, they were taken from a distance. It was as if Luke had been conducting a stakeout and had snapped them with a long-lens camera.
