Blood Defense

FORTY

I’d planned to check in on Dale every day, but with the trial getting closer by the minute, I had less and less time to spare. Alex had taken over the visitation duty for me.

And as usual, now that I was pressed for time, no one had time for me. During the next three weeks, Michelle tried to track down Dale’s second ex-wife, Bobbi, and Russell Kitson, that photographer friend of Paige’s.

According to his assistant, Russell was booked solid and wouldn’t have a day off for at least a month. Bobbi was no easier.

I didn’t make Dale’s first ex-wife, Tracy, as someone who’d go to the trouble of leaking the Jenny story to hurt him. From all I’d heard and seen, they were getting along just fine. Besides, they had a child together, Lisa. The last thing Tracy would want to do was ruin Lisa’s father.

His second wife, Bobbi, however, checked all the boxes. They’d been married nine and a half years-plenty of time to rack up all kinds of grudges. But more important, Bobbi had been a 9-1-1 dispatcher. She was an insider. She could’ve found a way to get her hands on Dale’s personnel records.

At first, Bobbi seemed willing to meet. I’d thought maybe my suspicion about her was wrong. But after she made and broke four appointments, I was starting to believe I’d found the leaker.

And then, with just one week to go before the trial started, Bobbi finally agreed to see me. She suggested a Denny’s near her house. I’d been so wrapped up in the case, I hadn’t thought about whether I was personally curious to see what kind of woman Dale had married. But now, waiting for her in that diner, I realized I was.

I recognized her the moment she walked in the door. Bobbi was a little shorter than I was-and curvier, with a golden tan, shoulder-length blonde hair, and blue eyes that smiled when she did.

Dale definitely had a type. If you took away the warmth of that smile, she could’ve been my mother.

But there was something shadowed about Bobbi’s expression, and there was a nervousness in the way she looked around the diner. I decided to edge in slowly with her, so I started with general questions about how long she and Dale had been married, how they’d met (at a retirement party for her boss), and where they’d lived (Granada Hills-another bedroom community in the North Valley).

Finally, I asked whether they were still on speaking terms.

She looked surprised. “Of course. Why wouldn’t we be?”

Too stunned to come up with a lie, I stammered out the truth. “I-I… Dale told me that… you wouldn’t have anything good to say.” Now that I’d gone this far, I might as well tell her the rest. “He doesn’t know I’m meeting with you.”

Bobbi looked perplexed at first, then she nodded and gave me a sad little smile. “Can I trust you to keep what I’m about to tell you to yourself?”

“If you’re sure that won’t screw Dale.”

She looked into my eyes for a long moment. “It won’t screw Dale. First, let me assure you, there’s no bad blood between us. None whatsoever. Our marriage broke up because he was married to the job, and I desperately wanted out of mine.” Bobbi stared out the window for a long moment. “9-1-1 is a twenty-four-hour line of death and ruination and misery. Some people can take it, even thrive on it. I wasn’t one of them. Over time, it wore me down. I was depressed all day and up all night with gruesome nightmares. And finally, the constant fatigue and stress caught up with me. I blew a domestic-violence call. The woman landed in the hospital with four gunshot wounds.” Bobbi swallowed. “She didn’t make it. Dale kept telling me it wasn’t my fault, that there was no way anyone could’ve gotten to her in time. Her ex-husband was holding the gun on her when she called. But I still think that if I’d acted faster…” Bobbie swallowed again.

“So you had to get away from law enforcement? And that included Dale?”

“Not law enforcement. Crime. All those victims. I just couldn’t take it anymore.” She looked at me. “I still loved him, but I had to get away. I quit my job and moved out. Six months later, I had a nervous breakdown.”

“Bobbi, I’m so sorry.”

She gave me a brief nod. “Thanks. Things got pretty bad. I had to check into an inpatient facility for a while.” Tears glistened in her eyes, but then she smiled. “But Dale showed up every single day. And when they released me, he was the one who moved me back to my apartment.” Bobbi looked away as she swiped at the tears on her cheeks. “He wanted to get back together. And I did, too, but…” She stared down at the table and shook her head. “But just looking at him was a constant reminder. There was no way.”

“And you’re afraid that if you testify, the press will dig into your life and find out about it.”

“They will. I mean, I’ve seen stories about everyone who has anything to do with the case. It’s all over the news every day.”

I hated to admit it, but she was right. “They probably would, but I don’t see that it’s anything-”

“To be ashamed of? Maybe not, but I am. And Dale knows that. That’s why he told you not to talk to me. Because he knew it’d put all my history out there and how much I’d hate that.” Bobbi looked out the window for a long moment. Then she took a deep breath and set her jaw. “But I’ll do it. If you need me, if it’ll help at all, I’ll do whatever I can.”

It was a noble sacrifice, and if I got desperate enough, I might ask her to make it. The client’s welfare comes first. But not yet. It wasn’t worth what it’d cost Bobbi. It would’ve been good to have a civilian-a woman-say nice things about Dale, but I could already hear Amanda Trace claiming that Bobbi had either been threatened or bought off to get her to whitewash her ex-husband.

“As of now, I don’t see the need to put you through that. But just to give you fair warning, I might later on.”

She gave me a wan smile. “I’ll try not to skip town.”

So much for Bobbi being my leaker. But she might have some ideas about who it was. “You’ve seen the stories about Jenny Knox? The prostitute?”

“Yeah. Any clue who leaked that rape charge yet? That was really shitty.”

“It is, and I don’t. Do you have any ideas?”

Bobbi blew out a breath. “I’ve got thousands of ’em. The LAPD is a big ocean with lots of little fish who wouldn’t mind making some extra money. But I don’t know of anyone in particular.” Bobbi sighed. “You know, Dale’s a good guy. I don’t believe he raped that prostitute. And I really doubt that he killed her.” She looked at me steadily. “Just in case you were wondering.”

I could tell she believed that. And I wanted to believe it, too. But it was just an opinion. I smiled. “Good to hear.”

“Sure. But just between you and me, Chloe had to be about the worst choice in the world for him.”

I looked at her, confused.

“Because of the drugs.” Bobbi gave me a meaningful look. “Dale’s mother.”

“But she’s dead. Isn’t she?”

“Yeah. Of an overdose. She took a header down the stairs and messed up her spine when Dale and his sister were young-maybe ten, eleven years old? They put her on painkillers and she got addicted. She OD’d right after Dale graduated from high school. The insurance payout put Dale through college for a couple of years.”

And when the insurance money ran out and he had to get a job-my mother left him. “Then his issue with drugs isn’t just a cop thing.”

“No, it’s personal. He really has zero tolerance. And apart from that, he has one heck of a temper.”

“How bad?” I searched Bobbi’s face. “Did he ever-”

“No, he never hit me. But he’d hit the walls, kick the furniture. It could get scary. Especially because it’d come out of nowhere. He’d be okay one second, and in the next he’d just explode. So when I heard Chloe had a drug problem and they’d been fighting about it that night, I thought…” Bobbi shrugged.

“He might’ve done it.”

She nodded. “I’m sorry.”

For a few moments there, I’d started to think I was wrong about Dale. I sighed. “Me, too.”