Page 26 of Wild Justice

“No, I mean…yes. What I’m trying to say is that I didn’t have an opinion, but I’m always surprised when a couple gets a divorce. Are we done? Because I need to get back to work. We have a customer…”

“Is it just me or was he trying to cover for Jay?” Kai asked after the manager wandered back into the office area.

“Let me ask you a question. You worked with a bunch of guys when you were a lawyer, right? Did you ever work with someone who never mentioned their spouse whether it was good or bad? Is that a thing?”

“Only once, and the guy was a real piece of work. He was secretive about everything. Later, after he quit, we found that he was keeping files on all of us. All the details he could find out, plus - and this was the kicker - he’d keep a running notation of all the things that he hated about us. And he hated all of us. Every single person in the office. He’d remember when someone took the last Mountain Dew from the vending machine. That sort of shit.”

“Did he ever do any work?”

“Not from what we could see. He was too busy documenting the hell out of his co-workers. He was close to getting fired, but he quit first.”

“Dramatically? No, let me guess. He just left one day and never came back.”

“How did you know?”

“Just lucky. If he flew under the radar for a long time, I would assume that he wasn’t looking for attention. But I also think you’re lucky that you’re not the victim of a workplace shooting spree.”

“He didn’t seem violent, just strange. But to get back to the original question, he was the only one. Most people talked about their personal life, especially after a few drinks at happy hour.”

“So, the boss could be trying to cover for Jay?” Lulu mused out loud. “But what is he trying to cover up? Did Jay complain a lot about Dana?”

“He wouldn’t be the first person to bitch about their spouse,” Kai pointed out. “That doesn’t make him a murderer.”

“True, like I said. I’m keeping an open mind. But I’m also keeping my eyes open. If Jay doesn’t have anything to hide, then why is his boss trying to hide something?”

“Spoken like a true cop,” Kai said with a shake of his head. “Everyone isn’t guilty, Lulu. People can have their secrets, and that doesn’t make them a killer.”

“Do you have secrets?”

She didn’t have a clue as to why she’d asked that question. It wasn’t any of her business, and she didn’t want to know. The fact was, she wasn’t sure why she’d even invited him along with her today. She was making his job easy and making hers more difficult. But she’d heard her father always say that the local newspaper was a good friend to have.

He’d never said that during a murder investigation, but then he hadn’t had any locally in her recent memory. Both he and his sheriff friends had shunned the press after capturing Wade Bryson and then Bryson’s son years later. They hadn’t wanted the publicity. They’d simply wanted to get back to living their lives, especially Uncle Logan. Sadly, that seemed to be a problem that would never go away.

Even now, Brianna, who was one of Lulu’s best friends, still suffered nightmares on occasion from being taken hostage by Bryson’s son. They’d been roommates, and Lulu had woken to Brianna’s screams too many times to count. It wasn’t fair that Brianna had to go through that.

“Everybody has secrets,” Kai finally replied, a smile playing on his lips. He was wondering what secrets she had. She could see it written all over his face. He shouldn’t take up poker. He’d lose his shirt. Of course, an image of Kai without a shirt flashed in her brain. He looked good, too. “And that’s not a bad thing.”

Must stop picturing newspaper guy without articles of clothing. It’s clearly been too long between dates.

Kai Oliver, however, wasn’t hard on the eyes. If anything, he was too good-looking with his dark hair and almost silver eyes. He looked like he worked out, too. Weights, maybe, in addition to running?

Stop. Just stop. Don’t think about him.

Wait…if I’m thinking about him half-naked, has he thought about me? Do I want him to? I don’t know. Get back to the investigation.

They walked back to her SUV, and she saw a man who was wearing the same work overalls getting out of his car parked a few spaces away. He looked a bit familiar, although she couldn’t place him. Maybe high school? She waved to him anyway which was the small-town way. He smiled back, approaching her to talk.

“Lulu Reilly, I heard you took over for your old man,” he said. “Do you remember me? Kenny Traeger? We had biology together sophomore year. You tried to set all the animals free by opening the cages.”

Shit, she had done that. She’d hated the idea that the cute bunnies were in small cages along with the ferrets, an iguana, and two rats named Tom and Jerry. The animals hadn’t gotten far, except for Tom and Jerry. Their whereabouts were still unknown. She hoped they’d escaped south of the border and were sipping margaritas somewhere.

Kai’s brows were raised in question as if he wanted to hear more details, but she wasn’t in the mood to rehash any of her childhood antics.

“I do remember you,” she said. “You helped me dissect the frog.”

She just couldn’t do it. Kenny had happily done it for her when the teacher wasn’t looking. That teacher still hated Lulu. She’d seen him in Chase’s coffee shop not long ago and got a nasty look when she’d said hello.

“And what did I get for my trouble?” he said with a laugh. “I asked you out, and you turned me down flat. Said you were dating Todd Litmer.”

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