Midnight Crossing (35 page)
Authors: Tricia Fields
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #United States, #Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, #Mystery, #Police Procedurals, #Women Sleuths
* * *
Josh’s car had been seized and impounded by Jimmy’s Wrecker Service when he was arrested. The car had been the least of their worries and no one had touched it since the impounding. Josie called Holder on the way to the lot and he approved searching the car without a warrant, since it had been properly impounded.
Josie and Otto drove to the lot and had Jimmy unlock the chain-link fence to allow them access to the car.
Jimmy went into his office to make a phone call while Josie unlocked the passenger-side door. She shone her flashlight under the seat.
“What do you have?” Otto called.
“A murder weapon,” Josie said. “Hopefully covered in fingerprints.”
* * *
On their drive back to the jail with the gun in an evidence bag on Otto’s lap, Josie told Otto, “You’re better at lifting prints. You take the gun and run the prints. I’ll check with the intake officer and get the mayor’s fingerprint card we took earlier tonight.
By the time Josie carried the card into the booking room where Otto was working, he’d already pulled several prints.
“Beautiful, full-pad print on the side of the gun, and on the butt,” Otto said, grinning at his work. “I just got off the phone with Ernie Mays at the crime scene lab. You know Ernie?”
“Sure. He checked the gun and bullet for us.”
“He’s the one. He agreed to match the prints for us if we’ll get them delivered to him in the morning.”
Josie patted Otto on the back. “I believe the mayor’s accessory to commit murder just turned into first-degree homicide.”
The feds subpoenaed Steve and Caroline Moss’s bank records and computer and home files, and compiled a yearlong timeline of human trafficking that would allow full prosecution under the law. The town was in shock: two pillars in the community, a husband-and-wife team, arrested for charges involving trafficking, rape, and murder. The local radio and newspaper ran little else for weeks, and the Hot Tamale was too consumed with gossip for Josie to even enter for a lunch burrito.
Selena Gomez organized a local fund-raising drive to pay transportation expenses for the four women to receive safe passage back to Guatemala. Selena was establishing herself as a local leader for grassroots mission efforts. The work she was completing had a different focus than the highbrow work of Caroline Moss, and Josie was curious to see how the change might affect the town.
Four weeks after the Mosses’ arrest, Smokey Blessings came to the police department and asked to speak with Josie and Otto. They sat with mugs of coffee around the conference table and talked about the cold weather driving down from the north that was threatening a December frost that night. The change of season seemed appropriate to the conversation when Smokey finally got down to business.
“I’ve come with a huge favor to ask, both personally and as an elected official for the community.” He looked directly at Otto. “With the trial looming ahead of us for months, and maybe even years, we won’t be able to heal and move forward until we have a new mayor in place. The city council believes you are the perfect person to step in as the interim mayor. You’re the former police chief, a longtime respected member of the community, and you’ve served on a dozen different community boards through the years. You’re the right choice.”
“I have a job,” Otto said, looking at Josie as if she should have told him.
“I didn’t know anything about this,” Josie said. “I’m as surprised as you are.”
“That’s why we’re meeting together. Obviously we’d like your blessing, Josie. With Otto taking the job as interim, you’ll have to hire a temporary officer, and we all know that’ll be a tough position to fill.”
Josie sighed and folded her hands on the table, knowing Smokey was right. Otto still seemed too shocked to say anything, so she spoke. “Obviously I’ll support whatever decision Otto makes. As much as I hate the idea of losing him, I can’t imagine anyone better for the job.” She looked at him. “You are the person with the integrity and experience that we need right now. You can lead us out of this mess.”
“This department barely gets by on three officers,” he said. “You’ll be totally overwhelmed until you can find a replacement. And how many people want a temporary assignment for a job that takes months, even years, to feel competent in?”
“We’ll deal with that,” Josie said. “And you’ll be close by to help train.”
Smokey stood. “You go home and talk to Delores. Come see me at the courthouse tomorrow and we’ll talk it over. Bring Delores along if you’d like.”
Smokey left and Otto and Josie both sat quietly at the table, reflecting in silence on the conversation as only old friends can do.
Josie finally said, “My mom has hired a moving van.”
Otto raised his eyebrows and grinned. “Moving to Texas?”
“She is. I found a small house for her to rent downtown. And she’s going to work full-time as a clerk at the gas station.”
“I think that’s great. I really do,” he said. “Families are a giant pain in the ass, but in the end, they’re all we have for the long haul. I hope it works out for you.”
She nodded and brought the conversation back around to the issue at hand. “What do you think Delores will say about you taking the mayor’s job?”
Otto rubbed his hand across the stubble on his chin. “She’d like me to retire. She says she’s tired of worrying about me being a cop after all these years, but I don’t think that’s it. She’s used to being a cop’s wife. She knows I’m careful.”
“So why the push?”
“I think she’s lonely. She’d like me to stay home with her and work around the farm. She’d like for us to go visit Mina and the grandkids more often.” Otto lifted a shoulder and gave Josie a miserable look.
“You’d like to take the job, wouldn’t you?”
“I would.”
“You’d be a great mayor,” she said, grinning. “Mayor Podowski. Has a good ring to it.”
“So many times through the years I’ve thought, if I were mayor, I’d do this or that. Now’s my chance. I’d regret not taking it.”
Josie sipped her coffee. “I’ve been thinking about regret a lot lately. I want to make things right with my mom. I don’t want the two of us regretting that we didn’t try harder to patch things up between us. But what happens if she makes this move and it’s a disaster? I’ll still have regret and I’ll be miserable along with it. You know what I mean?”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re turning philosophical.”
“I’m just wondering, how do you decide? Do you chase down a dream, or do you do what makes your wife happy? Do you take a chance on something new, or do what’s safe and comfortable? Life just seems like a giant game of chance.”
Otto smiled. “Don’t look so worried. That’s the beauty of it too. You take your best guess and you make the most of it.”
“What about you? Do you have regrets?” she asked.
“Well, sure. If you’ve lived, you’re bound to have some.” He took a moment to respond. “I suppose my biggest regret is losing touch with my family in Poland. But our choices were made with good intent. I miss my family, but in the end, I know we did what was best for us.” He smiled then and shrugged. “So I’ll go home tonight, and Delores and I will look at the pros and cons. Then we’ll make a decision together.”
They both stood and locked up the office for the night, turning off the coffeepot, computers, and lights. As they walked down the stairs together she said, “After forty years of marriage, I have no doubt, you and Delores will work it all out.”
* * *
Josie called Nick on her way home and asked if he could make it to her house for a late dinner and whatever else that might lead to.
“I’m still in Mexico. I have a meeting with a Federales officer tonight at seven. If I make it to your place, it’ll be late.”
Disappointed, Josie sighed. She needed Nick’s company.
“What if we meet halfway?” she asked. “I could meet you at your cabin. I’m off tomorrow, so we could sleep in and make a fire in the morning. After a big breakfast, we can share a long walk along the river.”
He laughed. “I definitely want to share. Bring Chester with you too. And can you bring a few groceries? My cabinets are pretty empty.”
“I’ll make you the best breakfast you ever had.”
“No canned fruit cocktail?”
“Maybe canned biscuits, but I can pull off fried eggs and bacon.”
“You’re the best. I’ll love you forever. Did you find your key yet?”
“What key?”
“I left you a key to the cabin on your hook in the pantry, just in case you need a getaway.”
“You sure you want to open up your hideaway? You want to invite a woman into your space?” She paused. “No regrets later?”
“Not a chance.”
Josie hung up with Nick and pulled into her driveway. She walked behind the house to catch the final rays of sun shining bright as lightning across the ragged ridge top of the Chinati Mountains. She pulled her coat around her tighter and sat down on the porch step to watch Chester gallop down the driveway from Dell’s house to hers—pure joy on the dog’s face. He bounded onto the steps and leaped into her, knocking her backwards, licking her face and whining with happiness. She laughed and hugged the dog, wondering why people couldn’t be so uncomplicated, and she vowed to take life one day at a time with a new motto—no regrets.
ALSO BY
TRICIA FIELDS
Tricia Fields
lives in a log cabin on a small farm with her husband and two daughters. She was born in Hawaii but has spent most of her life in small-town Indiana, where her husband is a state trooper. She won the Tony Hillerman Prize for her first mystery,
The Territory,
which was also named a Sun-Sentinel Best Mystery Debut of the Year, and has been followed by
Scratchgravel Road,
Wrecked,
and
Firebreak
. You can sign up for email updates
here
.
Thank you for buying this
St. Martin’s Press ebook.
To receive special offers, bonus content,
and info on new releases and other great reads,
sign up for our newsletters.
Or visit us online at
us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup
For email updates on the author, click
here
.
CONTENTS
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
A THOMAS DUNNE BOOK FOR MINOTAUR BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.
MIDNIGHT CROSSING
. Copyright © 2016 by Tricia Fields. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
Cover design by David Curtis
Cover photograph © Liseykina/Shutterstock; mountains © Richard A McMillin/Shutterstock; fence © Borzymoj/Shutterstock
