Page 124 of Dear John

“You’re not going to stuff him with Funyuns, are you?”

I chuckled. “It’s not a bad idea.”

I watchedfrom a distance as Cash put Sally 3 in her cabinet and locked the door. “Rae, do it.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“Just do it.” My tone brooked no argument. Two seconds later, the lights went out and the power shut down in the whole facility. Moving swiftly and silently, I crept into his office and snuck up behind him just as he was spinning around. I caught his wrist in my hand and snapped it back, breaking the bone. He cried out and fell as I slammed my boot into the side of his knee. But he didn’t give up. I barely saw the knife coming as he pulled it from his boot and slammed it up into my ribs.

I winced at the pain, but didn’t stop. Grabbing the needle from my pocket, I shoved him to the floor, digging my knee into his back. He fought, twisting and bucking to throw me off, but I held his broken wrist firm, refusing to let him go. With a single jab of the needle in his neck, his squirming slowed until all the fight drained from his body and he was left a broken heap on the ground.

“Cash is down,” I said to Rae. “Get the minivan.”

“Dash is on it.”

I stared down at the man I respected more than anyone in my entire life. A very small part of me felt bad for what I was about to do to him, but I knew in the long run, it was for the best.

If it worked.

If not, it would only drive him farther away. But it was a risk I had to take for Eva. I promised her I would get throughto him, and I was determined to do just that, no matter the consequences.

“Fuck, I hate seeing him like this,” Rae said, stepping into the room.

“Better this than dead,” I retorted, moving to his head. “Grab his legs.”

We lifted together and I grunted, surprised at how fucking heavy he felt. “Fuck, he needs to go on a diet.”

“He already is,” Rae grunted. “It’s called theI killed my brother and now I don’t eatdiet.”

“Well, someone should really tell him it’s not working.”

It took forever to get him outside. Dash was waiting in the van without a care in the world, fiddling with something instead of getting out to help us.

The back door opened and we tossed him in. “Are you sure we shouldn’t tie him up?”

“I gave him enough to take out a horse,” I told her. “Let’s get on the road.”

She hit the button to shut the door and turned to leave, but stopped. Eva was waiting by the door, her arms crossed over her chest protectively. I strode over to her, tilting her chin up to look at me.

“I can’t make any promises, but I’ll do what I can.”

“Thank you.”

I winced slightly. “I had to break his wrist. And his knee might be fucked up.”

“He’s alive, which is more than I can say if he kept going down the path he was on.”

I stepped back. “I’ll call in a few days.” She nodded and I turned on my heel, getting into the van. “Let’s do this.”

“I really fucking hope this works,” Dash muttered.

The facility I had been using for various projects was an hour away. No one knew about it until now. When we pulled up tothe gates, I saw the hesitant looks on Rae and Dash’s faces, but thankfully, they didn’t ask any questions.

“Right up there,” I pointed to the side of the building to the garage door. Dash backed up as I unlocked the code on my phone. As the doors rose, Dash backed in, shifting into park once we were settled inside.

“So…this is where you’ve been escaping to.”

And now the questions were starting. I knew it couldn’t last forever. “Anna’s with me. Where else am I supposed to go when I need a break?”

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