Chapter 38
THIRTY-EIGHT
Josie stepped out of Noah’s SUV and into the July heat.
Immediately, her skin felt sticky from the thick moisture in the air.
It was the worst kind of heat. Every breeze felt like a gust from an oven door opening.
It was probably excellent for the plants and flowers grown by Liora Blossom Nursery and Garden Center.
Despite the humidity, the sky was clear with only a handful of puffy clouds floating lazily overhead.
Pulling a hair tie from the pocket of her khakis, Josie twisted her black hair into a messy bun and used a hand to fan the back of her neck.
It was just past ten a.m. on a Saturday, and the center was busy.
The parking lot was almost full. People dragged carts filled with flowers, plants, or other gardening supplies to their cars.
“This was on the list,” Noah said as they approached the sprawling one-story building that was clearly the hub of the enterprise.
It was cedar-paneled with a green gambrel roof made of pleated metal.
Extending from each side of it were rows upon rows of greenhouses.
As they got closer, Josie could see that three of them had been cordoned off.
From the look of the sagging metal frames, and the few glass panels that were still intact covered in soot, there must have been a fire.
The nursery had been lucky it had been contained to just three structures.
“Brennan checked this place out yesterday,” Josie said. “He talked to the kid working the checkout counter, but he didn’t recognize the flower.”
Noah gave a frustrated huff. She knew what he was thinking.
If Brennan had asked more workers or demanded to speak to the owner or manager, they could have arrived here sooner.
The entire department had been running on fumes for days now.
They’d had dozens of nurseries and garden centers to check out in and around Denton after the Barnes murders, and then Alden after Dani and Cassidy were taken, not to mention in between the two, and they’d had to do it as quickly as possible.
The exterior of the nursery’s main building was filled with shelves of colorful flowers of all kinds.
A section that extended into the parking lot was cordoned off and filled with large plants, shrubs, and some small trees.
At least a half-dozen patrons idled, many discussing what would look best and where at their homes.
How they could stand to have those arguments out in the heat was beyond Josie.
She would have put the first shrub she saw onto her cart and called it a day.
Inside the building it was only marginally cooler.
She wiped sweat from her forehead as Noah flagged down the nearest employee and asked to speak with Reina Torres.
Her heart did an excited little flutter when the man said he’d go find her.
They might just get somewhere today. He pointed out a sign hanging from the ceiling several yards away that read “Tranquil Garden” and told them to go wait there.
Fifteen minutes later, Josie and Noah stood next to a koi pond that was fed by a small waterfall.
All around them were exotic-looking trees and plants that Josie had never seen before.
There was a stone tunnel with vines creeping along its entrance.
They’d gone through it when they first arrived and followed a meandering trail through what resembled a tropical rainforest, only to arrive right back at the pond.
A rosy-faced pregnant woman appeared under the Tranquil Garden sign, slowly making her way toward them.
She wore a dirt-stained white tank top, jeans, and knee-high rubber boots.
Her blonde hair lay in a heavy braid over one shoulder.
With long, elegant fingers, she plucked a twig out of it and chucked it into a nearby trash bin.
Her other hand lay protectively over her belly, which was barely contained by her shirt.
If Josie had to guess, she’d say Reina Torres was only a month or two away from giving birth.
For a moment, Josie was transfixed. A quick glance at her husband told her that he was, too.
Was he wondering what she would have looked like with a pregnant belly if she’d been able to carry one to term?
Josie had no regrets about the decisions they’d made once they realized her fertility problems would make it extremely difficult and potentially very costly for her to conceive and carry a baby to term.
Having their approval to adopt an infant revoked after Noah’s abduction had been devastating, but now they had Wren, and despite how hard it was to care for a twice-bereaved teenager, Josie was happy.
Was Noah? He said he was, but was that really true?
She felt his hand firm and gentle against her lower back. When she looked at him again, his eyes were locked on her, not Reina’s belly. His small, secretive smile told her everything she needed to know in an instant.
Noah didn’t need to reassure her but she was still relieved when he did, dipping his head down slightly to murmur in her ear before Reina was within earshot. “You and Wren are more than enough. Focus on the case.”
A hot flush of embarrassment rose to her cheeks even as she nodded.
This was not her. She didn’t get distracted at work.
She didn’t think about fertility and babies and children and whether her husband was happy while she was on the job.
She was a workaholic. Obsessive about cases, never able to leave them at the stationhouse where they belonged during her time off.
Noah’s hand left her back and she took a deep breath. She filed the last thirty seconds of insanity away to reluctantly discuss with her therapist, and zeroed in on the pregnant woman again.
When Reina reached them, Josie saw that the features of her face were frozen in a stiff smile. Her big brown eyes flicked wary glances at the firearms on their waists.
“I’m Reina Torres,” she said, stopping a few feet away from them.
She rested a hip against the railing. “Sorry for the wait,” she said breathlessly.
Patting her distended stomach, she added, “This big boy is pressing on literally everything. Tough getting around these days. If you don’t mind, my husband is on his way. Could we wait for him?”
“Of course,” said Josie. “We can go somewhere else, too, if you’d like. Anywhere you’d be more comfortable.”
“Oh, there are some benches there, along the other side of the pond.” She indicated the area behind them.
The stone benches formed a half-circle, all positioned to have a direct and unobstructed view of the waterfall.
Reina lowered herself onto the nearest one with a huff.
“You’re here about the equipment, right?
My husband took photos. We’re getting cameras hooked up in that back lot.
Insurance will cover most of it, thank God, but we’re talking tens of thousands of dollars—”
Josie held up a hand, interrupting her. “I’m sorry. We’re not here about any equipment.”
“Oh,” Reina said, looking confused. “I just assumed you were from the sheriff’s office. Well, let’s definitely wait for my husband then.”
A few awkward moments slipped past as they waited. Noah lingered by the railing, watching the fish nip at anything that floated across the surface of the murky water.
Josie smiled at Reina. Hoping to break the tension, she asked, “This is your place?”
A grin broke out on the woman’s face. “Yes. Mine and my husband’s. Well, the nursery’s been in my family for a long time. My dad was a horticulturist, and my mother was a master gardener. This was their dream. Dad named the place after Mom. Liora.”
“How about you?” Josie pressed. “Did you also want to do this kind of work?”
Gone was the wariness in her eyes, replaced with sheer joy. “Oh yes. As far back as I can remember. I used to follow my parents around like a puppy, wanting to do everything they did. My dad started teaching me about some pretty advanced topics when I was very young. It’s in my blood, I guess.”
The way her palms rubbed circles over her belly, almost as if to soothe, made Josie think that her parents were no longer in the picture. Josie knew from viewing her driver’s license that Reina was thirty-eight years old. She was young to have lost both parents.
Noah turned toward them, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Was the pond your parents’ idea?”
“Oh no. That was Milo, my husband,” Reina said.
“I think they both would have loved it, though. My dad died when I was fifteen and my mom died five years ago. Things were a little lean for a while. We had to figure out ways to stay afloat. Make this place more than just somewhere you went for flowers and garden supplies. Milo’s been working on making the greenhouses on this side of the property into some kind of maze or something.
A place people can disappear into for a while and see all kinds of cool things.
We’re doing a lot better these days, but his ideas will be a real draw. ”
“That sounds really cool,” Noah offered.
A male voice cut through the air. “Reina? Reina, where are you?”
“By the pond,” she called. “On the benches.”
Josie saw Milo’s thick brown hair before anything else.
He was tall with broad shoulders and the kind of sturdy build that came from working outdoors.
He wore a blue T-shirt with the name of the garden center emblazoned across it, jeans and a pair of weathered work boots.
Not even glancing at Josie and Noah, he went to Reina, leaning over to examine her, as if looking for injuries.
“You okay? I got a call saying there were cops here. Finally.”
She motioned past him to Josie and Noah. “That’s them, but they’re here for something else. Officers, this is my husband, Milo.”