Page 23 of Karma

Bianca introduced both Liza and Jeff to her friends. They all seemed to like him, especially the women, who were obviously thrilled to meet a new guy in town. His discomfort from earlier seemingly forgotten, Liza was again struck by how easygoing the man was. The Midwest must breed their males to be friendly because Jeff had no trouble fitting in. Liza watched from the sidelines. Once again, she felt on the fringe of a group instead of a part of it, so she was grateful when they started walking again.

At the dunking booth, a large crowd had gathered, making it impossible to see the tank.

“I wonder who’s in the booth.” Bianca craned her head to try to see over and around the people.

“It’s Sam Marsden,” a woman standing in front of them offered.

Brian’s most recent arresting officer. Despite what she spouted in defense of her brother, Liza didn’t fault the police for taking Brian in when he deserved it. But she still wouldn’t mind watching Officer Marsden receive a good soaking, she thought with a grin.

“Throw, throw, throw, throw!” The chant came from the crowd, obviously eager to watch the confrontation.

“Let’s get closer.” Bianca plowed forward, barreling through the crush of people.

Jeff followed.

Normally, Liza wouldn’t push her way through, but she didn’t want to be left behind, and besides, she was curious to see who had it in for Officer Marsden.

As soon as Liza reached the front and had an unobstructed view, she wished she hadn’t asked herself the question. She wished she’d remained on the fringe of the crowd and definitely wished even harder that she’d followed her yearly impulse to avoid this event altogether.

Because her brother, Brian, stood in front of the dunking booth, a ball in his hand, his best friend, Rob, by his side. Like Mutt and Jeff, the two were rarely separated. If one got in trouble, the other usually followed. Brian’s eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot, his shirt wrinkled as if he’d slept in it last night.

“Oh no,” Liza muttered. Nothing about this scene could end well.

Jeff turned to her, understanding and sympathy in his eyes. Bianca didn’t say anything. And really, what more could she add?

“Throw, throw, throw, throw!” The crowd’s chants grew more boisterous, egging him on.

Liza debated dragging Brian away or letting the whole incident play out. Based on the balls littering the ground around the booth, Brian had thrown and missed before, but he wasn’t doing anything more than glaring at the cop in the tank.

With a little luck, Brian would finish his turn and walk away without causing trouble, and if that were the case, all Liza’s interference would do was create a scene.

One she didn’t want to be a part of.

She turned, just about to walk away, when Brian called out, “You’re going down, cop.”

Liza shook her head, her gut and past dealings with her brother screaming a warning.

She had to do something now.

Chapter Five

Dare hated thedunking booth and avoided getting that assignment like the plague. On the other hand, Sam didn’t seem to mind, as he’d been in and out of the tank for the better part of the day. Dare had finished the morning shift for the DARE program, and another officer had the afternoon. He was free for the day.

“Isn’t that your girl?” Cara asked as she walked up to him.

Dare knew who she meant without bothering to look over. He’d been aware of Liza’s presence for the last thirty minutes, but he’d been tied up talking to kids and their parents. Now he could finally give her the attention she deserved, but he didn’t need Cara as his audience.

So he ignored her.

“You see what I see?” she asked, none too delicately nudging him in the ribs.

If she meant the tall guy with dark hair who stood way too close for Dare’s liking, yeah, he saw.

Dare merely grunted in reply. As far as he was concerned, that question didn’t deserve an answer. Besides, he planned to break up whatever was going on over there as soon as he ditched his nosy friend.

“Officer Barron!” a young girl called out to him. “I have a question.”

Cara chuckled. “At least the young ones fall at your feet.”

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