Page 59 of Wild Justice

If Kai was going to have a relationship with Lulu - and that’s what he wanted - Henry and her brother Chase were part of the package deal. It would be no hardship at all to have them in his life.

There was something about Lulu that drew good people towards her, and it was an attribute that he admired.

Hell, who was he kidding? It felt like he was falling in love.

16

This was going to be a delicate interview. Lulu couldn’t just barge in and accuse Kathleen Meadows of telling her roommate that Dana Cartwright was pregnant. But she also couldn’t take too long getting to that important question.

On the drive to the doctor’s office, Lulu had decided that she’d open with questions about Allie’s alibi. She’d see how open Kathleen was to being honest about Allie. If she tried to dance around the questions or outright lie, this interview was going to take much longer than it should.

Kathleen appeared nervous when Lulu walked in and introduced herself. The woman kept clearing her throat and appearing flustered as she asked her co-worker to cover for a few minutes.

“The doctor said we could use her office. She’s with patients right now.”

The two of them sat on the loveseat against the wall, surrounded by the doctor’s diplomas, certificates, and several photos of her family.

“Thank you for meeting with me today. This shouldn’t take long.”

“It’s fine. Fine.”

It didn’t sound fine. Kathleen’s voice was wispy, and Lulu had to concentrate to hear her. The other woman was pale, her hands wringing together in her lap all while chewing on her bottom lip.

Yep, she’s nervous as hell. Do you have something to hide, Kathleen?

“I need to ask you about the night before Dana Cartwright’s body was found,” Lulu began. “Your roommate Allie Baker said that she was home all night after Jay dropped her off at about ten. Can you confirm this? Were you also home?”

“I was home,” Kathleen said, nodding in agreement. “All night. I never left.”

That was nice, but Lulu wasn’t concerned about Kathleen’s whereabouts. But it was interesting that she hadn’t yet said whether Allie had been home.

“I think I should remind you that lying to an officer of the law is never a good idea,” Lulu said. “If you’re hiding something material to the investigation, you could be prosecuted for obstructing justice.”

“Prosecuted? As in go to jail?”

Kathleen sounded scandalized. Good. If she hadn’t been thinking about that, maybe she would now.

“That can happen, although I couldn’t say for sure what might happen in this case in particular. I just wanted to make sure that you understood that lying - even by omission - could be costly. I know that we all want to help a good friend, but at some point, they may ask too much of us.”

Kathleen rubbed at her temple and gave out a heavy sigh.

“The fact is, Allie isn’t even one of my close friends. We ended up as roommates because she was a friend of a friend. We’re friendly, but we’re not involved in each other’s lives. She spends most of her time with her boyfriend, honestly. She’s rarely home.”

“Jay Bradford?”

“Yes, him.”

“You say she spends most of her time with him. Were you surprised to see her home that night?”

“Kind of. She spends the night at his place most nights. That’s what makes her the perfect roommate. She’s never there.”

“I can understand that.” Lulu took another breath and forged forward. If they weren’t best buds, Kathleen just might tell the truth. “So, I’ll ask again. Was Allie home that night with you?”

Kathleen looked down at her hands and then back up to Lulu.

“Kind of.”

Lulu almost opened her mouth to ask a follow-up question, press her further. But then she remembered something her father had told her about.

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