Page 38 of The Catcher
“What?” Noah asked.
“I saw her last night. Natalie Ashford. She dropped you off here.”
“That’s not the same.”
“No? Is she going to move in?”
“No, son. Look,” he said, holding one eye tight from the pain, “can we talk about this later? I have to get going. Do you know where my keys are?”
“Probably with your vehicle. She dropped you off, right?”
A faint memory returned to him from the night before: a conversation with her, being driven home by one of her drivers. “Oh, man.”
“She said you could collect it in the morning.”
“I need it now.”
Noah hurried outside and made his way over to Ed’s place. “Ed, Hey! Wake up. Are you there?” he asked, drumming on the door. The door flew open to reveal the old timer standing in nothing more than a pair of off-colored Y-fronts.
Noah lifted his forearm to block the view. “Oh, Ed. How about you throw something on?”
“How about you stop telling me what to do in my house? Now, what do you want? Fishing doesn’t start for another hour. You are still coming, right?”
Noah squeezed the bridge of his nose. “Oh. That. No. I can’t. I have to go to work.”
“Geesh. You’re just like your brother. So you woke me up and screwed up my Saturday too?”
“No. I need to use your truck.”
“Where’s yours?”
“At someone’s house. Look, I don’t have time to explain. Can I get your keys?”
Ed grumbled and went back inside, returning with thekeys. “You are a pushy little bastard. You get one scratch on that, and I’m charging you.”
“Yeah, because it’s real new,” he said, turning toward a 1979 Chevy truck that looked like it had been through a meat grinder. How it even ran was a mystery in and of itself. Noah had told Ed he should get a new one, but he said he was thinking about driving it until the wheels fell off. The trouble was that the wheels had already fallen off multiple times. He just kept replacing them and kept forgetting he’d done so.
As Noah approachedthe North Elba Sanitary Landfill, the sight that greeted him was far from pleasant. The landfill, situated just off Dump Lane, was a sprawling expanse of trucks moving back and forth, hauling loads of garbage. Piles of refuse dotted the landscape, towering over the surrounding area like mountains of waste.
Several outbuildings stood at the landfill’s perimeter, their weather-beaten exteriors blending into the industrial landscape. Industrial dumpers rumbled nearby, their mechanical arms lifting and dumping loads of trash with mechanical precision.
However, the most noteworthy aspect of the landfill was the smell. A noxious odor hung heavy in the air, assaulting Noah’s senses. It was a combination of rotting food, decaying matter, and chemicals, creating an overpowering stench that made his stomach churn.
If it weren’t for the fact that he was already battling ahangover, Noah might have cared about the curious looks he received from the other officers when he pulled up in Ed’s truck. But at that moment, all he could focus on was the task.
As he exited the vehicle, the door groaned in protest from its prolonged rest. McKenzie, one of the officers on the scene, greeted him with a smirk.
“Killing two birds with one stone, Sutherland?” McKenzie teased, elbowing one of his colleagues who joined in on the joke.
Noah arched an eyebrow in confusion. “What?”
McKenzie nodded towards Ed’s truck. “That shit heap. You’re leaving it here, right?”
A small chuckle escaped Noah’s lips. “Very funny. Where’s Porter?” he inquired, eager to get to the heart of the matter.
“Oh, you know him,” McKenzie replied with a grin. “Salivating over the find. He’s like a kid on Christmas. I had to practically pry that damn thing out of his hands. He was planning on opening it if you didn’t arrive soon.”
“Who found it?”
