Page 51 of Wild Justice

Oookaaayyy… Kai was going to have to re-think his entire interview with Dana’s sister.

“Jillian said that Dana was living in her grandmother’s house,” Kai said. “Instead of the house being sold and the proceeds split between them.”

Stacy pressed her fingers to her temples and made a frustrated sound.

“Is she going on about that again? That was never the plan. That was something that Jillian made up in her head. Something that I guess she thought wasfairto her. The grandmother willed the house to Dana. Only to her. Dana was the only one in the family that ever visited that sweet old woman. She’d help out by going shopping and cleaning. She was always doing something for her Gran. Once a week, all four of us would go out to dinner somewhere. Jillian didn’t do shit, and then she was pissed when Dana got the house, the contents, and Gran’s bank account. It wasn’t much but it was something.”

“Jillian was never going to get half the house?”

“Never,” Max replied flatly. “It wasn’t going to happen. Gran was sharp as a tack until her last breath, and she knew who cared about her and who didn’t. Jillian was the latter. I’m guessing she also told you that Dana made bad decisions, and that she was always bailing her out? Not true. The only thing that Dana asked of her sister was a ride to the airport once. Jillian said no, by the way. Dana’s parents, on the other hand, they’re nice people.”

“I didn’t want to bother them,” Kai admitted. “They just lost a daughter. It felt insensitive to ask to interview them.”

“They’ve taken it hard,” Stacy said. “I talked to Carole this morning about the arrangements for the funeral. She wanted me to say a few words, which I told her I would do. I think you’re right to let them have their space during this time.”

“I do have another question,” Kai said. “If Dana and Jay weren’t getting back together, was she seeing anyone that you knew of?”

“She was seeing someone,” Stacy said with a smug smile. “But she was keeping it a secret as to who. I think it was like a game to her.”

“She didn’t tell you who it was?” Kai pressed. “Not even a hint?”

“At first, she didn’t tell us anything,” Max said. “She’d see him on the nights she wasn’t working or hanging out with us. We didn’t have a clue for months. When we asked why she was keeping it all hush-hush, she said it was more fun this way.”

Maybe Kai was cynical and jaded, but in his life, there had only been a few reasons why someone would keep their partner a secret. Number one - they were ashamed, and two - they were married. Either the person or the secret partner.

Kai was leaning to the latter.

“Do you think she was dating a married man?”

He wasn’t much for beating around the bush about topics like this. Stacy and Max could be angry if they wanted to be, but they had to have considered it a possibility at least once.

“It did cross our minds,” Stacy said, her cheeks flushed as she fidgeted on her chair. “I asked Dana straight out, and she said that she wouldn’t date someone who was happily married.”

“But she would someone married unhappily?”

“I asked that, too,” Stacy sighed. “She said that she’d worded her answer badly. That they were keeping it a secret because they didn’t want a lot of attention. They just wanted to enjoy being together without people talking about them, and that eventually they’d go public. They just weren’t in a hurry.”

“She reminded us that people liked to gossip about her love life,” Max said. “About her, and Jay, and others. She said she was tired of a bunch of nosey types talking about her when the skeletons in their own closets were much worse. I couldn’t argue with that. She was right. The busybodies in this town need to mind their own business first.”

“When you sayand others, do you mean like Glen Foster?” Kai asked. “There were rumors about them when she was married to Jay.”

“Not only did she not go out with Glen, she didn’t even like him,” Stacy said. “He was Jay’s friend, so she tried to be nice, but frankly he’s kind of a jerk. He also thinks he’s hot stuff, and when she and Jay were having trouble, Glen decided that he was going to be the sympathetic shoulder to cry on before getting her into his bed. There was no way she was going to let that happen. He made her nauseous.”

“Do you know why she and Jay were talking at the sports bar the night before her murder? Glen was there, too.”

Based on their quizzical expressions, Stacy and Max were trying to figure out what that question had to do with the human-interest story that Kai was working on. The last few questions, actually.

If Lulu were here, she’d be asking them instead. Might as well see if I can get it done for her.

Kai was man enough to admit that he cared a great deal about Lulu, and he wanted to help her solve this murder.

“I don’t know,” Stacy said. “I talked to her that night for a few minutes, but she didn’t mention it. She said she’d picked up some takeout and was headed back to her place for a quiet evening in.”

“She wasn’t seeing her secret man?”

“She didn’t mention him. Is it important? Are you planning to write about her relationship with him? Is that why you’re asking?”

“No,” Kai replied firmly. “I’m not going to write about him. Unless he comes forward, of course. If he did, I’d love to get a quote from him for the article.”

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