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to the ever growing collection on display. It still hung there

amidst the others, a black lace number. Whoever had thought

of the concept of a drinking establishment that displayed

‘donated’ women’s undergarments as decoration should be

given a medal or something.

Sam waited for the three to park and head inside, then

did the same, easily sneaking unnoticed through the crowd in

the bar. He procured himself a beer and settled into a dark

corner nearby for some girl watching, or at least one girl in

particular.

Donna threw a twenty on the bar and ordered three

shots. Sam watched with amusement as she raised the glass

and said, “Here’s to the men we love, and here’s to the men

who love us. But the men we love don’t love us back, so

fuck them, here’s to us!” The three women downed the shots

and slammed empty glasses down on the bar, which the

bartender refilled with tequila. This time the dark-haired one

made the toast. A simple, “Ala Famiglia,” echoed by the

other two as the glasses were emptied one more time.

The female species never failed to amaze him. After

emailing that photo to Donna, he’d had an unbelievable

wave of guilt that he was the one who was going to bring

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Trilogy No. 108: Just Desserts

Barbie-doll’s world crumbling down around her ears. He

pictured screaming and crying, followed by deep depression

and god only knew what else. What he had never pictured

was Barbie and her two friends at Hogs & Heifers dancing

on top of the bar after tequila shots to the cheers of all the

men in the place.

Sam smiled. He wanted a woman who could surprise

him. He enjoyed Donna’s spunk and although he didn’t

know them, he liked her friends, too. He himself had gone

out on drinking binges with a few close buddies from the

force whenever one of them had a tragedy in their life,

divorce being the most frequent reason. Preferable to the

other motive for going out and getting tanked—the death of

someone you knew well or even not so well. Donna and her

friends had the same kind of relationship as he and his guy

friends, it seemed. They stuck together, and drank together,

in times of trouble.

He liked Donna a whole lot, all right. What he didn’t

like was how those two men had their hands all over her ass

as they helped her down off the bar. Or the way one kept

holding on to her when she obviously tried to push him off.

And now the other guy was pulling Barbie doll’s bra strap

out from the neck of her sweater, as if he wanted her to take

it off. That’s when Sam decided he’d had just about enough.

He glanced at the door and noticed the bouncer was

outside checking IDs. Hell of a lot of good having hired

muscle was if you kept him outdoors while the trouble was

far more likely to be indoors, but Sam couldn’t take care of

running the whole world. He could, however, take care of

this little situation in this small corner of his world.

Pushing himself away from the bar, he was about to

stride over to the group of women being accosted by the two

assholes when the big dark-haired girl with Donna and

Barbie stepped closer and said something that made both

men pale and back away. Sam had no idea what she’d said,

but it sure worked.

He shook his head and smiled. A group of attractive

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Cat Johnson

women who could take care of themselves and drink as well

as curse like sailors—where had they been all his life? But as

beers were delivered and not long after another round of

shots, Sam promised himself one thing, he wouldn’t let them

drive home. If they didn’t call a cab when it came time to

leave, he’d take them home himself. And damn if the

thought of taking Donna home didn’t send a thrill straight

through him.

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Trilogy No. 108: Just Desserts

“This was a fabulous suggestion, Grace,” Donna said,

noticing she was swaying a little bit. Damn heels. Even if

they were only about an inch and a half high, she should

always go drinking in flat shoes. She’d have to try and

remember that for next time.

Jade nodded vigorously. “I agree. I totally forgot about

what’s his name...well, almost, anyway. But Hogs & Heifers

is proof that there are plenty more fish in the sea for me. Not

that asshole Grace told off, but the other ones.” She raised

her hand to her head and frowned. “We probably should

have eaten something before we drank, though. I’m feeling a

bit woozy.”

“You skinny girls are lightweights when it comes to

drinking. Big girls like me can drink twice as much and it

still goes down like fucking water. Let’s go get some

Chinese food. After the grease coats my stomach, I’ll be fine

to drive Donna’s car home.”

A nice greasy egg roll sounded pretty good right about

then so Donna agreed, even skinny Jade agreed, which

proved exactly how drunk she was, and they set off to the

nearest Chinese restaurant.

“Don’t look now, but I think we are being followed,”

Grace hissed once they’d been seated. She glanced at a point

behind Donna.

Both Donna and Jade spun their heads to look over their

shoulders.

“Oh my god!” Donna hissed and spun her head back

around fast.

Jade sucked in a loud breath, quickly hiding her eyes

with one hand. “It’s him.”

“Who?” Grace asked far too loudly.

Donna shushed her before explaining, “The guy who

caught us in the hall.”

“The hottie with the gun who was staring at you?” At

least that question was a bit softer, but still, anyone who

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Cat Johnson

didn’t require a hearing aid would have been able to hear.

“Maybe he is a cop and he’s tailing us because we are

under suspicion,” Jade leaned in and whispered.

Grace screwed up her face at that suggestion. “Suspicion

of what? You didn’t break any law by kneeling in the hall

outside Daniel’s apartment. I’m a lawyer, I should know.”

That was true. Jade and Donna as accountants were

useful for figuring out tax returns, but they counted on Grace

to know the law in instances such as this. She would get

them out of jail if they did get arrested, god forbid. Donna’s

mother would have a heart attack if that happened.

“Maybe we’re overreacting and he just wants some

Chinese food,” Jade suggested in a hushed whisper.

Grace shook her head and swallowed a mouthful of diet

soda straight out of the can. “I saw him at the bar, too. He

was hidden away in the corner but I spotted him. He’s hard

to miss. Just figures he’s hot for you.” She shot a nasty look

Donna’s way.

“He’s hot to arrest me probably!” Donna hissed. Why

was this guy tailing them? She’d fantasized about seeing him

again but this was disconcerting. “What should we do?”

Grace shrugged. “I say ignore him. We’ll see what he

does when we leave.”

“Maybe he
is
interested in Donna. It could be he

happened to spot us at Hogs & Heifers—we were dancing on

the bar, after all—then he followed us in here while he gets

up the nerve to ask you out,” Jade suggested.

Donna glanced quickly over her shoulder at the mystery

man again. One thing he didn’t appear to be lacking was

nerve. The man wasn’t lacking anything in the looks

department, either. It was a nice thought he was stalking her

because he was attracted to her, but Donna had been single

long enough to know not to get her hopes up. It was far more

likely he was going to arrest her, so she did as Grace

suggested and innocently concentrated her full attention in

front of her while dipping a greasy egg roll into the spicy hot

mustard.

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Trilogy No. 108: Just Desserts

~

He’d been made. The damn girls, as drunk as they were,

had spotted him. Sam shook his head at himself in

disappointment. Surveillance was harder than he’d thought.

Things had been easy when he was on the force, just pull

your gun, break down the door and cuff the guy, none of this

sneaking around trying not to be seen.

Sam had thought it would be safe to slip inside the

restaurant and grab a quick order of ribs. The damn

restaurant must pipe the smell of deep-fried food outside just

to lure customers inside. It wasn’t long before his stomach

grumbled from the torturous aromas. Besides, it was

freaking cold waiting outside for the women.

From his spot across the street he had watched through

the front window as the girls sat at a table. The dark-haired

one faced the door while Jade and Donna had their backs to

it. Sam figured since the third woman had never seen him, he

could sneak in, sit in the corner, enjoy some food and

warmth and no one would be the wiser. Apparently he’d

been wrong. The big girl noticed him right away and then all

three were looking right at him and whispering. Must be his

damn good looks that made him so noticeable to women, he

laughed to himself. Yeah, he wished.

In any event, the jig was up. Sam considered going over

to their table and introducing himself. He was in the middle

of weighing the pros and cons of this idea when his cell rang.

He grabbed it from the holder on his belt and flipped it

open with a, “Yeah.”

“It’s Joe down at the pawn shop. That guy you were

looking for today just left. He wanted to unload some

jewelry. Didn’t like my price so he said he was going

elsewhere.”

“Shit. How long ago? Do you know where he went?”

The table of girls as well as his leftover pork spareribs

forgotten, Sam stood and made his way toward the exit and

out into the cold air.

“I’ve got a pretty good idea. I sent him to the pawn shop

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Cat Johnson

on Thirteenth. Told him they’d probably give him a better

deal.”

“Hot damn! I owe you one, Joe.”

“You sure as hell do. Don’t worry, I won’t forget.”

He could walk the few blocks to the shop on Thirteenth

but then what would he do with the skip once he had him in

custody? Sam turned for the parking lot to retrieve his car.

He disconnected with Joe as his right hand slipped under his

jacket and unsnapped the guard securing the weapon in the

hip holster. Sam’s luck was looking up and once he brought

in this skip and collected his percentage of the bond money,

he could devote a bit of time to bringing in the hot brunette

that haunted his daydreams.

Sam’s steps quickened as the adrenaline pumped.

Instinct and twenty years of habit took over and his fingers

itched to draw his Sig .40 caliber handgun. His handcuffs

were in the glove compartment in his car; he’d have to

remember to slip those into his pocket before entering the

pawn shop.

An image of a naked Donna, his bed and the handcuffs

flashed through his mind. Damn. Wouldn’t that be nice?

First things first—bail jumper now, jumping bones later.

~

“Hey, you know what would cheer us all up? A little

shopping!” Grace suggested as they left the Chinese

restaurant.

Jade had started to sober up a bit and they both noticed

she looked miserable again. But shopping was an excellent

remedy for misery. Donna’s ears perked up just hearing the

word.

“Where in the world can we go shopping around here?”

Jade looked around at the mostly industrial buildings and

frowned.

“Well, don’t tell anyone but one of my legal aide clients

told me about a pawn shop right here on Thirteenth Avenue.

I’ve been going there for months now.” Grace held up her

hand and flashed the giant amethyst ring on her middle

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Trilogy No. 108: Just Desserts

finger. “This ring is an authentic turn of the century antique.

I had a jeweler check it out. I paid practically nothing for it

at the pawn shop.”

“No! You told me you inherited that from a dead aunt,”

Donna accused.

Grace shrugged casually. “I lied.”

Jade pursed her lips in thought. “Let’s go. I can buy

myself a giant ring and tell Daniel some other guy gave it to

me.”

“Sounds good to me.” Grace turned to lead the way.

“Me, too,” Donna agreed. Revenge shopping—just one