Page 61 of Wild Justice

“Kathleen,” Lulu said, keeping her tone patient and even. Friendly. “Did you tell Allie some of Dana’s personal business at the practice? Be honest, please. I’m not looking to get you in trouble, but I need to know the truth.”

“No. No, I wouldn’t do that.”

As Kathleen denied it verbally, her head was nodding in the affirmative. A clear clash of body language. Usually, the body was telling the truth.

“If I subpoena Allie’s phone records between you two, what am I going to find?”

Kathleen, who was already on edge, completely broke down at the question. Her mouth opened in a soft but plaintive wail as the tears began to flow down her cheeks. She was talking and sobbing, and Lulu could only make out about every other word.

It was enough for Lulu to realize that Kathleen had mentioned Dana’s visit to the doctor to Allie.

“Slow down,” Lulu said gently, reaching for the tissue box on the desk and handing it to Kathleen. “Take a few deep breaths, and start from the beginning, okay?”

It took a little while for her to calm down, but eventually the tears slowed, and she was able to continue.

“Allie brought up Dana,” Kathleen explained. “I didn’t bring her up. She was complaining about Dana, as usual. I didn’t even think. I just mentioned that Dana had been in the office. I know that I’m not supposed to say those things, so I immediately shut up. I dropped the subject, and at the time, Allie did, too. But I guess she didn’t. She was bugging me all the time as to why Dana was there. She kept asking if Dana was pregnant or if she was sick. She’d call me during the day, she’d send me texts, she’d bug me when I came home after work.”

“So, you told her?”

“Not really,” Kathleen replied, more tears slipping down her wet cheeks. “Allie did the whole thing where she said what she thought, and if I didn’t correct her then she’d know she was right. I just wanted her to leave me alone, Sheriff. She was making my life miserable, and I just wanted some peace.”

“She guessed that Dana was pregnant, and you didn’t correct her?”

“Yes, but it didn’t work. Allie was even more upset, and she ranted about it for days.”

“Did she argue with Jay about it?”

“No, she said she needed to figure out what to do before she talked to Jay. She said she needed to talk to Dana first. Get her to admit that the baby was Jay’s. She said she wanted to convince Dana that Jay wouldn’t want the baby, and that she should leave town to have it. Then while Dana was gone, she’d marry Jay.”

Allie had it all figured out. Get her rival out of town, marry Jay, and then when Dana returned it would be too late.

Kathleen’s hand latched onto Lulu’s arm, gripping tightly.

“I tried to talk her out of it. I swear I did. I tried to tell her that she needed to stay far away from Dana, but when Allie is like that she doesn’t hear anyone. She only knows what she wants.”

“That night that Allie left the house and didn’t come back for a few hours…You didn’t ask her about that?”

“I was afraid to,” Kathleen admitted. “I didn’t want to know. All I wanted was a roommate to help pay the bills. I didn’t want to get caught up in some romantic melodrama. I just wanted peace and quiet in my life.”

Lulu levered to her feet, tucking the notebook and pencil into her bag.

“I’m going to have this typed up, and you’re going to need to read it over and sign it. Make sure you’ve told me the truth today. Is there anything you’ve said that you want to change in any way?”

“No, I’ve told you the truth. Are you going to tell the doctor what I did?”

“You may want to do that yourself. If it turns out Allie has done something illegal, the whole story is going to come out eventually.”

“I’m going to lose my job,” Kathleen sobbed. “I wish I’d never met Allie.”

“Dana Cartwright would probably say the same thing,” Lulu replied. “Thank you for speaking with me, Kathleen. I’ll be in touch about signing your statement.”

What a massive, tangled web of bullshit. So much drama, lying, and subterfuge.

It was time to take what she had to the district attorney. Did she have enough for a search warrant for Allie’s car and home?

It was time to find out.

17

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