Save Her Soul (Detective Josie Quinn #9)(77)

Josie sat up straighter. “What kind of uniform?”

Lisette lowered her hand and frowned. “I’m not sure, dear. What kinds of jobs require uniforms? What kind of establishment would have the name sewn onto the uniform?”

Gretchen started listing some. “Delivery drivers sometimes, bus drivers?”

Josie said, “Mechanics.”

“Come to think of it,” Lisette said. “That makes sense. Sometimes it was quite dirty. I’ll bet he was a mechanic. I could be wrong, though. You have to remember this was such a long time ago. I really only remember these things because your ongoing feud with Beverly took up such a significant amount of time back then.”

She winked at Josie and held out a hand, which Josie took and squeezed. “Gram,” she said. “You’ve got one of the best memories of anyone I know! We’ll look into it.”

Before Lisette could reply, a nurse’s aide came sailing into the room with a large vase of flowers. “Hello,” she called from behind the lush, colorful arrangement. “Mrs. Matson! Delivery for you!”

She set the bouquet down on Lisette’s dresser and beamed at them.

“My goodness!” Lisette exclaimed.

The aide tore off the card that was stapled to the plastic and handed it to Lisette before leaving them alone.

Gretchen stood and took a whiff of the flowers. “These are lovely, Lisette.”

Smiling, Lisette struggled to get the card out of its tiny envelope. “They are, aren’t they?”

“Need help?” Josie asked, wondering who would be sending her grandmother flowers. Did she have a suitor that Josie didn’t know about? It wouldn’t have been the first romance at Rockview Ridge.

Lisette handed her the envelope, and Josie easily removed the card. She read it once, her heart giving a double tap. Then she read it again, not understanding.

Lisette said, “Who are they from?”

Feeling something uncomfortable stir inside her, Josie handed the card back to Lisette who squinted at the words. They scrolled across the screen of Josie’s mind on a loop, making her feel cold.

Lisette, thank you for being so kind and receptive to me. It is a great honor and a thrill to finally be in touch with you. Hope we get to spend much more time together. Love, Sawyer





What the hell was going on?

Lisette’s smile faltered as she read. Reading the room, Gretchen said, “Boss, I’m going to check on Poppy. I’ll meet you at the car?”

Josie nodded.

Gretchen pulled the door closed behind her as she left. Turning to Lisette, Josie said, “Gram, why is Sawyer Hayes sending you flowers?”

Lisette leaned forward and tucked the card into one of the pockets of the basket affixed to her walker. “Josie, I want you to stay calm.”

Josie stood up, the agitation welling up inside too great for her to stay seated. Disturbing thoughts pinged around her mind like balls in a pinball machine. What was Sawyer Hayes after? It was one thing to run into her grandmother when he was at Rockview in his capacity as an emergency worker and strike up a conversation, but this was something else entirely. Was he trying to con her somehow? Was this Josie’s fault? Did he think because of Josie’s fame, Lisette might have something that he could trick her into giving over? Money? Some kind of inheritance? If that was the case, he was in for a rude awakening. Or worse—was he pursuing Lisette? He couldn’t be. The age difference was—

Lisette’s words cut into her morass of horrifying thoughts. “Josie! Look at me.”

Josie realized she had started pacing. She stopped and met Lisette’s eyes. “Gram, this seems a little inappropriate to me. You barely know this guy. This isn’t right. It’s a sweet thing for him to do, but what is he even talking about? Receptive? What does that mean?”

Lisette stood up, grabbing her walker and shuffling over to the foot of her bed to the spot Josie had just vacated. She sat down and patted the bed. “Please, Josie. Come sit.”

Reluctantly, Josie lowered herself onto the bed. Their shoulders brushed against one another. Lisette found Josie’s hand and took it, squeezing tightly. “There’s something I need to tell you, dear.”

Josie’s heart began to thunder, the roar in her ears growing more deafening by the second. Why did she feel afraid? What could Lisette possibly have to tell her that had to do with Sawyer Hayes? If he was conning her or pursuing her, Josie could still stop it. She was a police officer. She’d come after him with the full weight of her department.

Lisette’s bony fingers tightened around Josie’s hand until it hurt. Lisette gave news the same way that Josie did—swiftly and without qualifiers. Josie had always thought of it as ripping off the Band-Aid. The sooner you got it over with, the sooner the person could process what they were about to learn.

Lisette said, “Sawyer is my grandson.”

A perfect silence fell over the room. Everything became so still that even the dust motes floating in the shaft of light coming through the window seemed to freeze. The bustling noises of the rest of the facility outside of Lisette’s door receded into nothingness. Surely, Josie had heard her wrong.

“What did you say, Gram?”

Lisette took a deep breath. On the exhale, she repeated, “Sawyer is my grandson.”

Josie started counting off seconds in her head, trying to maintain her composure. He was running a con. That son of a bitch. One, two, three. She sprung up from her seat, tearing her hand out of Lisette’s grasp, pacing frenetically in the tiny room. “Gram, I don’t know what he told you, but he obviously thinks he can get something out of you. Some grand inheritance or something. This is a con. He’s a con artist. I knew there was something I didn’t like about this guy. Listen to me, I want you to stop all contact with him until I sort this out. I’ll talk to the front desk and tell them he’s not to come in here any longer.”