morning
briefing.”
CHAPTER 6
O n her
way out the door on Monday morning, Joanna was surprised to find a
stack of boxes sitting against the wall of her garage. The stack
created a barrier that made it impossible for Jenny to climb into
the passenger’s seat of the Crown Victoria without having to
go all the way around the back of the vehicle.
“What’s all this?” Joanna asked
Butch, who had just come in from feeding the animals.
“I have no idea,” he replied.
“George dropped them off yesterday afternoon when he and your
mother came to dinner. According to him, they’re getting
ready for a big churchwide garage sale. Eleanor sent over some
boxes of things she thought you should have.”
“Great,” Joanna muttered. “How
like her. That way she doesn’t have to get rid of it and we
do.”
“Want me to attempt a first sort?”
Butch asked.
“Good morning,” Margaret Dixon
called.
The rammed-earth house Butch had designed and
helped build consisted of two wings, each with its own separate
garage. Margaret, who had entered through Butch’s garage, had
wandered through the whole house before finding them.
“Anybody home?” she asked. “I
sure hope there’s coffee. I could have made it out in the RV,
but I decided to come inside instead. Have you already
eaten?”
Joanna nodded. “Jenny and I have,” she
said. “I’m on my way to work. I promised to drop her
off at school on the way.”
Grumbling under his breath, Butch walked Joanna to
her car. “I wish I was going to work,” he said.
Joanna smiled sympathetically. “Don’t
bother doing any sorting,” she said, giving Butch a good-bye
peck on the cheek. “I think you’re going to have your
hands full as it is.”
“So do I,” he agreed.
“Some people are a real pain,” Jenny
said, settling into the corner of the Crown Victoria.
“Margaret Dixon isn’t a very happy
person,” Joanna said.
“But why does she think we should have put
Lucky to sleep?”
Joanna sighed. “I have no idea,” she
said.
“How long are they gonna stay?”
“Probably until the baby is born,”
Joanna said.
“Well, could you please hurry up and have it
then?” Jenny demanded. “I want them to take their RV
and go home.”
“Believe me,” Joanna assured her.
“I’ll do my best.”
A t the
morning briefing, Frank Montoya wasn’t any happier than Jenny
had been, but his ill humor had nothing to do with an irksome
stepgrandmother.
“Last night was the wrong time to have three
cars in San Simon, especially since our people
didn’t spot anything out of line,” he grumbled.
“In the meantime, Border Patrol came up with at least a
hundred and fifty UDAs who were all on foot and making a run for it
east of Douglas. They called us for backup. Unfortunately, we
didn’t have anybody to send.”
Joanna shook her head. The unending stream of
undocumented aliens spilling across the international border was
one of Arizona’s—and especially Cochise
County’s—most intractable law enforcement problems.
Each year at least half a million UDAs were being apprehended just
in the Border Patrol’s Tucson sector. Of that number, at
least 25,000 a month were picked up after crossing into the United
States along Cochise County’s eighty-mile-long border with
Mexico. Border Patrol employment numbers were way up, but there
were never enough officers to stem the tide.
“How many did they catch?”
“Most,” Frank said. “But
there’s no way to know how many got away.”
“With those kinds of numbers, an additional
three deputies probably wouldn’t have made much
difference,” Joanna said.
“It would have helped,” Frank
replied.
But Joanna could see her chief deputy had a point.
“It stands to reason that the O’Dwyers would be
operating on weekends rather than during the week,” she
said.
“So I can pull the extra patrols for
tonight?”
“Yes,” Joanna said. “We’ll
revisit this later in the week. Now, what about the
briefing.”
CHAPTER 6
O n her
way out the door on Monday morning, Joanna was surprised to find a
stack of boxes sitting against the wall of her garage. The stack
created a barrier that made it impossible for Jenny to climb into
the passenger’s seat of the Crown Victoria without having to
go all the way around the back of the vehicle.
“What’s all this?” Joanna asked
Butch, who had just come in from feeding the animals.
“I have no idea,” he replied.
“George dropped them off yesterday afternoon when he and your
mother came to dinner. According to him, they’re getting
ready for a big churchwide garage sale. Eleanor sent over some
boxes of things she thought you should have.”
“Great,” Joanna muttered. “How
like her. That way she doesn’t have to get rid of it and we
do.”
“Want me to attempt a first sort?”
Butch asked.
“Good morning,” Margaret Dixon
called.
The rammed-earth house Butch had designed and
helped build consisted of two wings, each with its own separate
garage. Margaret, who had entered through Butch’s garage, had
wandered through the whole house before finding them.
“Anybody home?” she asked. “I
sure hope there’s coffee. I could have made it out in the RV,
but I decided to come inside instead. Have you already
eaten?”
Joanna nodded. “Jenny and I have,” she
said. “I’m on my way to work. I promised to drop her
off at school on the way.”
Grumbling under his breath, Butch walked Joanna to
her car. “I wish I was going to work,” he said.
Joanna smiled sympathetically. “Don’t
bother doing any sorting,” she said, giving Butch a good-bye
peck on the cheek. “I think you’re going to have your
hands full as it is.”
“So do I,” he agreed.
“Some people are a real pain,” Jenny
said, settling into the corner of the Crown Victoria.
“Margaret Dixon isn’t a very happy
person,” Joanna said.
“But why does she think we should have put
Lucky to sleep?”
Joanna sighed. “I have no idea,” she
said.
“How long are they gonna stay?”
“Probably until the baby is born,”
Joanna said.
“Well, could you please hurry up and have it
then?” Jenny demanded. “I want them to take their RV
and go home.”
“Believe me,” Joanna assured her.
“I’ll do my best.”
A t the
morning briefing, Frank Montoya wasn’t any happier than Jenny
had been, but his ill humor had nothing to do with an irksome
stepgrandmother.
“Last night was the wrong time to have three
cars in San Simon, especially since our people
didn’t spot anything out of line,” he grumbled.
“In the meantime, Border Patrol came up with at least a
hundred and fifty UDAs who were all on foot and making a run for it
east of Douglas. They called us for backup. Unfortunately, we
didn’t have anybody to send.”
Joanna shook her head. The unending stream of
undocumented aliens spilling across the international border was
one of Arizona’s—and especially Cochise
County’s—most intractable law enforcement problems.
Each year at least half a million UDAs were being apprehended just
in the Border Patrol’s Tucson sector. Of that number, at
least 25,000 a month were picked up after crossing into the United
States along Cochise County’s eighty-mile-long border with
Mexico. Border Patrol employment numbers were way up, but there
were never enough officers to stem the tide.
“How many did they catch?”
“Most,” Frank said. “But
there’s no way to know how many got away.”
“With those kinds of numbers, an additional
three deputies probably wouldn’t have made much
difference,” Joanna said.
“It would have helped,” Frank
replied.
But Joanna could see her chief deputy had a point.
“It stands to reason that the O’Dwyers would be
operating on weekends rather than during the week,” she
said.
“So I can pull the extra patrols for
tonight?”
“Yes,” Joanna said. “We’ll
revisit this later in the week. Now, what about the
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