Page 1 of Dear John

1

KAVANAUGH

“We take him alive.Is everyone clear on that?” Cash asked over comms.

“Affirmative,” I answered, though I really wanted to smash his face in right now.

I tapped Red on the shoulder, letting him know I was ready to move. Our boots barely made a sound as we crossed the tiled floors. At any moment, an alarm could go off, signaling our presence. We were relying completely on Dash to ensure our movements were masked.

Not that he couldn’t do it.

But if the bickering on the other channel said anything, it was that Rae was goading him into failing. It was a thing—a very annoying thing they did in the height of battle.

Or, you know…just a simple mission that should not require this much arguing. But it was how they worked.

“Just so we’re all clear,” I muttered, “I really fucking hate this mission.”

“We’re aware,” Red retorted. “And we think you’re really brave for even taking this on.”

The sarcasm rolled off him in waves. I held my middle finger high, knowing he would spot it. I heard his chuckle across theroom, but kept moving. Sweat trickled down my spine as we neared the wing that was sure to cause me nightmares. Spots danced across my vision, but I took a deep breath and moved on. I would not be cowed by my fears. I had withstood so much, fighting off the demons from my past, overcoming my father’s ambitions, and surviving life with these fuckers at OPS. This was child’s play.

“Approaching the target,” Eli whispered. “IRIS, how do we look?”

“We are clear and ready for takeoff.”

“Negative,” Cash hissed. “We are not clear for takeoff. There will be no takeoff.”

“Uh…Fireworks are set and ready to go.”

“There are no fireworks,” Cash hissed. “I repeat, that’s a negative on the fireworks.”

“What’s that?” IRIS said. Then the comms started going in and out. “I—hear—negative. Copy?”

“IRIS!” Cash hissed.

“Alright, alright! Geez, no fireworks.”

I could practically hear Cash’s grumble from across the room. “It’s not that fucking hard to follow orders.”

I snorted in amusement at that. “Yeah, not that hard to follow orders.”

“Do we have a problem or are we going to finish the fucking job?” Cash snapped.

I actually would prefer to do neither. I had no desire to work with Cash right now, but he was my employer. Whether I understood his intentions or not, he had still screwed me over, and it was going to take some time to wrap my head around that.

I heard him cursing me as I continued the path to the end of the gallery. My eyes flicked to the right where my certain demise lay. Encased in a glass tomb was a sarcophagus…a very goldensarcophagus. I shuddered and forced my gaze ahead. We were almost there.

“For a rich guy, he really has shitty taste in tile. You would think he could have chosen a better color than puke,” Eli grumbled.

“Let’s focus on getting the man out alive and not on the interior,” Cash snapped.

I gritted my teeth and did my best not to mouth off. We were going to have a come-to-Jesus moment. I just wasn’t sure when it would happen yet.

“On my count,” Cash said.

I waited for the countdown. I moved into position. Lights blared as we moved into the study. Cash was on him first, yanking him from his chair and throwing him on the ground. I watched the whole fucking thing happen as if in a movie. With his gun shoved in the man’s face, Cash looked every bit the boss I always knew. But inside, there was a dark hatred simmering that was infesting him and taking over.

As I watched him cuff the guy, I already knew what awaited him. And Fox would do it. He would do fucking anything for Cash, and he wouldn’t regret it for one single instant. But the moment Cash looked up and his eyes met mine, I knew there was a line I wouldn’t cross.