Page 18 of Nuclear Option (Owens Protective Services)

“And she’s been running this entire time?” Johnny asked. “How did she escape in the first place?”

“I don’t know how she escaped. We were interrupted before she could finish telling me. Apparently, she had a joint cloud account with her aunt. She sent the information to her, but it’s gone.”

“Wait, you don’t even know if she still has the evidence?”

“Her aunt disappeared off the face of the earth, which we didn’t know about until we showed up at her house and were ambushed by the governor’s hit squad. We’ve been running ever since.”

“If they found her, they would have the evidence,” Jack acknowledged, “and they wouldn’t be worried about Eva. Without the evidence, she has no proof.”

“Which is why I’m hopeful we can still get our hands on it. Eva said her aunt was shacking up with some prepper before she fell off the grid.”

“That makes sense how she’s survived this long,” Rae said.

Johnny shook his head, standing up to face me. “I’m sorry, but you’re not bringing her with. You have very little to go on, and even less evidence that she’s telling you the truth. For all you know, she could be scamming all of us.”

“She’s not,” I said fiercely.

“How did you even come to know her?” Jack asked. “Did she seek you out?”

“No, she showed up on the footage at the research facility that Hayes owns. She was there the night of the power outage.”

“And you don’t find that suspicious?”

“I did, which was why I had my best man interrogate her. She doesn’t know anything. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Like with the drugs?” Jason asked. “Come on, you have to admit this all reeks.”

Rae stood by me, though, and I thanked my lucky stars she was on my side. “No, I met her at a self-defense class. She’s genuinely terrified. You can’t fake the fear I saw in her eyes.”

“She seemed fine in the hospital,” New Guy cut in.

“She was on drugs, high as a fucking kite. That’s what you saw. I can guarantee you that won’t be the situation when she wakes up and finds herself surrounded by three guys that look like they kill for fun.”

“Hey,” New Guy spoke up. “Why am I not included in that?”

I rolled my eyes and continued. “Listen, I get that Rafe needs to see me, but I’m not leaving her. Not after what we just went through. They’re not going to stop coming, and the only way I can protect her is if she’s with me.”

“Rafe won’t allow her at the facility without more answers.”

I already knew that. These guys thought they were telling me something I didn’t know. I had known Rafe for longer than any of them knew, and I understood him better than anyone else. Which is how I also knew that if I couldn’t convince Rafe that she was not only innocent, but in great danger, he would put a bullet in her head just to get rid of the nuisance.

“I’ll get you what you need.”

6

EVA

When I woke up,I had no idea where I was. My memories were fuzzy, to say the least. I sat up, trying not to hurt my arm. I vaguely remembered Cash coming in last night and telling me I’d had surgery. I panicked when I thought of someone coming at me, and having no way to defend myself. Not that having my shoulder constantly being dislocated was much help, but I could at least move around a little more. Right now, I was truly immobilized.

I slipped out of bed, making my way to the bathroom to clean up. I felt disgusting and in desperate need of brushing my teeth. I was a little surprised to find myself in a hospital gown, and I was dying to know the story about why I wasn’t dressed in actual clothes, but it would have to wait.

I half expected Cash to be waiting for me when I got out, but the room was empty and silent. Opening the door, I peeked out, not hearing a thing. Since I had nothing else, I grabbed the back of the gown and held it together as best I could with my one good hand.

Stepping out of the room, I took in my surroundings, not recognizing any of it. I could only assume this was a safe house that Cash had. When I got to the bottom of the stairs, my feet refused to budge another inch. There were three large men sitting at the table, all of them in leather and absolutely filthy. They turned to look at me all at once, none of them looking to be the least bit friendly.

“Hey,” one of them nodded at me, shoving a bowl toward the end of the table. “You hungry?”

My heart pounded in my chest at the sight of them. Something about the way they watched me said that they weren’t dangerous, at least not to me. But still, I didn’t know them. And where was Cash? Why was I in a cabin with three random strangers? Panic started to take over, but I shoved it down. If they were going to hurt me, wouldn’t they have already done it?

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