She slid her hand out hesitantly, snatching a few and bringing them in front of her. Shelling them, she ate a few and stuck others into her jacket pocket.
Blaise could not take his eyes off her large ones, her flawless face a mask of uncertainty. Her fingers daintily worked at the peanuts.
They watched as Chuck brought her a glass of water, saying nothing. Her large eyes jumped up to his in appreciation and it appeared she thanked him.
“Chuck said she had been in there twice before. Both times trying to not be seen, but obviously hungry. She eats peanuts and he gives her water,” Blaise reported. “The first night, Trudi wasn’t there, but the next time she was. Chuck said that when Trudi approached to offer food, Mystery Lady ran.”
“Mystery Lady?” Marc asked, lifting his eyebrow in question.
Blushing, Blaise admitted, “Yeah, I guess that’s how I’ve been thinking of her.”
The other Saints grinned silently but continued to watch hawk-like at the screen in hopes of helping to identify Blaise’s Mystery Lady.
They observed as Chuck set the plate of food in front of her. She appeared frightened, but Chuck just nodded and walked away. Her head twisted around to see if anyone was watching and then she picked up one of the chicken wings, biting into the meat.
Blaise’s heart squeezed when he saw the look of ecstasy on her face as she tasted the savory goodness. Fuck, when was the last time she had a decent meal? I have got to find her.
“You got that right, brother,” Marc said, the other Saints following in agreement.
Jerking his head toward them, Blaise realized he had spoken his thoughts aloud. Not embarrassed, he gazed back to the screen. The Saints watched as she carefully wrapped up the extra meat into a napkin and slid off the stool, slipping unnoticed out the front door.
“Go to the back of the bar camera angle,” Blaise said, but Luke was already on it. He projected the images from the camera attached to the back of the bar that included the delivery area as well as the garbage dumpster.
“There she is,” Jude announced to no one in particular.
Blaise’s gaze moved across the men in the room, finding each one entranced with the video…or perhaps with the woman in the video.
They saw her step around the corner, an intent expression on her face. Suddenly, from behind the dumpster, came the large German Shepherd trotting over to her. Nuzzling her hand, it sat at her feet. She bent, offering it the rest of her food. As the dog ate, she moved to the dumpster and leaned over, plucking out what appeared to be some bread and other unidentifiable food.
The quiet room resounded with sounds of fucks, holy hells, damns, and other curses as the men watched the woman gathering food from a dumpster.
Jack, showing more emotion than normal, growled, “I know you described this last night, but it’s a fuck-of-a-lot more potent seeing it.”
The video continued as they watched Blaise on the camera with her and their interaction. As he re-entered the building, she grabbed the food and, with the dog at her side, ran off into the night.
Luke stopped the camera and the group continued sitting in silence for a moment, none quite sure what to say.
“Right,” Jack said, slapping his hand down on the table. His eyes lifted and met Blaise’s. “We’ve got several jobs the others are working on now, but no large-scale mission that requires everyone’s participation.” Pinning Marc with his gaze, he said, “We’ve got some security flights I’ll be sending you on later in the summer. Chad…you, Bart, and Monty will continue assisting the FBI on the ISIS cells from our last major mission.”
Receiving nods from those men, he turned his gaze back to Blaise. “If you want to utilize us to assist this woman, I’ll back you.”
“Boss, I gotta be clear about something,” Blaise said tentatively. “I don’t mind doing this alone. I have no idea who this woman is or what she’s running from.