Page 9 of Wild Justice

“It’s her daughter. That’s got to be tough,” Perry said. “Why don’t you come inside, and we’ll talk about it?”

“Can I assume that my services are no longer needed here?” Lulu asked.

“Sorry that I called you out here,” Perry said. “I guess things got out of hand a bit.”

“It’s fine. It was nice seeing you both today. Stop by the station and have a cup of coffee with me next time you’re in town. We can catch up. In the meantime, call me if you need me.”

“Tell your dad and mom to have a great time on their vacation,” Stan said. “Have they left yet?”

“Not yet, and I can just get back in time to see them off before Chase drives them to the airport.”

“You better skedaddle then,” Perry grinned. “We don’t want you to miss that. One more thing before you go,” Perry said, his gaze moving to Kai who had been watching all of this unfold. “This isn’t going to be in the paper, is it? Because we don’t need anyone sticking their nose into this.”

“When I write the article about Lulu’s first day, I’ll just say there was a small disagreement between neighbors, but it was all worked out. How about that?” Kai asked.

The article was about Lulu, after all, not a parking dispute.

“Thanks,” Stan said. “We appreciate that.”

The men disappeared inside of Perry’s house, and Kai and Lulu climbed back into the SUV.

“You did good back there,” he said as they drove out of the neighborhood. “You must have some magic secret to calming people down.”

“They just wanted to be heard, that’s all. They felt like no one was listening to them.”

“And you know something about that?”

“I’m the middle child. Plus, I swear my poor mother had to mediate arguments between me and my brothers when we were little. There was always some disagreement going on. Now when we’re mad, we just ignore the person in the family group chat. Kind of passive-aggressive if you ask me.”

“Well, what you did worked. Do you and your brothers get along now?”

“For the most part, we do. We are very different people though.”

“How? Please pardon the nosy question. I’m an only child who always wanted a sibling.”

“Be careful what you ask for. As for how we’re different, I guess Chase is the most laidback of all three of us. Nothing ruffles his feathers, nothing gets him upset. He was a happy baby from what my mom said.”

“And your older brother?”

“What can I say about Ben?” Lulu replied with a sigh. “He was born a grown-up. Or it seemed that way. Always the responsible one, a little adult by the time he went to kindergarten. I once heard my parents debating whether he acted like that as a reaction to me being so wild, or whether I acted wild as a reaction to him being a short adult. I guess you can take your pick. Either way, he makes it a point to disagree with me on just about everything including the color of the sky.”

“With Chase stuck in the middle?”

“Chase makes it a point to never be in the middle. He may be the smartest of us all.”

Lulu had pulled the vehicle up to the front of the sheriff’s station where her parents were standing outside chatting with an older woman who looked familiar, but Kai couldn’t quite place. He was still learning everyone’s names.

“Can we call it for today?” Lulu asked when Seth waved at them. “I think my dad wants to talk before they leave for the airport.”

Kai had a feeling there was far more to what she was asking, but that wasn’t any of his business. He wasn’t writing that sort of article.

“Sure, should I come by tomorrow?”

“Anytime. I’ll be here.”

Kai thanked her for letting him come along before climbing out of the SUV and heading down the street toward the newspaper office. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that Seth was now sitting in the passenger seat that he’d just vacated.

It was the changing of the guard in a way. Seth retiring, and his daughter taking over. How did Seth truly feel about that? Steve had said that her father was shocked. Was he giving Lulu some last-minute advice?

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