Exit Wounds - J. A. Jance [83]
“Are you sure you want to head home in this?” Randy Trotter asked as he walked Joanna back to her Civvie.
“I’ll be fine,” she said. “Most of the culverts on Highway 80 have been replaced. And usually there’s not that much runoff from the first summer storm.”
Famous last words. The rain hit just as she turned off I-10 onto Highway 80 at Road Forks. The wind-driven rain had so much dust mixed in with it that the water turned to blinding mudon her windshield. For the better part of an hour she crept along at twenty and thirty miles per hour. By the time she finally made it as far as Rodeo, the roadside ditches and dips were beginning to run. The storm let up for a while, then returned with renewed vigor about the time she hit the curves at Silver Creek. One after another, the newly replaced culverts were running with deep reddish-brown, foam-flecked water, spreading from one sandy bank to another. The place where the speeding Suburban had crashed off the road and landed upside down was totally underwater.
Joanna breathed a quick prayer of thanksgiving. If that accident had happened tonight rather than last night, she thought, those people would have drowned. It could have taken months just to find the bodies.
Once she was inside radio range she checked in with Dispatch. “How are things?”
“This is a major storm,” Tica replied. “Two cars washed away in the dips between Double Adobe and Elfrida. Everyone’s safe, but we still have units on the scene, including Chief Deputy Montoya.”
“I’m almost home,” Joanna told her. “Have Frank call me when he finishes up out there.”
It was still raining when she finally reached High Lonesome Ranch. Water more than a foot deep partially covered the road that led to their old house. If she had been going there, she would have had to abandon the car and walk. As it was, she was able to drive to the new house with no difficulty. When she finally pulled into the garage, the door from the laundry room opened and three dogs shot out, followed immediately by Butch.
“I’m really glad to see you,” he said. “I was worried. How was it?”
“The drive was wet,” she told him as she divested herself of her weapons and locked them away. “But I’m glad I went. We’ve got a positive ID on the two New Mexico victims and a definite connection between them and Carol Mossman. How was your day?”
“I made real progress,” Butch replied. “I was sitting on the couch in the living room when the first clap of thunder rolled overhead. Lady was over under the dining room table, but as soon as she heard the thunder, she came streaking out of there and landed in my lap. She was so petrified, I ended up holding her for the better part of an hour.”
Joanna laughed. “Does that mean you and Lady are friends now?” She laughed.
Butch shook his head. “I think it means any port in a storm. The funny thing is, Lucky slept right through the worst of the thunder. Is it possible he’s deaf?”
“Deaf?”
Butch nodded. “He comes when he’s called, but that may be because he’s mimicking what the other dogs do.”
Joanna thought about it. “I wonder if that’s how he ended up being left behind at Carol Mossman’s house. Maybe when she called the other dogs, he wasn’t with them.”
Butch grinned. “As you said, lucky for him. But how do you go about training a deaf dog?”
“Sign language, maybe?” Joanna asked.
“Remind me to check with Dr. Ross and see what she says,” Butch said thoughtfully.
“Where’s Jen?”
“At Cassie’s, remember? I thought I told you that she’s staying the night. I called to make sure they were out of the pool as soon as the thunder and lightning started. The big news of the day is that one of the girls from school is planning a slumber party that’s supposed to be the social event of the summer. Both Jenny and Cassie are hoping for invitations.”
“What about parental supervision?” Joanna asked.
“How about if we don’t worry about that just yet,” Butch advised. “First let’s see if Jenny’s invited or not.”
“Fair enough.”
“Hungry?” Butch asked.
“Not very. I had a tuna sandwich a while ago. Why? What’s for dinner?