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“ S he’s upstairs,” Deputy Joe said to Kai when he walked into the sheriff’s station. “Technically, she’s off duty for lunch, but I won’t stop you from going up there. Freedom of the press, and all that.”

That wasn’t what “freedom of the press” meant. It didn’t mean that Kai could invade the private home of a person just because he wanted to.

He didn’t, however, pause to discuss the First Amendment to the Constitution with Joe, instead climbing the stairs to the apartment above the station and knocking on the door. He wanted to talk to Lulu, and privately sounded like the way to go, although her friend Henry would probably be there.

The door opened, and Lulu stood on the other side with a frozen pizza in her hand. She didn’t appear surprised or put out that he’d shown up without a call first. He should apologize, of course. His mother would be scandalized at his gauche behavior. She was a stickler for etiquette - murder or not.

“I’m sorry for bothering you. Joe said you were at lunch, but I was hoping to get some quotes from you. I’m going to run a special edition of the newspaper.”

Normally, he barely had enough to fill the weekly edition, and rarely did he have anything that was time-sensitive.

“Extra, extra. Read all about it?”

“Something like that,” he replied.

“You know the local television news will cover this, right? You don’t have to do a special edition. Honestly, that sounds pricey.”

It was expensive. Lulu didn’t know his financial situation, though. Or his maternal grandparents. They’d left him a truckload of money, and he could have fucked around instead of buckling down, going to college and then law school, working in a huge law firm about eighty hours a week.

Right now, he could be at the beach drinking umbrella drinks, driving a flashy convertible, and making passes at twenty-two-year-old cocktail waitresses. He had a buddy from boarding school who was doing exactly that. Nice guy, too.

“That’s under control. I just want to make sure that the paper stays relevant.”

It sounded lame as hell, and she didn’t look fooled. The newspaper was barely relevant, and it wasn’t going to get much better. He was rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic , in a way. He didn’t have any magic pixie dust to sprinkle around, no amazing and stupendous business idea that would change the way the world viewed journalism. He didn’t have the answer that would make that Harper Gazette suddenly fly off the shelves.

By cutting back on printing costs - the lion’s share of his expenses - he was just breaking even. This special printing was going to bust that budget all to hell. He was going to do it anyway. If that made him a terrible businessman, then so be it.

From her dubious expression, she didn’t believe him, but she invited him in anyway.

“I was just about to put this pizza in the oven. Are you hungry?”

“I just realized I haven’t eaten today. So, yes. Thank you.”

“Are you picky about toppings? It’s sausage and cheese.”

“I’m not. I’ll pretty much eat anything except cauliflower, green beans, and strawberries. I’m allergic to strawberries.”

“I’m not fond of them so you’re safe. Want something to drink? I can offer you water, milk, soda, or orange juice.”

“I shouldn’t but I’ll say soda. Thanks.”

His gaze ran over the small apartment. Neat as a pin, but compact. The kitchen and living room were one space. He assumed that there was a bedroom and bathroom down the hall to his right.

Where did Henry sleep? With Lulu?

Stop thinking about who she’s sleeping with. It’s none of your business.

“Where’s Henry?”

Shit, now I can’t keep my mouth shut. This is great.

“He’s at the coffee shop working. He likes to have some noise around him. He says the silence is uncomfortable.” Lulu slid the pizza into the oven before pouring each of them a glass of soda. “And no, he’s not my boyfriend. Everyone asks that, and the answer is no. He’s my best friend, though.”

Kai couldn’t stop his gaze from wandering to that hallway. Lulu noticed.

“He sleeps on the couch. It folds out. This apartment is only temporary anyway. As soon as the house on the ranch is ready, we’ll be moving there. He’ll have his own room and bathroom. Any other questions? I don’t know him in the biblical sense, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I wasn’t thinking that,” he responded. “At all. You’re just friends. Got it.”

Lulu had a mouth on her, which Kai respected. She didn’t play any games, and he liked that, too. She said what she meant, and she didn’t waste any time beating around the bush. That was something he was trying to get better about. Too often, he found himself talking around a subject rather than just digging in. Not in a rude way, but in a direct one. Lulu seemed like she had that mastered.

“I think you were thinking it, but you didn’t want to ask,” she said, settling down on the couch. “I assume you have more questions for me. You might as well relax and ask them. I’ll answer them if I can.”

“Lulu, are you always like this?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“Could you be more specific?”

“Straight to the point. Blunt. That sort of thing,” he explained.

“Generally, although I can be as wishy-washy as the next person if the situation calls for it. But since I assume this isn’t a social call, I thought we should get right to it. Are you the type that needs a little foreplay?”

“Foreplay?” he asked, laughing at her snark. The more time he spent with Lulu, the more he liked her. “Don’t we all need some of that? Slow down. Take your time. Life is to be savored.”

He was talking about more than sex.

“I’ll file away your advice. We can foreplay away, if you like. So…how’s your day going, Kai? How’s the weather? Do you like your job? What’s your favorite color? What’s your favorite season? Do you like pizza? What do you want to be when you grow up?”

“That’s your idea of foreplay?” he said with a grin. “Throw the kitchen sink at it and hope something sticks? You do need to slow down. You sound like you’re interrogating me.”

“I should finesse you, instead? Okay, I like the shirt you’re wearing, Kai. Is that…boyfriend material?”

She couldn’t even keep a straight face when she said it, just enjoying busting his balls for fun. He wasn’t upset about it. In his humble opinion, the world needed to stop being so uptight and laugh more.

“Why yes, it is,” he said, running a hand down his sleeve. “Thank you for noticing.”

“I’m a cop. I notice all sorts of things.”

“Oh yeah, what else?” he challenged, relaxing and enjoying the banter.

“I think I’m going to save some of that for after lunch. Seriously, what questions do you have? Like I said, I’ll answer any that won’t put the investigation at peril.”

He’d come here for an update on the case, not to share a pizza with her. This wasn’t a social call.

Right?

“I was hoping for an update on the case,” he replied. “What you know, what you don’t know. I was thinking that I would ask for any possible witnesses or people with information in the article that I write. If that’s okay with you?”

“I’m not sure,” she said slowly. “Sometimes pleas to the public can backfire. It can bring out a lot of people that don’t know anything to help, but they desperately want the attention. Next thing I know, my deputies are spending all of their time on the phones taking false tips and then having to wade through them to possibly get one that’s useful. Let me think about that.”

“I didn’t consider that,” he confessed. “If it helps, I could have the calls come to the newspaper office.”

“You have that large of a staff?”

Lulu had to already know the answer - which was a resounding no. Kai had an administrative assistant that worked part-time, and another reporter who also worked mostly part-time or whenever they found a story that was worth printing.

“No, I could put my phone number in the article.”

“Now you’re just being a glutton for punishment,” Lulu laughed. “You do not want to do that. One of my uncles did that, and he’s lived to regret it. No, if we list any number in, it should be to the station. But honestly, I don’t think we need to worry about saying that in the paper. If anyone has any information, they know to call the sheriff’s office.”

“True, I was thinking about someone who might be reluctant. Anyway, the latest?”

He didn’t want to belabor the idea. It had been a passing thought, and he wasn’t married to it. She’d made a good point about wading through all the calls they might get. He didn’t need crazies calling him at all hours of the night.

The timer dinged, and Lulu stood up to retrieve the pizza from the oven. She quickly cut it into slices and filled two plates.

“I don’t have a lot of information,” she said, handing him a plate before settling onto the floor and using the coffee table for her food and drink. He slid off the couch and did the same so that they were eye to eye. For some reason, he liked to see the expressions flit across her face as she spoke. “Right now, we don’t have an official time of death, although the coroner estimates it as between two and four in the morning. Dana’s purse was intact, including her identification, but any cash she was carrying was gone plus her credit cards. The initial murder scene was in her garage. That was obvious. That means she was transported to the lake. There was no sign of a struggle. We didn’t find a cell phone at the lake or her house. Nor any type of laptop or tablet. I’ll need to ask her family and friends whether she had one.”

“So, robbery is a possibility?”

“I can’t rule it out.”

“You don’t sound convinced.”

“That’s because I’m not,” she replied. “I don’t have strong feelings one way or another. What I do know is that we don’t have a rash of robberies in Harper that sometimes turn into murder. In fact, we don’t have a robbery problem at all. People generally don’t get mugged on the streets of our town. I suppose it could be the start of something, though. Never say never.”

“You think someone killed her? On purpose.”

“The most dangerous person for a woman is the man in her life. That’s just statistics,” Lulu said, popping a piece of the crust into her mouth. “I also have doubts as to whether a robber would bother with transporting her body to a second location. They usually want to get in and out as quickly as possible.”

“Unless he or she could be tied back to her home somehow,” he finished the sentence for her. “Then they would want to move her.”

“They’d be taking a chance of being seen. They also couldn’t be a weakling. Dana would have been - pardon my phrasing here - dead weight. She was five-nine and around a hundred and forty pounds. That would be a lot for a woman to handle unless she had help. Not impossible, of course, but awkward if she didn’t know the best way to carry that weight. And I’d assume that they wouldn’t want any attention on them while carrying a body in the middle of the night.”

“You haven’t ruled out a female?”

“I’m keeping an open mind. It’s amazing what a determined human being can achieve.”

“Can we go back to the head wound?” he asked. “Do you have any idea of the weapon?”

“Not at the point, but it looks like something long and thin like a pipe. They’ll need to run tests to be sure, of course.”

“A pipe, or a candlestick,” he offered.

“Colonel Mustard in the dining room with the candlestick,” Lulu groaned. “My family used to play that game all the time. Mom and Dad were big on game night during the winter.”

“You weren’t a Clu e fan? What was your favorite? Mine was Risk .”

In that game, he could take all the chances he wanted and the worst that would happen was that he would lose.

“I liked the game of Life ,” she replied. “Would I go to college? Would I get married? Have kids? I liked that I didn’t have to make many decisions. I could just roll the dice and leave it all to chance.”

“You don’t like making decisions? This might not be the job for you.”

“I don’t like making them for myself. I have no problem with other types. It’s like advice. I can’t take my own, but I’m fantastic with other people’s problems. Go ahead. Ask me anything. I’m known among my friends for giving great advice.”

“I don’t need any at the moment, but I’ll let you know.”

Their plates were empty, and Lulu scooped them up as she stood.

“Do you want any more pizza? There’s some left.”

“I’m full but thank you.”

“I’ll just wrap this for Henry. He likes to snack at night.”

Lulu wrapped the rest of the pizza in aluminum foil and placed it in the refrigerator before turning back to him.

“I’m going to see Dana’s ex-husband Jay Bradford. Are you coming with me?”

This woman was a constant surprise.

“You’re okay with that?”

“Not really, but I have a feeling you’d just be right behind me asking them questions. All I ask is that you don’t take over my questioning time, and if they don’t want to talk to you or have you in the room, you let it go.”

“Promise.”

Jay Bradford was the ex-husband. What story did he have to tell?

Jay Bradford worked in a busy body shop painting cars, but he wasn’t there when Lulu and Kai stopped by to see him. The manager had said that Jay had gone home when he’d heard the news about Dana.

“He was upset?” Lulu asked.

“Well…I mean…Dana was his wife once. I assume he cared about her, even if just a little. I mean…I don’t think he wanted her dead or anything,” the manager replied awkwardly. “What I mean to say is that he didn’t want her dead. He’s not that kind of guy.”

“What kind of guy is he?”

“Good worker. Doesn’t complain too much. Gets jobs done. That kind.”

“Did he work here when he was married to Dana?”

“Uh, yes.”

“Did he ever talk about her? His marriage?”

“Never.”

“Were you surprised when they split?”

“No, I mean…yes. What I’m trying to say is that I didn’t have an opinion, but I’m always surprised when a couple gets a divorce. Are we done? Because I need to get back to work. We have a customer…”

“Is it just me or was he trying to cover for Jay?” Kai asked after the manager wandered back into the office area.

“Let me ask you a question. You worked with a bunch of guys when you were a lawyer, right? Did you ever work with someone who never mentioned their spouse whether it was good or bad? Is that a thing?”

“Only once, and the guy was a real piece of work. He was secretive about everything. Later, after he quit, we found that he was keeping files on all of us. All the details he could find out, plus - and this was the kicker - he’d keep a running notation of all the things that he hated about us. And he hated all of us. Every single person in the office. He’d remember when someone took the last Mountain Dew from the vending machine. That sort of shit.”

“Did he ever do any work?”

“Not from what we could see. He was too busy documenting the hell out of his co-workers. He was close to getting fired, but he quit first.”

“Dramatically? No, let me guess. He just left one day and never came back.”

“How did you know?”

“Just lucky. If he flew under the radar for a long time, I would assume that he wasn’t looking for attention. But I also think you’re lucky that you’re not the victim of a workplace shooting spree.”

“He didn’t seem violent, just strange. But to get back to the original question, he was the only one. Most people talked about their personal life, especially after a few drinks at happy hour.”

“So, the boss could be trying to cover for Jay?” Lulu mused out loud. “But what is he trying to cover up? Did Jay complain a lot about Dana?”

“He wouldn’t be the first person to bitch about their spouse,” Kai pointed out. “That doesn’t make him a murderer.”

“True, like I said. I’m keeping an open mind. But I’m also keeping my eyes open. If Jay doesn’t have anything to hide, then why is his boss trying to hide something?”

“Spoken like a true cop,” Kai said with a shake of his head. “Everyone isn’t guilty, Lulu. People can have their secrets, and that doesn’t make them a killer.”

“Do you have secrets?”

She didn’t have a clue as to why she’d asked that question. It wasn’t any of her business, and she didn’t want to know. The fact was, she wasn’t sure why she’d even invited him along with her today. She was making his job easy and making hers more difficult. But she’d heard her father always say that the local newspaper was a good friend to have.

He’d never said that during a murder investigation, but then he hadn’t had any locally in her recent memory. Both he and his sheriff friends had shunned the press after capturing Wade Bryson and then Bryson’s son years later. They hadn’t wanted the publicity. They’d simply wanted to get back to living their lives, especially Uncle Logan. Sadly, that seemed to be a problem that would never go away.

Even now, Brianna, who was one of Lulu’s best friends, still suffered nightmares on occasion from being taken hostage by Bryson’s son. They’d been roommates, and Lulu had woken to Brianna’s screams too many times to count. It wasn’t fair that Brianna had to go through that.

“Everybody has secrets,” Kai finally replied, a smile playing on his lips. He was wondering what secrets she had. She could see it written all over his face. He shouldn’t take up poker. He’d lose his shirt. Of course, an image of Kai without a shirt flashed in her brain. He looked good, too. “And that’s not a bad thing.”

Must stop picturing newspaper guy without articles of clothing. It’s clearly been too long between dates.

Kai Oliver, however, wasn’t hard on the eyes. If anything, he was too good-looking with his dark hair and almost silver eyes. He looked like he worked out, too. Weights, maybe, in addition to running?

Stop. Just stop. Don’t think about him.

Wait…if I’m thinking about him half-naked, has he thought about me? Do I want him to? I don’t know. Get back to the investigation.

They walked back to her SUV, and she saw a man who was wearing the same work overalls getting out of his car parked a few spaces away. He looked a bit familiar, although she couldn’t place him. Maybe high school? She waved to him anyway which was the small-town way. He smiled back, approaching her to talk.

“Lulu Reilly, I heard you took over for your old man,” he said. “Do you remember me? Kenny Traeger? We had biology together sophomore year. You tried to set all the animals free by opening the cages.”

Shit, she had done that. She’d hated the idea that the cute bunnies were in small cages along with the ferrets, an iguana, and two rats named Tom and Jerry. The animals hadn’t gotten far, except for Tom and Jerry. Their whereabouts were still unknown. She hoped they’d escaped south of the border and were sipping margaritas somewhere.

Kai’s brows were raised in question as if he wanted to hear more details, but she wasn’t in the mood to rehash any of her childhood antics.

“I do remember you,” she said. “You helped me dissect the frog.”

She just couldn’t do it. Kenny had happily done it for her when the teacher wasn’t looking. That teacher still hated Lulu. She’d seen him in Chase’s coffee shop not long ago and got a nasty look when she’d said hello.

“And what did I get for my trouble?” he said with a laugh. “I asked you out, and you turned me down flat. Said you were dating Todd Litmer.”

“I was dating Todd. I am sorry.”

She didn’t have any memory of Kenny asking her out. None. Zip. If he’d asked her, he’d been vague as all hell.

“It all worked out because I started dating Kate Watson. We’ve got two kids now. So, what are you doing here? Does your car need work?” His eyes widened as she realized the reason on his own. “Oh, right. Jay was married to Dana. You were looking for him. Is he a suspect? Do you know who did this yet?”

“He’s not a suspect,” Lulu rushed to answer. She didn’t need gossip like that making the rounds. “We just needed to talk to him about Dana. If he knew anything about her friends, her daily habits. That sort of thing. It’s more of a fact-finding mission.”

“They haven’t been married for a couple of years, you know,” Kenny said. “But they stayed pretty friendly. Until Jay started dating Allie, of course. She’s a jealous one. Didn’t like Dana one bit. She said she hated her. Poor Jay was caught in the middle. I felt for the guy. You know, for a while there we thought he and Dana might reconcile, but then Allie came along. It was too bad because Dana was a hell of a lot of fun. Just like you, Lulu. Allie seems like she’s got a stick?—”

“Kenny,” a voice hollered, interrupting whatever he was going to say. “It’s time for your shift. Let’s go.”

It was the manager who was yelling from the doorway to the shop. He was scowling at Kenny as if the other man had done something wrong.

Interesting.

“Duty calls,” Kenny replied cheerfully. “It was nice seeing you again, Lulu.”

“Looks like Kenny’s getting an earful,” Kai said as they watched Kenny through the large picture window go into the office with the manager.

“It does. I’ll say it again. What does Jay have to hide?”

“Maybe it’s the manager who has something to hide, not Jay.”

Lulu would keep him on her mental list of people that she’d probably want to talk to again. In the meantime, they needed to find Jay Bradford.

What would he have to say about Dana? Had they been on the road to patching up their marriage?

And what about Allie? Lulu wanted to talk to someone who “hated” Dana.

Enough to kill her?