Page 76 of Desperate Justice

Sweat poured down her back, despite the day’s relative coolness. Allison looked at the woods. There was a makeshift path cut through the brush. Diana, or someone, had pushed the bike through here.

Camouflaged by brush thrown over it, her sister’s motorcycle was propped up by a tree. Allison felt the gas tank.

Cool to the touch.

Worry needled her. Where the hell was her sister and why had she hidden her bike? What was going on here?

“Diana! Where are you?” she screamed, on the edge of hysteria.

No answer. Allison began hunting through the brush. Maybe Diana was hurt, unable to cry out.

About thirty yards from the hidden bike, she saw a flash of white lifted by the wind. Her breath hitched.

“Diana?” she called out.

There, by the fallen half-rotted log. Allison’s heart raced as she picked up the elegant headpiece, the silk orange blossoms crumpled, the veil’s lace torn and dirty.

Panic raced through her as she examined the bridal veil.

Crimson droplets, the size of quarters, stained the lace.

“Diana!”

Oh dear heavens, please let her be okay, please let her be okay.Clutching the veil in her sweaty fist, she gazed around and saw something else glint in a thin shaft of sunlight. Allison bent down and picked it up.

The diamond gleamed, a promise of marriage and fidelity. The diamond Paul had given to her sister, the diamond Diana had squealed over and shown off to Allison and their parents.

“Diana!”

Only the mocking calls of birdsong answered.

Diana had vanished into thin air, leaving her engagement ring and bloody veil behind.

CHAPTER 19

He screwed up and Rafe knew it. As he dressed the following morning, he contemplated saying the hell with it and simply forgetting the investigation.

After all, he came here to relax, not to mention the fact he was suspended. Jase and his team could handle the Hernandez case. Besides, Diana probably wouldn’t agree to accommodate his request to deliver information on Paul’s uncle. Starry-eyed over her wedding, her loyalties remained with her fiancé and his family.

At least that’s what he kept telling himself as he ate breakfast in the hotel lobby. He texted Sam that he had errands to run today and for his friend to keep company with Keith and Debbie and others.

’Cause he sure as hell wasn’t terrific company right now.

Of all the regrets he’d had in life, what he’d said to Allison last night ranked up there with the worst of them. Even though what she’d said in return had hurt, she spoke only the truth.

He didn’t fit in with his big, noisy, loving Cuban family.

Talk about bad timing. Lecturing her about her sister after the best sex he’d had in months, hell, ever?

Talk about a mood killer.

Rafe chased his eggs around the plate with a fork, wanting to hit his head against the table in frustration. How could he be so foolish?

Again, the job interfered with his personal life. Only this time, it wasn’t because he’d dedicated himself to hunting down the bad guys.

It was sheer stupidity, all because he finally managed to pry Allison away from her clinging sister. Even if his intentions were honorable, they were horribly misconstrued.

Soy Idiota.You are an idiot.