Page 101 of Covert Mission
Evan climbs to his feet and dusts his hands off on his pants. Rocking back on his heels, looking like he’s all wise and determined now, he asks, “So, what can I do for you?”
I sigh and kick a quarter-sized rock, sending it flying across the grassy lawn. “You could go in there and help Scout wring something out of that asshole.”
He shakes his head and grins. “No need, if you left him with Scout, he’s going to be singingandbegging to get his ass out of Vandemora.”
Evan’s right. Scout’s no fucking joke. I wouldn’t want the man angry at me. And definitely wouldn’t want him interrogating me. As a matter of fact, the bastard who was manhandling Camile already looks a little worse for wear after Scout brought him to me.
That actually made me feel better, for about four seconds.
I grumble as I stare at the ground. “I’m unstable, man.”
“You’re protective. She ran to you when she got away from that guy because she wanted you to take care of her. She trusts you, Lucas.”
A pain wings through my chest, making me press the butt of my hand against my sternum.
Motherfuck, Evan called me Lucas. Not good.
Now we’re really getting in the deep end of a murky pond.
“Well, unfortunately, I think that little-miss Camile doesn’t trust me enough to tell me the truth.”
He looks away, stares thoughtfully at the trees for a second. “There’s something here. Something bigger, and my guess is that it’s probably not very pretty. I feel it. Big guy, you’re the man to unravel that and set it right.”
“The fuck I am.” I pace around in a tight circle. “I’m not unraveling anyone’s mess. I’ve got a job to do.”
“Why are you fighting it so hard?”
I stop and glare at him. “Fighting what, Dr. Headshrink?”
He snorts. “That’s a new one. Anyway, it’s clear as fucking NVGs that you are afraid to let anyone behind that rusty steel door?—”
“NVG’s are not clear. But I get your point, asshole. I’ve heard enough.”
He keeps on talking and pisses me right off. “You need to let that shit with Nyx go.”
I know that my eyes are glowing red. I can feel the fire coming out of my retinas. “Leave Nyx out of this.”
He looks me right in the eyes. “Exactly, my friend. Take your own advice. Leave Nyx out of this. She’s the wrong person to bring up right now.”
If I didn’t respect my former SEAL teammate more than God himself, I’d knock all those glowing white teeth through the back of his head.
“Fuck,” I growl as the choking sensation I’ve been fighting for five minutes threatens to put my lights out.
A muscle under Evan’s eye twitches. “Where’s Camile?”
“She’s with Truck. He’s sitting on her right now.”
Evan glances past me toward Truck’s yellow and white bungalow. “Shit.” He stiffens next to me. “Something’s wrong.”
When I whirl around, Truck is a man-on-a-mission, striding toward us with an expression I’ve only seen one other time. Once on the battlefield when he thought he let his team down.
“Camile’s gone!”
ChapterThirty-One
Evan’s words jar me out of my heart-pounding haze as I round the corner to the backside of Truck’s bungalow. “There’s no way someone grabbed her out of that house with Truck?—”
Truck catches up to us and interrupts Evan. “I was on the phone. As you can see, the window doesn’t have bars. We shouldn’t rule it out.”