She snorted. “You sound like Nova.”
He cracked one eye open and smirked. “She’s rubbing off on me.”
Diamond reached over and smacked his arm lightly before reaching for her boots. “Come on. Let’s get them fed and on the road. We’ve got one more day to get this right.”
Sayer groaned again but sat up anyway, stretching until his back popped.
Outside the cab, the sky was starting to shift to blue. A new day. A new chance to get them all one step closer to safety.
After a quick cleanup in the truck stop’s facilities and a change into fresh clothes, Diamond and Sayer were ready to take the young family out for breakfast. Diamond felt human again, or close enough to fake it—her face washed, her hair tied back, the weight of the last day just a little easier to carry now that morning had broken clean.
Climbing down from the cab, she pulled on her gloves and walked around to the coupling. The air was brisk, her breath fogging as she worked through the motions. With a practiced hand, she unhitched the trailer from the cab. The familiar hiss of released air brakes and the heavy thunk of metal separating echoed in the quiet lot.
They’d be back for it soon enough. But it was easier to park the cab alone than try to maneuver the whole rig through tight lots or side streets. It also made them less of a target.
Sayer appeared behind her, watching as she secured everything. “You always this efficient before coffee?”
Diamond shot him a look over her shoulder. “I’d be more efficientwithcoffee.”
He grinned and nodded toward the truck. “Family’s ready.”
She turned to see Carla standing just outside the cab, one daughter on her hip, the other gripping her hand and bouncing on her toes. Both girls had changed into little fleece hoodies, the kind with animal ears on the hoods, their cheeks still rosy from sleep. They looked like any other kids on a road trip.
Normal. Or at least pretending to be.
Diamond climbed back into the cab and got them moving. With the trailer left behind in the lot, the truck rode lighter, smoother.
“Where to?” Sayer asked, glancing at the GPS.
“Local diner not far from here. Quiet. Cheap. Locals mostly.”
Sayer nodded, relaxing into the passenger seat. “You sure know how to treat a guy.”
She smirked. “Don’t get used to it.”
As the city slowly woke up around them, Diamond drove them toward the promise of warm food and hot coffee, keeping one eye on the mirrors and the other on the road ahead.
The diner was small and worn in the way only well-loved places ever were. A bell above the door jingled as they stepped inside, the smell of bacon, coffee, and syrup wrapping around them like a blanket. Vinyl booths lined the windows, sun streaming through streaky glass, and a couple of older locals sat at the counter sipping coffee, chatting with the waitress behind it like they did every morning.
Diamond led the group toward a booth in the corner where they could sit with their backs to the wall, eyes on the door.
The girls clung to Carla at first, wide-eyed and quiet. They slid into the booth slowly, one on each side of their mother, pressingagainst her as if unsure how close was too far from safety. Diamond sat across from them, Sayer beside her, his broad frame making the booth creak slightly as he settled in.
A waitress in a pale blue apron approached with a practiced smile and a stack of menus. “Morning, folks. Coffee?”
“Yes, please,” Diamond said without hesitation.
“Two,” Sayer added, then glanced at Carla. “You want something hot?”
Carla nodded, adjusting her youngest on her lap. “Yes, thank you.”
The waitress handed out menus and promised to be back with drinks. The moment she left, the table fell quiet.
The little girls stared down at the colorful kids’ menu with cautious eyes. One of them looked up at Carla, then back at Sayer, uncertain. Her fingers curled around the edge of the laminated page like she was afraid to crease it.
“You can get whatever you want,” Diamond said gently, watching the way the girls kept stealing glances at Sayer like they were waiting for him to say no.
Carla’s voice was soft but steady, “Go on, girls. It’s okay.”
