Page 33 of Dark Flame

“Nat, you’re beautiful too, in your way, not my way.”

The other woman smiled at her, and Nat couldn’t help but feel secure with these three women. She never did well with female friends and rarely, if ever, socialized with groups of women. There was something about this group, something that saidyou can be you… you can be who you are.

“Sorry, ladies, I’m workin’ all the tables. What’ll it be?” She wrote the orders quickly and efficiently, repeating them back verbatim. The small bell above the door sounded, and looking up, she let out a long breath of exasperation, seeing the group enter the diner.

“Everything okay?” asked Fiona, craning her neck to see what had the woman so upset.

“Yea, sorry, doll. It’s just those fellas are here for a boys’ hunting trip from somewhere back east, and I gotta tell ya, they give me the creeps, and I’m an old lady. I’d be careful if I were you. They look like they’re huntin’ more than just deer.”

Nat, facing the door, spotted the three men easily from her seat. They were dressed in hunting gear, their beards in full growth, but something about them was strange. She just couldn’t put her finger on it. She knew just by looking at them they were trouble. She watched the flash of fear pass across Valentina’s face and trembled.

“They’re evil,” whispered Valentina. “I can feel their hate and lust from here. There’s something else. Fear, but not fear of us. I think we need to leave here.”

“I think we should leave, too,” said Isobel, looking a bit frightened.

“No,” said Nat firmly. “We will handle this. If I’ve learned anything by being on my own for so long, it’s that you can’t let bullies win. Let’s get our order, and we’ll leave. I’m going to tell the waitress we want our food to go.”

Nat stood and made her way toward the woman standing behind the counter. She leaned forward and whispered to the waitress, who nodded, patting her hand in understanding.

The men kept eyeing the booth of beautiful women, their grins and smirks telling each of the women exactly what they wanted. None of the women made eye contact, and they could tell the men were trying to get them to look their way, just one look to give them an excuse to come over. Just as the food was placed on their table in plastic bags, Griffin entered the café.

“Hi, you guys ready?” he asked.

“Griffin,” said Nat softly, “I need you to look right at me, okay?” He nodded, not moving.

“There are six men behind you that are going to try and attack us when we leave here. We’re going to get them away from the café, but I want you to run like you’ve never run before and get the others.”

He nodded, frowning at Nat. He knew he shouldn’t leave, but he also knew that more men would be helpful. Hawke was outside, perched on the building across the street, and when he saw Griffin take off without the girls, he immediately notified Kane that something was wrong.

The women filed past the table of men, one by one, until Nat. The man closest reached out and grabbed her hand. When she tried to pull free, he tugged harder and grinned.

“Don’t go yet, sweet thing. We just got here,” he smiled up at her in the same way the man in the shower did.

She repressed the shiver of revulsion and turned to face him.

“Sorry, my boyfriend is waiting for me,” she said calmly.

“You ain’t got no boyfriend,” said the man with a flare of anger.

Nat tried to control herself but couldn’t help it. She flexed her fingers, and the sizzling heat was enough to make the man break his grip. He released her hand, and she quickly left, sliding into the driver’s seat of the waiting jeep.

“What the fuck, Roy! You let her go!” yelled his friend.

“I didn’t mean to. It was like she burned my fucking hand, the little cunt. Get the truck!” The three men left the diner, jumping into their beat-up truck. They made a quick U-turn in the middle of the street, following the women.

“Speed up!” cried Valentina.

“No,” said Nat calmly. “We don’t want to draw any attention except theirs. I want the town to be safe, and I don’t want them to think we’re troublemakers. We want to live here. We want to make this our home, and I won’t let those men destroy this for us. We’re going to let them catch up just outside of town when no one is in view.”

“Are you crazy?” asked Isobel.

“Nope, I’m not,” said Nat. “I need all three of you to be prepared. Griffin should be back within minutes with help. We need to be prepared to handle this until they get here. We know what to do and how to do it. This is what we were made for.” Nat smiled at the women in the jeep, and they nervously smiled back.

The truck was barreling toward them in the rear-view mirror, the dust rising in a massive cloud behind them.

“Cut that fucking bitch off, Earl! I’m gonna show her how to respect a man,” said Roy. “Then we’re gonna kill the bitches and get our money.”

The truck pulled around the jeep and slammed on its brakes, causing the women to veer sideways and do the same. Nat stepped from the jeep, looking calm.

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