“Lily, I’m sure that Winter doesn’t want an unexpected guest,” Diamond said, trying to get out of it one more time.
“I would like for you to come. There’s plenty of room for another guest. Neither Viper nor I wanted to have a big wedding, just family and friends. I hope you come, Diamond,” Winter said graciously.
Left with no choice, she accepted, not missing the relieved look which crossed Lily’s face. Curiously, Diamond studied the young woman. She was dressed in a pretty blue dress that highlighted her dark hair. She didn’t have on much make-up and she wore no jewelry. Diamond’s eyes were caught by a red rubber band she wore around her wrist. Lily caught Diamond staring at it and self-consciously covered it with her other hand.
Diamond gave her a gentle smile before turning her attention to Winter who was discussing her wedding with Beth. Beth dragged her into their conversation and Diamond was surprised that, once she let her guard down, she had quite a bit in common with the three women.
They were unlike the other women Diamond had known who had been involved with bikers. Both Winter and Beth had careers and had no intention of making the biker lifestyle their whole world as her mother and Sex Piston had.
They were eating their lunch when Beth told Winter that Mrs. Langley wouldn’t be coming to her wedding. It clicked with Diamond she had a resource she hadn’t thought of yet.
“Beth and Winter, you’ve both lived in Treepoint your whole life, so you have an in where I don’t.” Beth and Winter stopped talking, listening to Diamond. “You,” she motioned to Winter, “worked at a high school. Who did Samantha Langley see in Treepoint?”
“There isn’t anyone she didn’t sleep with. Even before The Last Riders, she would go with a boy for a week then move on.”
“Can you make me a list? Go back as far as you can remember? Even if it’s a one night stand that you know of. I have to figure out who wanted her dead.”
“Lily and she were in school together. We’ll come up with a list of names for you and give it to you at the wedding tomorrow.” Winter seemed excited about helping. Diamond smiled at the infectious warmth of the pretty woman. She could understand why Viper would have found her hard to resist.
Curiosity got the better of her. Beth had explained that she ran a business in town, caring for older individuals who needed help with their daily activities.
“Do you work with your sister?” Diamond asked Lily.
“No, I help out every now and then, but I’m a junior at Breckenridge College. I want to be a social worker.”
Diamond stared at the beauty in front of her, the gentleness in her eyes. The world was going to take her in and spit her out. Her sister and she were something Diamond had never met; true humanitarians. Beth’s gentleness was there to see while Lily held back more; her eyes holding secrets that Diamond didn’t want to explore. She almost reached across the table to touch her hand. Bringing her mind back to the topic, Diamond couldn’t believe how the woman affected her.
“That’s very admirable,” Diamond said tactfully. “But it’s going to be hard seeing people need your help and only being able to do what your job tells you can be done.”
“I’m stronger than I look. I can handle it,” Lily said with determination.
Diamond had no doubts that the woman would be swallowed alive by the job she felt she had a vocation for. She cast Winter and Beth a concerned glance.
“She’ll be fine. Lily will have both Winter and myself looking out for her,” Beth answered her unspoken question.
“And The Last Riders,” Winter spoke, not raising her head from her plate of food.
“I can take care of myself,” Lily said firmly.
Diamond dealt with the same people that Lily would inevitably be working with. No, the woman wasn’t going to be able to handle it. Diamond barely could, and that was when they were behind bars and she had police in the vicinity. Not wanting to crush the woman’s dreams, she changed the topic of conversation.
Diamond was on her second cup of coffee as they chatted when the door to the diner opened and The Last Riders entered. Beth smiled as a good-looking biker came up behind her and leaned down to kiss her. Beth blushed as her eyes caught Diamond’s when she was released.
“Diamond, this is my husband, Razer. Razer, this is Diamond, she’s representing Knox.” The man smiled at her before taking a seat next to his wife, placing an arm over her shoulder while the empty seats on her side of the table were taken by Rider and Knox and Viper took a seat on Winter’s side of the table. The final two men to have a seat were both not people that Diamond recognized; one was covered in tattoos and had a purely menacing appearance.
“Diamond, I think you know everyone here except Shade and Train.” Shade was the one covered in tats and Train was the epitome of bad boy biker. Diamond could understand how The Last Riders managed to keep so many women interested in their club. The Destructors had maybe one or two good-looking men, yet most were older with beer bellies. There wasn’t one of The Last Riders she had seen who had a beer paunch. They were in extremely good physical condition.
“What have you women been doing?” Viper asked Winter.
“Nothing, I finished what I needed for tomorrow. Sure you’re not going to change your mind and leave me at the alter?” Winter teased.
“I’m sure,” he replied, putting his arm around Winter’s shoulders. The men, Diamond noticed, were possessive of the two women. Diamond found it amusing from what Sex Piston had said about how they believed in sharing. Diamond’s mind shied away from wondering if the two women participated in the club’s activities; she honestly didn’t want to know.
The men ordered their lunches and her lips twisted in amusement at Knox and Rider’s big orders.
“What’s so funny?” Knox asked.
“I think that you guys are as hungry as I was. I bet you could have eaten two more pizzas last night.”
“Make it three and you’ll be more on target,” Knox said, sliding her a sideways grin.
When the women at the table began looking at her curiously, Diamond avoided their eyes as she gathered her things.
“I need to get back to my office.” Diamond stood abruptly to her feet, feeling ridiculous when the conversation at the table stopped and everyone looked at her.
She left everyone sitting at the diner. It seemed the more she tried to distance herself from The Last Riders, the more she became enmeshed into their life.
She mentally chastised herself on her walk, however when she went into her office, she abruptly came to a complete stop. Holly was standing in the middle of an enormous mess, picking up papers from the floor.
“What in the hell happened?” Diamond was stunned at the mess her office was in. Furniture had been torn and the filing had been thrown everywhere. Her cabinets had been overturned and papers scattered all over the place.
“Someone broke into the office. I tried to call, but you were in court and didn’t return my message. The sheriff has already been here; he took pictures and made a report,” Holly said with a handful of papers in her hands.
“This is going to take days to clean up. Who would have done this?” Diamond asked, going into her private office and seeing it was in even worse shape. “How did they manage doing this?” Her desk had been overturned with the drawers and confidential papers scattered and torn apart.
“Do you think it has something to do with a client?” Holly asked.
“I don’t know, although whoever wanted me distracted, succeeded.”
“No they didn’t,” Knox said, entering her office.
Diamond and Holly both turned as the office filled with The Last Riders being followed by Winter, Lily and Beth, staring in shock at the vandalized office.