“How do you know they didn’t?”
“He’s not in the system.”
They fell into a companionable silence.Her lips still tingled from the contact with his.He was so charismatic, so intense in his pursuit of the things he desired.She didn’t stand a chance of resisting him.
Cordelia Pickett’s house appeared as sad and dilapidated as it had on their previous visit.Meredith remembered the old woman’s fuzzy mental state and felt uneasy.Wade knocked on the door repeatedly, to no avail.
“She’s not home,” a voice called out.A man in a dingy baseball cap and overalls approached from the house next door.“She’s at Hill County Hospital, last I heard.She’s been faring poorly.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Wade said.“Do you know if she has family in the area?”
“She’s got a granddaughter, but she don’t visit.”
Wade thanked him for the information before they walked away.They returned to his truck, where he appeared pensive.
“Do you want to go to the hospital?”she asked.
He cranked up the AC.“No.We’re supposed to be on a date.”
“I don’t mind.”
“I do.”
Meredith hid a smile, secretly thrilled by his choice.
He offered her a water bottle.“The trail is right here.Let’s look for physical evidence, as planned, and I’ll talk to Cordelia another day.”
She accepted the drink and took a sip.Perhaps he was making a logistical decision, but she felt pleased nonetheless.A trip to the hospital could take up the entire afternoon.She wanted to spend the time alone with him.
He drove the short distance to the trailhead and parked.No other vehicles were there, so they would probably have the place to themselves.He gathered the backpack of supplies and led the way down the path.Summer came early to this area of Texas, which was part desert, part woodlands.They was little shade, and Meredith wished she’d brought a hat to protect her face from the blazing sun.Sagebrush, prickly pear cactus, and mesquite bushes lined the trail.In less than thirty minutes, they’d arrived at the live oak tree with the rope swing.The swimming hole beckoned, dark and inviting.The gravesite was another hundred steps away.
They paused to share a bottle of water.
“Do you want to have lunch or look for evidence first?”he asked.
She’d rather look for evidence, but it was past noon.“Are you hungry?”
His gaze traveled over her body in a slow caress.“I can wait if you can.”
She didn’t think he was trying to be suggestive.The air between them was just… very sexually charged.“Let’s keep going.”
He continued down the path, toward the fallen tree.The mound of uncovered earth appeared to have been sifted through, but the scene was much the same as it had been before the remains were removed.
“What are we looking for?”
“A rock,” he said, taking off the backpack.“We’re looking for a rock that’s big enough to do serious cranial damage, but small enough to lift easily.”
“We’re looking for a murder weapon.”
“Yes.”
“You think it’s in the water?”
“That’s where I’d throw it.”
He sat down to unlace his boots.She slipped out of her tennis shoes.
“How will we recognize the right rock?”she asked.
