Midnight Crossing (Josie Gray Mysteries #5)(59)

“He should be above reproach in his position!”

“It was his wife. Imagine hearing about her arrest from the radio station.” Josie sighed. “Look. I don’t know why I’m sticking up for the bastard. I’m just trying to explain why I went to him in the first place. Obviously it was a horrible mistake. But I thought I was doing the right thing.”

He put an arm around her shoulder and they headed toward the house. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry you got sacked for trying to be a decent person.”

They sat down on the couch and she turned so she could see him better. She rested her hand on his thigh, glad for his physical presence, and realized suddenly how much she was starting to need him. The thought worried her as much as it made her happy.

“How was my mother?” she asked.

He grinned. “Where do I begin?”

She leaned her head back against the couch and groaned.

“Not in a bad way. She was fine.” He laughed at her expression. “She didn’t say anything that would have embarrassed you.”

“Come on, Nick. Now I know you’re lying to me. My mother doesn’t ever have a conversation without embarrassing me on some level. And you spent all morning with her.”

He laughed again and looked guilty for enjoying her discomfort. “Look. She was your mom. She spent a lot of time trying to figure out your motivation for coming here. To West Texas and Artemis specifically. I don’t think she understands that some people find the desert and the isolation beautiful. It didn’t ring true to her.”

“And did she talk about her motivation for being here?”

He pursed his lips and nodded slowly as if he had an answer that he would rather not share.

“Well?” she said.

“I think she wants to move here. I think she wants to have some sort of relationship with you.” Nick put his hand over the top of hers and squeezed it. “And just to be clear. I gave nothing away. At one point she made an offhand remark about you hating her, and that’s why you moved away. I didn’t correct her. I let it go.”

“I don’t hate her. I feel lousy that I gave you the impression that I might. I just can’t say that I suddenly want to work on a relationship. I feel horrible about that. I have a lot of guilt over it but I have reasons that I don’t want to spend a lot of time with her.”

“You moved two thousand miles away from home. That says something.”

“And now she wants to be neighbors.”





FIFTEEN

Too much was riding on the ballistics evidence to chance anything but a personal delivery. Otto called the state police crime scene lab in Springville to make sure Ernie Mays was working. He wanted to place the gun Josie had found, as well as the bullet from Renata’s body, in Ernie’s hands and beg for quick results if necessary.

Otto found Ernie bent over a microscope. He leaned back a few inches when Otto entered and called hello, but it took Ernie a while to stretch his six-foot body out to its full length. He reached around to rub his lower back and smiled when he realized it was Otto. “Just turned seventy-one this month. And all I’m good for is bending over this blasted desk of mine looking at small stuff.”

“You could retire and fix watches.”

“Better yet, I could retire and do nothing but watch bad TV.” He grinned and winked. “Now. What rates high enough for you to drive all the way here from the hinterlands just to see me?”

“How backlogged are you?”

Ernie snorted. “Weeks. Months.”

“Even for murder cases?”

“That’s what I’m referring to.”

“This case involves a cop, who’s investigating a mayor’s wife, who may be peripherally involved in a murder.”

Ernie raised his eyebrows.

“The cop is now suspended by the mayor.”

“Let me guess. The cop’s a friend. So you’re here asking favors.”

“That’s about it.”

Ernie sighed heavily. “Us old-timers have to stick together. What do you need?”

“A few things. First, latent prints and DNA from the gun.” He held up a plastic bag with the pistol. “I’m after one clear chain of evidence from the scene of the crime to your lab. The police officer in question never touched any of this, so we’re looking at good evidence. I don’t want any reason for someone to cry foul later.”

Ernie waved it off. “No problem. I understand. What else?”

Otto held up another plastic bag, this one holding a bullet and casing. “I need to know if the bullet found inside the woman’s body, and the casing found at the crime scene, match the gun found at the crime scene.”

“All right. Unless I run into problems, I’ll get you an answer by tomorrow.”

Otto smiled and then laughed, feeling a huge sense of relief. He’d expected at least a two-week turnaround. “Next time I make it up this way, I’ll buy you a steak dinner.”

Ernie patted Otto on the back and told him there might not be a next time, that retirement was indeed looming. But Ernie had been saying that for a decade, and still kept showing up at the microscope.

*

As Otto drove back to Artemis he saw that it was just after five o’clock and decided he had one more stop for the day: Selena Rocha. He knew Josie liked her and valued her input, and Otto thought she might be able to offer some additional piece of information. Through the years, he had discovered that hairdressers, garbage collectors, and mail carriers were some of the best sources for information in a small town.