Page 115 of Nuclear Option (Owens Protective Services)

“Well…Fuck, he didn’t allow me to die. I can’t imagine God would somehow fuck me over and let him walk to the pearly gates.”

I snorted, turning to look at him. “Is that what you think happened? You somehow lost out by staying alive?”

He shook his head, not wanting to get into it right now. “She would be dead right now if it weren’t for him.”

“Yeah,” I croaked out. “Head shot. Damn lucky timing.”

“Or unlucky,” he retorted. “Which is worse? If she died, he’d never be able to live with himself. And if he dies, she’ll never get over it either. They both fucking lose.”

“Unless he doesn’t die,” I said testily. “And then they both live happily fucking ever after.”

“Yeah, that’s usually how this works.”

Glaring at him, I’d had enough of his shit. “You know, you’re just a ray of sunshine in a storm.”

“People tell me that all the time,” he grinned. Shoving to his feet, he walked over to the nurse’s station and dropped off the paperwork. Hensley rushed through the doors right at that moment, and I lost it. Jumping to my feet, I rushed him, slamming him up against the wall.

“Believe him now, asshole?”

“I didn’t know!”

“You didn’t listen to him and now he’s in the fucking OR fighting for his life, you piece of shit! He fucking told you!”

“I know, and I wish I could change things, but protocols—”

“Fuck the protocols,” I snapped. “You should have fucking listened when he told you. This was a high profile case, and you fucking blew it. Good luck getting her to testify now, you piece of shit.”

He jerked out of my grasp and stepped away. “You think I wanted this to happen? I had the whole place thoroughly checked out. It was clean. There’s no way anyone should have gotten through.”

“Except your own fucking man,” I spat.

He stilled, his brows furrowing as he looked at me. “What are you talking about?”

I barked out a laugh. “Yeah, you did a great job vetting your guys. I wonder if he’s already spending that $500k that was transferred into his account this morning.”

Hensley blanched, shaking his head slightly. “No, it’s not possible.”

“Yeah, it really fucking is. And when my guys get their hands on him, we won’t be taking him to court.”

Hensley’s eyes flicked over my shoulder to where Jones stood. This was an all around shit situation, and if he had any hope of saving face, he was going to do a better fucking job of listening.

“What’s going on with the trial?”

“It’s…been postponed. I’m not even sure how to proceed at this point.”

“I’ll tell you what you’re going to do. You’re going to go speak with the judge, and you fucking demand to have her allow Eva to do remote testimony. I think it’s pretty fucking established that there’s a threat. And if she doesn’t agree, I’ll sue her and the whole goddamn justice system for ignoring vital intel and getting a man shot, if not killed. I don’t care if it’s possible or not. I will take it up the ladder to whoever the fuck I have to. And if you don’t get this done, you will fucking burn. You got that?”

He gave a tight nod, swallowing hard. “Let me know when you hear anything about Cash’s condition.”

Ducking his head, he walked out the door, leaving me alone once again with Jones.

“Have you heard from Fox?” he asked from behind me.

“No, I didn’t want to call in until I had something to tell them. I know Eva’s freaking the fuck out.”

“Let me do it,” he said solemnly. “She knows me, even if she doesn’t like me very much. Maybe I can calm her down.”

I nodded, still not turning around to face him. I was fuming, pissed as hell, but also terrified. I didn’t know what would happen to the company if Cash bit it. I needed to talk to his lawyer and find out what steps needed to be taken, because without our leader, the whole company was up in smoke, and we were out one very loyal friend.

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