Page 13 of Wild Justice

“I haven’t,” Lulu admitted. “But to be fair, he may not even know. You only found out yesterday.”

“I sent him a text right after you told us,” Chase replied between gritted teeth. “Letting him know and reminding him that he’s missing out on our parents’ retirement. So far? No reply. He left me on read.”

“It sounds like you have issues with your brother,” Henry observed. “You should talk to someone about them.”

“I don’t have issues. My brother is just a selfish dipshit who needs a kick in the ass.”

“That sounds like issues to me.”

Lisa brought out their food and the conversation slowed down as they ate. The cheeseburger was as good as it had been in the past and soon, she had an almost clean plate with only a few fries remaining.

Chase’s hand hovered about her plate.

“Do you mind?—”

“Do that and you’ll get a fork in the hand,” she warned. “I’m eating those fries.”

“I’m glad I’m an only child,” Henry said. “You both have issues. You can order more fries, you know. I bet the kitchen has a bunch of them. You can order all you want.”

She and Chase didn’t have a chance to reply. Glen Fellows had ambled up to the table, his usual smug smile in place. Lulu had gone to high school with him, and he’d worn that same expression for four years thinking he was a total badass. Or something like that. His entire friend group had thought they were something special, and for no particular reason, either.

“Heard you’re the new sheriff, Lulu,” Glen said, leaning down so he was far too close. His breath smelled like beer and garlic. She’d have to keep an eye on him tonight in case he decided to get behind the wheel. “I think we’ll miss your daddy around here. Not sure you’re going to be up for the job.”

“Why?” Chase challenged; his eyes narrowed at the other man. “What stupid shit are you planning to pull?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Glen replied, straightening up. “But others might be. Lot of troublemakers in this town.”

That hadn’t been Lulu’s experience. There were always a few, and they often had followers, but the real troublemakers weren’t plentiful.

“Don’t be one of them,” Chase warned. “Traci probably wouldn’t be happy about that.”

“Traci doesn’t get to tell me what to do,” Glen said indignantly. “I’m not pussywhipped.”

Glen’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and he walked away to answer it.

“In my experience, any man that has to declare he’s not pussywhipped usually is,” Henry said. “But I could be wrong.”

Henry wasn’t wrong.

“Ignore Glen,” Chase said. “He’s an idiot.”

“I know that. I went to school with him. He and all his friends are lucky they graduated,” Lulu said.

“They graduated because the principal probably didn’t want them around anymore,” Chase replied.

Lulu finished her fries and pushed her plate away, feeling full and a bit tired. It had been a big day for her, and she needed to get back to the apartment and get to bed. This might be a sleepy little town, but she’d still be on duty.

Henry’s attention had been captured by loud voices several tables away. Scowling, he elbowed Lulu and nodded toward the offenders.

“They’re getting loud,” he said. “And angry.”

One of “them” was Glen, of course. How he managed to be in the middle of everything never ceased to amaze her. The other two were Dana Cartwright - who was a few years older than Lulu - and her ex-husband Jay. Dana and Jay had married right after high school, but they’d divorced a few years ago.

Lulu was half out of her chair when another woman who looked familiar came and dragged Jay away, leaving Dana with Glen, but not before berating Dana and shaking a finger at her. The two of them didn’t look fond of one another, but Glen shrugged and walked away, too, after saying something that Lulu couldn’t hear.

Dana, for her part, looked like she was going to cry. Her cheeks were pale, but her eyes were watery and shiny. She watched Glen walk away for a minute, and then turned on her heel and fled out of the restaurant.

“What was all that about?” Lulu wondered out loud. “They all looked like they hated each other. I know that Jay and Dana divorced, but I didn’t realize that it was such a bitter breakup. And what does Glen have to do with it?”

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