Sedona Law 4 by Dave Daren (free ebook reader for ipad .txt) 📗

around her. She has this magnetic energy that would just make me feel so special. Every time she said something, I stopped to listen. Every time someone said something about her, I was interested. Everything I did, I had to tell Julianna before I knew how I felt about it. Everything I wore, I had to know what she thought. I couldn’t make a decision, large or small, without knowing what Julianna thought about it.”

“And how did you feel when you found out Julianna was running off with Gabriel?” I asked.

“I was devastated,” she said. “How could she do that to me, you know? I thought we really had something, and then she just turned on me at the drop of a hat.”

“When did you find out she was leaving?” I asked.

“That night,” she said. “At the performance.”

“At the PAH, here in Sedona?” I clarified for the record.

“Yes,” she said. “They were very secretive about it. Beyo was a jealous man. He could go into a rage like you’ve never seen. So, to leave like that had to be done without anyone knowing.”

“How did you find out?” I asked.

“Beyo told me,” she said. “Shortly after the performance, I went into his dressing room to look for Julianna, and he flew into a rage as soon as he saw me. He asked me why John was there.”

“Were you aware that Senator Malone was at the performance?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said. “He had been messaging me that he wanted to see me when I came to Sedona, and he said that the whole performance at the PAH was all arranged for me, so that we could be together. Then, he went on his usual rant about how much he loved me, and how he was going to leave his wife for me, blah, blah, blah. It was the same stuff he had said to me for years, and I had grown so tired of it. I didn’t want to hear it anymore.”

“What did you tell him when said he wanted to see you?” I asked.

“I told him ‘maybe,’” she said. “He’s a powerful man, and it doesn’t hurt to have a powerful man on your side, so I’ve always been reluctant to cut him off.”

“So you led him on to use him?” I asked.

“I suppose,” she said. “But we were using each other.”

“And when Judith Klein showed up backstage, did she talk to you?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said. “She told me he was outside, and he was heartbroken that I wouldn’t see him, and that I should at least go talk to him and tell him ‘no’ in person. I knew where that led, and I knew why she was there, and I wouldn’t listen. Julianna had been the one who had given me the confidence to say ‘no’ to John, and so I went to find her for backup. And that’s when I ran into Beyo.”

“And did you tell Beyo that you didn’t want to see John?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “Beyo could be very manipulative, especially when he is in one of his rages. It was best not to say anything to him until he calmed down. So, I just told him I was looking for Julianna.”

“And this conversation all happened in his dressing room, correct?” I asked. I was starting to get the whole picture now.

“Yes,” she said.

“What did he say when you told him you were looking for Julianna?” I asked.

“He got very mean and cold,” she said, “and he mocked me, saying ‘Julianna, Julianna, you’re so obsessed with Julianna, it’s pathetic.’ And then he told me that Julianna didn’t care about me and never loved me, and that everyone knew I was in love with her, and it was all a big joke in the group.”

“What did you say to that?” I asked.

“Well,” she said, “I didn’t listen to him, but he kept going, and then I lost my cool. I told him that he had always treated me less than the other girls, and he said that that was because I was less than the other girls, because of what I had done with John. I told him I needed to find Julianna, and that’s when he told me she was gone, that she had run off with another man. I told him that couldn’t possibly be true, she would never leave without talking to me. He said that she had, and that I should just get over it.”

She paused and wiped her eyes because fresh tears had formed. “And that’s when everything happened,” she said. “I said that I was leaving, and I was going to find Julianna and go with her, wherever it was she was going. I told him I was done with him. He grabbed my arm and threw me against the wall and told me to leave Julianna alone. ‘She has a life. Let her go, she has a future ahead of her. Y-you will always just be a congressman’s whore.’ And when he said that, I just...”

She burst into tears for several minutes before she continued. “And I was so angry. And I saw Julianna’s bag all strewn out on the table.”

“Because Chloe had looked for hairpins,” I remembered from Chloe’s interview.

“Right,” she said. “And I saw the dagger, sitting there, and I... I... didn’t think. I just grabbed it and stabbed him.”

She cried for a few more minutes. “I didn’t mean for it to happen. It just happened.”

“And you were going to let Julianna, the love of your life, take the blame for it?” I asked.

“At first I didn’t know what to do because I was so scared,” she said. “And then I told John. He told me not to tell anyone because it would ruin him.”

“The senator knew?” I asked incredulously.

“Yes,” she said. “But he