“I made her boss mad.”
“So the drama’s over?” Lou asked.
“It hasn’t even started. But at least I’m back on the job. Let me know if you hear anything on the radio about it. Hopefully the mayor will make some sort of announcement.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” Lou said. “Otto doesn’t know yet. He’ll be glad to see you. He’s been a grouch ever since this happened.”
“Is he upstairs?”
“Yes, ma’am.” She smiled and handed Josie her badge and gun. “Good to have you back, Chief.”
* * *
Josie walked upstairs and held up her equipment as she entered the office. Otto turned away from his desk looking shocked. “How did that happen?”
They sat together at the conference table and Josie explained her visit with Caroline and the mayor.
“You were right not to tell me. I’d have told you to quit being foolish.” He gestured to her gun lying on the table. “And now this. Good for you.”
“I have to talk to Holder. I have no idea what kind of charges he might bring against her.”
“Maybe none, since this is still circumstantial. The only physical evidence that ties her to trafficking, other than Ryan’s admission, is the Visa payment to set up the Web site four years ago. The name Lilith doesn’t exactly make the case.”
“Understood. But a jury will love it.”
“You know she won’t do jail time,” he said. “She’ll get a high-dollar attorney who’ll claim she was framed.”
“We also have an unsolved murder. Who says she’s not involved?”
“Speaking of the murder, Cowan called this morning. The lab ran the mouth swab from Josh Mooney. They were able to collect DNA off Renata’s underwear that was still intact. It matched the DNA collected from Mooney.”
Josie put a fist in the air. “Excellent. I hope that bastard pays like hell for what he did.”
Otto studied her for a moment. “Let’s go back to Caroline. To our former Citizen of the Year. What’s your opinion?”
Josie raised a hand to dismiss his question. “That’s why we have judges and juries. I just arrest them. I don’t have to decide guilt.”
“Come on. Don’t be such a cop. I’m asking your personal opinion about what Caroline did.”
Josie had thought about little else for days. “Okay, then. She used her humanitarian work to cover up something illegal. To me, that makes what she did even worse.” Josie walked to the back of the office to look out the window. She finally turned back to Otto. “But this goes deeper than that. It reminds me of one of those companies that make their money on the backs of the little people, with no regard for their safety. As long as they make their money, and they get away with their crimes, they can look the other way and get rich. Pretend what they’re doing is helping society. Until someone catches them. That’s what I think Caroline did. She didn’t care what was happening to those women. She didn’t bother to check on their safety because she didn’t want to know. That’s not just irresponsible, it’s criminal.”
Otto’s lips were pursed and he was nodding as she talked. “I doubt Holder can use any of that, but it sure as hell makes sense to me. Let’s get her.”
* * *
At four-thirty, Josie and Otto sat down with Holder and spent the next several hours discussing Josie’s trip to Albuquerque and her involvement in the investigation while officially suspended. She and Holder had a good relationship, and she hadn’t wanted him to find out about her involvement when he was in the middle of presenting his latest case to a jury. At one point, Holder called Smokey Blessings, who said that the counsel never officially recognized Josie’s suspension because the mayor had not followed proper protocol. Holder asked Blessings to write up his explanation and deliver it to the prosecutor’s office.
“I’ll be honest, Josie. I don’t like any of this. I understand why you went, and I get that you had to go when you did, but you put me in a hell of a bind. This is one of those jury minefields. They could either turn on the mayor for suspending you, or they could sympathize with him because he supported his wife. In that case, they could turn on you for investigating a case without your badge.”
“But Smokey just said—”
“I know what he said. But Caroline Moss will have a first-rate attorney who will take anything outside of the investigative norm and paint it as questionable. It comes down to perception and the makeup of the jury. I hate cases like this. I want to take a case to trial that revolves around evidence, not bad decisions.”
“What will you charge Caroline with?” Otto asked.
“That depends on what you bring me. I’m not ready to file yet.” Josie started to protest and he cut her off. “Under Texas criminal code, I can charge her with the first-degree felony called ‘continuous trafficking of persons.’ But it only applies to people who commit two or more acts of trafficking. As a first-time offender, she could get twenty-five to ninety-nine years. You get me the timeline. I want to know how many women she delivered, and the dates they were delivered.”
“We’ve got Josh Mooney and this Big Ben fella in Albuquerque to work for information,” Otto said.
“Hell, no,” Josie said. “I don’t want to give Josh Mooney a break. That piece of scum needs to spend every second in jail that we can get.”
“Talk with him. See what you can get without making any deals,” Holder said. “And see what your buddies in New Mexico come up with. If Big Ben can provide us a list of dates and women’s names, and we can link them to the Web site and their families? I’ll feel better. I want the connections between Caroline Moss and the various players to be crystal clear.”
“What do we do about the mayor?” Otto asked.
Holder pursed his lips and shrugged. “We do nothing. Do you have any indication he’s involved with the trafficking operation?”
“No.”
“Then we do nothing. Josie tried the professional courtesy route. We won’t do that again,” Holder said.
NINETEEN
Josie drove home that night feeling like she was back on top of the world. She and Otto had left the prosecutor’s office and called Townie in New Mexico, who had already made headway with Big Ben. Turned out he was a midlevel player in an organization that had spread northeast to Oklahoma City. And he kept impeccable records of the girls entering and exiting the Maid’s Quarters. Bottom line, Big Ben was selling out everyone he could think of in order to strike a deal with the prosecutor. Big attorney or not, Caroline was in trouble.
* * *
Earlier that day Nick had called to get the story behind the cancellation of Josie’s suspension, and he’d asked her to meet him at Dell’s house when she got home. Dell had offered to make barbecue brisket for Nick, Beverly, and Josie. When she arrived home at eight o’clock, the lights were off at her house, but she could see a bonfire in front of Dell’s. She changed into jeans and a sweatshirt, and found the three of them sitting in lawn chairs around the bonfire, talking and laughing.
The sight of the people she cared most about in the world sitting together and enjoying each other’s company made her chest swell up with happiness. She thought it was the kind of simple moment that comes out of nowhere and knocks you to your knees: the kind of happiness that has nothing to do with money or success or material things. She realized in that moment how fortunate she was, and she was glad that her mom was a part of it.
“We got a plate full of brisket waiting for you over here. Come sit down and take a load off,” Dell said.
Nick held a beer in the air. “Fresh out of the cooler. Ice cold.” He scooted the empty chair closer to his own and Josie sat down, accepting the beer with a wide smile.
“This is nice,” she said, looking around the fire.
“We’re celebrating that you’re back on the job,” her mom said, raising her own beer and tilting it in Josie’s direction.
“Smokey Blessings made a statement on the public radio station about an hour ag
o. He said that the information about your suspension was shared in error, and that you were never suspended. He said Chief Gray has the full support of the council and that you were, and still are, actively serving the community.”
Josie tipped her head back against the seat and exhaled a long slow breath of relief. “That’s more than I expected. I figured they’d just pretend it never happened.”
“Smokey’s got your back,” Dell said.
And that was all that was said. The conversation turned away from the mess the town was now facing. The drama could wait until morning. They enjoyed the cool evening and the warmth of the fire and the easy conversation of friends and family. At midnight, Nick and Josie drove Beverly back to Manny’s Motel. Josie walked her mom to her room and asked if she’d thought any more about her plans.
“I won’t lie to you,” Beverly said. “I like it here. I like being near you. I like your friends and this little town. But there’s a part of me that knows this isn’t mine to like. It’s yours.” She leaned against the motel door and looked down the quiet street. “I know I’m pushy. But this time I want to do it right. So I’ve been thinking. I’m going to head on back to Indiana. I’ll give you and Nick some time to think about this. And if you want to invite me to your town to get an apartment and set up a new place here, then we can talk about it. But I’m going to wait to hear from you first.”
The lump in Josie’s throat kept her from speaking, but she smiled and reached out to her mom, and the two women hugged without hesitation for the first time in many years.
“I’m going to leave in the morning. First light. You give me a call when you’re ready.”
Josie’s throat was so tight she barely got the words out. “I love you.”
Beverly smiled. “I love you too, Josie. Always have, always will, no matter what.”
* * *
Marta had worked a swing shift the night before so that the three officers could meet together at ten to debrief and plan next steps. Once they were seated around the conference table, Josie began.
“We’ve got two focus areas,” she said. “Solving Renata’s murder, and breaking down the trafficking organization.” She went to the whiteboard hanging on the wall and drew a line down the middle, with Renata’s name on one side and Caroline’s name on the other.
“Let’s start with Caroline. That’s the easy target,” Otto said.
They listed a dozen calls to be made, including to Townie, to follow up on his investigation; to the prosecutor working the case in Albuquerque, checking the warrant for Caroline’s, Josh’s, and Macey’s phone records; to check on the warrant for the online site Jobs Without Borders; and to review information with the state’s cybercrimes unit. The three officers worked up a to-do list for the day and moved on to Renata.
“The search warrant for Josh and Macey Mooney’s apartment should come through this morning,” Josie said. “Josh Mooney is our number one suspect.”
“Even though Isabella didn’t think she heard Josh’s voice?” Otto said.
“Consider the situation,” Josie said. “They’re stumbling through the pasture at night with unknown men chasing them. At some point, there’s gunfire. Do we really trust her auditory memory?”
Otto tipped his head to acknowledge her point.
“Talk me through what you have,” Marta said.
“Isabella and Renata escaped from Josh and Ryan when they were in Piedra Labrada. They made it to a woman’s home along the Rio, named Señora Molina, who told them to cross into the U.S. and find me for help. The two women made it to my house and were hiding in the toolshed when a car appeared several nights in a row. The car stopped the second night and a passenger exited the car. The women assumed the person was searching for them. They took off for the pasture. We know that Renata was shot in the back while fleeing from at least two individuals at about ten o’clock in the evening.”
“How do you know it was two?” Marta asked.
“Isabella said that as they were being chased, the car continued to move down the road,” Josie said.
“Time of death was ten o’clock. It most likely happened while Josie and Dell were at the water meeting in town,” Otto said.
“And he’s admitted to driving by my house several times to look for Isabella and Renata. He just seems an unlikely suspect for the murder,” Josie said, holding her hands up like a shield against Otto’s incredulous look. “Drug fiend, yes. Rapist even, yes. But hunting down a woman to murder her seems a stretch to me.”
“But why are you only referring to Josh and not Ryan? Weren’t they a team? They were both driving the girls from Guatemala to the U.S., so why’s Ryan off the hook?” Marta said.
“Ryan claims he was home the entire night of the murder. I’ll check his alibi with his parents,” Otto said.
“According to Ryan, when Isabella and Renata ran from the hotel room, he left too. He claimed he couldn’t take one more day with Josh. And Josh confirmed that Ryan left. He said he got Ryan to look for the women around my house one night, but that they couldn’t find them, and Ryan refused to come back,” Josie said.
“So, Josh is saying that he was searching for the two women beside your house for several nights, except for the night that Renata was killed. And it just so happens that someone else showed up that night and killed her?” Marta said with a sneer. “He’s lying.”
“According to the timeline we’ve established, two people drove by my house at about ten o’clock and murdered Renata while I was at the water meeting. I think they got spooked about me arriving home from the meeting and finding them, so they left. But they came back to finish the job. That’s when I heard the car drive by, at approximately two in the morning.”
“So the murderer came back to finish the job, but couldn’t find Isabella,” Marta said.
Josie nodded. “Exactly. I’m assuming Josh was one of the two, but we have nothing to tie the murder to him,” Josie said. “We have a bullet and bullet case that don’t match the gun I found at the murder scene. The gun that Isabella threw into the pasture was Josh’s. She stole it when she and Renata took off. But the prints belong to Isabella, not Josh.”
“What a mess,” Marta said. She shook her head and looked at Otto. “Remind me where we are with the search warrant for Josh’s apartment?”
“I expect we’ll have that today. The judge was out of the county yesterday, but should be back this morning.”
“Okay. Marta, why don’t you start working the case against Caroline. Otto, you want Josh or Macey?”
“I’ll take Josh in jail. At least I don’t have to go back to that apartment.”
“Tell him we’re about to serve a search warrant on his apartment and see if you shake anything out of him. I’ll get a jump on the warrant and go talk to Macey Mooney.”
Marta rolled her eyes. “Better take your BS detector. That woman wouldn’t know the truth if she lived it.”
* * *
It was eleven-thirty when Otto left the office for the jail, so he slid home first for a quick lunch with Delores. He found her behind the house in a lawn chair, petting the cat she was now calling Fergie. The cat’s purr was so loud he couldn’t hear the words Delores was speaking to the animal. As much as Otto hated cats, Delores seemed to love them to an equal measure.
He startled her when he walked up the stairs to the back porch.
“What on earth are you doing home?” she asked.
He laughed at her response. “You don’t sound very excited to see me.”
“Well, you always call. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? I’d have had lunch ready for you.”
“It’s fine. I’ll just grab a bologna sandwich and some tea.”
Delores shooed the cat off her lap and followed him inside, chatting about her day and the trip to Odessa she was planning to visit their daughter.
Once their sandwiches were fixed they sat and ate while Otto filled Delores in on the growing case against the mayor’s wife.
“I just can’t picture Caroline in a jail uniform. Do you suppose she’ll spend time in jail for this?” she asked.
“It could happen. Look at Martha Stewart.”
“True,” she said, but her look was skeptical. “Do you think she’s a bad person?”
Otto looked up from his plate, surprised at the question. “That’s not really what police work is about. We don’t necessarily arrest bad people, we arrest people who break the law.”
“Makes it easier, though, doesn’t it? When you’re arresting someone who’s a bad person over someone who just made bad decisions?”
Otto took a long drink of his iced tea. He scooted away from the table and carried his dishes to the sink. “I’m afraid I can’t answer that question because I’m headed to the jail for an interview.” He kissed her on the head and walked toward the front door.
“You can’t answer that question because you don’t want to,” she said, following after him.
“True enough.”
“Well, I don’t think she’s a bad person.”
“And what would you like for me to do with that tidbit of information?” he asked, noticing the worry lines around her eyes.
“I don’t know. Just take it into account when you arrest her. Be nice about it. And for heaven’s sake, don’t use handcuffs.”
* * *
Otto drove back into town to the Arroyo County Jail, where Josh’s attorney had agreed to meet at one o’clock. Josh had finally wised up and decided representation would be a good idea.
Otto’s mind wandered as the flat sandy desert rolled by, and he thought about Delores’s take on the world. She was a good woman who saw the world in shades of gray. But she didn’t have conversations with the likes of Josh Mooney. She had the luxury of continuing to see the best in people. Otto thought those years were long gone for him.
Otto waved at Oliver Greene as he parked his Mercedes beside Otto’s old jeep. The men walked into the jail together, chatting good-naturedly, and sat together in the conference room, where ten minutes later the jailer delivered Josh. He sat down next to Oliver, who winced at the smell that wafted over them.
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