Jon Talton - Cactus Heart

She took my hands. “You’ve been beaten up,” she said.

“You’ve had some adventures, too. I read about you in the paper.”

“You’re right about one thing, Dave. Patrick Blair is a beautiful-looking man.” She smiled. “A crappy shot, too. I found myself missing a man who would read me the classics in bed…teach me history and bring it alive…make me a martini…”

She started talking faster, trying to outrun the tears filling her eyes. “It’s Christmas Eve. It’s the time when we want to be home with our family, with the ones we love. The people who connect us to everything good we can be. And the one person in my life, the only person, who fits that description…” She almost didn’t get it out. “…is you, Dave.”

I was beyond words, so all I could do was take her in my arms and swear to God I’d never let her go. Take her in my house, in our house. Make peace with our individual histories and try to write a new one together. Hope for all the luck in the world. Let her into my cactus heart. It was cold in the desert that Christmas Eve, and it was enough that we could hold each other all night long.

Paying my debts: The retired Phoenix Police officers of the Big Apple breakfast club, especially Glenn Martin, provided valuable insights into law enforcement in the 1940s. The Phoenix Police Museum helped me see and touch the era. Any errors or deliberate changes in descriptions or procedures are my responsibility.

Retired Phoenix officers Steve Fotinos and Cal Lash, along with retired Mesa detective Bill Richardson, have regaled me with stories of Arizona law enforcement history, which inform this and future Mapstone novels.

Also, I’m grateful to Jana Bommersbach for her path-breaking work on the Winnie Ruth Judd case, which provides a window into the often sleazy workings of old Phoenix. Bill Stephens, a legendary Arizona lawyer, was generous in his memories of the city. Dr. Jack August, Jr., the director of the Arizona Historical Foundation, continues to inspire me with what a real-life historian can accomplish.

Finally, I give special thanks to Barbara Peters, my editor, who in no small measure made Cactus Heart possible.

Jon Talton is the author of the David Mapstone novels, which follow the adventures of a historian-turned-deputy, working the mean streets of the urban West.

Jon's first novel, "Concrete Desert," was hailed by Kirkus as "an impressive debut." The Washington Post said it "is more intelligent and rewarding than most contemporary mysteries." The series has continued with "Camelback Falls," "Dry Heat," "Arizona Dreams" and "Cactus Heart." "Dry Heat" received Arizona Highways magazine's best fiction award in 2005.