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Fallon:I have to go.

Fuck!

Diablo:I didn’t mean 2 offend u. Let’s text some more.

Fallon:I really just wanted to say thanks. Bye.

Diablo:What did u like the best bout the ride?

He waited for an answer but it never came. Breathing out through parted lips, he placed his phone on the table and went back to the Sportster.At least I’ve got her number now.

For the next two hours, he worked on the Sportster until he’d isolated and fixed the problem. The intensity of his concentration kept Fallon from coming to the forefront of his mind, but she hung around the edges of it. When his phone pinged, he wiped his hands, a smile threatening. He groaned when he saw the name—Taya, his younger sister.What the hell does she want? Money. She always wants money.

Taya:How’re u? Been a while.

Diablo:Like 6 months. U need money?

Taya:That’s all ur gonna ask me? Just bout the money?

Diablo:Cause that’s the only time I hear from u.

Taya:U never contact me. U don’t care.

Diablo:I spent 3 fuckin’ yrs in the pen 4 u!

He breathed out and put the phone down, ignoring the ping. Closing his eyes, he was transported back to his youth. He’d spent four years in the foster care system, separated from his siblings. When he turned eighteen, he went looking for his younger brother and sister, having heard they were placed together with the same family. By the time he’d contacted them, Beau was already using and Taya was terrified to be alone with him. Diablo got closer to her, and one night when she was munching on a slice of pizza at Luigi’s Pizza Joint in downtown Salt Lake City, she told him that her foster dad made her touch and suck him. When she’d told him that, all color disappeared from his life except red.

Two days after Taya’s revelation, Diablo had waited for the dirtbag outside the factory, confronting him as he came into the parking lot. The man told him Taya was a liar and a manipulator and needed therapy. He’d said her life revolved around her getting attention.

Diablo told his sister what her foster dad had said and she denied it vehemently. That night, Diablo hid in the closet in Taya’s bedroom. Around one in the morning, the dirtbag came into the bedroom and started messing with Taya, who tried to push him away. Without thinking, Diablo had burst out of the closet and pounced on him, almost beating him to death.

Less than a year later, the jury came back with a guilty verdict for second degree assault. On his nineteenth birthday, the judge gave him five years at Utah State Prison. Three years later he’d been released for good behavior.

He shook his head and picked up the phone.

Taya:I know. I don’t know y I said u don’t care.

Diablo:I’m busy. How much do u need?

Taya:A thousand would be good….

Diablo:R u gonna smoke it all?

Taya was a crank addict and she turned tricks to get money to support her habit. From the underground grapevine, he’d heard she had a pimp and had hooked up with an internet porn site.

Taya:No.

He snorted.She’s such a fuckin’ liar. There’s no way she’s gonna tell me the truth.He rubbed the back of his neck and stared out at the mountains in the distance. Images swirled around his mind: Taya cuddling next to him for comfort when their mom had beaten her bottom, her small fingers using magic markers to color in the faded and worn hand-me-down dress when she was nine years old, large tears rolling down her face when the Department of Social Services came to their house to take them away from their mother.

He blew out a long breath.

Diablo:I can wire u 800. Western Union. Same place as last time.

Taya:Luv u!!! Thx.

Diablo:Ya. Have u heard from Clarissa?

Taya:No. U?