Midnight Crossing (21 page)

“Oh, I imagine I can hook you right up. One minute.” Helen picked up her phone and spoke quietly into the receiver. She turned and faced Josie, smiling as if she had fantastic news. “Go right on in. He’ll be happy to speak with you.”

As Josie walked down the hallway, for the hundredth time she imagined how she would approach the subject. She had made love to Nick the night before, but her impending conversation with the mayor had nudged at her brain, interrupting the only joy she’d hoped to squeeze out of the day.

The mayor flung his reading glasses onto his desk as if she were interrupting an important task.

“Good morning,” he said, frowning and gesturing to the pleather chair in front of his desk.

The dark paneling, large mahogany desk, and fake leather furniture gave the office the feel of a cheaply decorated men’s club. Josie had the urge to open the curtains, which were always drawn, most likely because the wall faced the alley at the back of the office.

“Good morning, Mayor. Thanks for seeing me.”

He faced her, clasping his hands on the desk in front of him. She focused her attention on his eyes, took a deep breath, and stepped into it.

“I have some disturbing news to bring to you.”

“Well, you’re a cop. Most of the news you bring me is disturbing. Bring it on.”

“It’s about the human trafficking case. We’ve identified the two men responsible for transporting five women from Guatemala to the U.S. as Josh Mooney and Ryan Needleman.”

He put a hand to his ear as if he’d heard wrong. “Bill’s boy?”

Josie nodded. “He’s admitted it, and cooperated fully.”

“His dad know yet?”

“He does. He’s obviously upset, but he refused to pay for an attorney. Meanwhile, Ryan opened up and explained the entire operation to us.”

“Son of a bitch. I’ve known that boy since he was a baby. We gave that kid a hundred dollars for graduation last year, and then he got thrown out of college for fighting before he even got through the first semester. I thought about asking for a refund.” He leaned back in his chair and stared at Josie, clearly shocked at the news. “He’s a little rough around the edges, but I never figured him for a bad kid.”

“He was asked to work with Josh Mooney to drive five women from Guatemala to New Mexico, where the women would work for the hotel services industry. Most likely as maids.”

“How the hell did Ryan get mixed up in a shitstorm like this? What’d Bob have to say about this? I bet he’s ready to kick that boy’s ass all the way to the river and back.”

“That’s actually why I’m here, Mayor,” Josie said. She felt the acid bubbling up in her stomach and knew with sudden clarity that Otto had been right. The following information would never be viewed as professional courtesy.

“He didn’t want to share the information, but Ryan finally said that it was Caroline who asked him to participate.”

The mayor cocked his head. “What did you say?” His voice was low and quiet.

“He said that Caroline asked him to transport the women from Guatemala. She asked him to drive the van.”

He tilted his head and smiled like he’d just heard an absurd joke. “This is bizarre, Josie. Even from you. It’s just absurd.”

“Ryan explained that Caroline was trying to help these women. He said she was helping them come to the U.S. so she could find them jobs and help them get citizenship.”

Moss looked at Josie as if she’d lost her mind. “What the hell is wrong with you? This is my wife you’re talking about! You just attended her charity dinner, and now you bring me this?”

Josie laid a paper that contained a screenshot of the Web site from Jobs Without Borders on his desk and pushed it toward him. “We’ve traced this Web site back to Caroline. We believe she is behind the trafficking organization. I wanted to tell you first before I go to the prosecutor with this. I didn’t want you to hear it on the radio.”

He stood suddenly, knocking his chair over behind him. “I don’t give a good goddamn what you believe, Chief Gray. You are completely out of line!” He placed his fists on the desk and leaned forward toward Josie. “You’re going to take the word of a kid who got thrown out of college this fall over the work of a woman who has shown herself to be a pillar of this community? Is that seriously what you’re doing right now?”

Josie stood, intending to walk out. Talking the situation through was obviously not an option at this point.

“Give me your badge and your gun,” he said. He spoke so quietly that she barely heard his words.

It was Josie’s turn to look shocked. “Excuse me?”

He tapped his desk with his fingertip. “Right here. I want your badge, and I want your gun. You are officially on administrative leave until further notice.”

“You’re making a mistake,” she said.

He threw his arm out and pointed toward the door. “I will have your job over this. Now get the hell out of my office!”

Josie glanced down, unclasped the badge that was pinned above the pocket of her uniform, and pitched it onto his desk. She pulled the gun from her holster, checked the safety, and placed it on his desk, averting her eyes from him. Without another word, she walked out of his office and past Helen, who was standing in the hallway with a hand over her mouth.

THIRTEEN

Lou started to speak and then stopped after seeing Josie’s clenched jaw as she stepped into the PD. She walked into the office and found Otto typing on his computer. He turned when he heard her enter and sighed when he saw her expression.

“Damn it, Josie. You went to talk to him, didn’t you?” He noticed the bare spot above her breast pocket and his eyebrows rose in shock. “Did he strip you of your badge?”

“I’ve been suspended until further notice.”

“Damn it. I told you not to talk to him!”

“That’s not helpful right now.”

He stood and pointed to the conference table. “I’m sorry. Sit down.”

Josie sat and Otto went to the back of the office and poured them both a mug of coffee.

“I’ll go talk to him,” he said, sliding the mug across the table to her.

“Why? So we can all be suspended together?” She sipped the coffee and considered him for a long time. “He’s wrong, Otto. I know it. Caroline is guilty. I was trying to give him a heads-up so that he wasn’t blindsided when this breaks open.”

“Guilty people walk free every day. If we can’t tie her to the crime that took place? You’re screwed. I’m sorry, but it’s a fact you need to face.”

“She’s the one who paid for the Web site! She founded the group that transported those five women to Artemis,” she said. “One of the transporters not only fingered her, but is a close family friend.”

“Big deal! Just because she paid a bill for a Web site doesn’t mean that she knew it was to be used for human trafficking. Any defense attorney could prove that. And it doesn’t mean Caroline killed that woman. It doesn’t mean she had any knowledge of the rapes. Even if she paid Ryan to go pick those women up, unless there’s physical proof, a check or paperwork, it’s his word against hers. And once she gets ahold of him, you think he’ll stick with the story he told us?” Otto made a face. “Not a chance. We got nothing, Josie.”

Lou appeared in the door of the office. She rarely left the front office unattended; instead she would push the conference button and call upstairs if she needed someone. But here she was, standing at the door, obviously shaken.

“What happened over in the mayor’s office?” Lou said.

“What do you mean?” Otto asked.

“I just got a news release emailed to me saying that Chief Gray has been suspended without pay until further notice for breach of contract. What’s going on?”

Blood rushed to Josie’s face.

“This just happened ten minutes ago!” Otto said.

Josie rose and moved to the back of the office. It would be all over Artemis in a matter of hours. Suspended. She heard Otto’s words replay in her head.
We got nothing
.

Josie heard Otto sigh and a chair scoot across the floor behind her. “Have a seat,” he told Lou.

Josie’s chest tightened as she listened to Otto recount their conversation with Ryan Needleman, and Josie’s decision to tell the mayor about his wife before going to the prosecutor.

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.

Back in the kitchen pantry, she took off her gun belt and hung it on its designated hook, staring at the hole where her gun should have been holstered. She shut the door and wandered through the house doing all the things she did every day when she came home, but she was operating on autopilot.

In the bathroom, she stood in front of the mirror and ran her fingertip over the tiny holes where her badge had pierced her uniform that morning.
Who am I if I’m not a cop?
she wondered. Otto’s words played through her mind again and again.
We got nothing
. She realized this went beyond a stupid move on her part, and could end with her losing her job. It was no secret the mayor didn’t think a female should hold the job of chief, and he seemed to especially dislike Josie.