Page 16 of Desperate Justice

“I saw you with your niece and your family. You’d do anything for your family as well!”

Oh damn. Allison slumped in her chair as a satisfied look came over him. “I see.”

He consulted with an electronic pad. “You have a sister, Diana. She’s marrying the nephew of Hector Hernandez in one month. Do you know who Hernandez is?”

“I know.”

“I’m bringing in your sister for questioning.”

Her mouth went dry as she tried to formulate a plan. She had to call her sister. Find out who gave her the pills. No way could she allow Rafe or any law enforcement agent to arrest Diana. Question her. Whatever.

She couldn’t trust Rafe. Not with this.

Suddenly the bloodstain on the pantleg of her scrubs, and the matching one on her shirt, seemed much larger. Allison pointed to her clothing.

“I’ve been here for two hours. Mind if I go to the bathroom?” she asked.

His gaze narrowed. But he signaled to the window, rather, the one-way mirrored glass, and an agent came into the room.

“Escort her to the women’s room and guard the door,” Rafe instructed.

When she was in the bathroom, after making sure she was alone, Allison paced to the end of the room farthest from the door.

Like many of her coworkers, she kept the pockets of her scrubs filled with medical necessities. But her cell phone was close as well. Not in her pocket where it could fall out.

She shrugged out of the stained top of her scrubs, washed the blood off her stomach that had leaked through the scrubs and fished the cell phone out of her bra.

Allison shot off a quick text to her sister.

The candy you gave me is dangerous. Do not touch any more of it by any means.

She tapped the phone, waiting for a reply, hoping Diana wasn’t with her fiancé.

A couple of minutes later, a response.Dangerous how? What’s wrong?

The hell with texting. She called Diana. “Diana, where did you get that candy you gave me?”

A sleepy yawn. “Why? What’s going on? Did it taste bad?”

A short laugh. Understatement of the year. “Who gave it to you?” she whispered.

“No one gave it to me. I saw it in a box marked Wedding Favors that Hector had brought into his house. There was a lot so I thought you’d want some to get through your shift. You’ve been working too hard, Ally.”

Allison rubbed her tired eyes. “Diana, do not touch any more of that candy under any circumstances. Don’t get near it. It isn’t candy. It’s fentanyl.”

“It can’t be.”

“Di, listen to me. The candy you gave me tested positive for fentanyl.”

“What?! It’s impossible. My wedding favor candy? Did you open the bags?”

“Yes, but what does it matter?”

A long pause and then Di sighed. “There must be a mistake. Ally, you work in a hospital with fentanyl. Some of those pills must have gotten mixed up in the candy I gave you.”

“No, listen to me, that’s ridiculous...”

“You left it at the nurse’s station, were you guarding it every single moment, Ally? It’s candy, not drugs.”