Octavia's War by Tracy Cooper-Posey Read Free Book Online

The first thing he withdrew was a silver Smith & Wesson 500.
    Octavia held her hand out for it. “I’ve heard of them. Never seen one for real before.”
    “Heavy,” Ángel remarked. “Why would it be in the safe?”
    Octavia broke it open and removed the bullet from the chamber. “This is the most powerful handgun on the market and it was loaded. I’m thinking that the owner of the safe wanted to have some way of fighting back if he was ever forced to open it. Now I want to see what else is in there.”
    Ángel ducked and looked into the little hole. “A lot of cash,” he said.
    “Around these parts, a lot of cash tends to be guarded by a loaded gun, if one is sensible,” Remmy said from the door. “We won’t need cash where we’re going. Take the gun. That could prove useful, by and by.”
    “I’ll look for more bullets,” Ángel said.
    “Try the nightstand,” Octavia suggested.
    He stepped off the bed and opened the drawer on the nightstand and looked at her.
    “People are generally very predictable, when it comes to security stuff,” she said.
    Ángel pulled the box of bullets out with a heavy metallic rattle.
    Octavia looked at Remmy. “I don’t like taking all this stuff. I know we have to, only these folks aren’t the bad guys.”
    “She has a point,” Ángel said.
    Remmy straightened up from his lean against the door and started to unbuckle his watch strap. “This is a vintage 1915 Rolex. Genuine, too. I bought it myself in London, four years before Rolex moved to Geneva.” He put the watch on the dresser next to the door, in the middle where there was nothing but varnished wood. “They could get fifteen thousand for it, if they do their research and realize what it is. Or, we can come back and reclaim the watch later and settle our debts properly.” He raised a brow. “Does that suit you?”
    Octavia nodded, relief touching her.
    “Monsters both human and not are on our tail and you’re worried about taking a few things,” Ángel said, his tone one of amusement.
    “We’re the good guys,” she snapped at him. “If we don’t act like it, then the world starts spinning around the bowl all by itself.”
    Ángel considered her, his amusement gone. “You’re right,” he said softly.
    “You’re going to have to relearn how to behave like a decent human being, I’m guessing,” Remmy told him and now he sounded amused. “You’ve been pretending to be an asshole for far too long.”
    Ángel sucked in a breath and let it out. “Old habits….”
    Octavia could almost feel his awkwardness. He was embarrassed.
    “Food,” she said firmly, tucking the Smith & Wesson into the front pocket of the backpack. “I’m not walking all night and all day without lots of carbohydrates to ease the way.”

Chapter Five
    They left the house forty minutes later. Octavia’s backpack was filled with food they could eat cold if they needed to and a gallon jug of water.
    “It’s not enough water,” Ángel said. “There might be snow and if there isn’t, we won’t die of thirst, not even if we’re out there for more than three days.”
    “It’s only twenty miles to the border,” Octavia pointed out.
    “That’s if you’re using a map and a ruler, I imagine,” Remmy drawled. Even in Spanish, his accent seemed strong. He hadn’t had the accent before. Octavia realized he had been masking it. Now, he was letting it show.
    “Louisiana?” she asked curiously.
    “Georgia, ma’am.” He tipped an invisible hat at her. “Eighteen oh five. My folk were one of the first families to settle in Savannah.”
    “You lived there all your life?”
    “No, I’m sorry to say. I got itchy feet and followed the Oregon trail into the west, when I was thirty. I never really left the coast once I got there. I just followed my nose slowly south until I arrived here with you good folk.” Remmy picked up a sports bag that was loaded with goods and slung the straps over each shoulder. He made the bag