Page 22 of Nuclear Option (Owens Protective Services)

I ignored him and kept pacing. There had to be something I could say. I stopped and stared at the sat phone on the table. Before she trusted me, there was one other person she believed in. I grabbed it and headed out the door, immediately dialing his number.

“Boss,” he answered calmly.

“Fox, it’s Cash.”

“Yep, that’s why I saidBosswhen I answered the phone.”

I ignored him and kept going. “I need a promise from you.”

“Fuck, boss, you know I hate promises. There’s all this pressure to carry through and see it to the end. I just don’t like that kind of commitment.”

“It’s a job.”

“Oh, then shoot.”

I glanced back at the house, hating what I was about to do. “We’re in a SNAFU.”

I heard him snort over the line. “What’s new about that?”

“I know who’s after Eva.”

“Huh?”

“Beth is Eva.”

“Ah, that makes more sense. She never looked like a Beth, especially when she was singing Oklahoma with me. It’s in the vocal cords, you know.”

“Fox, concentrate!”

“Right, sorry.”

“It’s the governor that’s after her.”

“Uh…like…any governor, or did you have a particular one in mind.”

“The governor of California,” I snapped. “He’s a dirty motherfucker, and if he gets his hands on Eva, she’s dead.”

“Aw, crap. Don’t tell me she’s his wife. I would lose all respect for her. Not to mention the sitch she’s put you in. I don’t know how the fuck you steal her from the governor.”

“Fox! She’s not married to him. She recorded him making deals with a drug dealer.”

“Yeah, I could do that too. Throw a stone on any corner and you’ll hit a drug dealer.”

“No, a bad one. Distribution size.”

“Well, now I understand the SNAFU. Plans?”

“I have to meet Rafe at a government compound—”

“Boss, I’m only gonna tell you once. If they take you in a room and there are electrodes of any kind, you haul ass out of there.”

“Fox! Concentrate!”

“Right, sorry, boss.”

“There’s no way Rafe will let her into the compound unless she tells me everything that’s going on, and right now, she’s not talking.”

“M-hm. I gotcha.”

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