Free Highway to Vengeance: A Thomas Highway Thriller by Brian Springer Page B

a
way to go after Alvarez that didn’t include me following him in a
car.
    The food came out a short time later. It
wasn’t great but it was good enough that I cleaned all three of my
plates. The waitress brought me the cherry pie just as I finished
up with the breakfast and I gobbled that up too. She came around
again with the check right about the same time I put the last of
the pie in my mouth. She knew her job.
    “How was it?” she asked. Despite the
weariness in her voice, it seemed as though she was genuinely
concerned about the quality of the food.
    “It was perfect,” I said. “Although I can
feel my body shutting down already. At least I won’t have to worry
about falling asleep anymore.”
    “But you do have to worry about making it
out the door without your heart giving out,” she said with a smile
that lit up her face. For a moment, I could see the cute young girl
buried beneath. My heart went out to her.
    “Very true,” I said, matching her smile with
one of my own. I looked around, saw nobody else in the diner, and
gestured towards the seat opposite me. “Why don’t you give your
feet a little rest?”
    She looked towards the kitchen, then back at
me. “Sure, why not. I deserve a break.”
    “Hell, you deserve more than that,” I said.
I held my hand out across the table. “My name’s Scott. But everyone
just calls me Highway.”
    “I’m Jenny,” she said, grasping my hand and
giving it a firm shake. “But everyone just calls me Jenny.”
    We both laughed heartily, the sound echoing
about in the empty diner. The bald, sweaty head of a forty-year old
man poked out from the opening to the kitchen to see what the
ruckus was all about, looked around, saw us, flashed a scowl in our
direction, then ducked away.
    “How far along are you?” I asked. “Seven
months?”
    “Almost eight,” Jenny said.
    I whistled through my teeth. “What’s a girl
in your condition doing working a job like this?”
    “Oh, you know, the typical bullshit. My
boyfriend got me pregnant, then panicked and left, then one thing
led to another, and next thing I know I was taking whatever gig I
could get.”
    “That’s horrible. I’m sorry.”
    “What can you do?” Jenny said. “Sometimes,
life just sucks.”
    “Yeah, I know. But it shouldn’t.”
    She held my gaze. I could see her trying to
work out what I was all about. Good luck with that. I didn’t even
know myself.
    The bell on the front door jingled and in
walked four stern-looking, well-groomed men wearing pretty nice
suits. Two of them took seats at the table closest to the front
door. The other two sat down a couple tables to our right. I cast a
glance at the rear exit and wasn’t at all surprised to see two more
similar-looking men parking themselves just inside the back
door.
    Jenny started to stand. “Looks like it’s
back to work for me. I’ll catch you later.”
    “I don’t think these guys are going to want
anything,” I said.
    She narrowed her brow. “What do you
mean?”
    “I think they’re here to talk to me.”
    “Talk to you? Why?”
    “I’m not sure yet.”
    “Are you in some kind of trouble?” she
said.
    “It sure looks like it.”
    “What did you do?”
    “Beats the hell out of me.”
    The door chimed again and another man walked
in. He was older than the others, had less hair, and wore a much
more expensive suit but was otherwise of the same breed. He headed
towards my table.
    “What should I do?” Jenny said.
    “Just leave the check and go stand behind
the counter,” I said. “If anything happens, call the cops.”
    Her breath quickened. “Do you think anything
will?”
    “No, but better safe than sorry.”
    She rifled through her note pad, tore off my
check, dropped it on the table, and walked quickly away, leaving
just as the older man arrived. He didn’t sit down and I didn’t
invite him to.
    Without bothering to look up at him, I said,
“And who might you be?”
    Instead of replying, he produced a