Page 91 of Nuclear Option (Owens Protective Services)

I could hear the shaking in her voice. There was crazy, and then there was this. We were going to jump into the unknown, hoping that Mole wasn’t demented enough to get us all killed. I turned to Eva and gripped both of her arms.

“We can do this.” She shook her head at me. “Yes, we can. I’m going to jump with you, and I won’t let you go.”

“But there could be rocks—boulders! What if we crash right into them? What if there are snakes, or deadly…alligators!”

“There are no alligators,” I reassured her, though at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised. Our luck was running out fast. “It’s either this, or we go back through the dark tunnel and pray no one’s waiting for us on the other end.”

“But…” Her chin quivered as she looked at Rae. “This is insane. You’re all insane! I thought it before, but…” She started laughing hysterically, pulling at her hair. I needed to just get her through this. Then she would be fine. “No, I’m not doing it. I’m staying right here.”

She walked over and sat down on a rock, crossing one leg over the other. Sighing, I looked at Fox, knowing what I had to do. I stormed over to her and threw her over my shoulder as she screamed. Turning, I ignored the pounding at my back as I ran for the water and jumped off the edge, praying that I didn’t kill both of us in the process.

We hit the water with a hard crash and quickly sank into the depths below. Her hand grasped at my head, nearly poking me in the eye several times. I pushed to the surface when she started fighting even harder. I was quickly running out of oxygen as I worked to counter her attack. The woman was out of her mind. Breaking the surface, I managed to suck in one lungful of air before she pushed me back under as she fought me off. I spun her around so her back was to my front and pushed to the surface again. When she still wouldn’t stop struggling, I wrapped my arm around her neck and slowly put her to sleep, careful not to actually kill her. She went limp in my arms and I was finally able to swim to the shore, dragging her in tow.

By the time I got there, Fox was already waiting for me, quirking an eyebrow at me. “That’ll be a new one.”

“What?” I asked, dragging Eva to safety and checking to make sure she was alright.

“Well, I’ve never heard of knocking your girlfriend out for her own safety. Not sure how you explain that one.”

I didn’t know what I was going to say either, other than I didn’t want to die. I dropped to my knees and checked her heart rate. She was ticking away, which was a good thing. And I could still feel air coming out of her nose. Again, another plus. All in all, I’d call this a win.

Rae snorted as she dropped down beside me, resting back on the rough shoreline. She stared up at the light starting to come up over the horizon. “This was not what I thought we’d find when we came out here.”

“I left my mix tape in the car,” Fox grumbled.

I glanced over and shot him an incredulous look. “Your mix tape? We didn’t even have a tape deck.”

“What’s your point?” he asked.

I shook my head, knowing there was no point in continuing to ask him about it.

“Everyone turn around,” Jones said as he wobbled up to the shore.

He started unzipping his pants and Fox’s eyes went wide. “Hey, a little warning before you pull the little guy out.”

“I’m not pulling out my dick, you moron. I have to take off my leg.”

I turned around just as Mole came out of the trees, laughing as he ran over to us. He stopped short, staring behind me and pointing. “He’s got no leg.”

“No shit, Forrest.”

“No, I mean…he’s really got no leg.”

Gritting my teeth, I stalked over to him and grabbed him by the shirt. “Do you want to shut your mouth, or do you want me to do it for you?”

His eyes got wide as he stared at me, his head shaking slightly. “No, I just meant…I’ve never seen…” He shoved past me and walked over to where Jones was perched on a rock. “I could motorize that for you. We’re talking full on robotics. It would be so awesome!”

“No thanks,” Jones muttered. “I’m fine with the leg I have.”

“Can I touch the stump?”

“No,” Jones said angrily.

“Well…how about I just look at it?”

“No,” Jones snapped. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Too much time in a cabin in the middle of fucking nowhere,” Rae muttered.

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