Firebreak (Josie Gray Mysteries #4)(3)

“The air force wasn’t rush enough?”

“It should have been. I joined in ’96. Two years later I was in Iraq when Clinton signed the order to bomb. It was a thrill ride.” He grinned at the memory like he was remembering an old girlfriend.

“Why’d you leave?”

He shrugged and didn’t speak for some time. Josie was certain the answer was long and complicated. His gaze followed the airstrip out into the desert flatland until it hit a jagged outcropping, part of the Chinati Mountains.

“I got tired of the hierarchy. The rules. The kiss-ass.” He turned back to Josie. “I’m not much of a rule follower.”

She laughed at his lopsided grin. “Or an ass kisser.”

“That either.”

“So you left the air force and became a smoke jumper?”

“Best decision of my life.”

Josie pointed toward the north. “We’re hearing this is the worst year yet. We had a fire pass through Presidio County that destroyed quite a few homes. People are worried Arroyo County’s due.”

“Last count there’s thirty-nine major fires burning in twelve states. In 2012, over nine million acres burned in the U.S. A record. At this rate, we’ll top that unless we get a break from the heat wave and some rain.” He nodded his head toward the airfield. “Look at that brown grass out there. Nothing but fuel.”

“Floods two years ago, then steady rain. It was beautiful for a while. Green grass across the desert. Then this year, no rain. Not a drop for nine months.”

“That’s life. Rain then drought.”

Josie tilted her head toward the north. “What’s the latest with the Harrison Ridge fire?”

“The wind’s blowing southeast through the center of Arroyo County. If the wind whips up and throws sparks into that grass?” He shrugged. The result was obvious.

“Will your crew be at the briefing tonight at the firehouse?”

“We’ll be there. The rest of the guys are inside, gathering gear up.”

Josie put her arms out to give him a hug. “I’ll get out of here and let you get to work. It’s good to see you again.”

“Hang on a minute.” Pete crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Josie hard. “I heard about your boyfriend. They arrest the bastards that kidnapped him?”

Josie took a step back at the abrupt question. “How do you arrest a Mexican cartel?”

“No kidding?” He shook his head, his expression incredulous. “He got kidnapped by the cartel? I figured that was rumor.”

She felt the familiar dread over the topic she had discussed ad nauseam since it took place. She said nothing in response, but Pete had never understood verbal cues or body language. If he had a curiosity he pursued it, oblivious to a person’s discomfort—sometimes endearing, other times infuriating.

“Why’d they kidnap him? He have a lot of money?”

She blew out air in frustration. “No. It was a money-laundering scheme gone bad.” She shrugged and stared at him. Four months after the incident she was still reluctant to discuss the horrific position she had been placed in as a police officer whose lover was being held captive.

“I thought the stories were just rumors gone crazy. The cartel get their money back?”

She shook her head. “That was the one satisfaction in the whole mess. The feds got the money. The county’s supposed to get a cut, but we haven’t heard anything yet.”

“How long ago?”

“Four months.”

“How’s he doing?”

Josie looked away.

“Sure, I get it. He’s going through hell,” Pete said.

She said nothing.

Pete took a step toward her. She felt his eyes on her, but she continued staring at the ground. Dillon was seeing a therapist, but he was not doing well.

“Let’s all go out one night while I’m here. Might do him good to get out and talk to new people,” he said, but Josie stopped him.

“He left me, Pete. He moved out about two months ago. He closed his business and moved back with his family in St. Louis.”

“You still talking to him?”

“I tried for the first month. I still thought he might come back. Then one day he said talking to me was too hard, the memories of what happened too awful for him to stay connected to Artemis, or to me.”

“You think about moving away too?” he asked.

She shook her head, feeling the familiar resolve. “This is my home. When we left high school, I never looked back. This is the first place that ever felt right to me. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”

“You gotta be messed up after all this. You seeing a shrink?”

Josie grinned. “What’s with the interrogation? You haven’t changed a bit.”

His eyes fixed on her and his expression didn’t waver. “Seriously. Are you seeing a shrink?”

“I talked to somebody a few times. The guilt over what happened is pretty bad. The kidnapping, the murder, none of it would have happened if it wasn’t for me.”

“Murder? Are you serious?”

Josie sighed, frustrated. This wasn’t the conversation she had imagined having with her old friend. “I don’t want to rehash this, Pete. It’s all too hard to get into again. You understand?”