Page 58 of Desperate Justice
Allison wasn’t the only one concerned about Diana’s mysterious warning.
There are people out there who could kill you.
The convo with Diana hadn’t gone well. He’d mentioned to her that he knew a federal agent, Jase, who could use her help in penetrating the thick security around Hector Hernandez. Diana could provide a valuable service the same way her sister had done last year.
She’d refused, so he’d backed off, but silently vowed to approach her later with the same request.
Right now his biggest concern was getting all of them there safely. No matter how illogical it seemed, he sensed someone following them. So he’d skipped the planned stops the others on the run would make and used his GPS to plan a new route.
Rafe used the facilities and washed his hands, studying the other faces in the men’s room. Nothing unusual. No one paid him any attention.
Grabbing a cold soda from a vending machine, he sat at a picnic table watching people come and go. He’d given them thirty minutes here, knowing everyone needed a break after the traffic accident on the interstate.
The bright blue sky, with a few white clouds scudding by, and the warm sunshine made a near perfect day for riding. More than a few motorcycles parked at the rest stop. Rafe took a long pull of his drink. A concrete walkway snaked around the pavilion to the tall oaks with Spanish moss dripping from the outstretched branches.
He wandered over to Allison, who was holding court with another group of bikers examining her wheels. They seemed more interested in the motorcycle than her, so he relaxed and hung back.
“Custom job.” One man squatted down. “Where’d you get her?”
“Guy online wanted to sell because he was getting older and couldn’t go on the road anymore. Bought her in North Carolina after I finished a job. Call her Phoenix.” Allison patted her bike. “She rose out of the ashes of that North Carolina job.”
Intrigued, he drew closer.
“What job? Why? You get fired?” he asked.
“Nah. They wanted me to stay, but the doctor I worked with in the ER was such a dickwad that I said the only way I’d stay was with a ten-thousand-dollar bonus. So I put up with him for another three months and got the rest of the money I’d been saving to buy her, and customize her.
“She’s got T-Man heads and cams, chain drive conversion for better torque, Mustang seat...”
As she rattled off the specs for her customized bike, a few of the other men looked impressed. They began asking questions about her bike—where did she get it customized, how long did it take?
Rafe waited until the bikers left and Allison joined her sister at another pavilion. He watched them a few minutes. Allison and Diana seemed to have made up. Well, at least they were talking. Good to see Ally relaxed at last, the glow restored to her cheeks, the spark returned to her pretty brown eyes.
He didn’t want to be smitten with her, but he acknowledged his feelings. Ally made the other women drifting in and out of his life seem like paper lanterns. She was a bonfire, burning fiercely, unafraid to show the world what she was.
Though he knew she could hold her own, he harbored a deep need to protect her from harm. He didn’t like the ominous warning on her bathroom mirror.
Two bags of pretzels in hand, Sam ambled over. Rafe nodded thanks and tore off the wrapping. He ate without really tasting it, his gaze roving around the rest stop.
“You’re as nervous as a June bug ready to be jumped by a duck. What gives?” Sam asked.
“A feeling. Someone’s following us. You get it?”
Sam paused in eating. “Other bikers here, maybe not as law abiding, but nothing sinister. The ones around Allison seemed legit.”
Glad Sam was keeping an eye on Allison as well, Rafe took another bite of his pretzel and swallowed. “They were asking about her bike. It’s not them. I don’t know who, but my gut says someone is tailing us.”
“Why do you think we’re being followed?”
He told him about the warning on Ally’s mirror at the hotel and how only Ally’s possessions had been vandalized.
“You could be right. This run also brings together bikers from all walks of life, some of them not walking such a straight line. Could be someone in Allison’s past with a jealous streak.”
“Maybe.” Rafe set down the bag. “But I get a feeling this is something more. Hope we don’t get any more surprises on this trip.”
Sam polished off his snack in a few bites. Like Rafe, he learned to eat quickly when given the chance for a break. “Supposed to be for charity. Always amazes me how something with good intentions can go south in zero to ninety.”
Busy watching a group of bikers emerge from the wooded area behind the rest stop, Rafe didn’t reply.
