Midnight Crossing (Josie Gray Mysteries #5)(28)

Josie nodded.

“She told me once that her life’s work is heartache and trouble.”

They rounded a bend and Nick pulled the SUV to a stop. Josie stepped outside and stood still to allow her eyes to adjust to the dark. She smiled and breathed in deep the sweet smell of wood smoke from a fire, and then heard the river flowing before she saw it, a dark swath cutting through the high bank on the U.S. side of the river. A jagged silhouette of rocky outcroppings and clumps of salt cedar were visible above the bank. As she turned away from the river she saw the stone house, barely visible against the low canyon wall that ran behind it. Tucked back under a narrow front porch was a door with two windows lit up on either side of it.

The house was stacked stone, with the rock most likely collected from the lowlying mountains around it. Ruins of old stone homes could be found throughout West Texas, but there were still people who fought the critters and the occasional cold winters to live in them, enjoying the centuries-old way of living. Glass lanterns glowed in the deep windowsills and let off a warm orange light.

Nick knocked on the door, which resembled an old barn door with long wrought-iron hinge straps that held the wooden slats together. Josie could see thin strips of light between gaps in the wood. Nick hollered through the door, “Se?ora Molina. It’s Nick Santos. I’ve come to check on you.”

Nick had said he always came with a small gift of appreciation, something to help her get by, so Josie found herself holding a loaf of French bread that she’d fortunately picked up at the grocery to have on hand for her mother.

They stood quietly at the door until it was finally pulled open. Josie realized Sergio hadn’t been exaggerating about the woman’s age. She was stooped over at the waist so far that she had to lift her head up to see Nick. Gray wisps of hair stuck out from under a faded blue bandanna tied around her head like a babushka. She wore a loose-fitting white smock top and long flowered skirt. She squinted up at Nick and then broke into a smile that showed a half dozen teeth.

“What you doing here so late, ole boy?” Her voice crackled with age and carried very little accent of any kind.

“I wanted to see how Se?ora Molina was. And you look better every time I see you.” She reached her hand out and they held hands for a moment before she turned to Josie.

“And you brought a friend with you. Well, then you come inside so you can introduce me proper.”

She stepped aside and Josie followed Nick into a room that held a small kitchen and woodstove to the left and a table with eight mismatched chairs around it in the middle of the room. To the right of the table, a handmade wooden couch with cushions covered in colorful afghans and wool blankets ran the length of the wall. Nick took the loaf of bread from Josie, and she watched him set it on the table and then slip money underneath it.

Se?ora Molina shut the door and latched it, and turned to study Josie.

“This is my good friend Josie Gray,” Nick said. “She lives just across the river, not too many miles from here.”

The woman put both her hands out and Josie did the same. She held Josie’s hands inside of her own warm hands and looked straight into her eyes for a long time. “I know who you are, Josie Gray. You have a heart for people. And you do what’s right in the face of evil.”

The warmth from the old woman’s hands was like a tonic. Josie felt the strength and wisdom move from the woman’s hands through her own body. She was overcome by this seemingly simple woman and her strength of spirit.

“You do the work of God. Do not ever forget that. You are a foot soldier, just like me. Yes?”

Josie felt her throat tighten with emotion and she was shocked at her own reaction. All she could do was nod yes in response.

The woman finally let go of Josie’s hands and pointed to the table, where Nick was sitting. When she dropped her hands it was as if a connection had been broken. Josie turned to the table, shaken by the experience. She could feel Nick watching her as she sat down, and she finally looked over at him. His face was soft and kind. He seemed to understand what had just happened. Maybe this was the effect the old woman had on people.

They watched as she went into the small kitchen area, pulled a teakettle off the wood-burning stove, and carried it over to the table.

“Can I help you?” Josie asked.

She pointed Josie toward the small bank of kitchen cabinets and a tray that sat on top of the counter with teacups and containers holding milk and sugar.

They sat down at the table, and as Josie poured each of them a cup of tea to steep, the woman asked, “Have you come to see me about the two women I sent to you?”

Josie stared at her, startled by the question. She’d hoped to find some tidbit of information, but never expected the women had actually visited Se?ora Molina. “I have. Yes.”

“They made it to you safely?” she asked.

Josie glanced over at Nick, unsure if she should upset the woman with the news that one had been murdered.

“You can tell her. Se?ora Molina has watched the same story unfold again and again. It won’t surprise her,” he said.

The woman sipped from her cup, her expression never wavering as Josie explained how they had found the murdered girl in the pasture and the other girl hiding on her porch.

Josie was sitting next to Se?ora Molina, who laid her arm on the table and opened her hand for Josie to take it.

“When God calls upon you to do something important, you mustn’t question. God trusts you to make decisions to help people as best you can. When you question your decisions, you weaken your resolve. If those women hadn’t come to see you, perhaps both would be dead.”