Her Mother’s Grave

Chapter Fifty-One

The glowing numbers on Noah’s cable box showed it was nearly one a.m. Curled beneath a blanket on his couch, Josie shook herself awake long enough to register the old 1990s sitcom playing on the television. She tried to focus on it, but every cell in her body felt heavy with longing to go back to sleep. Her ears tuned to the sounds coming from the kitchen—dishes clinking, the microwave whirring, and another sound that Josie couldn’t identify. A warm sense of calm pulled her back toward sleep again. She was safe here. She could relax—just for a little while. She picked up the remote and turned the volume up a little, filling the room with canned laughter and letting her eyelids flutter closed once more. She was almost there, almost all the way under, when she felt Keith Gibbs’s hands press down on her, smelled his moist breath. Her insides curdled, and she thrashed against him.

“Boss!” Noah’s voice startled her awake. He stood over her looking worried, two large coffee mugs in his hands.

Josie shifted to sit up and wiped sweat from her brow. “Sorry,” she said. “I-I, uh, fell asleep.”

“You were dreaming,” Noah said.

Not dreaming, she thought. Remembering. Her mind was trying to process those terrifying, chaotic moments now that it wasn’t focused on work.

“You okay, Boss?” Noah asked.

Ignoring his question, she said, “You know, you can call me Josie—I mean, at least when we’re here together.”

She patted the space next to her, and Noah sat down, handing her a cup. White foam with what looked like ground cinnamon steamed from inside. It smelled sweet and spicy, with a faint scent of whiskey. “What is this?”

Noah smiled and lifted his cup. “A dirty chai latte—coffee, spices, and single malt. I thought you might like it. I can make you something to eat too, if you want.”

Josie smiled and sipped the drink, slowly savoring it. “Not necessary,” she said. “This is perfect, thank you.”

They drank in silence, lost in the images playing on television for several moments. Then Noah said, “Are we going to talk about tonight?”

“No,” Josie replied.

“Bos—Josie, you know you can talk to me.”

“And you know that I’m not a talker.”

He laughed. “True. All right, how about that detail we talked about? One unit on you all the time until we get this sorted out?”

She was grateful to him for not pushing. The only way she had survived what she had was by blocking out the terrible things that had happened and all the dark feelings that went with them. The only option she had ever had was to keep moving forward. She knew this wasn’t healthy—a therapist she’d been forced to see in college had told her that one day it would all catch up with her, but so far she had been able to stay just ahead of her demons. She planned on keeping it that way.

The latte made her feel warm and drowsy. She put her coffee mug onto the table and stood, offering him a small smile. “Can we not talk about that right now? I think the best thing for me right now is just to go to bed.”

Looking surprised, Noah set his own cup on the table. “Oh, sure, okay. I mean, unless you want to hang out. We don’t have to talk about work.”

“Thank you, but I really just need some sleep.”

She felt his eyes on her back as she left the room. Upstairs, she collapsed into his bed and straight into a deep, dreamless sleep.

A few hours later, she woke; her back and neck felt stiff from the assault, but the memory of Keith Gibbs attacking her was a little duller in her mind than it was before. Soon the memory would be small enough to lock away in her mental vault with all the other horrors she’d endured.

Heading downstairs, Josie tiptoed past Noah, who lay sprawled on the couch snoring, and found her phone charging in the kitchen. It was almost the time she would normally get ready for work. There was a text message from Gretchen from twenty minutes earlier.

Todd has agreed to meet with you. Ten a.m. county prison.

There was also a text from Trinity.

Room 227. I’ll see you later today, right?

Josie didn’t answer it.

She went back into the living room and gently shook Noah awake. “Fraley,” she said. “Wake up. You’re my detail today.”