Page 44 of Desperate Justice

They’d barely spent a day together and all Diana had done was complain.

Dinner was on their own. Dead tired from the ride and worrying about Diana, who had barely kept up with the others, Allison opted for takeout at a chicken restaurant next door.

Her sister protested, again, wanting to try the Asian fusion restaurant down the road. Allison waved at her. “Go off on your own. I’ve got a headache.”

Diana unpacked her belongings and arranged all her cosmetics on the bathroom counter. She began to brush out her hair.

“I’m so windblown, and I need to do another vid for my fans. I thought I’d do one on my bike,” Diana called out.

Rolling her eyes, Allison touched her braid. “You need to tie back your hair, you ding-a-ling. You should know that from your rides with Paul.”

“Paul doesn’t go this far. He only takes me on back roads where we can go slow.”

Allison stretched out on one of the beds and closed her eyes. Soon she heard the door slam behind her sister.

When Diana roared off on her bike, Allison walked over to the fast-food restaurant. As she emerged, bag in hand, she saw Rafe and Sam eating at an outdoor table.

Sam waved her over. “Join us.”

For a moment she hesitated. “I don’t want to interrupt. Looks like guy time.”

Sam laughed. “Cop talk. All gruesome. We could use an interruption.”

Mindful of Rafe studying her, she swung a leg over the picnic table bench and sat far from him, but next to Sam. “Shop talk in my line of work is equally gruesome. I’m a traveling trauma nurse.”

Sam whistled as Rafe kept eating. “I have healthy respect for trauma nurses. Especially after what happened to me.”

He showed her his right hand and the two fingers with scars ringing them. “The nurse made sure one of the guys put my fingers on ice after they were severed. I went first, didn’t wait for my team to back me up.”

“You’re such a cowboy,” Rafe murmured, shaking his head.

“Yeah, tell that to my fam.” Sam winked. “They’re still waiting for me to return to the ranch.”

“Let me see.” She examined Sam’s fingers. “Nice work. You had a good surgeon. And good PT.”

He wriggled his fingers. “Guess what they used after he reattached my finger?”

“Leeches.” Allison had seen this in her work. “They draw the blood from the hand to the reattached finger faster. It sounds and looks gross, but they’re effective.”

“Human leeches are worse,” Rafe said, sipping his drink. “Like drug dealers.”

Though she tended to agree, Allison remained silent, choosing to eat her food. She didn’t know Sam, didn’t know if the man had already formed opinions about her sister.

“Where’s your sister?” Sam asked.

“She wanted a real dinner. I wanted some time away from her.” Allison sipped her drink. “I love her, but sisterly love only goes so far.”

“Especially when the sister is in league with a drug kingpin,” Rafe murmured.

She slammed down her drink. “Damn it, I didn’t want to get into this with you, Rafe. Can’t I even have dinner without you harping at me?”

“Simply stating a fact. You know I’m right.”

“My sister is not a drug dealer.”

“Never said she was. But she is marrying into that family.” He leaned forward. “A family you’ll become part of as well.”

Anger and frustration boiled inside her as she stared at Rafe’s calm expression, tempted to toss her drink into his face, except it was good lemonade and she didn’t want to waste it.