Her phone buzzed in her pocket with a text from Nick saying he was on his way home from town and did she need anything. She responded, Nothing but you, and meant it more than he could have known.
When she and Chester reached the driveway, Nick was already there and pulled her in for a hug and kissed the top of her head. She held on too long, and he finally pulled his head back to get a look at her. His expression changed to worry when he saw the tears in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“It was just a bad day.” She sniffed, embarrassed at her reaction.
“Why are you home so early?”
She took in a chest full of air and blew it out slowly, forcing herself to stop the emotion. Avoiding eye contact, she said, “Mayor Moss took my gun and badge.”
He pulled back from her and placed his hands on her arms. “What happened?”
She closed her eyes for a moment, feeling sick with the memory of the conversation. “I was ready to go to the prosecutor over Caroline. She’s behind the transportation ring that funneled through Artemis. Or she’s at least a major player. I went to Moss to warn him.”
“Why would you go to him about that?” He gave her a look like she’d lost her mind.
“Would you not expect the same treatment? When you’re in law enforcement, you at least have the decency to give your fellow officers a heads-up before you destroy their world. You know how it is for a cop, or a lawyer, or anyone in the public eye. Imagine serving as mayor of the city and finding out after the fact that the local police were going after your wife. People expect anyone in the public eye to be above reproach.”
“He should be above reproach in his position!”
“It was his wife. Imagine hearing about her arrest from the radio station.” Josie sighed. “Look. I don’t know why I’m sticking up for the bastard. I’m just trying to explain why I went to him in the first place. Obviously it was a horrible mistake. But I thought I was doing the right thing.”
He put an arm around her shoulder and they headed toward the house. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry you got sacked for trying to be a decent person.”
They sat down on the couch and she turned so she could see him better. She rested her hand on his thigh, glad for his physical presence, and realized suddenly how much she was starting to need him. The thought worried her as much as it made her happy.
“How was my mother?” she asked.
He grinned. “Where do I begin?”
She leaned her head back against the couch and groaned.
“Not in a bad way. She was fine.” He laughed at her expression. “She didn’t say anything that would have embarrassed you.”
“Come on, Nick. Now I know you’re lying to me. My mother doesn’t ever have a conversation without embarrassing me on some level. And you spent all morning with her.”
He laughed again and looked guilty for enjoying her discomfort. “Look. She was your mom. She spent a lot of time trying to figure out your motivation for coming here. To West Texas and Artemis specifically. I don’t think she understands that some people find the desert and the isolation beautiful. It didn’t ring true to her.”
“And did she talk about her motivation for being here?”
He pursed his lips and nodded slowly as if he had an answer that he would rather not share.
“Well?” she said.
“I think she wants to move here. I think she wants to have some sort of relationship with you.” Nick put his hand over the top of hers and squeezed it. “And just to be clear. I gave nothing away. At one point she made an offhand remark about you hating her, and that’s why you moved away. I didn’t correct her. I let it go.”
“I don’t hate her. I feel lousy that I gave you the impression that I might. I just can’t say that I suddenly want to work on a relationship. I feel horrible about that. I have a lot of guilt over it but I have reasons that I don’t want to spend a lot of time with her.”
“You moved two thousand miles away from home. That says something.”
“And now she wants to be neighbors.”
FIFTEEN
Too much was riding on the ballistics evidence to chance anything but a personal delivery. Otto called the state police crime scene lab in Springville to make sure Ernie Mays was working. He wanted to place the gun Josie had found, as well as the bullet from Renata’s body, in Ernie’s hands and beg for quick results if necessary.
Otto found Ernie bent over a microscope. He leaned back a few inches when Otto entered and called hello, but it took Ernie a while to stretch his six-foot body out to its full length. He reached around to rub his lower back and smiled when he realized it was Otto. “Just turned seventy-one this month. And all I’m good for is bending over this blasted desk of mine looking at small stuff.”
“You could retire and fix watches.”
“Better yet, I could retire and do nothing but watch bad TV.” He grinned and winked. “Now. What rates high enough for you to drive all the way here from the hinterlands just to see me?”
“How backlogged are you?”
Ernie snorted. “Weeks. Months.”
“Even for murder cases?”