Page 35 of Dear John

“Because you shouldn’t fucking be here,” Red snapped. “This is all Cash.”

“What does that mean?” IRIS asked.

“It means he’s lost his fucking mind,” Red continued. “He’s punishing Kavanaugh because he won’t throw himself at the senator’s feet for a second time, endangering the lives of everyone at OPS.”

“Yep, this is definitely an alternate universe,” Rae nodded.

“Just fucking do it,” I sighed.

Red cut in front of them as they tried to advance on the house. “No, you don’t fucking do it. You go back and tell Cash to fuck himself.”

“I…don’t think that will go over well,” Slider shrugged. “But sure, we can try that.”

“What exactly is going on?” Thumper asked.

“The senator wants to use Kavanaugh as his flashpoint in the race for the presidency. Cash is being a giant dickwad and wants Kavanaugh to agree to the senator’s deal so we can find out who’s behind keeping The Syndicate functioning. But these people are so dangerous that if we move on this, all of us will die horrible deaths, along with everyone we know. The town will be blown up and life will cease to exist for all the citizens. Oh, and all the cats and dogs will have to be re-homed or live sad ghetto animal lives on the street.” She looked at me. “Does that sum things up?”

“How did you know?” I asked.

She shrugged lightly. “I’m a woman and I know things. Plus, I drink coffee, which gives me superpowers.”

“And Cash wants to go along with this?” Thumper asked, his eyes bracketed in concern.

“Pretty much.”

“Well, fuck that,” he snarled. “We’ll leave this shit up and?—”

“No, you’ll take it down,” I interrupted. “All of it. And you’ll do whatever the fuck Cash wants.”

“You’re joking,” Slider said, shaking his head at me. “That’s insane. He’s being unreasonable.”

“It’s far beyond unreasonable,” Red gritted out.

“It doesn’t fucking matter. If you don’t do what he says, you’ll find yourselves out of a job.”

“He wouldn’t fire us for disagreeing,” Thumper said, though his tone wasn’t quite as sure.

“Cash isn’t himself right now,” Rae said. “Losing Rafe really fucked him up, if you couldn’t tell. Yes, he would absolutely fire you for disobeying his orders.”

“Then let him fire us,” Thumper growled.

I appreciated the enthusiasm and support, but that wouldn’t help anyone. “If you go up against Cash, everyone will follow.”

“That’s what we’re trying to do with you,” he pointed out.

“You need to keep OPS running.” I couldn’t believe I was saying this, but here it was. “Cash and I have run our course. There’s no coming back from what’s been said and done. But…he’s fucking hurting right now. You know this isn’t Cash. He’s not like this, and he would never willingly put anyone in harm’s way if he wasn’t half out of his mind with grief.”

“More like completely,” IRIS muttered.

“If there’s even a chance that Cash can be pulled back from the edge, you have to help him.”

“And what about you?” Rae asked.

I shrugged like it would all be fine, but I knew it wouldn’t. I didn’t know where to go from here. I was fucking lost. “I’ll be fine.”

“You could always go to Reed Security. They’d take you in a heartbeat,” Rae grinned.

“Payback for how Sinner was snatched away all those years ago by Cash,” Red smirked. “I don’t think Sebastian ever got over his irritation that it was so easy for Sinner to walk and find a home here.”

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