Midnight Crossing (Josie Gray Mysteries #5)(23)
Beverly walked out of the bathroom, grabbed her purse off the motel room desk, and headed straight for the door.
*
Located across from the courthouse, the Hot Tamale was a popular diner for most everyone in Artemis. The service was quick, and the owner, Lucy Ramone, made everyone who entered feel like a friend. She also served up local gossip like it was her job.
At six-thirty the diner was still hopping, with tables and chairs scattered across the place in a haphazard manner that would drive Josie crazy if she were a waitress there. Lucy made it clear to her diners that talking came first, and so people were given free rein to arrange the tables to best suit their needs.
They wove their way through and sat in a corner by the window where Otto had pulled up chairs for them. Josie and her mom sat across from Otto.
“Are you rested up from your trip, Beverly?”
“Oh, my, yes. It doesn’t take much for me to liven up. Life’s too short for naps.”
“Do you have plans for your stay out here?” he asked.
Josie stared at the menu and listened intently.
“I guess that mostly depends on my daughter. Whether she can stand me here or not.”
“Oh, I know she could stand you. I think it’s more whether you could stand her schedule. I can attest to the fact that she’s not around much. The job is a killer.”
“Well, I don’t want to marry her, I just want to visit!”
Otto laughed as Lucy hustled up to the table. “How’s my two favorite cops in all of Arroyo County?”
“We’re just fine,” Josie said. “You doing okay?”
“Never better. Business is good.”
“Lucy, this is my mom, Beverly. All the way here from Indiana.”
Lucy bent down and hugged Beverly, who laughed and squeezed back. The two women chatted for a moment until Lucy finally wrote down their order and took off for the kitchen.
Otto picked up the conversation. “You were married to a police officer, weren’t you, Beverly?”
“Best man that ever walked the earth,” she said, and then sat her drink down to look at Otto. “Excluding present company, of course.”
“Understood.”
“He was a road trooper. Died in a line-of-duty accident. Ripped our lives right into two when he passed away.”
“Josie said he was a great cop and a great dad. That’s quite a combination.”
“She’s just like him. He was quiet and serious, always thinking about things. That’s why we were such a good match. I made him laugh. That’s just what Josie needs in her life. A man to make her laugh.”
Josie felt the heat seep into her cheeks at her mom’s comparison of Josie to her dad. After he died, her mom rarely talked about him. And as much as Josie would have liked to have discussed her dad, she wasn’t ready to talk about her private life in the Hot Tamale with Otto while on duty.
Josie pulled the conversation back to the present. “I have some bad news regarding your visit. It may be a while before I get a normal shift so we can spend some time together. A woman was found murdered, and in a small town like this, we throw everything we have on an investigation, meaning long hours away from home.”
“Meaning, you won’t be taking me to the mayor’s fund-raising dinner tomorrow?”
“It’s actually his wife’s fund-raising dinner for her mission work. And we’ll still plan on going unless something comes up with the investigation to keep me from it. But I probably won’t see you between now and tomorrow evening. I get off work tonight at midnight, and I’m back in at eight in the morning.”
Her mom took the news well and after dinner they walked her back to the motel with no complaints. Either her mother had mellowed considerably, or she wanted something and was choosing her battles.
*
“Thanks,” Josie said as she and Otto reached the top of the stairs at the police department.
“For what?”
“For having dinner with my mom. I know you’re anxious to review the case.”
Otto unlocked the office door and Josie flipped on the fluorescent lights. As he walked to his desk he said, “You know I try to stay out of your personal life as much as I can.” He turned his head and grinned.
“Oh, really?”
“But I’m going to give you a bit of friendly advice tonight. This job is a tricky one. There’s a fine line between devotion to your job and sacrificing your family. And I’m not really talking about your mom. I just mean in general. You’re a young woman who deserves a family and a happy place to go home to at night. But if you’ve always got the job on your mind, you’ll never find that.”
Josie poured herself a cup of burnt coffee and held the pot up to Otto. He grimaced.
“I get what you’re saying, but it’s hard to turn it off. A woman is lying in our morgue because some monster shot her in the back. Her friend is too terrified to talk. How do I not make that my top priority?”
“Of course it’s your top priority. At work. But you have other priorities at home. You have to find a way to leave it at night or it’s going to eat you up. You have to develop that on-off switch in your head. I’ve been telling you this for years and you don’t seem to get it.”
“Honestly, the only way I know how to lose those visions at night is a glass full of bourbon.” She knew Otto never used alcohol as a coping mechanism, but she figured he wanted candor, so she gave it to him.