AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Topaz!” Roadkill answered. “Where the hell are you?”
“We are in the little town, St. Xavier, Hack knows the place. We’ve found a harbor,” she turned away, even using the code word for hide out she needed to stress the urgency without triggering the waitress. “Ran out of gas and you know I have that shift in a few hours, was trying to be there on time, but we forgot to fill up.”
“We? Wait, is Onyx with you? What the hell happened?” Roadkill remained calm on the phone.
Topaz appreciated it, as her nerves were shot and needed the anchor Roadkill provided. “Yes he is. You know how I pretend to know all the backroads.” She smiled at the waitress. “We’ll be waiting. There’s a small café in the middle of town, we’ll stay close.”
The waitress eyed Onyx as she poured the coffee.
With all the damage to his head, Topaz couldn’t help placing her hand on his cheek where his eye was swollen and he wrapped his arm around her. On the phone, she could hear Roadkill talking to someone, but the words were muffled.
“Okay, I checked with Hack, he said Freaky and Mountain are on another run. They’re out in your direction. I’ll call them.” Roadkill disconnected.
Topaz looked down at the phone and knew they were within a few hours of being rescued and it felt good. She still worried that they would be found by ACT UP. She turned to Onyx, “Let’s go outside.” Passing the phone back to the waitress, she smiled and said, “Thank you.”
“Are you guys hungry?” The waitress smiled softly. “I can offer you breakfast.”
“Uh, no. We’re fine.” Topaz lied as her stomach grumbled in protest.
“It’s on the house,” the waitress offered.
A chill ran down Topaz’s spine as she immediately became suspicious. Why was this waitress being so nice to her? Fear of putting her trust in anyone outside of the Steels right now, had her paranoid. The more she thought about Glen and Stimpy she knew she served one of them at least a beer. Never seeing the danger. “Really, we’re okay. We’ll just wait for our friends.” Topaz turned to him and nodded. “Thanks again for the phone.”
He clutched her upper arm and halted her progress toward the door. “Maybe we should take her up on her offer.”
“Why is she being so nice to us?”
“I think she realizes we’re in trouble. Let’s ask her.” Onyx turned around.
The hard limp when he stepped made Topaz’s heart clench as he returned to the counter.
“Why are you offering us food?” Onyx asked and leaned on the counter.
“Your jacket,” the waitress said. “You’re a Steel right?”
“Yes ma’am,” he replied, straightening his shoulders a bit.
“They helped out my sister, saved her life,” the waitress said leaning in a bit close, then glancing toward the couple of other patrons. “I just wanted to return the favor.”
Topaz took a deep breath of relief. In the last three years, hundreds of women and children had been helped by the Steels and today the cut on Onyx’s back was now a lifeline.
“We’d love to have breakfast,” Topaz said. “Whatever you have.”
Onyx walked toward a booth and took a seat, his back to the wall and eyes with clear sight lines of the kitchen and the front door. The exhaustion and pain evident in his every movement.
“He fought hard for you,” the waitress said. “Took a good year, but my sister’s now better. You will be too.”
Topaz wanted to argue, tell the woman she wasn’t a rescue, but what did it matter. Onyxhadfought hard to save her. Topaz gave her a slight smile then sat across from Onyx, leaning across the table she covered his hand with hers. “I guess I should never judge a book by its cover. She’s nice. She also thinks I’m a rescue.”
“Shit, we both are at this point.”
“Hey, she’s giving us breakfast on the house and we have a few hours to wait for Freaky, so we might as well eat.”
An expression of gratification showed in his eyes.
Topaz liked this side of Onyx. She couldn’t help but feel safe in his presence. Thinking back to when they were tied up the first time, she hadn’t been worried, more annoyed by the situation. With Onyx behind her, she knew in her heart, she was safe. “Think we can enjoy our food and breathe for a moment?”
“Yeah,” he said with a sigh. “I think we’re good for a bit.”
