Page 1 of Nuclear Option (Owens Protective Services)

1

CASH

I opened my eyes,but something dark coated my vision, making it impossible to see. My head was pounding, and the ringing in my ears was making it difficult to focus on anything. My first instinct was to reach for my weapon, but it wasn’t at my side. I swiped at my face, blinking several times at the blood on my hand. That’s when I saw her.

We had flipped, now laying on the passenger side of the truck, and based on the damage, we had rolled multiple times. Eva’s whole body rested against the passenger side door. Her eyes were closed and blood oozed from her head. I immediately reached for her, stopped by the seat belt holding me in place.

In the back of my mind, I knew I had to make sure the threat was eliminated, but all I could think about was getting to her. The sharp sound of bullets being fired had me flicking off my seat belt, barely catching my body before I landed right on Eva. I laid my body over hers, pressing her tight into the door as I protected her head from the onslaught.

For just a moment, the firing stopped and I pressed my fingers to her neck. “Eva,” I whispered. Her pulse thrummed under my fingers, but she didn’t stir. At least I knew she was still alive.

I quickly looked around for my weapon, finding it up on the dashboard. I grabbed it, then checked the magazine to see how many bullets remained. I had thirteen rounds, and I prayed that was enough to get us out of whatever this clusterfuck was.

“Go make sure they’re dead,” a man shouted.

“We’ve got incoming,” the other man retorted.

“And we’re not leaving until the job is done!”

I watched out the windshield, my gun at the ready. I took deep breaths, slowing my heart as I waited for the man to come into view. Heavy footsteps could be heard on the other side of the vehicle and I shifted my aim when he walked to the front of it. The moment the man stepped into view, I fired three rounds, the first cracking the windshield. The next two lodged in the man, and I watched as he dropped to the ground.

“Shit,” I heard the other voice mutter.

I needed to attack first. At this point, he already knew I was alive. The driver’s side window was gone, broken from the impact in the crash. I carefully stood, making as little noise as possible. I was just getting into position when I saw a shadow moving around the back of the truck through the back window. Pressing against the seat, I watched as he moved around the truck slowly. His gun was aimed at the back window, which gave me a fifty percent chance that I could pop up through the driver’s side window and get him before he put a bullet in me.

I wasn’t entirely sure I was thinking clearly. My vision was going in and out, which signaled that I hit my head harder than I imagined, but there was no one else coming. Decision made, I braced my foot against the handle on the door and checked the man’s position one last time. Taking a deep breath, I popped up through the window and aimed, firing just as he raised his gun and took his own shot. I fired three more times, until the fucker was down and his gun was lying beside him on the ground.

Aware that my skull was exposed, I ducked back down in the truck. I needed to be sure no one else was around before I went and made myself a target like that again. After scanning the area through the windshield, the only other threat I saw was the vehicle that slammed into us. When I saw no movement, I decided to go on the attack. I couldn’t huddle out in the truck all day, and Eva needed help.

I kicked at the fractured windshield over and over until it broke outward. I shoved my way through, climbing out of the truck, my gun immediately raised. The SUV was stopped several feet away with steam pouring out of the hood of the vehicle. I thought I saw two men inside, their bodies slumped, but it was hard to tell.

I stumbled as I walked forward, my vision fuzzy as I gripped my gun tighter. It would be really bad if I fired my gun randomly right now and hit nobody in particular. I could hear the sat phone ringing in the truck, but there was no way I was going back until this was taken care of. Approaching carefully, I went to the driver’s side first, peeking inside. Just as I was about to check the guy’s pulse, the second guy groaned and started to move. I raised my gun and fired two shots, hitting him once in the face and once in the head.

The driver’s eyes sprung open and I quickly shifted, putting two bullets in his skull. That left me with six bullets. If anyone else tried attacking, we were fucked. I turned and scanned the area, not seeing anyone else nearby. I raced back over to the truck and climbed back inside.

“Eva,” I asked, brushing my hand over her cheek. She didn’t even stir. I sifted through the wreckage for the sat phone, finding it behind the driver’s seat stuck in a crevice. Stretching my hand back there, I nearly grabbed it when it went off again, nearly scaring the piss out of me.

Closing my eyes, I took a calming breath and tried again. My fingers scraped against the antennae several times before I finally got it. Pulling it out, I answered quickly.

“Dash—”

“Boss, did you see that helicopter explode?”

I glanced out the window at the helicopter burning in the distance. “Yeah, I saw it.”

“Man, that was so awesome!”

“Dash, I need a nine line.”

“Boss, you okay?”

“It’s Eva.” I pressed my fingers to her throat again. “Pulse is steady.” I moved on to check her eyes. “Right pupil is blown, large gash on her scalp,” I said as I continued to examine her. I would have torn my shirt and pressed it to the wound, but it was more dangerous to get dirt in an open wound than to worry about the bleeding. Head wounds tended to bleed more, and that’s what I told myself as I sat there beside her, unable to do anything for her in the wreckage.

I heard the crunch of tires and grabbed my weapon, scrambling out through the windshield and aiming my gun at the vehicle. I lowered my weapon with relief when I saw it was Rae and New Guy.

“What took you so fucking long?” I asked, holstering my gun.

“If New Guy could handle a fucking RPG, we wouldn’t be in this mess,” she said as she walked over.

---