Firebreak (Josie Gray Mysteries #4)(18)
Josie walked toward the bar, where half a dozen men sat on stools. Another ten or fifteen men and women sat at the tables. The TV on the wall was on, but the volume was down. Hank was talking to the men sitting at the bar and didn’t notice her approach. When she reached the men, Sauly Magson, who was sitting on a stool at the end of the row, spotted her and called out, “Chief!”
Sauly was one of Josie’s favorite locals. He was an old hippie burnout who didn’t have a mean bone in his body. He was dressed in ragged blue-jean shorts and a ripped T-shirt, and he wore nothing on his feet, allowing his leathered soles to serve as his shoes. The “No shoes, no shirt, no service” motto had never applied to Sauly, at least not in Artemis.
“Hey, Sauly. How you doing?” Josie patted Sauly on the back and felt the attention in the bar shift to her, the conversation die out to nothing. She knew people were desperate for information, so she backed up to see most everyone and raised her voice. “I’m not here to give an official report, but I know you all need answers. I just wish I had more to give you. The police haven’t been given the authority to check homes yet. Unofficially, I can tell you the fire is close to contained. The bad news is, the firefighters haven’t had the chance to check structures to make sure they’re safe enough to allow people back in.”
“How many homes were lost?” Hank asked.
“That number hasn’t been confirmed yet.”
“Let us check our own structures. We’re not idiots,” said a man Josie recognized as a local truck driver.
“Nobody said you were an idiot. But you and I both know, if we open up the roads, we’ll have people who have no idea whether the roof is ready to cave in on them walking back into homes. I’m not willing to risk someone’s life. Just try and be patient with us. I promise, our goal is to get everyone back into their homes as soon as possible. Keep listening to Marfa Public Radio. That’s the best source of information right now.”
Sauly asked, “You figure on getting in to check houses today still?”
Josie paused. She didn’t want to commit to details, with the first responders facing such a huge task with no timeline yet established. “I honestly can’t say, Sauly. I wish I could. Those firefighters worked through the night and they’re exhausted. They just need time to do their job.” Josie paused a moment and no one said anything so she turned and sat down next to Sauly.
“Rough night,” he said.
Sauly lived on the other side of the mudflats and Josie was surprised when Otto had told her that Sauly had evacuated. She had figured him for a holdout. It had been a relief to hear he left.
“Where’d you stay last night?” she asked him.
“You really want to know?”
She laughed. “No, I guess not.”
“’Cause I’ll tell you.”
She raised her hands, still smiling. “Nope. I don’t really want to know.” She had no doubt Sauly would tell her the truth. She assumed he’d trespassed, maybe slept in someone’s barn or business for the night to stay close to town.
“Have you seen your house today?” she asked, knowing that the road he lived on was still closed.
Sauly grinned. “Yep.”
“Did it make it through the fire?”
“Yep. Burned all around me. You see my plow job?”
Josie shook her head, having no idea what he meant.
“I been watching the fire since they first showed it on the news with the wind blowing our way. Night before last, I got my tractor out and I plowed up four acres of land, all around my house. Plowed up my garden and all my flowers. There wasn’t nothing to burn next to my house. Wasn’t a flame that touched me.”
Josie nodded. “You’re a smart man, Sauly. More people ought to think that way, but everybody figures the gamble’s worth it. I’m the same as everybody else.”
Josie waved at Hank, who was standing at the other end of the bar, pouring someone a draft beer. He put a finger in the air and grabbed his ringing cell phone by the cash register and answered it.
Josie faced Sauly again. “You heard anything about Billy or Brenda Nix? Where they might be?”
He screwed his face up in thought. “Can’t say I have. You might ask John Lummin, sitting over there.” Sauly pointed to a man with a smooth shave and a beer belly, laughing at the woman sitting across from him at one of the tables. “He and Billy are buddies.”
Hank walked quickly down the bar. “Sorry, Josie. What can I get you?”
“You mind if we talk in your office for just a minute?” she asked.
He paused, his face instantly tense, the universal look of dread that people got when the police unexpectedly asked for a conversation.
“You bet. Come on back.”
A waitress was wiping up tables and Hank waved a hand at her and motioned toward his office. She looked up and nodded.
Josie patted Sauly on the back and told him to stay safe.
Hank walked down to the end of the bar and led Josie back to where his office was located. He pulled a key out of his front pocket, unlocked the door, and flipped on the light switch. The office was decorated in classic cowboy style, with ropes and spurs and rodeo posters hanging on the wood-paneled walls. Hank’s rolltop desk was a mess of papers that he didn’t glance at. He motioned toward a small table and a pair of chairs next to the desk and they sat down.