the wall behind his desk. Josie noticed a picture of him shaking President Bush’s hand, but she saw no pictures of family in the office.
After coffee and soft drinks were declined they sat down at the table. When he addressed Josie, his demeanor was warm and friendly.
“I’m always curious when meeting new people. What brings you to such a remote location? In Puerto Rico, where I grew up, we imagine everyone wants to live in the big cities enjoying the exciting nightlife.”
Josie smiled. “I have no desire to spend my days in the city or my nights in a club. Artemis actually suits me well.”
He tipped his head. “Excellent point. Nor do I.” He turned to Otto. “And you? May I ask what brought you here?”
Otto leaned back in his seat and Josie noticed the gaping spaces around the buttons on his uniform shirt. She would work on him to cut back on the pastries and Cokes.
He said, “I worked twenty-five years with the highway patrol. It was a good career, but I was ready to slow the pace. When I left the patrol, Artemis was looking for a chief. It was a good change for my family.”
“How does someone get from Puerto Rico to the Chihuahuan Desert?” Josie asked.
“Ahh. I was born in San Juan. Joined the military right out of high school and ended up stationed in California. I became involved in engineering while in the service. I’ve been in the States for almost twenty years now as a nuclear engineer. Beacon hired me to manage their cleanup projects.”
“You travel quite a bit then?” Josie asked.
“My last post was in rural New York. When this post came along?” He put a hand in the air and wavered it back and forth. “I don’t like the big city, but I do like people.” He looked at Josie. “It’s difficult to connect with people here. Would you agree?”
Josie felt the heat in her face and hoped it didn’t show. “I would agree.”
Otto redirected the conversation. “We actually came by here today to discuss one of your workers at the plant.”
“Of course. What can I do for you?”
Josie glanced at Otto. He tended to judge people quickly and sometimes harshly, and she wondered if the abrupt turn in conversation meant that Otto had already made up his mind about Diego Paiva.
“We have some disturbing news and would like to ask you some questions concerning a possible employee of yours. Would you know if any of your employees have been absent for the past several days? Most likely an unexplained absence,” Josie said.
He raised his eyebrows. “I’m afraid I wouldn’t know that for most of our employees. All of our supervisors have been here. I’ll have to consult them to ask about their crews. May I ask why?”
“A man was found dead, about twenty minutes from here. His body was found by a hiker in the desert,” she said.
He gave a quizzical look. “How does that connect to us?”
“He was wearing the same black boots that the workers here used to wear. We’re not aware of any other local factories or businesses that use this brand of boot. We’re assuming he worked for you at some point.”
He frowned, his expression concerned. “I certainly hope it isn’t one of our employees. Do you have a name?”
She shook her head. “We’re hoping you might be able to help us figure out his identity.”
He placed a forefinger on his lips, nodding his head. “I do have a way we can narrow this down. Our attendance records are online. I don’t use the program, but Sylvia monitors the information.” He stood from his chair. “Excuse me a moment.” He walked over to his desk and picked up his phone to ask her to join them.
Sylvia entered the room, unsmiling, notepad clutched to her chest with one hand, a pen ready to take notes in the other. Diego said, “Can you please pull up the attendance program on my computer? I need you to check unexcused absences for the past—” He paused and looked up at Josie. “How many days?”
“Can you check for the past two weeks?”
Sylvia sat down in his desk chair and began clicking and typing.
“How’s the cleanup progressing?” Otto asked. “We don’t read very much about it in the newspaper anymore.”
Diego turned from looking over Sylvia’s shoulder and gave Otto a half smile. “It has been my experience that communities prefer the cleanup progresses quietly. Negative media attention causes exponential increases in time and