Karma's a Killer by Tracy Weber Page B

fingernails.” She lowered her arm and looked down at her lap. “And she might have bumped her head when I pushed her.”
    â€œYou pushed her?” My voice came out louder than I intended.
    â€œYes, but she was still alive when I left, I swear!”
    I reached up my hand to rub my forehead. This wasn’t good. Not good at all. Hopefully Dharma hadn’t blabbed this whole story to the police. I was no lawyer, but—
    Oh no.
    I dropped my hand back to my lap and gaped at the handset in horror. Dharma’s lawyer had warned her not to talk about the case on the phone. Did that include the handset in the visitors’ area?
    â€œDharma, you need to stop talking.”
    Either she didn’t hear me, or she chose not to listen. “Kate, you have to believe me. I wouldn’t kill anyone. Not even Raven. She drowned. Some poor fisherman found her floating by the dock. She smashed her head when she fell, but—”
    â€œDharma, be quiet!”
    The whole room froze in echoing silence.
    I lowered my voice and whispered into the handset. “Listen to me. I heard you.” I gestured with my eyes toward the guard. “But you have to stop talking. Now.”
    Dharma’s mouth dropped open, but she said nothing. Her complexion turned stone gray.
    I peered into Dharma’s eyes. I tried to find guilt. I tried to find subterfuge. I tried to find anything I could use as an excuse to leave this whole nightmare behind. All I saw was confusion. And isolation. And fear.
    â€œThis attorney of yours. Is he any good?”
    Dharma hesitated. “I assume so. I only spoke to him for about fifteen minutes. He was assigned to me by the court.”
    â€œYour attorney is a public defender?”
    â€œKate, I’m an activist, not part of the social elite. I don’t have money to hire my own attorney.” She tried to smile, but her lips never made it past a grimace. “He’s young, but they wouldn’t have given him a murder case if he weren’t adequate.” She swallowed. “He says I should consider taking a deal.”
    Officer Chuckles interrupted. “That’s it, everyone. Your thirty minutes are up. The next visiting hours are on Thursday.”
    Dharma got out one more thought before they made her hang up the phone. “Kate, when you pick up my belongings, make sure you get the wooden box. It’s important to me.”
    I laid my palm against the plastic that separated us and smiled, trying to give her some form of comfort. “I will. I promise.”
    And I would. But first, I had to hire her a better attorney.

Ten
    I barely recognized the man who pulled into the studio’s parking lot five hours later, but I would have known that rattletrap orange Plymouth pickup anywhere. Dale’s feet barely touched the ground before I wrapped him in a huge, heartfelt hug.
    â€œDale, I’m so glad you’re still in town. Thank you for agreeing to meet with Dharma. It means the world to me.” I stepped back and took in his new outfit. “Look at you, all dressed up like that. You look like a real lawyer.”
    I wasn’t kidding, either. The Dale I’d had for an attorney wore flannel shirts, suspenders, and goat-dung-encrusted work boots. This Dale wore a dark blue power suit, a yellow-dotted navy tie, and black dress shoes so shiny I could have used to them to touch up my makeup. His beard—which was usually scraggly, unkempt, and littered with straw—had been trimmed short and looked so clean that I almost didn’t get nauseated looking at it. He looked, in a word, powerful.
    A single thing marred his impeccable appearance: the fine, white dog hair covering his suit jacket. I pointed to a particularly large clump in the crease of his right elbow. “I see you brought Bandit with you.”
    Dale’s lips lifted in a huge grin. “Of course I brought Bandit. I can’t go anywhere without that little