Page 3 of Street

“Don’t make a big deal about it. Inky is the last thing I have from my childhood. I won’t abandon him.”

Her defensive expression told him not to say any more about Inky. “Understood. Can I get some more water? Did the old man leave any food?”

Her shoulders relaxed back into position, and he breathed a silent sigh of relief. Having to ask for help from a bunch of guys she didn’t know for something they might make fun of was gutsy. If Inky wasn’t of dire importance to her, she wouldn’t have given the stuffie a second thought. Suddenly, he cared about the fate of the stuffie way too much. The heat of her slight body next to him drew him toward her. Street locked his muscles in place, fighting his attraction to this woman. He didn’t want to scare her.

“What do you think about canned meat or microwave mac and cheese?” she asked.

“Sounds like a complete meal.”

She grinned at him. “Maybe even a feast.”

“Lead on, Rosa. I’ll cook for us. The guys will take a while to get here. Wraith will circle around for a bit to make sure no one follows them from your place.”

Rosa nodded as she led him into the sunlight. Street shielded his eyes from the bright light as he glanced around at the quiet farmstead. A cottage badly in need of paint, a barn that had seen better days, a well house, and the dead skeleton of a rusted-out tractor. “I don’t have anywhere to be on a time schedule. My job is toast.”

“What will you do? Do you have a car near the bar?”

“No. I don’t have anything like that. I walk or take the bus when I have the money to spare.”

“That’s not safe, Rosa,” Street said, picturing what that neighborhood must be like after dark.

“They’ve robbed me enough that they know I don’t have any money,” she said, shrugging as if the threat was no big deal. Her acceptance of living in danger tore him up inside. But her eyes shifted from his, cluing Street in that she hadn’t told him everything.

“We’ll talk to Lucien about getting you a job.”

“You owe me something,” she said, challenging him.

“Do you want money?” Street asked, watching her closely.

“I want Inky. Then maybe you could get me a bus pass to get out of town,” Rosa said.

Immediately, Street wanted to keep her close so he could protect her…. And, he didn’t want to lose her. “I’ll make sure you’re safe, Rosa.”

She twisted her lips into a grimace. “For some people, living threat-free is a pipe dream.”

“Let’s fix some food. Everything gets better with a full belly,” Street said. When she agreed with him quickly, Street guessed hunger wasn’t a new problem for her. Noting her dull eyes, he vowed to find out her story and provide some hope for her future. Right now, her only goal was to survive.

Chapter 2

Street helped wash and dry the dishes after their meal. Rosa restored the kitchen to a better state than when they arrived and mentally thanked the elderly farmer who’d treated her kindly for helping her one more time. She’d met him one Tuesday afternoon as he struggled to heave a bag of fertilizer into the bed of his pickup truck. Without thinking, she’d grabbed the bottom of the bag and hoisted the heavy package to help. He’d insisted on buying her lunch.

They hadn’t chatted much as they’d eaten the most delicious burger she’d had in years. She’d figured out quickly that he despised small talk as much as she did. Rosa had returned the next week at the same time to assist again. She and Eddie had fallen into a routine that repeated for several months as she helped him load feed, seed, or other supplies into his truck.

His health had deteriorated quickly that winter with a cough that she suspected was more from the cigarettes he smoked than a seasonal bug. When he hadn’t shown up one Tuesday, she’d convinced the feed store owner to let her peek at the old man’s account information. He wouldn’t tell her the farmer’s address, but if she happened to see it, that was on her.

Rosa had hitchhiked and walked for eight hours to reach the farm. She found Eddie on the front porch where she guessed he’d fallen earlier that week and passed away. She could only hope his death had been quick and painless. Rosa hadn’t cried for years, but she did that day, sitting on the front steps. She hated to leave him there, but calling the police would only result in her being held and questioned as a suspect. A background check would reveal the charges against her from years ago. Eddie would have understood her need to survive. He was already gone.

Returning to town, she’d hidden each time a vehicle passed, scared they’d think she’d had something to do with Eddie’s death. Rosa had lifted a phone from a distracted mother’s stroller and called 911 and the number the close-mouthed farmer had made her memorize when he’d gotten ill.

She’d taken a chance that the son wouldn’t have moved quickly on the property when the biker had collapsed. Thank goodness she’d been right. The mailman had piled his deliveries in a bin by the front door. No one had been here in over a month. The barn had been a convenient place to let Street down easily into the hay and stash the bike out of view.

Street rubbed his flat stomach. “That helped a bunch. The brain fog is clearing.”

Rosa kept her gaze on his face. She knew exactly how fit and appealing Street’s form was. His unconscious body had rested heavily against her. Somehow, between her clenching one of his arms and his hands locked together around her waist, she’d held him on the bike to reach a safe place.

“What time do you think they’ll get here?” She grabbed her phone from her back pocket and pulled up a map. Maybe she could talk him into taking her to the next town to get that bus pass. The Ravagers would monitor her escape routes.

The rumble of motorcycles answered her question before he did. She stood and rushed to the window, positioning herself to the side where she could look out without being spotted easily. Street moved to the front door and walked outside.