“That’s too bad.”
She smiled. “Nah. It needed a renovation. Insurance will cover it. Looks like I’ll get something brand new.”
“Life happens for us, not to us.”
“What’s that?”
“Ah, just something someone said.”
She nodded, glancing down at the memorial. “So back to Peekskill?”
“For a while.” Noah inhaled a breath and released it. “But I’m thinking of changing things up.”
“How?”
He surveyed the road.
She raised an eyebrow. “Returning?”
“Why? You don’t want me to stick around?”
Alicia didn’t answer that but changed the topic. “Roberts and Hendrix might be gone but this place still has a bad element. You only scraped the surface of what lies beneath, Noah. With instability in the Sheriff’s Office, it’s only going to get worse for those here.”
“What if you’re wrong?”
“I’m not.”
“Then maybe I should return.”
“And get yourself killed like Luke?” She sidled up to him, he felt the air between them thicken. She touched his arm. “What if I leave? You and I could make something of it. Do something different. I hear Florida’s nice. Warm beaches. Good food. A lazy life running a beach bar serving cocktails. Sounds good to me.”
Noah glanced down at his brother’s memorial. Alicia noticed.
“Of course.” She nodded. “You Sutherlands only have room for the badge.”
Noah pressed in closer, his lips inches from her face. She turned away.
“I’ll be seeing you, Noah.” She walked back to her bike and mounted it.
“Alicia.”
She glanced back.
“Take care,” he said.
The bike’s engine growled to life before she drove away, its fading roar gradually becoming softer and softer as it receded into the distance. The deep growl that had filled the air onlymoments earlier slowly dissipated, replaced again with the quiet hum of the county.
Noah looked back down at the memorial. In some ways, Alicia was right. This wasn’t the end, only the beginning. As Noah left the High Peaks of the Adirondacks in his rearview mirror, he knew in his heart that it wouldn’t be for long.
