Midnight Crossing (Josie Gray Mysteries #5)(35)

Josie stood and laid her business card on top of a piece of mail. “You think it over. Our deal stands until ten o’clock tomorrow morning. After that? You’re on your own.”

*

Back outside, Josie motioned for Otto to climb into her jeep instead of taking his own vehicle.

Otto slammed the door and said, “I wish we had something more recent on him. I’d love to take that kid to jail.”

“You know Ryan Needleman?”

“The name’s familiar,” he said.

“He just graduated high school last year. Played sports. He was a hothead, got into trouble for fighting. His dad told me he got thrown out of college the first week of school for beating up some kid in the dorm. Still hard to figure how he’d go from college in August to transporting women from Guatemala to Artemis two months later.”

“How would the Mooneys connect with him?” he asked.

“He probably bought dope off them. Now he’s their scapegoat.”

“You got something in mind?”

“Let’s get to him before somebody tips him off. His dad told me he’s working over at the landscape place,” she said. “Maybe he can give us something on the Mooneys.”

*

Turf and Annuals was a landscaping company that specialized in helping West Texans grow grass and flowers that normally weren’t seen in a desert climate. When the economy tanked, so did its business, but it had started to pick back up again. Josie had been a customer for years and knew the owner, Lisa Spinner, well.

Driving down the gravel lane, Josie pointed to the variety of pine trees on either side.

“Lisa got a research grant and uses some kind of experimental underground irrigation system that taps into groundwater supply.”

“They got a heck of a place here in the middle of the desert,” Otto said.

They parked in a gravel lot that fronted five large greenhouses and a log cabin office. On the other side of the lot, several Bobcats and backhoes were running, scooping mulch and digging trees. Josie parked in front of the office and found Lisa inside on the phone. She told whoever she was talking with to hang on and covered the receiver with her hand. “What can I do for you, Chief?”

“I’m looking for Ryan Needleman. He working today?”

Lisa frowned and drew her eyebrows together. “He is. He in trouble?”

“No. I just have a couple questions. You care if I talk to him for just a minute?”

“Not at all.”

The woman ended her phone call and radioed Ryan to come in off the Bobcat to talk to Josie.

*

Josie and Otto stood outside the office and waited for Ryan. He parked the Bobcat and was wiping his hands on his jeans as he reached them. It was almost four in the afternoon, but the sun was still bright, and he squinted at them. Josie thought he looked wary, like he was waiting for the handcuffs to appear, but she figured it wasn’t often that a uniformed cop pulled you off your work duty simply to talk.

She put her hand out and he shook it as they introduced themselves.

“I talked to your boss, so she knows we’re here to see you. I let her know you aren’t in any trouble. We just have a few questions for you. That okay?”

He shrugged.

What had happened to a polite Yes, ma’am? Or even a plain yes or no? After all these years she was still shocked when someone treated a visit by the police as an inconvenience.

“Have you heard about the two women that were found in Artemis this week?”

He shrugged again.

“Okay. How about you drop the shrug routine and answer the questions. I’ll be more specific for you this time. Tell me what you’ve heard about the woman who was found shot in the back out in a ranch pasture this past week,” she said. It wasn’t the best way to start an interview, but his insolent stare and shrug were pissing her off.

This question at least produced more than a shrug. His eyebrows rose and he reeled back like she’d asked something distasteful. “Same as anyone else. I heard about it on the radio. Figured she was some illegal crossing the border.”

“Who would shoot an illegal in the back for crossing the border?” she said.

He turned up his lip like it was a stupid question. “Who would shoot anyone in the back?”

She felt the sting from his response. She wasn’t handling the interview well. Otto obviously noticed and stepped in. “Okay. Let me be even more blunt, Ryan. We heard from a couple people that you were involved in transporting two women from Guatemala to the U.S. Were you?”

His expression carried the expected measure of shock, but there was an element of fear as his eyes darted from Otto to Josie and back again in a way that made Josie believe the Mooneys might actually have sent them in the right direction.

“No! I was at college!”

“But you got thrown out for assault and battery. Right?” Otto said.

The shock gave way to full-on fear. “No! I mean, I came home. I got in a fight and all, but I came home because I hated it.”

“Hated getting thrown out of college?” Otto said.

“Why are you asking me about this? Those charges were dropped.”

“What do you know about Josh and Macey Mooney?” Josie asked.

He leaned his head back and groaned. “Seriously? Is that what this is about?”