Page 16 of Wild Justice

Lulu’s brow was knitted together in question, and Henry looked like he’d seen a ghost. His fingers scraped through his hair, and he kept shaking his head as if to deny whatever he was trying to say.

“You need to call it in,” Henry repeated, his eyes wide and his tone urgent. “It’s a body, Lulu. There’s a dead body down there. You have to come now.”

A dead body in Harper.

On Lulu’s second day of work.

It looked like the new sheriff wasn’t going to get any grace period whatsoever. If Lulu Reilly had any luck at all, it would be death by natural causes.

Not a murder. Definitely, not a murder.

The dead bodybelonged to Dana Cartwright.

Lulu’s stomach had clenched menacingly when she’d seen the identity of the victim and the bloody gash on the side of the head. She’d quickly given herself a stern talking to and steeled her spine.

She was ready for this. It had always been a possibility, although she could admit she hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly.

A murder in their little town.

Now wait a minute. You don’t know for sure it’s a murder.

Yes, I do. No one is going to bash in their own skull and then wander down to the lake to die.

No one was going to say that she hadn’t followed strict police protocol. Her first priority was protecting the crime scene. She then called in her deputies along with the county forensics team. What she hadn’t counted on was Kai Oliver - the local newspaperman - being onsite for her first serious investigation. He was watching every move she made as if waiting for her to screw up.

She wasn’t planning to do that so he could watch all he wanted. What he didn’t realize was that he was suspect number one. He’d been standing less than ten yards from Dana when they’d come up on him during their run.

One of her deputies had brought bright yellow crime scene tape with him, and they’d cordoned off the area to keep out looky-loos. In a town this size, everyone and their brother would be out to watch their brand-newfemalesheriff handle her first murder case. She was sure they couldn’t wait to head down to the cafe and compare her to her father.

I’d never come out of that on top.

“Can I call someone for you?” Henry offered as she readied herself to question Kai. “Your brother? Or your…dad?”

“Dad is boarding a cruise ship today,” she reminded her friend, giving him the nastiest look she could muster. “We are not calling and getting him to fly back here to handle this. I can do this. I’m a little hurt, Henry, that you’d even suggest it.”

Actually, she was a whole lot hurt, but she didn’t want to admit it.

“I only suggested it in case you wanted him,” Henry replied swiftly. “I think you’ve got this. I really do. But when it comes down to it, no one would blame you for calling in reinforcements.”

“Yes, they would. They would blame me. They would also lose all respect, if they even had any to begin with. If I call Dad, they’ll all think I can’t do this. As for Chase, he runs the local coffee shop. If he hasn’t heard already, he will. He’s busy, and I’m working so I’ll talk to him later. Now I need to speak with Kai. He was the first person on the scene.”

Her deputies were holding back the onlookers whose numbers were beginning to grow. There had only been a handful about ten minutes ago, but now there were over a dozen.

Lulu could feel the weight of their stare and judgment even from where she was standing several yards away. She walked over to where she’d asked Kai to wait.

“Do you mind if I record this conversation?” she asked, pulling out her phone.

Her dad had always used a little notebook and a pencil, but she might want to listen to this again at a later date.

Kai appeared taken aback by her request which only confirmed her suspicions that he didn’t have a clue that he could be considered a suspect. If she was honest with herself - and she always tried to be - she didn’t think Kai had killed Dana. Not unless she found out that he had some sort of motive that she didn’t know about currently.

But she was going to follow the textbook on this one. No defense attorney was going to get evidence or testimony thrown out because she’d been sloppy. Kai had been on scene, and that meant she needed to get his statement at the very least.

Means, motive, and opportunity. She needed to keep all three in the forefront of her mind.

“Do you mind if I record it as well?” Kai asked. “For the article that I’ll write.”

“Fine, I just have a few questions right now. I may have more later.”

---