Free No Escape by Mary Burton

working on?’
    ‘We went to West Livingston yesterday.’
    ‘To the prison.’
    ‘That’s right. We went to interview Harvey Lee Smith.’
    Her frown deepened. ‘Isn’t that the killer that’s dying?’
    ‘That’s right.’
    Her mother again rubbed her clean hands with the rag. ‘Why does he have you so turned around?’
    ‘At the end of the interview I asked him why he wanted to make his last confession to me. He said, “Look deep inside yourself.” It didn’t make any sense. Why would he say that?’
    She rested her fist on her hip. ‘Honey, how am I supposed to know why a crazy man says what he says?’
    ‘I don’t know, Mom. I thought the statement was odd, and there’s no one that knows me as well as you, I guess.’
    Some of Candace’s tension eased. ‘He’s a lunatic, honey. He’ll say or do whatever suits him. And my guess is that he wanted to upset your applecart to watch you squirm.’
    ‘That’s what Brody said in so many words.’
    Candace glanced at her manicured red nails and then at Jo. ‘You don’t worry about Smith. From what I read, he’s an egghead who doesn’t have many more days on the earth.’
    ‘Egghead. That’s what Dad used to call me.’
    Her mother’s face tensed. ‘Honey, your dad was a good, hardworking man, but he wasn’t a big thinker. He didn’t understand why I wanted this shop and why I wanted to work for myself. He’d have been happy to see me doing sets and perms in the garage like I did when you girls were little. You wanted more, like me. Daddy didn’t understand.’
    ‘Your idea of more for me included winning beauty contests and coming into the business to work.’
    Candace lifted her chin a notch. ‘Both are honest pathways to a good life.’
    ‘I wanted different than you.’
    ‘Jo, what is going on with you?’ She shook her head. ‘That Harvey Lee Smith has gotten under your skin.’
    Jo sighed. ‘Maybe you’re right. I’m out of sorts.’
    ‘Honey, I don’t want to fight. If I could help you I would. And I’m sorry for needling you about Brody Winchester. I don’t have much use for the guy.’ She shook her head. ‘When you were having the miscarriage and he was off with his buddies getting drunk – ’
    ‘Please, Mom, he didn’t know I was miscarrying. … Look, I don’t want to rehash old news.’
    ‘As long as it stays old news, baby, then I won’t bring it up again.’
    Jo checked her watch. ‘Mom, I’ve got an appointment.’
    ‘What kind of appointment would you have on a Sunday morning?’
    ‘It’s police stuff.’
    ‘Not with Brody.’
    Jo hugged her mom. ‘You don’t need to worry about Brody. He’s history.’
    Brody was a half block from Jo’s house when he saw her driving from the opposite direction and pulling into her driveway. Out and about early on a Sunday morning. And without meaning to, he found himself wondering where and with whom she’d spent the night.
    Gut tensing, he parked his Bronco behind her and watched as she scrambled out of her car, grabbed a backpack from the backseat and hurried toward him. She slid into the seat, tucked the pack at her feet and clicked her seat belt.
    She straightened her jacket. ‘Thank you for the ride.’
    ‘Sure.’ He put the gearshift in reverse and backed out of the driveway. ‘Where’d you come from?’
    Jo hesitated. ‘I went to see my mother.’
    Unexpected relief softened his mood. An odd reaction, considering the last time he’d seen his ex-mother-in-law she had backed him up against a hospital wall after Jo’s miscarriage and threatened to cut his balls off if he ever again looked at Jo. ‘How was your mother this morning?’
    She took extra care to straighten out the folds of her jacket. ‘She’s doing well. Though she did happen to drop by my house yesterday, and she wasn’t happy to hear I was out with you.’
    Brody shook his head. ‘I can only imagine all the ways she dreamed of gutting me.’
    ‘She didn’t share specifics, but I