Page 59 of The Fourth Option
Walker ran his hand through his greasy blond hair and beard.
“Yeah, I guess I could use a trim.”
“Are you and Leigh Ann involved?” she asked.
“You meanromantically?”
“Hey, I wasn’t accusing you of anything.”
“Well, the answer is no. Did you have a good relationship with her?”
They were interrupted as their burgers and soft drinks arrived.
“Hardly,” Belle continued when the waitress was out of earshot. “She thought I was a bad influence on her son.”
“Were you?”
“Guess so. Connor’s dead.”
Walker studied her with fresh eyes. She was hurting.
Her eyeliner was smudged, and her black nails were chipped. She sat with one leg tucked under the other. She picked at her burger, took a few bites, then pushed the fries around her plate.
“I saw the guitar in your van,” she offered, distant eyes gazing out toward the parking lot. “Nice vintage Martin.”
“You play?”
“I dabble, but not acoustic. Industrial punk.”
“Well, that’s a bit of common ground.”
She grunted and stuffed a ketchup-covered fry in her mouth.
“I go to LSU Extension. Got my bachelor’s in accounting. Working on my master’s in management information systems.”
“What’s that?”
“How old are you?”
“I’m not much of a computer type.”
“Well, it’s like the technical infrastructure of the business world.”
“I have no idea what that means.”
“Doesn’t much matter. I ink people up to pay for school. Live with my grandmother to save money and help look after her.”
“How’d you meet Connor?” he asked.
“A show at the Dungeon.”
“Dungeon?”
“Punk venue. Connor was different. Smart. Angry, but in a good way. He had a kind of… coyote energy. He was a doer, wanted to fix things. Found out we both went to LSU.”
“Did Leigh Ann think you got him into drugs?”
She dropped a fry. “Fuck you, man. You think just because I look like this, I got a clean kid from the Garden District to OD?”
