Midnight Crossing (Josie Gray Mysteries #5)(56)
Josie liked to think of herself as someone whose core values propelled all of the major decisions in her life. If people in the community wanted to believe whatever trash the mayor wanted to sling, then screw them all. But now, faced with the public humiliation of getting stripped of her badge, she realized she cared a great deal about what people thought. Without a doubt, even if she was completely exonerated, there would be those who would use the suspension to question her ability to lead. Her reputation would be forever tarnished over someone else’s crime.
The blood inside her body seemed to be pooling in her legs, leaving her light-headed. Perspiration covered her forehead and she felt as if the room were closing in around her. She turned from the window and grabbed her car keys from her desk as she walked to the door.
“I’m going home,” she said, and opened the door to leave.
“Josie. Come sit down so we can talk this through,” Otto said. His tone of voice was calm and reasonable. “Breach of contract? How does that even apply to this situation? We’ll call the county attorney and get some guidance. It’s not as bad as it seems.”
With her hand still on the door, she wasn’t able to turn and face him. “I’m going home.”
*
Nick parked his SUV in front of Manny’s Motel and found Beverly Gray sitting on the wooden bench with her purse in her lap. She smiled and waved as Nick watched her approach, trying to see Josie in her mom. Where Josie was tall and agile, her mom was short and thin, with a careful way of walking, like she was prone to falling. Josie’s expression was guarded, while her mom’s face was a wide-open smile. She opened the door and climbed in, already chattering about her day, and Nick grinned, amazed at how different the two women were.
“Good gracious,” she said, pointing at the onboard computer. “Looks like an airplane cockpit in here.”
“Helps me track the bad guys.”
She buckled her seat belt and turned to face him. “Where you taking me?” she asked.
“I thought we’d drive over to Marfa. I’ll take you the back roads, if you want slow driving but amazing scenery, or we can take the faster route on the highway.”
“Faster! I had enough scenery on the drive from Indiana to Texas to last me a lifetime. Get me some shopping!”
Nick laughed and drove away from the curb. Josie would have said back roads and avoided shopping at all cost. “You know, we’re not known for shopping around here. We got the basics and that’s about it.”
“So what’s the appeal?” she said. “I can’t figure out how Josie ended up out here in the middle of nowhere.”
Nick glanced at her and saw she was serious. Josie had lived in Artemis for more than ten years. He found it hard to believe that they’d never had that conversation.
“Most people either love the desert or they hate it. If you love it, once you settle here, it’s hard to leave,” he said.
“But why settle here in the first place? How the hell did she even find this town? It’s just a speck on the map.”
“That’s the appeal. That’s what Josie was looking for. She looked for law enforcement jobs out West. She told me it was the ghost towns at the end of the road that travels through Artemis that convinced her to move. She wanted to be away from people.”
“Well, that’s what she got.”
Nick pulled onto River Road and waved his hand out in front of him. “See all that wide-open desert land? You can breathe here without other people getting into your space.”
“There’s no trees. And the ones you have look like dwarfs.”
He grinned and pointed to a grove of cottonwood trees along the Rio Grande. “There’s trees. But there’s enough space between them so that you can see for miles on end. It opens your mind up.”
“I don’t know. I just don’t get it,” she said. “When she left, I knew she hated me. But I figured, lots of young people hate their parents. Right? It’s part of growing up. But I never figured it’d last this long.”
Nick held himself back from reassuring her. He was inclined to say that Josie didn’t hate her, but he didn’t really know what Josie felt.
“She’s pretty independent,” Nick said, hoping to move to safer territory.
Beverly let the conversation go and they spent the rest of the afternoon shopping and talking about whatever random topics seemed to pop up. At lunchtime, Nick took her to his favorite lunchtime hangout in Marfa, the Food Shark. She’d never heard of falafel, so he ordered them each a different variation and they ate at picnic tables under a giant awning. Nick got a kick out of her candor, and the idea that no question was off-limits, a trait he figured drove Josie crazy.
On the way back to Artemis, she peppered him with questions about West Texas and adapting to the desert environment. It became clear to Nick that she was seriously considering moving to Artemis. When he pulled in front of the motel to drop her off she said, “You think Josie could get used to me living here?”
He grinned at the question, but saw the worry lines on Beverly’s forehead.
“I’ve been with Josie long enough to know I’d better not answer for her. That’s a question you’ll have to ask her yourself.”
*
Josie parked her jeep in front of her house and saw Chester loping down the lane from Dell’s house, his ears flying out behind him like a little girl’s pigtails. He tumbled into her, whining and wagging his tail like he’d not seen her in weeks. He followed her inside the house and she went to the pantry to get his rawhide chew, even though it was only lunch and not yet time for a chew. Chester settled onto his rug in the living room, and she slipped it between his paws.