Page 28 of Wild Justice

Bradford nodded, and then his gaze rested on Kai.

“If you don’t want Kai here, it’s fine,” Lulu assured the man. “Kai’s working on an article for the newspaper about what happened. I thought it might be better if he heard directly from the people I interview. That way there won’t be any misquotes or inconsistencies. But it’s up to you.”

For a moment, Kai thought he was in, but then the man shook his head.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea. This has been bad enough without being in the paper, too.”

“No problem,” Kai said. “I’ll wait out here.”

“This won’t take long, Jay,” Lulu assured him. “Just a few questions.”

Bradford opened the door for Lulu, and they disappeared inside, leaving Kai on the front porch. He settled into one of the rockers and pulled out his phone to check for any messages while he waited. He wanted to be inside, but he’d made a promise. Besides, he wasn’t sure that Bradford was going to say anything that would be so momentous that Kai would want to put it into an article.

He hadn’t sat very long when a car pulled up into the driveway, and a woman stepped out carrying her purse and juggling a bag from the local grocer. She didn’t notice Kai sitting on the porch until she was at the top step.

“Who are you?”

Levering from the chair, Kai held out his hand.

“Kai Oliver. You must be Allie. It’s nice to meet you. Can I take that bag for you? It looks heavy.”

She allowed him to accept the bag and place it on the table next to the chair, but she didn’t thank him or greet him. Instead, she looked at him suspiciously, her eyes narrowed as she took him in head to toe and then back up again.

“Why are you here? Where’s Jay? Does he know you’re here? You’re that guy that runs the paper, right? We don’t have any statements to make so you can leave.”

Allie hadn’t noticed Lulu’s official sheriff’s SUV parked in front of the house.

“Jay is inside speaking with the sheriff. And yes, he knows I’m here. And that’s fine if you don’t have a statement. That’s not why I’m here.”

Kai was far more interested in the investigation than a statement from the ex-husband as to how “devastated” they all were that Dana was gone. As far as Kai was concerned, those bogus statements were nothing more than filler in an article and about as meaningful.

Allie’s gaze went straight to the closed door, her face turning pale.

Interesting reaction.

“Jay is talking to the sheriff?”

“Yes, she had a few questions for him, of course.”

“Of course,” Allie scoffed. “There’s noof course.Jay hasn’t been married to Dana for two years. He never sees her, and he never talks to her. He doesn’t have anything to say.”

“He saw her last night at the sports bar,” Kai pointed out. “You were there, too.”

Allie’s head whipped around at his statement. Did she think no one had seen her there? The restaurant had been about three-quarters full. Lots of people had witnessed…whatever it was. He couldn’t call it an altercation, but it seemed more than a discussion.

“How do you know that?”

“Because I was there.”

“It wasn’t a big deal,” Allie said defensively. “But other than that, we never see her. That was the first time in months.”

Kai didn’t want to argue with a woman who was upset. Allie was biting her lip and shaking her head over and over as if trying to negate whatever was happening inside her head.

“The problem is Dana.” Allie dropped her purse next to her grocery bag. “She’s the one that can’t let go of Jay. She’s the one trying to get back together with him. And after what she did, too.”

“What did she do?”

Allie’s eyes widened as she threw up her hands.

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