In the Belly of Jonah Read Online Free PDF Page B

Besides, I want to be here for Detective Brandt.”
    “He’ll let us know when he’s coming back,”I added. “He has his hands full with this one and it might be a while. His missing persons case just turned into a homicide.”
    I saw him wring his hands, something else I had never known him to do before. It reminded me of the odd expression on his face when he had looked at me yesterday during Brandt’s interview with us. “Joe, what was different about Jill last Saturday night at shift change?”
    “What do you mean?” His eyes gave him away.
    “When Brandt asked you if you noticed anything last Saturday night at shift change, the last time you saw Jill, you had that look in your eyes,”I explained.
    “What look?”
    I pointed at him. “That look. The one you have right now. You’re not a good liar. Something’s up. Give.”
    He shook his head and wrung his big, callused hands, which sounded more like sandpaper blocks rubbing against each other. I knew he wouldn’t lie to me, so I waited until he was ready to tell me whatever it was he thought I didn’t need to know.
    “It’s just that ...”
    Still I waited. He stopped wringing his hands and sat up in his chair, looking me straight in the eye. “I got there a little late on Saturday night. Cathy and I had been quarreling and I lost track of time. It was almost six when I got to the plant. The team leaders had already started the walkthrough inspection, and the assistants were grabbing pre-shift and post-shift samples together. The loader operators were doing the equipment inspections, and the material handlers were off looking at truck arrival schedules.”
    There was more to this, but I knew Joe well enough to know he would tell me in good time. We were in his office near the quarry shop, away from the constant bustle of the scalehouse activity and out of earshot of any other employees. This would be the only way Joe would tell me the story he was so desperately trying to avoid.
    “I was alone with Jill. No fifth man on nights to bag,” he stammered.
    I nodded. “And?”
    “I was asking her what she had accomplished for the day and for the week. Her numbers were great. Better than any other worker’s bag-perhour ratio in the past year. I was just trying to build her confidence.”
    Was that an apology in his voice? Justification? He was taking way too long to spit this out. My patience was spent and I blurted, “What the hell happened, Joe?”
    His expression hardened. “She kissed me. On the cheek.”
    That I hadn’t expected. Jill had just turned twenty this spring and Joe had grandkids. Knowing Jill, she had been genuinely grateful for the compliment Joe had paid her and probably had shown her appreciation with an innocent kiss. She was probably more like me than I thought. A hugger. Nothing meant by that quick kiss other than showing another human being that he was worth it, worth a hug. An attitude of gratitude.
    “I swear I didn’t kiss her back,” Joe protested. “Cathy and I may have been quarreling, but it wasn’t what you think. I told Cathy all about it.”
    The beads of sweat popped out on Joe’s brow and his cheeks burned red. He was not a touchy-feely kinda guy, to say the least, and very much appreciated at least two feet of buffer area around his body as his personal space. When someone had invaded that space, it was obvious by the way Joe’s body stiffened and his lips tightened. Much like he looked at this moment. I knew firsthand; on several occasions my celebratory gratitude had catapulted into a hug, making my operations manager uncomfortable. I learned to refrain from what was otherwise natural for me.
    “What a relief.”
    Joe’s head snapped back and his eyebrow arched with confusion.
    “I thought something ominous had happened between you and Jill.”
    “Something did happen, Liv.”
    “Something innocent , Joe. It was just a young girl thanking a gallant cowboy for all his kindness over the past month. She