Page 84 of Nuclear Option (Owens Protective Services)

It was becoming more and more clear that Fox wasn’t going to let Eva go, and not because he had feelings for her—not romantic feelings. But she was changing him, just a little. I hadn’t seen him go full-on psycho since we went on the run. Not that I expected that to last, but she calmed him just enough that he wasn’t always riding the edge of sanity.

“She won’t,” I promised.

He gave a curt nod and walked over to gather his knives, then walked past me inside. I stared out into the night and wondered how I would even convince her to stay if she wanted to leave. I hadn’t really considered that it would be an option. After all, I already thought of her as mine, and I was sure she would feel the same. But he was right. What if after all this was over, she decided to go out on her own and live her life the way she wanted? What if that future didn’t include me? The more I considered it, the harder it was to breathe. I forced myself not to think about it anymore. I had her for now, and I’d have to do everything in the meantime to convince her that her place was beside me.Beside us.

* * *

I rubbedmy eyes as we headed out in the morning. It was still dark out, but that was the best time for us to leave. It didn’t look like Eva got a lot of sleep, but at least she wasn’t running on empty. We had to hike to our next location, and luckily, it wasn’t far. Jones must have had this planned for years in advance. He was like that, always thinking twenty steps ahead.

“It’ll be just over that ridge,” Jones pointed in the distance.

“Does the vehicle still run?”

He nodded. “I kept it in a friend’s garage. To everyone there, it looks like a junker.”

I stopped and watched him for a moment. “You have a friend?”

I could have sworn I saw his lips turn up slightly, but that could have been the shadows of early morning light playing tricks on me.

“I wouldn’t say he’s that kind of friend. He’s more of a mutual…untrusting bastard like me.”

“Does he know your name or where you live?”

He snorted at that. “Yeah, I hand out that information all the time.”

I wrapped my arm around Eva’s waist as we started climbing up the hill. Thank God, she wasn’t one of those chicks that wore heels and complained every five minutes. Sure, she had been terrified of the horse, and her ass was sore, but for all the shit we’d been through, she was doing a great job of holding it together.

When we finally reached the garage on the outskirts of town, Jones walked around the building and hopped the fence. I really was impressed by the way he moved. It was like it didn’t even bother him. I knew he had to take off the leg and massage the skin around it, but apparently, he did that in private. I never once saw him wince or complain about his leg. In fact, he acted like it wasn’t even gone.

Eva took a seat on the bench outside the office while Rae, Fox, and I stood sentry. The first rays of light were peeking through the mountains, and in the distance, I could hear the town waking up. I planned to be long gone before anyone passed us. Within minutes, Jones was unlocking the gate and rumbling through in a beater of a car. It wasn’t by any means a luxury car, and it probably had no hidden weapons, but it would get us from point A to point B.

“Your chariot awaits, my lady,” he grinned at Eva.

She opened the door and slid the front seat forward to get in the back. Rae, Fox, and I stared at the seat, each of us wondering who was going to get inside.

“I won’t fit,” I said instantly. “Rae, you’re the smallest.”

“Me? You’re just saying that because I’m a girl.”

“I’m bigger than you,” Fox argued.

“I was up all night,” I shot back. “I need a nap.”

“And you can get one while you sleep in the back with your woman,” Fox snarled.

He had a point, so I climbed in the back and took one of the window seats. Eva grinned at me, resting her head on my shoulder. Rae and Fox were still duking it out. After several minutes of arguing, they went with rock, paper, scissors. Fox lost, and Rae took the front seat with glee.

It wasn’t long after we pulled out that Eva fell asleep on my shoulder. Fox was still grumbling on the other side of Eva, and Rae was happily cleaning her weapon in the front seat as we made our way to Idaho. The traffic wasn’t too terrible, but with spring gradually making an appearance, more and more tourists were making their way toward Yellowstone National Park. We were lucky it wasn’t summer yet.

I tried to get some sleep, but my mind wouldn’t allow me to relax, not until we were secure. I still hadn’t figured out how they found Jones. He was so paranoid about everything he did, so it briefly crossed my mind that Jones was working against us. After all, he hated me for what I did to him. It wasn’t completely inconceivable that he wanted his revenge on me, but I just couldn’t see him turning on me like that, no matter how angry he was.

Our eyes met in the rearview mirror, both of us staring at each other speculatively. He scoffed, shaking his head as if he already knew what was running through my head. I didn’t want to believe it. We served together. That couldn’t be erased with just one decision. But if he didn’t give away his position, how did they find him? He blew up his fucking cabin. Why would he do that if he wasn’t on our side?

“I need to get gas and use the bathroom,” Jones said as he pulled off the highway and into a gas station.

I shook Eva awake, smiling at the sleepy look on her face. “Rae, can you take Eva to the bathroom?”

“Yep,” she answered quickly, taking off her seat belt and getting out. Fox shoved the seat forward and extracted himself from the back seat, grumbling the entire time.

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