Page 65 of Wild Justice

“What was that like? Growing up in the shadow of two serial killers?”

“That’s not how I grew up,” Lulu replied. “My parents tried hard to keep all of that out of our lives as much as possible. There was one trip during summer break with all the aunts and uncles and my cousins. What I didn’t realize right away was that the uncles and my dad were searching for Bryson and protecting us at the same time. They tried playing it off as a madcap summer on the road, but we knew something was up. Eventually, Ben spilled the beans to us kids. He was older and had heard them talking. Then Aunt Kaylee got shot, and things sort of blew up from there. I think people would be shocked at how little the Bryson family played into my life at all. Of course, my cousin Brianna would say something different.”

Kai had followed the case enough to know that Brianna had been taken hostage as bait. The plan was to use her to lure Logan Wright in and then kill him. What Jake Bryson hadn’t realized was that Logan Wright was going to go scorched-hell-on-earth with anyone that harmed a hair on his child’s head.

“It was in your life enough to make you want to be a sheriff just like your dad,” Kai pointed out.

“Not just like my dad,” she said with a shake of her head. “Maybe on my first day I was thinking that, but what I’ve come to realize this week is that I need to be the sheriff I was meant to be. That may not be like my dad. I may be a completely different law enforcement officer. But I need to be a genuine me, not a second-rate Seth Reilly.”

“Lulu, you could never be second-rate,” Kai replied as sincerely as possible.

She needed to know just how amazing she was. Every minute that he spent with her simply made him want to be there even more.

Was this love? He’d thought he’d been in love before, but later realized it was only lust.

He wanted Lulu in a carnal way, but he also wanted to hang out with her. He wanted to debate, and laugh, and even cry with her. He wanted to sit next to her in front of the fire while her heady scent of vanilla mixed with the acrid aroma of wood and smoke. He liked the way the leaping flames highlighted the gold in her hair and made her eyes seem to smolder in the half-light.

Hell, he just liked her. A whole lot, and more than he’d expected to.

If wanting to spend as much time with her as possible - in bed and out - was love, then he was a goner.

“How are you with a screwdriver and a hammer?” she asked him, bringing him out of his reverie.

“Is this some weird sexual kink you’re talking about or actual do-it-yourself construction?”

“You are such a smart ass. Seriously, this is about furniture construction. The furniture I ordered about a million years ago is finally being delivered tomorrow morning to the house, and I was wondering if you might help me put some of it together. If you don’t want to, it’s fine. I can ask Henry and Chase.”

She’d mentioned that the apartment over the sheriff’s station was only temporary, and eventually, she’d move into where her aunt and uncle used to live on the family ranch.

“I’m happy to help,” he replied. “And I do come with experience. Me and my college roommate furnished our place with a hell of a lot of IKEA.”

“Then you’re hired. They’re supposed to show up between eight and ten tomorrow morning. I’ll thank you now for being willing to help.”

“It will be fun,” Kai said. “We can see how we work together in a stressful situation.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t become stressful. Are you one of those frustrating people who won’t read the instructions?”

“I guess you’ll find out tomorrow. But what about the search warrant? Don’t you need to be there when they serve it? Assuming the DA gets the judge to sign off.”

“Deputy Steve has experience, but he’ll just be sort of overseeing things. The DA wants the forensic team to do the searches, and I agree with his assessment. Since this is a high-profile murder case, he wants to be sure that any physical evidence is collected by the book. He doesn’t want to give a defense attorney any reason to get something thrown out of court.”

“What if they don’t find anything? Are we back to square one?”

“I don’t think so. Top of my list is to find the married man that Dana was seeing. Someone, somewhere, has to know his identity. I might try checking out some of the restaurants and bars in nearby towns. Maybe they met outside of Harper for anonymity. I can show Dana’s picture and see if anyone recognizes her.”

“Motels, too,” Kai suggested. “They had to meet somewhere private if Dana was pregnant.”

“That ought to be fun. Find every seedy motel in a hundred-mile radius. Should I do a search on the internet for that?”

“They say you can find anything you want on the internet.”

“I guess I’ll find out if that’s true. Now, have the steaks marinated long enough? I’m starving.”

“They have. I’ll get them in the pan. I think we’ve timed the meal just right. The potatoes should be done with the steaks.”

A good meal, a warm fire, and a beautiful woman.

Lulu was a one-of-a-kind woman, and by the way she was currently looking at him, she might feel the same way.

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