Firebreak (Josie Gray Mysteries #4)(71)

Brenda made a face as if the question was ridiculous. “We don’t have anything worth looking for! The guitars and amps were headed with us to Austin.”

Josie paused, dreading the rest of the conversation. “I received some troubling news from the coroner. Are you aware that Ferris was HIV positive?”

Her eyes widened and she put a hand to her chest. “What?”

“The coroner tested him. He confirmed the results with a second test.”

Brenda’s hand moved up to her mouth, her expression filled with dread. “Billy?”

“His test came back negative. Just to be sure though, the coroner said you’ll still want to test now and then test again in a few months.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“You weren’t aware of this?” asked Josie, keeping her voice kind in light of the harsh questions.

“No. Did Billy know?” Brenda whispered the words, her expression bereft. “Is that why he committed suicide? Because he was afraid he had AIDS too?”

“I can’t answer those questions,” Josie said. “There were rumors about the relationship, but no one I’ve talked with knew that Ferris was HIV positive.”

“The humiliation just never ends.”

“I know this is hard on you, and I’m sorry to bring all of this up again. I just have a few more questions. Are you okay to keep going?”

She sighed and nodded. “How could it get much worse?”

“You mentioned that Billy called both Hank and Slim Jim the night he died. Can you remind me how you knew that?”

She frowned then, and seemed to be thinking back. “I know because Hank called the next morning to check on Billy. That’s when I discovered Billy hadn’t come home. Hank told me that Billy had been really drunk and he wanted to check on him. He also said Billy told him he’d talked to Slim, and that he’d told Billy to go back to the hotel too.”

Josie nodded and they listened as the coffeemaker popped and sputtered as the last of the water dripped into the pot. Brenda stood to pour coffee and Josie decided to change her line of questioning somewhat.

“As far as I know, Billy never left the area downtown where he bought the liquor and ended up at the little park behind the trauma center,” Josie said. “You told me that Billy didn’t have any pills in the hotel room with him.”

“That’s right.”

“Do you think Hank or Slim Jim could have taken the pills to Billy that night? Because I’m not sure who else would have known where he was.”

Brenda looked worried, as if she’d not thought about that possibility before then. “Why would Hank or Slim Jim do that? They loved Billy. Both of them. Neither one of them would have helped him end his life. I’m sure of that.”

Josie nodded slowly, trying to make the pieces fit.

“Besides, he could have bought pills off of someone downtown.”

Josie tilted her head, acknowledging the idea. “This is what I’m trying to understand. I’m no mental health expert, but Billy didn’t strike me as a man who was suffering from severe depression. The only reason I can imagine him committing suicide is that he had a terrible sense of guilt or shame over Ferris’s death.”

Brenda’s shoulders were slumped forward and her hands were clasped loosely in her lap, as if she no longer had the strength to move.

“When Billy found out that it was Ferris who died in your home, did he give you any indication that he knew what happened? Can you talk about his reaction?”

“He was inconsolable.” She barely whispered the words. “That’s when I knew how much Ferris meant to Billy.” She shut her eyes for a moment and when she opened them, Josie could see they were glassy with tears. “When we found out my stun gun had been discharged? Billy actually asked me if I had used it on Ferris. He thought I was capable of killing Ferris. I could see it in his face. Even if it was only for an instant, he still thought it.”

Josie asked a few additional questions about the band members so that she didn’t leave Brenda in such a devastated frame of mind. When her sister returned from her errands Josie thanked Brenda for her time and left.

She walked back to the department thinking about the change in Brenda’s appearance from the day Josie had met her and Billy at the police department until just now. Brenda looked raw, as if the realizations that she had come to over the last few days had stripped away everything, leaving her completely vulnerable, waiting for the next battering. In a way, Josie was relieved for this sad woman. Maybe she would reconnect with her family and begin a new life based on honesty.

Josie’s mind strayed to her own relationship with Dillon, and their inability to talk honestly with each other before he left her. Their conversations were little more than polite exchanges. Then she thought about Nick, a man completely the opposite of Dillon in every way, from his career to his abrupt manner and sense of humor. “I like you, Josie.” She heard the words in her head and the thought of him made her smile. Two screwed-up people with no expectations.





TWENTY-ONE

When Josie arrived back at the police department Otto told her he’d arranged for the two of them to speak with Hank at his home at 1:00. They stopped at the gas station for a quick lunch and ordered chicken strips and fried mushrooms. They ate in one of the two booths located on the restaurant side of the building and agreed that the food was greasy and satisfying. On their way to Hank’s house, as Otto drove Josie filled him in on Brenda’s summation of her husband and his relationship with Ferris.