“It’s not bad news foryou,” she said, tossing her pen on her desk. “It’s bad news forme.”
I opened my mouth, not quite sure what to tell her.
“Youarequitting?” she asked. “I am right about that, aren’t I?”
I snapped my mouth closed, pulling in my top lip.
“You went out there tothink,” she accused good-naturedly. “Toponderwhat it all means.”
Called out, I could only lift a shoulder. “The cabin is a good place to ponder.”
Ronnie shook her fist at the stained drop ceiling and let out an exaggerated sigh.
“Meanwhile, my Christmas was interrupted because the asshole you put in jail got run off the side of a dam.”
“Wait. Are you blaming me for that?” I asked, hiding a smile. “And how didyouget dragged into that?”
She sent me a knowing smirk. “Okay, not dragged so much as I got nosy.”
“Now that I believe.” I leaned in. “Is there any chance that any of them survived?”
“No,” she said, dropping the amused expression as she picked up her pen and tossed it on the desk again. “Those Rangers…”
“I don’t envy the person who had to tell their families,” I said, guilt heavy in my stomach.
“It’s awful.” She shook her head. “Do you know what a nightmare that recovery mission is going to be?”
“I can’t even begin to imagine the logistics.”
“The lake is full,” she started, going into explain-it mode. “Which means the water around the dam—which is really fucking cold this time of year—is at least a hundred and thirty feet deep.”
We shared a grimace.
“That means, what—specialty divers?”
“Yeah.” She drummed her fingers on the desk, considering. “And my guy on the inside told me that the only local Ranger certified for that kind of depth is sunning his ass in Key West until the new year…with his phone turned off.”
“So, what’s the move?” I asked, invested. “They’re gonna sit on a crime scene in a destructive environment for a week? What about the bodies? The families won’t stand for that.”
“Nor should they.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “My guy says the Rangers have someone over in Houston, an oil rig engineer who volunteers for these kinds of dive missions. They’re flying her in from some rig out on the Gulf.”
I wipe my hand over my mouth, shaking my head. “Jesus.”
“And that’s to say nothing of actually getting the vehicles up from the bottom, which they won’t even be able to start work on until the twenty-ninth. At the earliest.”
Ronnie spent the next ten minutes outlining the different methods they might use and had very specific opinions on each. She was right. It was going to be a clusterfuck.
Especially once they realize Jesse isn’t in the SUV.
After having exhausted the topic, she glared at me.
“What did I do?” I asked, knowing exactly what I’d done.
“You changed the subject.”
“Did not.” I gestured at her. “You’re the one who went on a rant about towing cables and keeping the vehicles intact for investigations.”
“You went and pondered!” she said, not quite shouting. “And now not only do I have to make up for ruining the family Christmas with my nosiness, I have to train someone else.”
