Page 114 of Nuclear Option (Owens Protective Services)

She nodded, blowing out a breath. “Then let’s get this over with.”

I took her hand and led her outside, giving her a squeeze of reassurance. The drive in was uneventful, and as we pulled up outside, I noticed most of the media was being held back. At least Hensley had listened to me on that.

“Boss,” Eli said in my ear. “We’re at the door.”

“Copy that.”

I stepped out and scanned the area, just as I always did. This was wrong. Something was off, but the more I searched, the more I just came up empty. My eyes flicked to the adjacent building where just yesterday I’d seen the glint of the gun, but today there was nothing there.

“Boss, we need to move,” Eli said.

Reaching back into the car, I took Eva’s hand and pulled her out. Fox came around, taking her other side as I closed her door and started for the entrance.

“Boss!” Dash came through on comms. “It’s the guard, Williams!” he shouted. “Just this morning, there’s a pending transfer of five hundred thousand dollars. He’s being paid off, boss. He’s the shooter!”

The world stopped as reality sank in. My eyes flicked up to the adjacent building again, and there it was. The glint of steel shining in the sun. As if in slow motion, I shoved my hand out, stepping in front of Eva as I pushed her behind my body.

“Fox!” I shouted, just as something sharp pierced my throat. I stumbled back, falling hard to the ground. My head bounced off the concrete and lolled to the side. I watched as Fox shoved Eva back into the car as she screamed, watching me lay on the ground. I knew I was dying, bleeding out. I didn’t want her to watch this. Within seconds, the car peeled away and Eli rushed to my side, pressing his hands to my neck.

“Stay with me!”

I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t even think at that moment. My vision started to grow fuzzy, but not before another figure knelt down beside me. Jones looked down at me, his eyes zeroing in on the hole in my neck.

“You don’t get to die,” he shouted. “You didn’t let me take the easy way out, and I’m not letting you!”

I started coughing, choking on my own blood. The world spun around me as the sound of the sirens came to a screech not far away. My eyes drifted shut as my body gave out. All I could think was that I just wanted them to turn off that damn siren and let me die in peace. But then Jones slapped me across the face and started yelling at me. He wasn’t going to make this easy on me.

37

ELI

“He’s the shooter!”I heard Dash say over coms.

I immediately pulled my gun, running flat out for Eva and Cash, but in those few seconds, I was too late. I watched in horror as Cash stepped in front of Eva, then collapsed backward as a bullet tore through him. Fox immediately grabbed Eva, pulling her back to the car as she screamed for Cash.

I briefly saw the blood splatter all over her face. Had Cash not stepped in front of her, it would have been a kill shot. Kneeling down beside him, I quickly assessed his injuries. He was bleeding out at the neck. The wound was just above his clavicle, and the bullet had probably nicked his carotid artery. I shoved my thumb inside the wound, immediately feeling the blood flow slow down.

“Stay with me!” I shouted, hoping to keep him lucid for as long as possible.

Cash didn’t even move, and it had to be painful as hell. His eyes glassed over as he stared at Eva being driven away. Jones came running up, then knelt down beside Cash. Staring at his friend dying had to be hard, especially since Cash was once in the same position.

“You don’t get to die,” he shouted. “You didn’t let me take the easy way out, and I’m not letting you!”

The sirens were blaring in the distance, growing louder as they got closer. I knew the rest of the team had my back, watching over us as I tried to keep Cash alive. Everything happened so quickly after that. The ambulance arrived and the paramedics tried to shove me out of the way, but there was no way I was removing my thumb from his neck until we were in the fucking operating room.

Cash was in and out of it, barely conscious as they loaded him into the ambulance and slammed the doors. The chaos of the ride was unlike anything I’d experienced before. I’d never lost a man, never had to deal with watching a brother die. My hands were coated with his blood, and as he flatlined in the back of the ambulance just as we were pulling up to the hospital, a part of me shriveled up and died inside, knowing I would never be the same. It was only by the grace of God they were able to get him back with chest compressions.

As they lowered him out of the ambulance, I had no choice but to hop on top of the gurney, straddling his body as they wheeled us down to surgery. Though my thumb was numb, I didn’t dare move a muscle. They’d gotten his heart going again, and now they just had to patch him up. The doors to the surgical suite flew open as we were wheeled inside. Doctors barked orders, nurses ran to grab what they needed, and the whole time I stared down at my friend covered in his own blood. He was willing to die for the woman he loved, but it was the rest of us that would have to deal with the fallout.

After what felt like an eternity, the doctor had me move my thumb, quickly moving in and getting to work on repairing the artery. I was shoved out the door, left to stand there with blood coating me. With a shaky hand, I ran my fingers through my hair and made my way to the waiting room.

Jones was already sitting in a chair filling out a form. As I sat down beside him, he looked over at me. “Is he dead?”

I opened my mouth to say something, but hell…I didn’t even know how to answer that. “When I left, he was still alive. Barely.”

He nodded. “He’ll be fine.”

“How can you be so sure?”

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