“She… she needed money.”
I arch my brow. “Wasn’t her father helping her anymore?”
He shrugs. “She neededmoremoney.”
“Why?”
“She wanted to get out of here. You know, head to California or some shit.”
And what was the source of this additional money?”
“I… I think she was using information she had on people to—”
“Blackmail?”
“No.” He shakes his head. “Not really. She just knew stuff. People would pay her for the info.”
That’s blackmail, idiot.This makes no sense. “Give me an example.”
“I don’t have one.”
“Come on, Dylan. You know something.” I know he does.
“The only thing I remember was about some dude having an affair. She was going to tell if he didn’t pay.” Adding a little snort, he says, “And the dude hadbank.”
Jesus. So the guy was loaded. “That’s called blackmail, Dylan.” And it breaks this case wide open. “Do you have a name?”
He shakes his head. “No. I had nothing to do with that shit.”
Deciding to change directions, I ask him, “When did you meet Kara?” He just stares at me quietly. Still thinking about the blackmail, perhaps. “Dylan?”
“I don’t remember.”
That’s not going to fly. “Was it last semester? Last year?”
Still nothing.
“Let’s try this.Wheredid you meet her?”
“Cy’s.” He pauses. “I think.”
Cy’s is Cy’s Roost, a popular college bar and hangout right next to the Iowa State University campus. The same place Robbi spotted Kara. It’s also owned by Tayler Sorenson’s boyfriend, Luke Green. “You met at Luke’s bar?”
He growls at my question, so I rephrase it. “Was thisbeforeTayler began seeing Luke Green?”
“Yes. No.” Dylan shakes his head and replies angrily, “I don’t fucking remember.”
“Would you say you’ve known the victim for a year?” I wait for a reaction from him but get nothing. “Six months?”
“Jesus.” He starts fidgeting in his seat, clearly agitated. “Something like that. Yeah, about six or seven months.”
“So, around the time you were stalking Tayler, you met Kara?”
“I wasn’t fucking stalking her,” he growls, angrily.
Ignoring his false claim, I rephrase. “You met at Cy’s Roost around the time you were trying to get back together with Tayler?”
He leans forward in his chair, runs a hand into his hair, and pulls at it. Hard. “What the hell… fuck, man. Yes. What’s the big deal?”
