Page 47 of Wild Justice

“No, but I wouldn’t blame her if she had. Dana was always calling Jay for some bullshit favor. I doubt she even really wanted him back. She just wanted more of his attention. To her, it was a competition with Allie, and she wanted to win.”

What the hell…throw out a name.

“What about Glen Foster?”

“I heard the rumors, too,” Jillian said. “That she was sleeping with Glen when she and Jay were married. I think that’s the one thing that my sister wouldn’t do. She loved to party and have fun, but she wasn’t a cheater. I will say that much about her. She just wasn’t the type. I wouldn’t put it past her to flirt a bit though. She liked having male attention. But she loved Jay, even if she wasn’t ready for a mature, adult relationship. She loved him. She was truly upset when they divorced.”

“The divorce was Jay’s idea?”

“It was. He needed to be married to a grown-up, and Dana didn’t want to be a grown-up. In the end, he was tired of taking care of her all the time. He was looking for a partner, not a child. He gave her many chances, but I don’t think she took him seriously. I think she thought he’d keep giving her chances like Mom and Dad. Like I said, they weren’t doing her any favors. She had a strange idea of reality.”

This wasn’t what Kai had expected when he’d made the appointment to speak with Jillian. He’d wanted to do a human-interest piece, but he couldn’t very well write an article that the recent murder victim was an immature, selfish asshole via stories from her own sister.

“Jillian,” he said, measuring his words carefully. “I don’t want to upset you, and I very much appreciate your time today. But I have to say that I don’t think I can put a lot of what you’ve told me into the article I’m writing. I will make sure she’s not made out to be a saint. I want to be honest, but not cruel. Is there anything positive that you can tell me about Dana? Anything at all?”

To his surprise, Jillian smiled and chuckled.

“I never thought you’d write any of that,” she replied. “I just wanted to make sure that you knew that Dana wasn’t some golden light in this town. She wasn’t perfect. That’s what my parents will tell you, but it’s not the whole truth. If you’re looking for cute and sunny stories, I do have a few. She wasn’t always a pain in the ass. When we were kids, we actually spent a lot of time together.”

It looked more like Jillian simply needed someone to offload all her emotions to, and not that she hated her sister with a passion. She had to be having conflicting thoughts about the person she loved but didn’t always like very much.

Jillian launched into a few far more positive and funny stories from when they were kids growing up in a small town. These were more likely to get printed, and hopefully, no one would notice that there weren’t many stories from when Dana was older.

13

Lulu steeled herself before walking into the interview room where Jay Bradford and his attorney were waiting. Her deputies had somehow whisked Allie into a “storage” room that was currently being used as a break area. Since she was out of the way, Lulu could walk around the station without having to deal with Allie until later.

“Good morning,” Lulu greeted them. “Thank you so much for coming in today. I do appreciate it. Your cooperation may help in finding Dana’s killer.”

She was using Dare’s advice, trying to relax them before asking about Dana’s pregnancy.

“I’m not sure I have any more to say,” Jay said. “I told you everything I know.”

“Why are you talking to my client again?” the attorney asked. “He gave you a statement already.”

She recognized the lawyer, but she couldn’t quite place a name with the face. He was the father of someone she’d gone to school with years ago. She searched every corner of her brain for the name of his daughter.

Natalie? Right, Natalie Young. She’d played on the volleyball team. Nice girl. A year younger than Lulu, but well-liked by pretty much everyone. Her dad was Bill Young. At one point, he’d served on the town council. He’d come to a Christmas party her parents had thrown when she was in middle school.

“It’s nice to see you Mr. Young. How is Natalie doing?”

She prayed Natalie wasn’t strung out on drugs or married into the mob.

“She’s doing well, thank you for asking.” Bill smiled at the mention of his daughter’s name, visibly relaxing in his chair. “She went to nursing school in Denver. Lives there now. She’s engaged to be married.”

“That’s wonderful. Congratulations. And obviously, you’re doing well, too. Thank you for coming today.”

“I’m not getting any younger,” Bill sighed. “These Montana winters are getting tougher every year. Maybe I’ll retire down south someday.”

“A little sunshine and golf?”

“That sounds like heaven.”

“So, I just have a few questions, and then you can be on your way,” Lulu said, turning her attention back to Jay. “First, I want to confirm that the night Dana was killed, you went home after dropping Allie off at her apartment. Correct?”

“Yes, I was home before eleven.”

“That’s good. Thank you. I’m trying to put together Dana’s last day, and I was hoping you might be able to help. I need to confirm that the only time you saw Dana that day was at the sports bar. Is that correct?”

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