Page 80 of Desperate Justice

“Something like that.”

Allison exhaled. “I don’t know. Maybe the blood on the veil is a message? But she hates pain.”

Hates pain... That made Diana’s actions even more puzzling. Why did she cut herself then?

“So, you think she’d leave me a secret message like the CIA spies do? Like a spy watch or a drop point?”

“It’s possible. How would Diana leave you a message when you were younger? Think, Allison!”

She racked her brain. Then it clicked.

“Books. I was always nagging her to read more. Real books instead of fashion magazines. I would circle words in the book to help her when we were younger, and later, we’d highlight or circle words to leave secret messages.”

She ran into her bedroom and rummaged around on the nightstand. “I brought two books.”

In Diana’s bedroom,The Helphad been left on the nightstand. She handedAnimal Farmto Rafe. “Here, you look through this one and I’ll look through the other. Look for words circled in ink.”

Allison handed him a tattered copy of George Orwell’sAnimal Farm. He found three words circled early in the tome:before I die.

This wasn’t good.

As he showed it to her, she whispered, “Oh no.”

Rafe took the book from her trembling hands.

At the book’s beginning, the wordhelpwas circled.

The next word circled wasme.

Diana’s message was grimly clear.Help me before I die.

CHAPTER 20

Her sister was in deep trouble, and Allison had no idea how to help her. Or why Diana was in danger.

This was like a jigsaw puzzle with several pieces missing. She couldn’t even determine what pieces were gone, or what the final puzzle revealed.

Rafe had insisted she step back and relax while he looked around the grounds thoroughly. She took advantage of this to shower and change into fresh clothing.

As she’d expected, he returned to the cabin without any other clues.

Now she sat on the sofa, gripping a steaming mug of coffee thanks to Rafe, who’d made a fresh pot.

She wasn’t used to feeling helpless.

It reminded her of the terrible day when Diana slipped on the riverbank and fell into the water, nearly drowning.

She’s not going to die.We’ll find her.

“Where do we even start? Should we call the cops?” she asked him.

Glancing up from the kitchen table, where he was making notes on a pad, he shook his head.

“What about Paul? He needs to know.”

“Hold off on calling him. I need to figure things out.”

Calm and controlled, and utterly professional, Rafael proved a steady rock. Despite what happened between them, she could rely on him.I trust him with this.Rafe knew all about investigating missing persons. He was an FBI agent with skills and experience.