Page 50 of Wild Justice

While Max was huge, Stacy was tiny. Kai might describe her as almost as a pixie with her petite body and purple-tipped blonde hair. Even her features were elvish with big blue eyes and delicate pointed chin.

They made a striking couple, and they were gazing at each other with genuine love.

“Dana came to me when she turned twenty-one,” Max explained. “She wanted a job, and I needed a waitress. She’s worked for me on and off since then. Mostly on since she and Jay split up. She needed the money, and she did a good job. It was a win-win for both of us.”

“And you all became close friends?”

“We did,” Stacy replied. “Dana was always just the sweetest girl. She’d do anything for you and give you the shirt off her back and her last dollar if she thought you were in need.”

Stacy sniffled and her eyes filled with tears.

“I never had a sister, but Dana filled that role. I can’t tell you enough about what a beautiful person she was. She was the best friend I’ve ever had, and I’ll miss her every day for the rest of my life.”

“She was a good person,” Max agreed. “A hard worker and she cared about the customers. Everyone loved her.”

“What about Jay Bradford? Was he still in love with her?”

“Just between the three of us, I think he is still in love with Dana,” Stacy confided. “Was it two weeks ago, Max? Out of the blue, his girlfriend came into the bar and was giving Dana a hard time. Yelling at her to stay away from Jay, and that she wasn’t going to let Dana steal her man or something like that. I doubt the girlfriend would be all upset like that if Jay wasn’t acting like he still had feelings.”

“What did Dana do?”

“She just laughed at the girl and said that she wasn’t going to steal something she gave up willingly. She told the girl that Jay was only a friend. I got the feeling the girl didn’t believe it, but Dana refused to argue with her. She was openly amused by the whole thing. Max offered to escort the girl out, but Dana said that she wasn’t bothered.”

“Eventually, the girl left,” Max said. “Her name is Allie, right? Anyway, when she couldn’t get a rise out of Dana, she stomped out of the place vowing that she’d be back if Dana didn’t stay away from Jay.”

“Did she come back?”

“No, but I was planning to ban her if she did,” Max explained. “I don’t like any trouble in my place, and I didn’t want Dana to have to deal with that. That girl seemed unhinged, to be honest. From where I was standing, it looked like she was trying to goad Dana into taking a swing at her. I guess then she could call the cops and play the victim. Either way, that’s not happening in my bar.”

“Jay came in a few days later and apologized for her,” Stacy said with a roll of her eyes. “Dana told him to stay away from her as long as he was seeing Allie. She didn’t want the hassle. Jay was upset and swore up and down that Allie was just passionate. Frankly, it sounded lame as hell, and Dana told him so. She repeated that he needed to stay away if he was going to date that girl. Max asked him to leave, and he did without any trouble.”

“She and Jay weren’t getting back together? There was some talk of that,” Kai said.

“They sort of tried about a year ago, but it was clear that it wasn’t going to work,” Max replied. “I think Jay wanted it more than Dana did. She was half-hearted about it, and she didn’t seem all that sad when they called it quits a second time. They cared about each other, but they were too different to live together.”

“In what way?” Kai asked.

“Dana was an extrovert who liked to be around people,” Stacy said. “Jay didn’t want to be around people. Ever, if he could help it. Not in the evenings, not on the weekends. Dana once said that she tracked it on a calendar, and Jay didn’t talk to anyone but her for forty-two days. Not counting his job, of course. He’d come home and start playing video games. That was his social time, I guess.”

“And she wanted to go out?”

“Sometimes, but other times she just wanted to talk to him. Talk about their day, talk about the weather. Anything but sitting next to him on the couch while he played games.”

Kai was fascinated by this far different version of Dana Cartwright that he was hearing. These were the people closest to her, the ones she was with almost every day in a work setting plus a friendship.

“I met with Dana’s older sister Jillian this morning?—”

He was interrupted by both Stacy and Max groaning out loud and shaking their heads.

“Let me guess,” Stacy said. “She complained non-stop about what a terrible sister Dana was, and how she’s the only responsible person in her family. Did I get that right?”

“That woman is a menace,” Max said before Kai could answer. “She’d call Dana just to bitch her out about something and complain that life wasn’t fair. Well, here’s some news for her. Life isn’t fair. I’m not sure where she got the idea that it would be. I bet she’ll dance on Dana’s grave. Now she’ll have all the attention from her parents, especially as the younger sister Billie lives in another state.”

“Is that what she wanted?” Kai queried. “Attention? Did Dana somehow take that away?”

“Dana’s great crime was being born,” Stacy said. “Jillian was loving being an only child. She didn’t want any siblings. She wanted to be the center of attention. So, when Dana committed the sin of being born, Jillian was never going to forgive or forget. She wanted the sole spotlight on her, and she resented the hell out of anyone who took it away. Jillian was even mean to the family dog and cat. She wasn’t any nicer to the youngest sister Billie either.”

“Don’t believe half of what she told you,” Max warned. “Jillian loves to twist the truth and make herself look like a saint while everyone else is an asshole. She’s always the victim.”

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