13. Eva #2
“Does it mean it’ll take forty-nine years to find out how this all fits?” Scottie asked.
“Germany is where Hitler ruled. And… And ! Hitler wasn’t from Germany. He was from Austria, where The Sound Of Music takes place, which happens to be Cash’s seventh favorite musical, which is…”
He spun in a slow circle, waiting for someone to answer. Scottie rolled his eyes. “Which is the square root of forty-nine.”
“Exactly!” Fox laughed. “Do you see how it all fits?”
“Fox—”
He interrupted me and continued. “And the 49ers…Which are in San Francisco, which is in the same state where Anna fell in love with me. Come on. That can’t be a coincidence.”
No one was convinced, but there was no stopping Fox when he was on a roll. I wasn’t sure how to change his mind.
“Alright, my final example, and this one will prove it all to you. Are you ready?”
“We’re waiting with bated breath,” Thumper said drolly.
Fox winked at him and eyed everyone one last time. “Alright. Forty-nine is an odd number and is not divisible by two.”
He flashed out his hands in some sort of dance move, waiting for the big applause that never came.
“Oh, come on! Not divisible by two? It’s Cash! He’s not divisible by two, yet he has a twin who looks exactly like him, which actually makes him divisible by two! It’s right there in front of our faces!”
I bit my lip, my eyes closing in disbelief. I had nothing else to say to him. I didn’t know where to go with this. Clearly, Fox believed this, and there was no telling him different.
“You guys—” Fox started, but was interrupted by Rae rushing into the room, turning on the TV.
“You guys, Cash has just been implicated in the murder of President Codi. They found his prints on the rifle left behind at the scene,” she said, turning up the volume.
“See!” Fox grinned. “He needs us!”
I glanced at Lock and sighed. We were never going to live that down.
It was no longer a secret. Cash was alive, and now everyone knew it. Setting the device down on the table, I opened it up and showed everyone where the tracker placed Cash.
“And you’ve known the whole time that he wasn’t dead?” Lock asked.
I sighed, hating to admit that I’d been hiding this from them. “For whatever reason, Cash wanted us all to believe he was dead. Including me. But what he didn’t know was that after Rafe switched places with Cash, I had him place three trackers under Cash’s skin so I would always know where he was.”
“That’s not stalkerish at all,” Thumper muttered.
“Hey, he did the same thing to me before I decided to stay with him. Hell, he had Fox follow me.”
“I did,” he said proudly. “And she was amazing. Remember how you nearly killed that guy?”
“I did kill that guy,” I clarified. “Which was why it was only fair that I do the same to him. I’ve never really needed to use it before, but when Cash left, I knew I would need a way to track him, so I brought this out and I’ve been keeping tabs on him ever since.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Lock asked.
“Because he needed us to believe that he was really gone. Whatever he’s gotten himself into, we all needed to think he was dead. So, I let him have his way for the time being. But he’s alive and well, and apparently, in the Middle East.”
“Where he’s now being accused of killing President Codi,” Rae continued. “Obviously, he didn’t.”
“No,” Scottie agreed. “He would never leave his rifle behind with his prints on it.”
“He would never use a rifle other than Sally,” Thumper said, “but she’s in his office.”
“Along with Betty,” I murmured.
“So, what does this mean? Are we going after him?” Rae asked.
I didn’t know. He didn’t want us involved, but now a murder was being pinned on him. A very high-profile murder. If the government got their hands on him, he’d never make it out alive.
“There has to be a way to make contact with him.”
“Ooh!” Fox raised his hand, jumping up and down. “I volunteer as tribute!”
“It needs to be someone who can be discreet,” Lock said, ignoring Fox.
“Definitely someone who can live through anything,” FNG offered. “Not to brag, but I can’t die.”
“Or someone who can get him out of a pickle,” IRIS added, grinning at everyone else. “Master of explosives. Just saying, I’m perfect for the job.”
“Are you kidding? All three of you would get caught in an instant,” Scottie scoffed. “What he needs is a quick getaway, and I happen to be puke-free going on two years now.”
“Oh, please,” Rae scoffed. “Like anyone would let you near a plane in a foreign country. Women are considered less than nothing over there. You should send me in. I can blend in and then seamlessly get him out without anyone the wiser.”
“Ooh,” Fox grinned. “That’s actually a great idea. Except, don’t send Rae. Send me. I’ll dress up as a woman and then we’ll make Cash look like Cashina. It’ll be perfect!”
“Why would you dress like a woman when I’m already a woman?” Rae argued.
“Because I figured it out!”
“I came in here with the news!”
“He sent me forty-nine bags of Funyuns!”
“That’s not even a thing!” she argued. “The delivery was screwed up and they sent you one less bag! How would he even take one bag out of the delivery?”
“Because he’s Cash! He can do anything!”
I sank down in my chair, trying to figure out how to get my husband out of this. He was clearly in trouble and needed some help, but the way his team was arguing, I wasn’t sure any of them were a good option to send in.
“I’m telling you, if anyone’s going, it should be me!” Fox argued.
“No, it should be me. I can’t die! And when they come after Cash, I’ll be able to step in the way and take the heat for him. It’s only logical.”
“Sure, if you want to get Cash blown up!”
“What you need is an international super spy,” Edu said, shoving back in his chair.
“How are you an international super spy?” Scottie scoffed.
“I blend in more. You’re too white.”
“Too white? I’m practically Mexican!”
“No, you’re not!” Edu argued. “Just because you tan easily doesn’t mean you can call yourself Mexican. I’m black. If anyone fits in, it’s me!”
“That doesn’t even make sense!”
Fox whistled loudly, not gaining any attention. “If anyone is the master of disguise, it’s me. I’ll do the honors of rescuing our leader.”
“Are you kidding? I’m the one who made you all think I was dead for a year!” FNG argued.
I let them continue to argue while I grabbed the tracker and slipped out of the room. They could be heard all throughout the building, but I already knew none of them were going. This required help from one person, and I knew exactly where he was.
Running to the elevator, I hit the button just as the doors slid open. Knight grabbed my hand and tugged me inside. Minutes later, we were headed to my house, neither of us having spoken a word. We both knew handling this would take some finesse and planning.
“Where is he now?”
“He’s still in the Middle East,” I said, opening the tracker as soon as we walked through the front door.
“This was not part of the plan. I can guarantee that.”
“Which means Cash really is in trouble.”
He gave a tight nod. “It had to be a test. There’s absolutely no reason the Shadow Government would want to kill President Codi. They would never have ordered that hit.”
“Do you think Cash actually pulled the trigger?”
“No,” he said, pacing the living room. “It’s a plant. Which means Cash is no longer part of the Shadow Government, and if they find him, they will kill him, and then they’ll come after you and everyone else here.”
“They might already be on their way,” I murmured.
“Precisely, which means we need to go into lockdown. No one leaves the premises.”
“Except for me.”
He scowled at me, shaking his head. “There’s no way you’re going out there.”
“There’s no way I’m staying,” I argued. “You have to have a way to get in contact with Cash. I know you wouldn’t have left him on his own. So, what do we do?”
“Eva—”
“Knight, don’t even fucking mess with me right now,” I snapped.
“I have been left in the dark for so fucking long, and I’m sick of it.
I may not be as trained as the rest of you, but I’ve been working with a fucking psychopath since the day I showed up on the doorstep of OPS.
Fox has trained me in every way, and I can hold my own.
Now, you can either take me with you and we can make a plan to get him out of this alive, or I’ll go on my own.
Either way, I won’t sit on the sidelines any longer. ”
Scowling, I knew Knight didn’t like it even a little bit, but thankfully, he knew not to argue with me.
“Cash and I had a plan for if things went sideways. A meetup location.”
“Okay, but he’s stuck in the Middle East. What are the chances he can get out on his own?”
His brows knitted as he thought about it. “Not great. We might need some distractions.”
“Well, you have a whole room of crazy men and women in that building who are willing to lay it all on the line to help him. They’re arguing about who’s going as we speak.”
“I can’t ask any of them to do this.”
I grinned at him, knowing this would be a cake walk. “That’s the great thing about everyone who works here. You’ll never have to ask.”