Page 4 of Nuclear Option (Owens Protective Services)

“No,” I answered immediately, thinking of Eva on the ground back there.

“I have Hayes, but he says he’ll only talk to you.”

“I can’t imagine why. I left him hanging in a very precarious situation.”

“Cash, we need answers, and he has them. Now’s not the time to dick around.”

I smirked at him. “Funny how you’re always around when you need help, but never when the situations are reversed.”

“What the fuck do you want me to say? We’ve got a shit storm brewing and I had to lay low. We’d have the whole goddamn government on our asses right now if I had come to help. And while you’re off playing protection agent, we’ve got a fucking terrorist on the loose, and we still have no fucking clue what his endgame is.”

“That’s your job,” I snapped. “And playing protection agent, as you call it, is a hell of a lot more complicated than you know.” I wasn’t about to tell him who was after Eva. He had enough on his plate, and I wasn’t about to hand Eva over to him on a silver platter. I had a bad feeling about what would happen if Rafe ever figured out who Eva was.

The distant sound of a chopper drew my attention. It was coming in fast, and I had to move. “I’ll catch up with you later. Right now, I have to go do my fucking job and make sure my client is protected.”

“I’m sending a team with you, since you came so wholly unprepared.”

He waved at the vehicles behind him and three men stepped out. That was probably an understatement for who they were. All dressed in black gear and looking like they were ready to murder someone, it didn’t take much to assume these were a special brand of ex-military.

“This is Jack Cox, Johnny Wood, and Jason Long. They’ll be with you as long as you need.”

“They’re not gonna fit in the chopper,” I smirked.

“Give them the location and they’ll follow. As soon as your client is safe, they’ll bring you to me.” He leaned in close, those familiar eyes boring into mine. “Don’t fuck with me on this, Cash. Past bullshit aside, there’s something going down, and we need to get ahead of it.”

I gave a tight nod and turned my back, stalking toward Eva. By the time I returned to her, the medic was already loading her into the chopper with Cook’s help. Rae was about to get in, but I stopped her.

“Take New Guy and keep an eye on that crowd,” I jerked my head toward Rafe’s men.

“With New Guy? Really?”

“Play nice,” I reprimanded.

“Fine, but only because I have to. What about the three Musketeers over there.”

I glanced back over at them, not sure if I could trust them. “Need to know.”

She gave a tight nod before stepping away from the chopper. I buckled in and gripped Eva’s hand. I wasn’t sure how I was going to leave her alone once we got her to safety. My gut was churning, telling me nothing good was on the horizon. I slipped my hand in my pocket, panicking when I didn’t feel Betty.

“Hold on. I need to get out for a minute!” I shouted to the pilot.

“We need to take off.”

I ignored him and flung the door open, running back to the truck and climbing inside. Call me a fool or a superstitious bastard, but Betty had been with me for too long to lose her now. I finally found her in the wreckage and rushed back to the chopper, climbing inside.

“It better have been fucking important,” the pilot snapped.

“Life or death,” I said with a tight nod.

2

GOVERNOR WALTON

I strode toward my office,expecting a report at any minute. I was so close to eliminating this bitch. After years on the run, all because of a few incompetent drug dealers, I was finally close to ending all of this. It was absolutely ridiculous that a little woman had not only escaped, but had managed to outsmart and outrun my men for this long.

The problem was, I had to be careful who I trusted to handle this. I had too many secrets that could come back and bite me in the ass. I would not go down over this. I’d paid back the money I’d taken, but over the last year, I had to dip into the state funds again. Every time they tightened border restrictions, I had to get more creative in my methods for getting shipments here. Technically, it wasn’t my problem. But I benefited from my part of the deal, and frankly, I wasn’t ready to let all that money slip through my fingers once again.

My phone rang and I immediately answered. “Yes?”

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