we were going to visit between here and there. It was so silly, and we were completely broke. But Ray wanted to make it happen for me, and he did. He spent that entire summer working construction. He was a day laborer for this general contractor. I barely saw him at all. He’d have to be on the job site at six in the morning and by the time he was finished, he’d be so tired. They were building that office building—oh my God.”
She pulled away from him. Noah looked at her, confused. “What is it?”
“Good God,” she said. “I know what we’re missing. I know why Beverly had Ray’s jacket and why his prints were on the Wellspring receipt.”
Forty-Four
2004
Ray and Josie stood outside the construction site. The structure had walls and windows now, resembling a building instead of some kind of Erector set. The noise from inside was still steady but less deafening. Josie swiped the sweat from her upper lip and squinted at Ray, wishing she’d brought her sunglasses. While she was wishing for things, she wished they were somewhere with air conditioning. The July heat was sweltering. She had no idea how he worked in it all day long.
“Ray,” she said. “How much longer?”
He checked his watch. “Not long. He said he’d be here to check out the site around noon today.”
“You don’t know that he’s really going to show up. These rich office people say all kinds of things they don’t mean. This is a waste of time.”
“No it’s not,” Ray insisted. “I’m telling you, this guy is really nice. He was one of the team sponsors last year. He was at the big game. Don’t you remember us having to take all those pictures?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t meet those guys,” Josie said.
“It doesn’t matter,” Ray said. “I told him all about you. He was the one who told me to bring you around. He has some foundation or something, and all they do is give out scholarships to girls. I’m sorry. Young women.”
“That’s it?” Josie said. “You just have to be a female?”
Ray gave a half shrug and adjusted the tool belt slung around his waist. “I mean, I guess you have to be studying a certain field. Like science or whatever. Technology. Computers.”
“I’m going into criminal justice, Ray. That’s none of those things.”
“Come on, Jo. Just talk to the guy. Even if you don’t qualify, it’s worth a try.”
Two large droplets of sweat raced down Josie’s back before soaking into her shirt. “Ten minutes,” she said. “Then I’ll be so sweaty he won’t even want to shake my hand.”
Ray pulled his hardhat down so it shaded his eyes and looked down the street. “There,” he said. “There he is!”
Two men walked from the direction of the old theater. They both wore suits even in the intense summer heat. As they drew closer, Josie recognized them from the championship game. One wore glasses and the other was the man she’d run into. The one on her list. Tanned and Toned. She was about to tell Ray she wasn’t comfortable with this, but Ray was already walking up to them, hand extended. The man with glasses shook it. “Hello, Ray.”
“Mr. Prather,” he said. “Nice to see you.”
Forty-Five
Noah followed Josie to the City Codes office. Having been there recently, he was able to help her find what she was looking for relatively quickly. Still, it took over an hour. Josie spent that time on her phone, locating the other pieces she needed to present her theory to the team. Back at the stationhouse, Gretchen, Mettner, and the Chief waited. In the corner, Amber lurked.
Everyone was seated at their desks except the Chief who stood behind Josie, arms folded over his thin chest. “What’ve you got, Quinn?”
Across her desk, Josie spread a map of Denton’s central business district which she’d gotten from the City Codes office. She pointed to Aymar Avenue, which was a few blocks from where they stood and still underwater. “Here,” she said. “On this corner of Aymar is the Denton Theater Ensemble Playhouse. It’s been a fixture here since before I was a kid.”
“So?” Chitwood said.
“You’re not from here so you won’t know the background,” Josie said. “It’s a historic building. It used to be run by various theater companies. Then they ran out of money. Eventually the college took it over. Now it just features student performers and guest speakers.” Josie pointed across the street from the playhouse. “There,” she said. “It’s a