Dead Wrong

Frank Montoya shook his head. “You’re hopeless,” he said.

“What do you mean?” Joa

“If you can’t figure out how to take even so much as a weekend off, I doubt you’re going to be any good at maternity leave.”

Joa

Chapter 15

By the time Joa

“That’s the great thing about green chili casserole,” he said. “The older it gets, the better it tastes.”

“You’re right,” Joa

“So how’s it going?” he asked. “You look upset.”

“I am upset,” she said. “Sometimes being a cop sucks.” Sitting down at the table, Butch took her hand. “What’s wrong?”

Joa

“Presumably not the killer’s,” Butch said, “or you wouldn’t be concerned about it.”

It was gratifying that Butch knew her so well.

“That’s right,” she agreed. “Not the killer’s. We’re about to tell a totally i

“Lots of people don’t find out they’re adopted until they’re grown,” Butch suggested. “It’s not fatal.”

“In this case the biological mother evidently pulled a phony disappearing act. She handed her baby off to someone else to raise and then left the child’s father to go to prison for the alleged ‘murder’ of his wife and child. The biological father did his time and was finally released a couple of years ago. The trouble started when he accidentally ran into the daughter, who looks spookily like her mother. As soon as he tumbled to the fact that the baby probably didn’t die, he did. Someone murdered him. To make matters worse, the faux father, who may turn into a likely homicide suspect, happens to be a much respected member of the Arizona Supreme Court-Justice Lawrence Tazewell.”

“Not good,” Butch said. “What are you going to do about it?”

“I have no idea. In fact, that’s what I’m sitting here trying to noodle out. Someone needs to go up to Phoenix to interview him, but Ernie is off on medical leave, and Jaime and Debbie are busy tracking down the people who beat up Jea

“No,” Butch interrupted.

“What do you mean, no?” she asked.

“I mean the baby’s due within the week. I don’t want you traipsing all the way to Phoenix to talk to a homicide suspect. Get Frank to do it or one of the other deputies.”

“But the man is a state supreme court justice,” Joa

“Yes, you can,” Butch declared. “You’re pregnant. Who would end up interviewing the guy if the baby were already here and you were off on maternity leave?”

“I don’t know,” Joa

“Well,” Butch returned, “get used to it. You’re going to have to let go sometime.”

“That’s what Frank said.”

“That you’re going to have to let go?”

“That I’m going to flunk maternity leave.”

“He’s right,” Butch observed. “That’s a distinct possibility, but in the meantime, what are you going to do about this?”

“Keep on thinking, I guess,” Joa

Butch collected her plate and silverware and took it over to the sink. “That’s right,” he said. “I almost forgot. I have a message for you from Eva Lou and Jim Bob. They said to tell you that you’re not allowed to have the baby until after they get home tomorrow night.”

“Where did they go?” Joa

“Neither did they,” Butch said. “They took Monty to Albuquerque.”

“Monty?” Joa

Butch shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Monty the python. That’s what Jim Bob says you called him, Monty Python.”

“The snake!” Joa

“It turns out there’s a python rescue guy over in Albuquerque who’s willing to take on the one from here, and Ma

“Not much,” Joa

“What you need more than anything,” Butch said, “is a decent night’s sleep.”

“You might tell that to that son of yours,” Joa

“Speaking of baby De

“Not yet,” Joa

“You shouldn’t be so hard on her,” Butch said.

He had finished loading the last of the dishes into the dishwasher when Je

Cassie Parks was Je

“I’ve got Justice Tazewell’s unlisted number,” Frank Montoya a

“I will,” Joa

Minutes later she was dialing Lawrence Tazewell’s number in Paradise Valley. The woman who answered the phone sounded Hispanic. “Justice Tazewell isn’t here,” she told Joa

“Could I speak to Mrs. Tazewell then,” Joa

“Mrs. Tazewell isn’t here, either. Would you like to leave a message?”

Joa

After relaying her numbers, Joa

“Sheriff Brady?” a man’s voice asked. “This is Justice Lawrence Tazewell. You called? What’s this about my daughter? Is she all right?”

Joa

“Your daughter’s fine,” Joa

“Oh,” Tazewell uttered with obvious relief. “Thank God for that. What’s this all about then?”

In the background Joa

“We’ve learned that someone’s been stalking her,” Joa