Page 6 of GAF Factor

“Fox, how could you do that?” she shouted. “What the hell were you thinking?”

I glanced at Eva, hoping she would take this one. Unfortunately, she didn’t. “I was thinking that my friend is lost and I wanted to pull him back from the edge.”

“My getting yourself nearly killed?”

“Technically, I wasn’t nearly killed. I mean, he was holding my KA-BAR in his hand, but I knew he wouldn’t go through with it.”

“Your what?”

I snapped my mouth shut. Maybe that was something I should have kept to myself. “But it’s all good. Here I am, good as new.” I grinned.

I really shouldn’t have grinned.

“Your face looks like a beat-up mashed potato,” she retorted.

“Ooh, mashed potatoes,” I said dreamily. “I could definitely?—”

“You just left us!” Anna shouted at me. “You didn’t even discuss this with me first.”

“Well, if I had, you would have said no. I figured the fastest and easiest way to get what I wanted was to work around that issue.”

Anna got that look in her eye, the same one I saw the night she chopped up the man who staked her to a wall. My balls shriveled up inside my body, and for the first time in my life, I was truly frightened.

“And what about you?” she turned on Eva. “How could you send my husband in when you knew what he would do? I thought we were friends!”

“I was thinking that if anyone could get through to Cash, it would be Fox.”

“So, you offered my husband up as collateral damage?”

Eva went silent, pursing her lips before she spoke again. “I was hoping he could pull Cash back from the edge. Maybe it was wrong to involve Fox, but I was desperate.” Tears filled Eva’s eyes as she slowly turned to face me. “It didn’t work. He’s gone.”

“Well, it didn’t totally fail,” I grinned. “If it had, I would be dead right now.”

“You just had major surgery,” Eva pointed out. “How did you even survive?”

“Ah, well, I had a punctured lung and I used a knife to cut into the pleura, then rolled up a Funyuns bag and used that to act as the tubing that would inflate my lungs. You know, it’s not easy to contort your body in that way. I think I might have pulled a muscle.” I wrinkled my nose. “I think I still have some Funyuns dust in there. When I breathe, it tastes like onions.” I shrugged. “Not a completely bad deal.”

“Are you serious?” FNG asked. “You made a cannula out of a Funyuns bag?”

I stared at him, daring him to challenge me.

“Is he serious?” he turned, asking Max.

Max rolled his eyes, dropping his feet to the ground as he stood. “So, now that we know you’re alive and somewhat well, I have a bottle of Jack waiting for me.”

“That’s it? You’re just leaving me?”

“I think the ladies have more to discuss with you. And while I don’t mind a good catfight, that’s clearly not going to happen.” He shrugged. “I’m bored now.”

“Bored?” I coughed out a laugh, holding my side when it burned. “How could you be bored?”

FNG jumped to his feet, holding out his hands. “Okay, just tell me, is this some wild attempt to get back at me for my stories? Are you going into competition with me? Just tell me, I can handle it.” When I didn’t answer, he kept going. “That’s it, isn’t it? You’re jealous of all the things I did, so you’re trying to come up with something better. Well, let me tell you, there is nothing better than Ivan. You can’t beat that.”

Eva rolled her eyes at him. “Nobody is in competition with you.”

“Oh yeah? Then what’s with the story about the Funyuns cannula? You can’t tell me you believe that!”

“Will you two please get out of here?” Anna snapped, then spun on Eva. “And you—just…go.”

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