Random Acts Read Free

took a deep breath and tried to focus. “All right,” she said. “I’d better go then. I’ll go pack an overnight bag.”
    â€œWe’d better go,” Butch corrected. “I’m coming with you.”
    â€œYes,” Jenny said at once, suddenly sounding incredibly grown up. “You both go. I’ll take care of Dennis. Carol will help if I need it, and so will Grandma and Grandpa Brady.”
    Carol Sanderson, a widow raising her two grandsons, lived next door in the ranch house Joanna had once shared with her first husband. Surviving on little more than social security, she was glad to have part-­time employment as Joanna and Butch’s combination housekeeper/nanny.
    Joanna wanted to argue, but she didn’t. As her eyes filled with tears, she turned to her daughter. “Are you sure?”
    â€œYes, I’m sure,” Jenny said firmly, taking Dennis out of Butch’s arms. “The two of you should get going.”
    â€œCan’t I go, too?” Denny demanded.
    â€œNot this time, little bro,” Jenny crooned. “Not this time. Let’s get you tucked back into bed.”
    Turning her back on the living room, Joanna retreated to the bedroom, where she dressed, brushed her teeth, and combed her hair. By the time it was Butch’s turn in the bathroom, he had laid out the two roll-­aboard bags they kept on the top shelf of the closet, far beyond Joanna’s five-­foot-­four reach. Butch’s was already packed and zipped, and Joanna wasted no time filling her own luggage, moving mechanically, holding her feelings at bay.
    When she and Butch returned to the living room, luggage in hand, Jaime still stood in the room, a cell phone pressed to his ear.
    â€œI’ll go start the coffee and load the car,” Butch said.
    Joanna nodded. “Go,” she told him. “I need to talk to Jaime for a minute.”
    Moments later, she heard the sound of coffee being ground in the kitchen. She had given Butch a coffee machine for Father’s Day. At the time it had seemed incredibly extravagant, and the aroma of brewing coffee should have been wonderful, but it wasn’t. Joanna was over the worst of her morning sickness symptoms, but her pregnancy-­caused aversion to coffee was still in effect. By the time Butch was finished packing the car, his traveling mug would be filled and ready to go. Butch would need coffee for their upcoming road trip. She would not.
    â€œOkay,” Jaime was saying into his phone. “Got it. I’ll be in touch.”
    Jaime ended the call and then looked at Joanna, examining her face. He may have been surprised to find her dry-­eyed. So was she. It was as though the news hadn’t yet sunk in yet. It would, though—­all too soon.
    â€œAre you all right?” he asked.
    â€œI will be,” Joanna said, “but how did the authorities know to call us?”
    â€œOne of the officers at the scene saw your name on your mother’s cell phone’s ICE file,” he said. “By then they already knew she was from Bisbee. Somebody saw the name Joanna Brady and must have made the connection to Sheriff Joanna Brady. They called the department, and Tica called me. Is there anyone else you want me to notify?”
    â€œNo,” Joanna said. “If Butch drives, that’ll give me three and a half hours to make calls, starting with Chief Deputy Hadlock. I’ll need to contact my brother in Virginia. I’ll also need to figure out how to get hold of George’s relatives. I’m sure there are some, but I don’t know exactly who or where they are.”
    â€œIt won’t take three and a half hours,” Jaime said. “I’ve already made some calls. Deputy Stock will meet us at the Traffic Circle. He and I will give you a police escort from here to the county line. From there, Pima County officers will escort you as far as the Pinal County line, and