Then the coop exploded.
Okay—notexploded—but it definitely fell from its perch in the tree, which raised a lot of questions Fifi still didn’t have answers to. The structure hit the ground in a shower offeathers, ash, and angry clucking. A chicken launched itself into the air like a feathered missile and dive-bombed Stix’s helmet.
“I WAS UNDER ATTACK,” Fifi said loudly, now at the table, gesturing wildly with her fork.
“From a chicken,” Stix muttered with a smirk.
“That thing was possessed,” Fifi insisted. “Its eyes were glowing.”
“They were not glowing.” Nova chuckled.
Fifi stared at Nova. “I sawsmokeandfireand?—”
“You screamed like a cartoon character and fell into a pile of hay bales,” Nova said helpfully.
Fifi huffed. “And did I not manage to get the extinguisher from the guy and put out the flames?”
“You sprayedmewith it,” Stix snarled at her friend.
Fifi slapped the table, struggling not to laugh. “You were on fire!”
“I had a spark on my boot!” Stix said, shaking her head.
Laughter rolled again, and even Diamond cracked a smile behind her coffee cup. Fifi folded her arms, chin lifted. “Point is—we survived.”
“Barely,” Stix said.
“And that chicken’s probably still tellingitsfriends about us,” someone added from the next booth.
Diamond said nothing, but her gaze drifted to the window again, toward the horizon. Chickens, smoke, chaos—it was always something. But her girls? They came through it every time.
She let herself lean back for a moment, soaking it in. The sound of her girls teasing, eating,living.It wasn’t peace exactly, but it was something close. A pocket of calm before the road pulled them forward again.
The waitress circled back, topping off mugs with practiced ease.
Outside, a pack of bikers thundered past, the roar of engines swallowing the quiet for a beat. One girl turned toward the window, watching the blur of chrome and leather disappear down the long stretch of highway.
“That’ll be us later today,” she murmured, dragging the last piece of her pancake through syrup.
No one disagreed.
Diamond checked her watch, then pushed her plate aside. “Alright. Finish up. Tip well. Helmets on in fifteen.”
Nova gave a mock salute, already tossing cash on the table.
The warmth of the diner clung to them as they filed back outside, but the chill of the wind and the weight of the day ahead were waiting. Business didn’t stop for breakfast.
And the road was calling.
Chapter Nineteen
Diamond wasn’t just shocked,she was pissed. Miscommunication was one thing, but this wasn’t a small mix-up. Going from picking up one package to three didn’t just complicate things; it jeopardized the entire operation.
She turned to Nova, searching her veep’s face for any sign she’d known about the change.
“Is there a problem, Diamond?”
Shark’s voice pulled her back. She met his gaze, keeping her tone even. “Nothing that can’t be handled.”
