Midnight Crossing (Josie Gray Mysteries #5)(74)

“Good morning, Josie. Are you looking for the mayor?”

Caroline typically referred to her husband as the mayor, rather than as her husband. Josie figured the term put the emphasis on Caroline’s priority.

“Actually, I’d like to have a word with you. Do you mind if I come in?”

“No, of course not. Come on in. Let’s have a glass of iced tea out back. The patio is in the shade this time of day. It’s a nice time to sit outside.”

“That would be great. Thank you.”

Caroline led Josie down a hallway past a cream-colored formal living room, then past a dining room filled with colorful artwork and a massive dining room table where Josie figured much politicking took place.

In the back, a covered patio ran the length of the house and connected to a pool and a tiered garden area. Caroline gestured to two comfy chairs situated around a coffee table, but Josie opted for the chairs arranged around a dining table. She wasn’t there for comfort.

Several minutes later Caroline carried out a tray with a pitcher and glasses and set them on the table. She poured them each a glass of iced tea and Josie suffered through small talk about the drop in temperature that morning and the enjoyable eighty-degree weather.

At the first lull in the conversation Josie said, “I suppose you’ve heard that the mayor placed me on administrative leave.”

Caroline tilted her head and gave Josie what appeared to be a sympathetic look. “I hope you aren’t here to discuss that with me. You know that I support you, but I’m afraid he’s been tight-lipped about your suspension. With everyone, including me.”

“You’re saying that you don’t know why I was suspended?”

“No. I have no idea.”

“It involves you,” Josie said.

Caroline placed a hand over her heart and looked incredulous. “What an earth would I have to do with your suspension?”

“I told the mayor I had evidence that connects you to a human trafficking organization.”

Her mouth dropped and she laughed like it was an outrageous statement. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m referring to the five women that paid you to transport them from Guatemala to the United States.” Josie paused and watched Caroline’s shocked smile turn into a frown. “More specifically, to New Mexico to work as maids.”

“I’d hardly call the humanitarian work I do human trafficking. If you’re spreading rumors like that, then it’s no wonder you were suspended.”

The French doors that led from the kitchen to the veranda opened and Mayor Moss stepped outside. His face was bright red and his eyes were bulging before he’d even seen Josie. Her jeep was likely enough to cause the reaction. It had been about ten minutes since she’d arrived at the house, and she assumed Caroline had called the mayor for help as soon as she pulled into the driveway. Josie figured the iced tea and friendly small talk had been a stalling technique until her husband could get here. Josie also assumed that Caroline knew exactly why she had been suspended.

“Not only will I have your badge and your gun, but I’ll also have your ass in a jail cell by the end of the day for harassing a public official,” he yelled. He walked directly up to her and stood beside her chair, pointing directly into her face. “Now get the hell away from my wife.”

“I went to New Mexico. I sat in on a sting operation where we delivered four undercover police officers to a man named Big Ben. He was expecting five women, but since one woman was murdered—”

“Get the hell out of my house! I won’t tell you again,” he yelled.

Josie glanced at Caroline, who was looking down, unblinking, staring at the iced tea sitting in front of her, watching the sweat drip down the glass.

Josie continued. “We delivered the four agents to a place in New Mexico called the Maid’s Quarters. It’s where young women from Guatemala pay twelve thousand dollars to endure a trip from hell to be delivered to a man who treats them like property and makes them sleep together in a room that looks like third world squalor.”

The mayor grabbed Josie’s arm. “I’m calling the sheriff to remove you.”

Josie jerked her arm out of his grasp. Her face was heated and she could feel her temper flaring. She would finish what she came for. “After Caroline collected sixty thousand dollars from the women’s families, she was also set to receive another four thousand for delivery of the girls to Albuquerque.” She paused and stared down Caroline until the woman looked up at Josie. Josie repeated her earlier statement. “It would have been five thousand, but one of the women was murdered.”

Josie heard the click of numbers being pressed on a cell phone behind her. No doubt the mayor was calling the sheriff, and she hoped he would. She’d enjoy listening to him try to explain his way out of this one.

“But here’s the killer,” she said. “When Caroline has a delivery ready, she calls Big Ben to let him know she has a load. That’s what they call the girls. A load. Caroline? She’s called the supplier.”

“Stop it,” Caroline said, but her voice was quiet, and her eyes had the unfocused look of someone whose brain was on overload, no longer able to process information.

“After Big Ben was arrested and his phone seized, he told me that his supplier for Guatemala was named Lilith.”