Scratchgravel Road (Josie Gray Mysteries #2)(26)

“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 lone cash register. She wore jeans and a bright green smock with the words FAMILY VALUE in large yellow block letters on her back. Her long red ringlets fell down her back and she looked as if she had recovered. When Josie entered, Cassidy turned, and in a split second, her expression changed from heavy-lidded bored to frightened.

Josie looked around the store, glad to see it appeared free of customers. “How are you feeling?”

Cassidy stretched her arms out in front of her and looked at the deep red sunburn. “The sunburn’s the only thing. Even my freckles hurt.”

Josie smiled. “You gave me a scare.”

Cassidy leaned down, reached under her register, and pulled out a tattered canvas purse, which she placed on the counter. She unzipped a side pocket and handed Josie a folded piece of paper.

Josie unfolded it and found a chart, with lines drawn with a ruler and a green marker. The boxes had been carefully filled in with a blue pen in neat cursive writing, detailing her whereabouts for the past week.

“I know I didn’t answer your questions very good yesterday. I was so freaked out by the whole day I wasn’t thinking right.” She gave Josie an imploring look. “I swear, I didn’t have anything to do with that dead man. I don’t know him, and I don’t know why he’s there. I really did just find him. I know it sounds crazy, but that’s the truth.”

Josie scanned the chart and noticed that aside from yesterday, for the past four days, Cassidy had done nothing more than leave the house to work, other than a trip to the grocery for fifteen minutes on her way home from work on Saturday evening.

An older woman dressed in a bright pink cotton sweat suit stepped up to the register and began placing dozens of cans of cat food on the counter. Cassidy turned and rang her up, then helped her count out the right number of dollar bills and change in her wallet. The woman apologized, saying she forgot her glasses.

When she left the store Cassidy turned back to Josie. “She can’t read or write or count. Just hands her wallet over to whoever waits on her.”

“Somebody’s always got it worse than you.”

Cassidy tipped her head. “I guess.”

“I just left your house. I talked to Leo.” Josie couldn’t decide if the wide-eyed change in Cassidy’s expression was fear or something else. Dread, maybe.

“What did he say?”

Josie pursed her lips, then leaned her hip against the counter. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

Cassidy sighed heavily and hopped up onto the other end of the counter. She looked down at her feet. “I know what it is.”

“Yeah?”

“‘What do you see in him?’” Cassidy said. “Right?”