Page 142 of Pucker Factor

I grimaced, looking at the clear liquid like it was about to attack me.

“Hey, you heard the doc. No alcohol.”

“Yeah, but water?”

“If you wanted beer, you shouldn’t have gotten shot,” Cash snapped.

“It wasn’t my fault. I was protecting her.”

Kavanaugh shook his head again, staring off into space. “Secret Service. Who would have thought? He could have you disappear in an instant.”

“I know.”

“Like, we’re talking deep cover shit,” he continued. “This is just like Kennedy.”

I rolled my eyes as he continued to rant.

“JFK. You can’t tell me that was some random shooter. No, he was taken out. And then there’s his lover—shot in broad daylight?”

“Who?” Red asked.

“Mary Meyer,” Kavanaugh nodded. “Her ex-husband was CIA. And then it came out that she was one of JFK’s lovers. There’s no way that wasn’t a hit. And what about Marilyn? Do any of us really think she overdosed?”

“Do any of us care?” I asked.

“You should. You’re about to become expendable. Not that we won’t care. I mean, we’ll hold a nice funeral for you, just like with FNG. Only, your body will actually be in the casket.”

“FNG is dead,” Cash sighed. “Rafe confirmed it.”

“What?” I asked, scooting forward in my seat, wincing as my shoulder pulled. “Are you serious?”

He nodded, swirling the beer in his glass. “The plane was blown up to make us believe he actually died. He was alive and well when Rafe sent him out on a job. FNG agreed to it,” he sighed. “And that cost him his life.”

“He died on the job?”

Cash nodded. “He stopped responding, and when Rafe went in with a team, he was already dead.”

I sat back in shock. I guess we all knew FNG might really be dead, but after all this time, we just figured he would make a magical reappearance. “That sucks.”

“Can we really trust Rafe?” Red asked.

Cash nodded reluctantly. “I didn’t see any signs he was lying.”

“But the bones…” Kavanaugh said. “The coroner’s report said those were his.”

“A setup by Rafe.”

“So…who did we actually bury?” I asked.

Cash shrugged. “I don’t know. But we have to move forward now. We know the truth and we need to accept the fact that he’s gone.”

It was silent for a moment before Kavanaugh spoke. “It all feels a little anticlimactic, don’t you think? I mean, I really thought when FNG went out, it would be with a bang.”

“Carrying an umbrella,” I grinned.

“And yelling at Fox,” Red laughed.

It grew silent again, and then Cash raised his glass. “To FNG. He was a pain in the ass, but we all loved him.”

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