Missing and Endangered
Page 31
Beth had spent several long sessions with Marianne Maculyea and seemed to have emerged with the understanding that if Marianne could get through life minus a close relationship with her mother, Beth Rankin might well be able to do the same.
At the Hogans’ open house, Joanna had to admit that the stager had done an amazing job. The results were spectacular, including a ten-foot-tall lushly decorated Christmas tree.
During the party Joanna saw a sparkle in Kendall’s blue eyes that hadn’t been there before. She spent much of the party glued to Jackie Puckett’s side. Izzy and Lyndell Hogan might have offered the children a permanent safe haven, but it was Grandma Puckett who had first come to their rescue. That obviously counted for something.
When Kendall wasn’t plastered to Grandma Puckett, she was in her bedroom playing Uno and Chutes and Ladders with Denny. The two of them hit it off like longtime pals. Meanwhile loner Peter was content to be out in the backyard throwing either tennis balls or Frisbees, all of which Coon obligingly returned every single time.
On Christmas Eve, Joanna received a surprise gift in the form of a phone call from Claire Newmark, her closest ally on the board of supervisors. “I think we’ve finally got the votes,” Claire said. “Your budget request, bodycams included, should sail through with no problem.”
“Thank you so much for letting me know,” Joanna said gratefully.
“And how’s Deputy Ruiz?” Claire asked.
“He’s home and recovering well, as far as anyone can tell.”
“Thank God for small favors,” Claire said. “I’m so glad to hear it.”
Christmas Day itself was an absolute circus. Since Beth had never before experienced a full-on family Christmas celebration, she seemed taken aback by the chaos that left the entire living room awash in discarded wrapping paper. The next-to-last gift wasn’t under the tree because it was on it. It consisted of a tiny box with Joanna’s name on it. Inside were a pair of eye-popping emerald pierced earrings.
“To match your eyes,” Butch told her when she delivered a thank-you kiss.
Finally only one unwrapped gift remained—Beth’s. On Christmas Eve, Butch had made a quick trip to Tucson to bring it home. Jenny, knowing what was up, was the one who delivered it into Beth’s hands.
“What’s this?” Beth asked.
“Open it,” Jenny urged. “You’ll see.”
Beth did. When it became apparent what it was, she looked at Jenny in dismay. “An iPhone?” she asked. “But I thought I wasn’t supposed to have one of these.”
“Mom talked to Agent Norris. With Gerard Paine under lock and key and with his network shut down, she says there’s no reason you can’t go back online, as long as you have a new number, new address, and all new passwords.”
That afternoon the entire household, including Carol Sunderson and her two boys, gathered in the family room to eat popcorn and watch a DVD of The Wizard of Oz.
“The wizard really was creepy,” Beth murmured as the credits rolled. “I see now why you wanted me to watch it, and I’m glad Dorothy and Toto took him down.”
Chapter 54
The evening of Ernie’s retirement party, the kids all stayed home and had pizza while Butch and Joanna, dressed to the nines and with Joanna sporting her emerald earrings, headed for the Rob Roy. Joanna had made it known that uniforms were banished for the evening. Everyone had been directed to show up in their best bibs and tuckers while off-duty officers from Pima and Graham counties were handling patrol duties throughout Cochise in order for Joanna’s people to be able to attend the festivities.
The Carpenters had outdone themselves. Ernie showed up looking amazing in a tuxedo with a beaming, evening gown–clad Rose on his arm. Joanna knew they had to be dealing with a tumult of conflicting emotions right then, but none of that showed. They’d made up their minds about how they would deal with the situation, and they carried it off without a hitch.
As promised, the food was great, and considering who-all was in attendance, Myron Thomas made sure no one was overserved in the drinks department. The end-of-the-evening roasts were hilarious and delivered with the kind of laughter, jabs, and barbs that can only be shared among people who’ve known and cared for each other for years.
Joanna was the next-to-last person to speak. She didn’t even try to do a roast. “When I came here nine years ago, I was a babe in the woods. I knew nothing about law enforcement, but yet all of a sudden I was the sheriff. If it hadn’t been for people like Frank Montoya and Dick Voland,” she said, nodding to each in turn, “I wouldn’t have made it. They, along with Ernie here, taught me everything I know.
“Yet it turns out those other guys were both short-timers. Frank and Dick didn’t hang around for the long haul, but you did, Ernie, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Go if you must. Have fun. I’m just not too sure I believe all that stuff about your going fishing.”
She sat down to a round of applause, and Ernie himself stood up. “I’ve worked for the Cochise County Sheriff’s Department most of my adult life,” he said. “When this little red-haired dynamo first turned up on the scene, I figured we were close to bottoming out. But you know what? I was dead wrong about that. So I’d like to propose a toast to Sheriff Joanna Brady, the best boss I’ve ever had.”
Epilogue
New Year’s Day was supposed to be a holiday, but since Tom Hadlock had covered Christmas Day, it was Joanna’s turn to handle this one. She was in the office that Monday afternoon, but things were blessedly quiet. Kristin was off, and only a skeleton crew was at work out in the front office. Sunny Sloan was on her way to Peoria, where she was due to start classes at the Arizona Police Academy the following day.
Butch was planning on leaving early the next morning to drive Jenny and Beth back to Flagstaff. Having the girls there for Christmas had been fun, but after dealing with company for the better part of two weeks, Joanna was looking forward to having their household shrink back down to normal.
She was surprised when shortly after noon there was a tap on her doorjamb and Jenny stepped inside.
“Why, hello,” Joanna said. “Where’s everybody else?”
“It’s just me,” Jenny said. “We need to talk.”
Uh-oh, Joanna thought, isn’t this where I came in?
“What’s up?” she asked as Jenny slipped onto a chair.
“When you first got elected, I hated the fact that you were sheriff,” Jenny admitted. “For one thing, I was afraid you were going to die, just like Daddy did. I hated that you worked such long hours. It was all about catching the people who do bad things. I knew it was important, but it made me mad when you couldn’t be at school events the way other kids’ mothers were. I guess I was just jealous.”
“I’m sorry—” Joanna began, but Jenny held up a hand to stop her.
“Don’t apologize, Mom,” she said. “I’m not here asking for an apology. The last couple of weeks have been real eye-openers for me. You job is about way more than just catching bad people; it’s about helping good people, too, and about putting broken lives back together. And I want to tell you I’m proud of you.”
Not knowing what else to say, all Joanna could manage was a murmured, “Thank you.”
“That evil man almost destroyed Beth, and he might have gotten away with it if you and Robin Watkins and Adele Norris and LuAnn Maxfield and Marianne Maculyea hadn’t all worked together to help her. I want to say thank you for that, too.”
“You’re welcome,” Joanna said, but somewhere out there, just out of earshot, she was waiting for that other shoe to drop. Eventually it did as Jenny continued.
“I realized the other day that sometimes you have to walk and sometimes you have to gallop, so I’m galloping now, Mom. I haven’t told Dad this yet. I’m telling you first. You know that all my life I’ve wanted to become a vet, but I’ve changed my mind about that. When I get back to Flagstaff, I’m planning on changing my major over to criminal justice. Someday I hope to join the FBI and beco
me an agent just like Adele Norris.”
Jenny finally ran out of steam and fell silent. For a long moment, neither of them spoke, Jenny because she’d said what she had to say and Joanna because she was torn between two diametrically opposed emotions—incredible pride and absolute dread!
“Well,” Jenny prodded finally, “aren’t you at least going to say something?”
Without a word Joanna rose from behind her desk, walked around the side of it, and then hugged her daughter for all she was worth.
“From what I’ve seen, you’ll make a great one,” Joanna said, “and I couldn’t be prouder.”
About the Author
J. A. JANCE is the New York Times bestselling author of the J. P. Beaumont series, the Joanna Brady series, the Ali Reynolds series, and five interrelated thrillers about the Walker Family, as well as a volume of poetry. Born in South Dakota and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, Jance lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona.
JAJance.com
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Also by J. A. Jance
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A Last Goodbye: An Ali Reynolds Novella
Cold Betrayal
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Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
missing and endangered. Copyright © 2021 by J. A. Jance. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
first edition
Cover design by Richard L. Aquan
Cover photographs © Chris Cornish (shrine); © Kris Wiktor/Shutterstock (sky)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.
Digital Edition FEBRUARY 2021 ISBN: 978-0-06-285348-6
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-285346-2
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