Her Mother’s Grave

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Anxiety gnawed at Josie’s insides as she drove alone to the address Gretchen had given her for Dexter McMann. Before she had made it to her car, Noah had redoubled his efforts to come along, but ultimately he did as he was told, staying behind and sending patrol cars to monitor Rockview Ridge and Misty Derossi’s house. From the car, Josie called Misty and awkwardly explained that some people had been harassing her lately because of her job, and that she wanted to make sure that harassment didn’t extend to those around her. Luckily for Josie, Misty was too ill and too exhausted from dealing with a sick baby to ask many questions. Josie had a similar conversation with the administrator of Rockview, who promised to tighten up their security measures. Gretchen was busy finishing up the paperwork on Needle’s arrest. They would have their hands full until Josie returned.

Fairfield was a tiny town in Lenore County, which was south of Alcott County. Most of Lenore County was made up of farms and state gameland. The Escape hugged the curves of the winding mountain roads until they gave way to rolling one-lane roads snaking across miles of farmland. If the thought of seeing Dex again wasn’t making her sick to her stomach, Josie would have enjoyed the idyllic scenery.

The address Gretchen gave her brought her to a one-story house with dingy white siding and several poorly constructed additions built onto the side. It sat two acres back from the road at the end of a gravel driveway. An old red pickup truck sat outside the front porch. Josie saw several cut tree trunks standing like sentries in the grass in front of the house. As she got closer, she saw that several of them had been carved into the shapes of animals—a bear, an eagle, and a large owl. One trunk had a man’s face carved into it, with a long flowing beard that reached the ground. They were stunning. She parked her Escape and walked over to where they stood. There were several smaller ones in the long grass at her feet—a duck and a sleeping coyote.

A man’s voice called out, “They start at three hundred. The eagle is already sold, I’m afraid. I’ve got more in the back. Just finished my first mermaid.”

She heard his steps moving toward her. She didn’t want to turn, to face him, but she was here, and there was no running away.

“I, uh, also have a couple of dragons if you’re into that sort of thing. Lots of people looking for those these days. There’s a big demand for mythical creatures all of a sudden. I was thinking I might try a unicorn, but I don’t—” His words died on his lips as Josie turned to look at him.

Frozen in place, he stared at her. He’d always been tall, and in the years since she’d last seen him, he’d put on some weight. He looked sturdier now, strong and burly in a pair of stained, torn jeans and a black T-shirt that clung to his chest. He had always been handsome. Until the fire.

She had hoped that maybe the scars would get better over time, or that he’d find a plastic surgeon who could restore what had been lost, but looking at him now, his face still bore the heavy, indelible marks of her mother’s wrath.

“Haven’t seen you in almost twenty years, JoJo,” he said, his voice husky.

“Josie,” she said. “My name is Josie.”

He smiled, and the side of his face that hadn’t melted lifted. “I know,” he said. “Josie Quinn. Married Ray after all. I was sorry to hear about his death. You were two peas in a pod.”

“We turned out to be very different people,” Josie said.

He nodded. “Yeah, well, I guess that’s true, isn’t it? I see you on the news all the time since you solved that case of all those missing girls and became chief. You’ve done well for yourself.”

Josie took a step closer to him. She ran a finger along the side of the enormous bear sculpture. “Looks like you have too.”

He shrugged. “I do okay. Beats going to a job every day and dealing with the public.” He motioned to the side of his head. The burns had taken a portion of his hair behind his left temple. “It gets old answering the questions, you know?”

She didn’t know, but she nodded anyway. “They gave you a glass eye,” she said. “It looks good.”

His fingers touched just beneath his left eye socket. “Yeah, makes me look more human, I think.”

An awkward silence unfurled between them. Josie turned and looked back at the sculptures. “These are amazing, Dex. I had no idea you knew how to do this.”

“What are you doing here, JoJ—Josie?”

Josie pointed to his front porch. There were no chairs, but there were a couple of steps they could perch on. “Can we sit?”

He ushered her over, and they sat side by side on the stoop. For a couple of minutes, they stared at his open front yard, watching the breeze ruffle the tops of the trees lining the road. Then Dex said, “I never told you this—never had the chance to—but it wasn’t your fault.”

Josie swallowed over the instant lump in her throat. “Bullshit. It was entirely my fault. I’m so, so sorry, Dex.”

He knocked his thigh against hers. “Stop. We don’t even know that she did it. It was just odd timing.”

“Someone sets fire to your hair while you’re sleeping? On a night when she just happened to fall asleep on the couch, out of harm’s way? You know as well as I do that she did this to you. And she did it because of me.”

“You were a kid. Belinda was crazy.”

“Lila,” Josie said. “Her real name was Lila Jensen.”

“What? What do you mean by that?”

She told him everything, and he didn’t speak for a long time after she had finished. Then he said, “Makes you wonder what else she’s gotten away with, doesn’t it?”

Josie nodded.

“What do you need from me?”

“A photograph,” Josie answered. “If you had any—or kept any. I know it’s a long shot. I probably wouldn’t have kept a picture of the woman who disfigured me.”

He stared out at the road. “I didn’t.”

Disappointment sat heavy on Josie’s shoulders. Before it could settle into full-blown despair, Dex said, “But I kept a picture of you. And your mother happens to be in it as well. All this time, I thought that was unfortunate.”