Her Mother’s Grave

Chapter Three

The Spur Mobile store was completely empty, for which Josie sent up a prayer of thanks. Even more annoying than calls from unwitting men looking for sexual encounters was waiting in line to have her number changed. The disinterested kid behind the counter pulled a pair of headphones from his ears as she approached the counter. He didn’t ask many questions, even when he pulled up her account and saw how many times she’d changed numbers in the past month. A half hour later she was all set. Outside in her vehicle, she texted her most important contacts with the new number. Putting a call through to her grandmother, Lisette, she breathed a sigh of relief when it went straight to voicemail; she didn’t feel like explaining the craigslist situation, especially not to her grandmother.

Her phone buzzed in her hand just as she was putting it back in her pocket—a return message from Trinity Payne. A new number again already? WTH is going on?

Trinity was the only reporter that Josie would consider a friend, and even that was a stretch. Trinity had shot to stardom in the national news market straight out of college, only to fall from grace after a source fed her a bad story. She had been doing penance reporting for her hometown television station two years ago when Josie cracked a big missing girls case that had made them both famous. Trinity had been an indispensable ally during the fallout from that case, and since then, an excellent source of information on just about everything under the sun. Josie kept in contact with her for that very reason.

None of your business, Josie texted back.

Did you think about what I said? My producers would love it if I did a story on you. Small-city chief cracks big cases. It would go national.

Trinity had been after a profile of Josie ever since she solved a string of murders that ran the length of the East Coast.

No way, Josie texted back.

It only took a moment for Trinity to answer.

Some other time, then. I’ll be in town in a couple of weeks for a retrospective piece on the missing girls case. We’ll do lunch. What about the Lloyd Todd arrest? That would make a great story for a national news magazine. How about an exclusive?

Josie shook her head, chuckling. Trinity was nothing if not persistent. Josie didn’t bother to respond. She was sure that Trinity would get what she wanted eventually. She decided to wait it out until she needed a favor from her, and then she’d use the Lloyd Todd story as leverage.

A loud growl emanated from Josie’s stomach as she got back into her car. She should have taken Misty up on her offer of lunch—so much for a relaxing day off! In her mind, she catalogued what waited in her fridge at home, and headed off in the direction of the nearest drive-thru.

She had just polished off a burger when her phone rang. A glance at the screen showed it was Noah calling. Pulling over, she abandoned the bag of fries on the passenger seat and swiped a greasy finger over the answer icon. “What’ve you got?” she said.

“It’s not about the ads—or Todd’s crew.”

She could tell by the slight strain in his voice that whatever he was calling about was serious. “What is it?”

“Some kids found human remains behind the Moss Gardens Trailer Park. You know it?”

She knew it all right. “Yes,” she said, surprised by the steadiness of her voice. A stillness overtook her. Movement felt impossible. “What kind of human remains?”

“Skeletal. Old. Gretchen’s over there now. Dr. Feist is on her way.”

“I’ll meet you there,” Josie said. Forcing her limbs out of their momentary paralysis, she put her vehicle in drive, the smell of the French fries suddenly nauseating. Pulling back into traffic, Josie headed toward the trailer park she hadn’t visited since she was fourteen years old, the trailer park she used to call home.