Page 36 of Desperate Justice
“Of course.”
“Why not take her away on a weekend to Saint Kitts?”
“Who has money for that? If I had a choice, I would go somewhere else instead of doing this trip with you.” Allison glared at him. “But this was the only option, the only way I could get her to come away with me. I’d already gotten the time off and signed up with another group, but yours had the only openings for two riders.”
“Lucky me.” Rafe stood up. “I’m not babysitting either of you.”
“I don’t need a damn babysitter. If she falls behind, I’ll take care of her.”
“I don’t trust your sister.”
Allison grit her teeth. “I’ll take care of her.”
“Who takes care of you? Seems you’ve always been taking care of her.”
“I can take care of myself, and it’s none of your damn business.”
“It is my damn business if she’s associated with Hernandez.”
“Diana doesn’t do drugs, either recreational or pushing them. I will vouch for her.”
He pushed his aviator sunglasses up his nose. “She’s marrying into a known family of a drug kingpin. You tell me, Allison. If she’s so innocent, why did she get upset when I looked into those boxes?”
Allison started to answer, saw Diana approach and inclined her head. “We should get on the road.”
When Diana got on her bike, Allison pointed at the phone. “Who were you talking with?”
Diana’s eyes widened. “Just a friend.”
When had her sister gotten so covert and sly? Allison felt a sting of hurt, shrugged and climbed back onto her bike.
Two hours later they arrived at the first official stop of the Teddy Bear Run. The town of Arbor Beach’s cultural center had thrown out the welcome mat to all bikers on the run coming from South Florida. At least two hundred bikes parked in the driveway and on the grass before the building. A canopy tent shaded women standing behind a makeshift bar serving cold drinks. Chips, pretzels and cookies were arranged on platters on a long folding table beneath another canopy. Though it wasn’t yet the heat of summer, Allison appreciated getting out of the sun. She felt slightly lightheaded.
Maybe the heat was getting to her. Or the stress of worrying about her sister.
After getting a chilled can of cola, she went to join Diane on one of the chairs set up beneath a sprawling banyan tree. While Debbie walked Comet and gave him a drink of water from the collapsible bowl she carried, Rafe and the guys in their group mingled with other bikers. Some of the bikers wore denim jackets bearing the names of biker gangs with members of law enforcement.
How long before Di realized Rafe wasn’t really a landscaper, but a cop himself?
Hopefully she could get her sister to Georgia and eloping with her beloved long before Diana even suspected.
Not that Di disliked cops. But she didn’t want Di blurting out to anyone in Paul’s family that the man at his uncle’s house had been a cop.
Diana excused herself to talk on the phone. She was lucky. She had Paul.
Sometimes Allison got so lonely the only cure was to slip onto her bike, ride off and feel the wind against her face. Feel alive again, feel some kind of belonging, even if it was only for a little while. On her bike, there was more than freedom and the feeling of flying.
There was escape from the dark thoughts tumbling through her mind. Surely there had to be more in life than traveling the country, working to save lives that often couldn’t always be saved.
Lately she’d wondered what it would be like to settle down like Diana. Find a man who treated her like a queen, or at least didn’t treat her like crap. Get married, have someone to belong to, who belonged exclusively to her.
“Too bad you have to marry the family as well,” she muttered, fiddling with her long braid.
“Hey, stranger!”
Startled, she looked up and saw a biker dressed in denim, faded jeans and a white T-shirt. His face was ruddy from the sun and the smile he gave her was welcoming. Average face, brown hair a little too long, but not bad.
For a split second, confusion gripped her. Then he sat in the chair Di had vacated and sighed.
