Scratchgravel Road by Tricia Fields Page A

may have been clean but Josie detected sour body odor.
    “I tried to understand why Cassidy had gone into the desert on such a hot day but couldn’t get a straight answer from her yesterday. Can you help me with that one?” she asked.
    He rolled his eyes. “She worked for you. You know she talks in circles.”
    “Talking in circles wasn’t the issue. She just didn’t have an answer.”
    “If Cassidy can’t explain it, I don’t know how I could do any better.”
    “I want to know how she stumbled onto a dead body, almost a quarter mile from the road, on a day that hit 104 degrees.”
    Leo interrupted her with laughter. “Don’t you get it? If anyone could stumble over a dead body, it’s her. Nobody has luck like her. Or lack of it.” He smiled and leaned back into the couch, relaxing into the conversation. He had a rich, baritone voice and Josie figured he liked to hear himself talk. “She calls me her good-luck charm. If I’d been with her she’d have never been out in that heat.”
    “Where were you yesterday when she found the body?”
    “Out of town.”
    “Where?”
    “I was at the library.”
    “What library?”
    He tilted his head to the side as if considering his answer. He finally stood, walked into the kitchen where four books were stacked on top of a microwave on a rolling cart. He pulled a piece of paper out of the first book on the pile. He walked back into the living room and handed it to Josie.
    “I was at the library in Presidio. There’s my library receipt.”
    “Is that a regular visit for you? To the Presidio library?”
    “I don’t get the connection between my reading interests and Cassidy’s ordeal.”
    “Humor me,” she said.
    “They have several periodicals related to my profession. I actually visit several area libraries frequently.”
    “I didn’t think you had a job.”
    He grinned slightly, as if amused at her offensive question. “I conduct research as a part-time job. I’m post-secondary science. How many professorships do you suppose there are in West Texas?”
    “So why stay?”
    His smile remained. “Must be the great weather and all the friendly people.”
    “How did you find out Cassidy was in the hospital?”
    “She called me.”
    “When?” Josie asked.
    He sighed, finally frustrated. “She said she’d be home when I got back into town. When I got home and she wasn’t here, I called and left a message on her cell phone. She finally called from the hospital and told me what happened. She said her cell phone was in her car, which I gather you still have.”
    “You didn’t visit her? Check on her after she left you a message?”
    “Why don’t you tell me where all this is going? I’m not seeing a point to your questions.”
    Josie shifted in the seat, turned her body more toward him. “When you asked her why she was in the desert? What did she tell you?”
    He frowned and leaned forward, picked up a plastic cup from the coffee table and sipped. “Nothing. She just wanted to hike, to get outside.”
    “Has she ever hiked before?” Josie had worked with Cassidy long enough to know the answer. She was not a physical person, not athletic, and she complained about the heat frequently.
    “Sure. She spends time outside.”
    “Hiking?”
    He offered a humorless smile. “Got to start sometime.”
    Getting nowhere with the interview, Josie looked at her watch and stood abruptly. She left him her business card, and said she would be in touch. At the last minute, Josie had changed her mind and not questioned Leo about the wallet. She had a hunch that Cassidy hadn’t told him about the dead man’s effects that were found in her car. Josie wanted to know why Cassidy was holding back information from her boyfriend.
    Josie drove to town and parked on the street in front of the Family Value store. Only two other cars were parked along the street. As she walked up to the front door she saw Cassidy leaning against the empty checkout counter in front of the