Page 2 of Nuclear Option (Owens Protective Services)

New Guy followed Rae, rolling his eyes at her reprimand. “It would have been fine if you weren’t fucking yelling at me the whole time. And I have a name.”

“Yeah?” Rae spun on him. “Until you fucking learn how to work with me, you’re New Guy.”

“Can we put a pin in this argument for one fucking minute?” I snapped. “Eva’s injured. I need to get her out of the truck.”

“Who’s Eva?” Rae asked, her face twisted in confusion.

“Beth.”

“Ah.”

“Who’s Beth?” New Guy asked.

I ignored him and stalked over to the truck, getting back inside with Eva. She was pale and still not moving. I was fucking worried as hell. She wasn’t just one of my guys. She wasn’t as tough as them, not yet.

“How do you want to do this, boss?”

“I’ll grab her shoulders—”

“No,” New Guy cut in. “You’re not fucking moving her. Are you insane? She could have a fucking broken back.” He shoved his way past Rae and climbed inside the truck, shoving me out of the way. Reaching into his pocket, he grabbed a med kit and peeled it open. I watched as he quickly got to work, cleaning up the gash on her head and covering it in gauze. Then he moved his hands to the back of her neck, feeling his way down her spine as he shoved his hand between her back and the seat that she wasn’t laying against anymore.

I glanced over at Rae, confused by what was happening. She shook her head, obviously unaware also. “What are you doing?”

He huffed out a laugh. “I would think that’s pretty obvious,” he muttered. “Alright, here’s what we’re going to do, I’m going to grab her shoulders and head. Boss, you slide your hands under her lower back, and Rae, you’ve got her feet. We’re going to very carefully pull her out.”

“Shouldn’t we wait for medevac?” Rae asked.

“Her spine feels stable and she’s breathing evenly. I’m most worried about this head wound. Best thing we can do is get her out of here and wait for the chopper.”

I nodded and took my position, wondering how the hell we were going to get her out of here with the way the truck was laying. But I did as New Guy said and slid my hands under her lower back.

“Okay, very carefully, let’s turn her so she’s laying flat,” New Guy said. I watched as he braced his hands around the back of her neck. I slid one hand further up her back to help him support her upper body weight. Nodding to Rae, we carefully started to extract her from the vehicle.

The glass crunched under our feet until we were out in the field. With no place to lay her down, I pulled my shirt off and laid it out for New Guy to rest her head on. Kneeling beside her, I grabbed her hand, giving it a tight squeeze.

“Eva, can you hear me?”

At first, there was nothing. I was beginning to think the medevac would be too late for her. But then she groaned and her eyes fluttered open. “Cash?”

“Eva, you’re okay. We’re going to get you help. Can you tell me where it hurts?”

“Everywhere,” she murmured. “Did we get hit by a truck?”

I laughed, brushing my hand across her cheek. “Yeah, something like that.”

She nodded and then slipped back into unconsciousness.

“That’s a good sign, right? That she woke up?” I asked New Guy.

“I’m sure she’s fine, but we’ll know more when we get her to the hospital.”

Fuck, that wasn’t an option, at least, not until I had a few things in order. Turning to Rae, I handed her the sat phone. “Call Dash. He needs to make a fake ID for Eva, something that will work for the hospital. I need it all here within two hours.”

“Sure,” she snorted. “That’s not asking the impossible.”

“You know he knows people.”

“It’s going to cost you.”

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