Midnight Crossing (Josie Gray Mysteries #5)(47)

Josie looked at Otto. “Josh was driving his Camaro when he picked up Isabella.”

“After what he did to her, I’m sure he knew she wouldn’t get into that van with him again,” said Ryan. “I can’t believe he got her to go with him at all.”

“Macey’s probably the one who approached her at the motel. She probably gave her some reason why she had to leave. Once she was in the car, they had her,” Otto said.

“Where’s the van parked?” Josie asked.

“Josh said he parked it behind the rock quarry.”

Josie faced Marta who was still observing from the back of the room. She had already picked up on Josie’s intent.

“I’ll go now. The quarry’s a good thirty-minute drive from here. I’ll call you as soon as I check it out.”

“Thanks, Marta.” As she left, Josie turned her attention to Otto. “Let’s assume Josh and Macey got Isabella at eight-thirty and drove her out to the quarry. It’s a thirty-minute drive. They’d have been there by nine.”

Otto broke in. “There’s an old contractor’s shack out there that hasn’t been used in twenty years. I bet that’s where the other women were being held.”

Josie nodded, feeling like they were finally hitting their stride. “The earliest they could have left the quarry was nine oh-five. It’s southwest of town, so that adds another thirty minutes to their trip to El Paso.”

Otto picked it up. “They left Artemis at nine thirty-five. They’ve been on the road a little over an hour. There’s only one decent route to the interstate. So they’ve already made it through Marfa. They have to be on their way to Van Horn to catch Interstate 10 to El Paso before I-25 to Albuquerque.”

Ryan started nodding his head. “That’s what he said. Interstate 10 to 25.”

Josie left Otto and Ryan in the room and went to talk to the dispatcher for the sheriff’s department.

Juan Smith was standing at the copy machine when Josie entered the dispatch room. He was in his late twenties, married to a local schoolteacher, and was a loyal, dependable employee. She was glad he was on duty. Josie quickly brought him up to speed.

“Can you get with DPS to get state troopers, Border Patrol, local cops, anyone who will respond, set up around the Van Horn entrance ramp?”

“I’m on it.”

Juan sat down at the dispatch console and took down Josie’s information about the van and the driver and passengers they were looking for. A few minutes later she was back in the interrogation room.

“Let’s talk about your situation,” she said, sitting down again across from Ryan.

Josie always hoped at this point some good might come out of this kind of tragedy. Maybe Ryan would get his life turned around before jail terms became a way of life.

“I’ll do anything you want,” he said.

“That’s a good answer.”

An attorney would point out that Ryan didn’t actually cross the border with the women, but Ryan didn’t know that technicality was in his favor. And he was currently so thankful not to be sitting in a jail cell with a sexual predator sign hanging over his head that Josie was sure he would continue to cooperate.

“I’d like to cut you free. I won’t file charges tonight if you can promise me a few things.”

“Anything you want. I swear.”

“First. No contact with Josh or Macey Mooney.”

“Okay.”

“However, we may ask you to contact him if things don’t go well tonight. Will you do that?”

“Yes.”

“But if he calls you tonight, don’t answer the phone. If we find you tipped him off about what’s happening? I promise you jail time.”

“I get it.”

She pushed her business card across the table. “Other than that, if you think of anything, no matter how small it might seem to you, call or text me. Promise?”

“I promise.”

Josie stood and put her hand out. “We’re done here.”

Ryan shook her hand, but awkwardly stayed standing behind the table.

“Was there something else?” she asked.

“I just want to say thanks. I’m going to get my act together.”

Josie patted him on the back and led him down the hallway.

*

After Ryan left, Josie and Otto walked back to the dispatch station for an update.

“Border Patrol has two vehicles en route. Both are northbound on Interstate 10. Two state troopers are posted just before the Van Horn entrance ramp to the I-10.”

“That’s awesome. Quick work, Juan.”

He grinned. “If he’s on the interstate, we’ll get him.”

Thirty-five minutes later, they listened as dispatch near Van Horn fired up. Border Patrol stopped a white twelve-passenger Econoline van with Texas plates. Josie and Otto listened to the dispatch traffic as Josh and Macey Mooney were arrested for transporting four female passengers with no documentation. Twenty minutes into the episode, Josie called one of the officers and received confirmation that Isabella Dagati and the other three women in the van appeared to be unharmed.





ELEVEN

At ten the next morning Josie and Otto arrived at the Arroyo County Jail, where Texas state troopers had transported Josh and Macey Mooney after capturing them just outside of Van Horn, Texas. The four women were now patients at the trauma center undergoing thorough medical examination, three of them getting treatment for dehydration.