“Meaning, you won’t be taking me to the mayor’s fund-raising dinner tomorrow?”
“It’s actually his wife’s fund-raising dinner for her mission work. And we’ll still plan on going unless something comes up with the investigation to keep me from it. But I probably won’t see you between now and tomorrow evening. I get off work tonight at midnight, and I’m back in at eight in the morning.”
Her mom took the news well and after dinner they walked her back to the motel with no complaints. Either her mother had mellowed considerably, or she wanted something and was choosing her battles.
*
“Thanks,” Josie said as she and Otto reached the top of the stairs at the police department.
“For what?”
“For having dinner with my mom. I know you’re anxious to review the case.”
Otto unlocked the office door and Josie flipped on the fluorescent lights. As he walked to his desk he said, “You know I try to stay out of your personal life as much as I can.” He turned his head and grinned.
“Oh, really?”
“But I’m going to give you a bit of friendly advice tonight. This job is a tricky one. There’s a fine line between devotion to your job and sacrificing your family. And I’m not really talking about your mom. I just mean in general. You’re a young woman who deserves a family and a happy place to go home to at night. But if you’ve always got the job on your mind, you’ll never find that.”
Josie poured herself a cup of burnt coffee and held the pot up to Otto. He grimaced.
“I get what you’re saying, but it’s hard to turn it off. A woman is lying in our morgue because some monster shot her in the back. Her friend is too terrified to talk. How do I not make that my top priority?”
“Of course it’s your top priority. At work. But you have other priorities at home. You have to find a way to leave it at night or it’s going to eat you up. You have to develop that on-off switch in your head. I’ve been telling you this for years and you don’t seem to get it.”
“Honestly, the only way I know how to lose those visions at night is a glass full of bourbon.” She knew Otto never used alcohol as a coping mechanism, but she figured he wanted candor, so she gave it to him.
“You’re not listening. That’s what your family is for. That’s why you have to make your family and your loved ones, your man friend Nick, priorities too. They’ll keep you strong enough to keep doing this insane job. They’ll help you clear your head instead of filling it up with bourbon. Even if it’s only a few hours at the end of your shift, you have to shut your brain down. You can’t be in that fight-or-flight mode twenty-four/seven or you’ll be joining that woman in the morgue all too soon.”
Josie glanced up at him, surprised at the anger in his voice.
Otto sighed. “I’m sorry. I just worry about you. Somebody has to.”
“You’re a good friend, Otto. I appreciate your advice, and I’ll give it some serious thought.”
“Good enough.”
“Okay, grab your notes,” she said. “Let’s get down to business.”
As they were sitting down at the conference table they heard someone coming up the stairs, two at a time. Marta walked into the office looking like she’d waded through a mud pit. Her uniform was mud-streaked, as were her face and arms.
“We got that son of a bitch!” she called.
“Who?” Josie asked, grinning at her excitement.
“Slick Fish is in custody. I’d heard rumors that he was going to transport a large group this evening around dusk. I set up an observation point on the river along with two Border Patrol agents who knew all about him. Slick had seventeen people ready to cross, and we nabbed him with the very first one.”
“Did you mud-wrestle him to the ground?” Otto asked, pointing to her muddy pants.
“That’s exactly what it was. He might have been wet and naked, but he couldn’t slip by three officers. And, best of all, it’s BP’s case. No paperwork for Marta.” She grinned and brushed her hands together.
“You smell like dead fish,” Otto said.
“You know I hate that river. Next time you get the river detail.”
“Well done,” Josie said. “And good timing. We’re just about to debrief on the murder.”
*
Marta washed up in the office bathroom and sat down with her notebook.
Josie started with Otto. “What did you find out on the autopsy?”
“No surprise with the bullet wound. Cowan said the wound was consistent with being shot from behind at twenty-three feet. The body wasn’t moved or tampered with after the gunshot. The biggest news was that Cowan said she had been raped multiple times before her death.”
“Recently?”
“That’s what he said. Recent multiple lacerations around her groin and thighs.”
“What about the other woman?” Marta asked. “Do we know if she was raped?”