“But then what about their stint in the house that morning?” Darius asked. He turned his attention to Price. “The guy you fought came back. Whether that was for an object in Josiah’s house or Josiah himself, it doesn’t read as random. They came to Josiah for a reason.”
That was the sticky part. If one of the two events hadn’t happened it would have made more sense, but with the two it was tripping them all up. And it wasn’t like they could simply make it all clear. That didn’t mean they would stop trying to though. Darius was still the detective of the department, and he was still putting in his best. Price, guilt aside, had returned to his normal daily routines.
At least in body.
In mind, he was still in his fight against the masked man in Josiah’s house.
If he had subdued him, then would Josiah have almost died?
Price let go of thewhat-ifsas the meeting concluded. He finished out his shift and found himself driving in the direction of the only coffee shop in town. It was just after four and Winnie had arrived right before him from school.
“Don’t tell me you’re going for another coffee,” Winnie said in greeting from behind the counter. “You’re too old to have one this late.” She had a textbook open, a highlighter in one hand.
The sight warmed him.
Price had never been the greatest at school. There was something about putting pencil to paper that had never worked well for him. That and he’d spent most of his academic career talking and playing around instead of focusing on the task at hand. Winnie’s mother had been different. Her attention had always been on studying. It had been the people part of school she hadn’t been a fan of at all.
Winnie?
She was split between the two.
She brought homeAs, studied religiously and had won two spelling bees in her time. She also was good at the talking bits. People liked being around her. Price had often gotten compliments about how polite she was too. He had been rabble-rousing then, and now his kid was soothing the old annoyances he’d left behind.
It made him proud.
It also made him sure of one thing: Winnie Collins was going places.
And, when she finally went to those places?
He was gone too.
Price reached across the space between them and gave her a light thump on the forehead.
“I’ll remind you that you called me old when you’re my age,” he said. “I bet you won’t joke about it then.”
Winnie didn’t dodge the little hit but brushed it off. She didn’t give up her highlighter though. Instead, she used it to point toward the back.
“I can make you the normal but fair warning, Corrie just got a call and she got that face she normally does when something exciting just happened.”
Price glanced in that direction.
“Something exciting?”
Winnie sighed.
“I suspect she’ll tell you all about it once she sees you.”
Price was already angling his body toward the door.
“You know, you might be right,” he said. “I think I should cut down on the caffeine. I’ll just come back to grab you after shift. I’ll stay in the car though.”
Winnie laughed. Price might have liked to talk a lot, but gossip was a double-edged sword he’d been cut by plenty of times since becoming a young father. He didn’t like indulging in it unless he had to. Winnie was more or less the same. She’d often rolled her eyes at Corrie’s need to tell her everyone else’s business.
Not to Corrie’s face though. Winnie was, once again, the polite Collins.
She waved bye and Price was back in his truck.
It felt too early to go home, but he wasn’t about to go back to the department. Price scanned the parking lot. It took him a few beats to realize he was looking for JJ’s car. She must have gotten off work earlier.
