Firebreak (Josie Gray Mysteries #4)(31)

“Can you tell us anything about the damage?” Brenda asked.

“I’m sorry. At this time we don’t have enough information to do that. To begin, I’d like you to start by telling us about the evacuation. When did you leave, what route did you take, and so on.”

Billy glanced at Brenda, who spoke first, looking directly at Josie. “We’d been listening off and on to the public-radio station about the fire up north. Then Hank called Sunday afternoon and gave us an update on the evacuation. Billy and I talked it over and decided we should go ahead and leave before it got too late.”

“Is Hank a close friend to you and Billy?” Josie asked.

“Yes, he’s a good friend. He takes care of his musicians. He was calling everyone, the bands, regulars at the bar, just letting people know what was going on. The Hell-Bent ended up the gathering place for everyone. It was far enough out of the fire’s path that we were all hoping it would remain safe.”

“What time did you decide to leave town?” Josie asked.

“Hank called about noon. We finally decided to pack up at about two and left around five that evening.”

“Did you pack many belongings?”

Brenda glanced at Billy as if passing off the baton.

“We mostly grabbed the instruments, the guitars and amps,” he said. “We got them and some suitcases packed for a couple days away. We were worried but I never thought it would actually come through our area. You just never figure it’ll happen to you.”

“When you left at five, where did you go?” Josie asked.

“We went to the Hell-Bent to pick up my guitar. She’s my favorite. An old Fender I’ve had for twenty years. I couldn’t leave without her.”

“Who did you talk to at the bar?”

Billy drew his eyebrows together as if questioning her motives. “Why’s that matter?”

“We’ll get to that,” Josie said. “Right now I’m just gathering information from as many sources as I can find.”

“For a wildfire?” Brenda asked.

“We’ll get to that shortly. Let’s stick to the evacuation. Tell me what happened when you left the house that evening.”

Josie glanced at Otto, who was sitting quietly across from Brenda with his hands folded on a legal pad in front of him. His expression was kind and nonjudgmental. He hadn’t picked up his pen since they sat down, signaling that it was a friendly conversation, not an interrogation.

“We drove straight to the Hell-Bent when we left home,” Brenda said. “I saw Yvonne Ferrario and sat down to talk with her while Billy went back to the dressing room.”

Josie looked at Billy and he continued. “I told Hank I was going to grab my guitar and he sent Angela back to unlock the door. We just talked a minute about the fire and how awful it all was. Then we left. I found Brenda talking to Yvonne and we left the bar by about six.”

“Where did you go after that?” she asked.

“We drove to Austin,” he said.

“Why not stay in Presidio or somewhere closer?”

“Billy’s been playing the bars in Austin,” Brenda said. “We had to leave home anyway, it made sense to drive on to Austin. Check in with the bar owners and book a few gigs.”

“What hotel did you stay at?”

“The Hampton Inn. Downtown. We stopped at Gilly’s for an hour or so to have a drink before we checked in.”

Josie deliberately avoided asking how they paid for the bill. She would track down credit card receipts later. For now, she just wanted a basic time frame. As she requested more specific information, the Nixes would most likely feel threatened, and the details would dry up.

“Do you know roughly what time you arrived in Austin?”

“It was one in the morning,” Billy said. “I remember because the bars close at two. We drove by the Hampton and could tell there were rooms available. The parking lot wasn’t full so we just drove on to Gilly’s. We checked into the hotel sometime after two.”

“Did you book any gigs while you were there?”

“Billy talked with a couple bar owners.” Brenda glanced at him as if requesting confirmation but didn’t wait for him to speak. “He went to the Baker’s Dozen and Mick and Eddy’s yesterday. And, we both met with the owner of the Sage. We booked a few dates in November.”

“Did you talk to anyone from Artemis before you returned my call yesterday?” Josie asked.

Brenda looked surprised. “No.” She turned to Billy. “Did you?”

Billy shook his head no and frowned.

“Was anyone staying at your home when you evacuated?”

“No, of course not,” Brenda said.

“Do you have friends who might drop by unannounced and stay overnight without telling you?” Josie asked.

“What are you getting at?” Brenda said.

Josie glanced at Otto to make sure he didn’t have anything else he wanted to slip in before the bombshell. He tipped his head for her to proceed.

“A body was found, burned to death, lying on your couch. We found it yesterday morning when we went to your house.”

Both of the Nixes pulled back into their chairs, as if trying to distance themselves from the news. Their eyes were wide, unbelieving, confused, all expected responses upon hearing such traumatic information, but Josie had learned not to put too much faith in the initial physical reaction of a suspect. Their reactions as the questions got tougher would be more telling.