Page 51 of Desperate Justice
“I do. I don’t know if I believe Allison, though. I think she used this Dan as an excuse to keep me from questioning her further about who could have trashed her things.”
“Why?”
After listening to his quick summary of the problems with Diana and her impending marriage, and Allison’s quest to push her sister into eloping, Sam scowled. “Let me know what you need from me, Rafe. You know I’m here for you.”
* * *
Her sister was proving to be more high-maintenance than she’d ever anticipated.
Diana admitted she returned to the room while Allison was getting breakfast and “may have forgotten to lock the door.”
Well, that explained how someone broke in.They walked inside. Allison grit her teeth as she followed Diana in single file as they rode north on the interstate. Checking her mirror, she saw Rafe directly behind her.
Usually she resented being shadowed, but his presence on the bike felt reassuring. Diana may have been in blissful disregard for her sister’s welfare. Not Rafe.
It felt good to have someone looking after her needs for a change.
The leather seat beneath her cushioned her bottom and the bike’s throaty rumble reassured her. She focused on the road, trying not to think of who targeted her.
Dan Johnson wasn’t the likely burglar. Dan was always on the prowl and probably found someone else to warm his bed. She’d only tossed that name at Rafe to get him off her case. Allison groaned as she realized her mistake. Rafe was thorough. He probably already used his FBI sources to track down Dan.
It might have been one of the other guys she’d ridden with last year. The possibilities were endless.
But why would someone trash all her belongings and then write a warning for her to turn back?
CHAPTER 14
Rafe made the executive decision to push farther ahead instead of stopping for the night. He told their group at the next rest stop. It wasn’t as much to make up for lost time.
He wanted to put as much distance between Allison and the threat left on the bathroom mirror.
How many times had someone threatened her while at work? Someone who had lost a loved one, or helplessly watched a spouse in a coma, and blamed her because of the outcome?
Rafe began to understand why she chose to become a traveling nurse. No attachments, no bonds to either friends or a particular hospital.
Work at one place and move on.
Almost like running away from her problems.
When they finally stopped for the night, he asked Sam to watch over Allison as she sat in the bar, drinking a soda. Rafe checked into his room and made a few phone calls.
No progress yet on the Hernandez case. His director had assigned Jase to take over and Jase told him they had nothing yet. He looked at the teddy bears he’d brought into the motel room.
Rafe arranged them on the other double bed and studied them.
A short time later, he joined Allison and Sam at the bar and ordered a bourbon on the rocks. Sam glanced at him and grinned.
“I’ll leave you two alone. Gonna grab some z’s. See y’all tomorrow,” he said, sliding off the stool.
Rafe sipped his drink, enjoying the burn as it slid down his throat. He seldom drank on the road, but today rattled him.
“You are a bad ass, know that?” he asked her.
She stirred her drink. “I don’t feel like one.”
“You handled the trashing of your room as if it were nothing. If you’d have been any cooler, we’d be in the Arctic.”
A brief smile. “Thanks.”
