“Who was she with?”
“Uh, I’m not sure. I was sitting at the bar with Bull. She stepped up, saw me, then turned and left. It was weird.”
“So you didn’t see her in the bar prior to that?”
Robbi shakes her head. “No.”
“Have you seen her since?”
I get another head shake.
“Did you happen to mention to anyone else that you’d seen Kara?”
When Robbi doesn’t answer my question, I look up from my notes. “Robbi? Did you hear my question?”
She nods slowly.
“And?”
I’ve been a cop long enough to know that silence can be deafening. “You know you’re going to be officially questioned, right? You need to be prepared to answer questions truthfully.” I arch my brow and look directly at Robbi.
“Um… I sent Tayler a text.”
I’m not sure who, but someone gasps.
Glaring at her friends, then at me, she snaps, “I did it so she’d warn Quinn.” Robbi’s voice rises, sounding defensive.
Patsy reaches out and places her hand on Robbi’s shoulder. “We would have done the same thing, Rob.”
“Why willwebe questioned?” Lindsay asks with a squeaky voice.
“Because you knew the victim and you know the accused,” I explain.
“This is all such bullshit,” Robbi spits. “Tayler wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
I know Tayler’s a nice woman and all, and she may not hurt a fly, but she might just hurt the person who was out to get her best friend. She’s not as sweet and innocent as people are making her out to be. I witnessed it firsthand sitting in her living room. She threatened Kara’s life that day when I told her and Quinn that Kara was moving back to Ames. Actually, she said something like“Kara had better hope she never crosses my path. I’ll fucking kill her.”
So there’s that.
* * *
“Thanks for agreeingto talk to me here.”
The next afternoon, Finch and I are sitting in the living room of the house on Beedle Drive. I warned him to keep his mouth shut this time. He agreed. Each of Quinn’s former roommates are present, including Lindsay, Patsy, Susanna, Robbi, and Kat. A guy known as Bull, real name Brandon Kemp, is also here since he was with Robbi the night she saw Kara at Cy’s Roost.
“Ask us anything you want, Gage,” Patsy says, smiling. “Whatever we need to do to help Tayler, we’ll do it.”
I nod, scanning the small group. “So, Robbi, you saw Kara Becker at Cy’s Roost.”
Robbi nods.
“Bull? Do you remember seeing her as well?”
“I didn’t know who she was, but Robbi mentioned something to me after she left.”
“What did she say?”
Bull looks over at Robbi, who nods. Looking back at me, he says, “She said she was the bitch who was harassing Quinn.”
