Page 63 of Wild Justice

“And Jay Bradford just went along with it?”

“If he wanted a girlfriend or just goes with the flow? Yes. For some men or women, they might appreciate all the hard work of a relationship being done for them. Of course, everything has a price.”

“Either way, the DA is going to try and get a search warrant. The case is still open as far as I’m concerned. I don’t want to get tunnel vision. I need to keep an open mind. Jay Bradford’s alibi checks out. Glen Foster’s as well, although he was never a serious suspect in my mind. I just wanted to talk to him about what he heard that night. By the way, he denies ever having an affair with Dana.”

“Do you believe him?”

“I do. He seemed honest and straightforward. I may not like him personally, but he seemed genuine when I spoke with him. What about you? Did you learn anything else?”

“I spoke with Dana’s sister Jillian, and her best friend Stacy. It was like being in the twilight zone. They didn’t even sound like they were describing the same person. Stacy told me specifically that Jillian was full of shit and to not believe a word she said. Frankly, Jillian sounded like she hated Dana in a way. She certainly doesn’t have a lot of respect for her. She didn’t have much of anything positive to say about Dana or her parents. She thinks they coddled Dana while she had to work for everything.”

“Is it true?”

“According to Stacy Simpson, no. Jillian says that their parents gave Dana the house she lived in for free, but they were supposed to sell it and split the money between the daughters. Stacy said that was never the plan. The grandmother willed the house to Dana because she was the only one who spent any time with her. Jillian also said that she was constantly bailing Dana out of her bad decisions, but Stacy denied that, too. She did say that Dana was dating someone - a married man. She was deeply in love with him, too.”

“Let me guess, he was getting a divorce any day now.”

“You sound so cynical, sweetheart,” Kai joked. “Not very optimistic and open-minded.”

“Maybe I am a bit cynical,” Lulu conceded. “But I’ve seen it happen with a few friends. But I’d be glad to be wrong.”

“I have a feeling you might be right,” Kai replied. “Dana said that the man was going to divorce his wife soon. Butsoonhadn’t come yet.”

“He’s the person I want to talk to,” Lulu said, sounding frustrated. “Whoever this person is, they’re still on my suspect list. Dana gets pregnant, and all of a sudden, she ends up dead. Plus, the probable father is married but getting a divorce…eventually. It sounds sketchy as hell to me. That man - and his wife - are suspects in my mind.”

“I don’t see how we’re going to figure out who Dana was seeing unless they walk up to you and introduce themselves.”

“If they were going to do that, they probably would have already,” Lulu said with a sigh. “There has to be someone who knew who she was seeing.”

“Her best friend didn’t even know. I think they were keeping things secret. Very secret. Which tells me that the man isvery married.Probably kids, too.”

“Yes, and he’s not going to admit that he was seeing Dana. I already don’t like this guy,” Lulu admitted. “I think there’s a special place in hell for cheaters. If you want to sleep around, then fine. But just end your relationship before doing it.”

There was a certain tone in Lulu’s voice that said she was speaking from personal experience.

“Did some asshole cheat on you?”

“How did you know he was an asshole?” Lulu laughed. “Oh right, he’s a big old cheater. And yes, when I was in high school my boyfriend was cheating with a girl a few towns over. I guess he thought if he didn’t see someone in the same school I’d never find out. What a jerk. He tried to play it off as if I was crazy or confused. I was just too dumb to understand, he said.”

Kai couldn’t even imagine saying that to any woman, let alone Lulu, who was clearly above average in intelligence.

“What did you do? Dump him in front of all your friends?”

“I did, but it’s his own fault. When a guy tells me in front of all of our friends that I’m dumb, he gets what he gets. I told him to go fuck himself, and then I kicked him in the balls. Chase always said that I fought dirty.”

Kai winced at the mere thought of getting the family jewels racked in such a manner. Not that the jerk didn’t deserve it, but…damn. That was harsh.

“He probably didn’t like that, Lulu.”

“He didn’t. He went crying to the school principal who called my parents. Mom and Dad had to come to the school to get me and all that jazz. When my mom heard my side of the story, she told that principal in no uncertain terms that Brian - his name was Brian - was lucky that’s all he got. She would have done worse. In the meantime, Brian’s parents were threatening to sue or some shit like that while my mom was telling them that they didn’t raise Brian right. Everybody was yelling and crying, and it was just chaos.”

“Were you yelling or crying?”

“Neither. I was just watching it all go down. You’ve never seen my mom in action, but she’s epic. I knew I was in big trouble when we got home, but she was also a mama bear about me getting my heart broken. Anyway, it’s all loud and chaotic. Then my dad walks in.”

From the smile on Lulu’s face, the memory was a good one.

“You’re not going to stop here, are you? I have to hear how this ends,” Kai cajoled. “I’ve met your dad, and I didn’t get the impression he liked chaos.”

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