“Tica is handling that,” he said. “I’m sure it’s been issued by now, but I doubt it’ll do much good. We have no idea what kind of vehicle she might be traveling in or even if she’s in a vehicle.
And if she was dumped out in the desert somewhere, it could be months before we find the body.“
“Or years,” Joanna added.
“Do you think she was still working the O’Dwyer angle?” Frank asked.
“Probably,” Joanna said. “I told her to drop it, but it’s pretty clear she didn’t.”
Joanna’s cell phone chirped the distinctive cockadoodle rooster crow that amounted to a ring. “Gotta go,” Joanna told him.
“Sheriff Brady?” someone said.
“Yes.”
“It’s Millicent Ross. I hope you don’t mind my calling you on your cell phone. I had the number in my files.”
“No,” Joanna said. “I don’t mind. What’s up?”
“Well…” Dr. Ross hesitated before saying in a rush, “Jean-nine didn’t come home last night.”
Joanna heard the words and grappled with what they might mean. Were Jeannine and the vet living together? Why hadn’t Joanna known that?
“I’m up so early every day that when she comes in off night shift, I don’t even hear her,” Millicent continued. “But when she wasn’t home this morning when I woke up, I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t know if I should call in and report her missing or what. And then I decided I’d call you and ask your advice. I mean, if anyone would know what to do, it would be the sheriff, right?”
“You and Jeannine are roommates?” Joanna asked.
Millicent Ross hesitated. “We’re actually a little more than roommates,” she admitted. “In fact, we’re a lot more than roommates, but we haven’t exactly advertised it. Bisbee’s such a small place and all. Once gossip gets going, it can be vicious.”
Joanna took a deep breath. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, Millicent. Jeannine is missing.”
“Missing,” Millicent Ross echoed. “What do you mean, missing?”
“I mean her truck was found over in Texas Canyon, but she’s not in it. The last time anyone heard from her was when she radioed in to the department at the end of her shift. Did you hear from her last night?”
But Millicent didn’t seem capable of hearing or acknowledging the question. “How can she be missing?” she demanded. “Where would she go?”
“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Joanna said patiently. “Did she say anything to you about where she was going or what she might be doing?”
“She was still upset about the dogfights,” Millicent answered after a pause. “She traded shifts with Manny so she could go up to San Simon and keep an eye on the O’Dwyers. That’s what she said to me-that she was going to keep an eye on them.”
“Do you really think they’d hurt her?” Millicent asked.
Joanna heard the growing concern in the woman’s voice.
“We don’t know,” Joanna answered. “All we know for certain is that she’s missing.”
“Do you think she’s dead?”
“She
There was a long pause after that. Joanna heard Millicent draw a long breath. “I don’t suppose there’s any point in my coming there,” she said finally. “I’d probably just be in the way.”
“You’re right,” Joanna said. “There’ll be a whole crew of people on the scene, and you would be in the way. But I’ll call you the moment we learn anything.”
“All right then,” Millicent agreed. “I have animals that need to be attended to and appointments that are due in. But please call me. Please.”
“I will,” Joanna promised, ending the call.
When she came through the tunnel at the top of the Divide, she saw the great expanse of bright blue sky spread out in front of her. That spot on Highway 80 was a particular favorite of hers. It was a place where the slightly upward elevation of the road, combined with the abrupt drop of the Mule Mountains, gave Joanna the sensation of being able to fly off the edge of the earth. Today, though, with Jeannine’s possible fate weighing heavily on her heart, Joanna felt instead as though she were falling into an abyss.
A few miles later, she had another thought. Once again she radioed in and asked to be put through to Animal Control. Manny Ruiz took the call.
“You’ve heard?” she asked.
“Tica called me,” he said. “Any news?”
“Not yet.”
“What are we going to do about the workload?” Manny asked. “With Jeannine and me splitting the burden, it’s still not easy. Our part-time clerk is fine, but she can’t run the office and look after the animals, too. And if I’m taking care of the animals, who’s going to be out in the field? I can’t handle this place all by myself.”
“No, you can’t,” Joanna agreed. “Let me see what I can do to get you some temporary help until we know how things stand.”
Her next call was to her former in-laws. Jim Bob Brady answered the phone. “I need a favor,” Joanna said.
“Name it,” Jim Bob returned.
When she finished explaining the situation, Jim Bob was all business. “I’ll be glad to do what I can,” he said. “And Eva Lou will, too. She’s great with animals. We’ll go out to the pound right now and find out what’s needed.”
“How is Eva Lou with snakes?” Joanna asked.
“Did you say snakes?” Jim Bob asked.
“Yes, one of the impounded animals happens to be an abandoned python.”
“Well,” Jim Bob said thoughtfully, “I may have to take care of that one. But don’t worry about it. I’m sure Manny Ruiz will be able to tell us whatever it is he needs us to do.”
Joanna hung up the phone thankful that Jim Bob and Eva Lou Brady continued to be far more supportive and helpful than Margaret and Don Dixon would ever be.
When she finally got out of her car, the rest area was already teeming with activity. In fact, she was the last person from her department to arrive on the scene.
Stamping his feet against the frosty morning chill, Frank Montoya hurried over to meet her. “What have we got?” she asked.
Frank shook his head grimly. “Come take a look,” he said.
Jeannine’s Animal Control truck was parked at the far end of the parking area. Approaching it from the driver’s side, nothing seemed amiss. But the passenger-side window, out of view from passing vehicles, was completely missing. Joanna had to stand on tiptoe to peer inside. A bloodied rock the size of a basketball lay on the passenger seat. The police radio had been pulled from its console. It lay, its wire dangling loose, on the floorboard along with a clipboard, a single shoe, and other debris.
“What’s that?” Joanna asked, pointing. “A nightscope?”
“That’s right,” Frank said. “She must have been using that inside the vehicle when her attacker surprised her, probably by heaving that rock through the window. She never had time to call for help, but from the looks of things, she put up a hell of a fight.”
Everything around Joanna-Jeannine’s shoe in the footwell, the bloodied rock on the seat, the bare mesquite branches beyond the truck, and the looming, bubble-shaped rocks of Texas Canyon-stood out in a kind of stark relief that reminded Joanna of photos observed through her old View-Master. The idea that one of her officers had been attacked and perhaps murdered left Joanna sick at heart but furious and utterly focused.
“Did it happen here?” she asked.
“No,” Frank said. “Whoever did it drove the truck here after the attack.”
“Because they didn’t want us to identify a crime scene?” Joanna asked.
“That would be my guess,” Frank said. “They also took off and left the engine running. It’s out of gas.”
“So whoever abandoned it did so in a hell of a hurry,” Joanna said.
Frank nodded. “Being in a hurry breeds mistakes. With any luck, maybe we’ll find that they left a little
