“Now we have to figure out how to inject it without her knowing.”
“A mild sedative should do the trick,” Jay suggested.
“If Rogers won’t be here until morning, it needs to be short term. I want her awake for the trip so she doesn’t freak out when she wakes up in a foreign place.”
“You really have gone soft on me,” Gibson said.
“Fuck you.”
He was wrong. I wasn’t turning soft, not entirely.
Only for Nina. The girl I couldn’t have, but would protect at all costs.
“Not tonight, I’m busy.” He waited for the laughter to die down before returning to business and saying, “But I agree she should be awake, in case we need her mobile. I’ll tell Rogers.”
I could’ve saved myself a lot of grief by thinking of that logical, mission-focused explanation.
“Thank you.”
“Doug, can you and Cate create some diversions with random safe house searches?”
“How loud do you want us to be?”
“Texas loud,” I said with pride.
“Yee Haw,” Jay said.
I didn’t expect the guys shadowing us and hunting Nina to buy it for long. I just needed a head start to get Nina safely into hiding.
“You think it’ll work?” G asked.
“No, but if it might buy us a few hours.”
“We should discuss logistics for tonight and transportation tomorrow,” John said.
“I don’t care who you have outside, but G and I will be inside with Nina. We’ll transport her tomorrow and need one car to escort.”
“No discussion needed,” Jamie said, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest. “We’re just along for the ride.”
“No, you’re not, but this is our mess. The fewer of you I put at risk, the better.”
“You realize we have targets on our backs for helping you, right?” Jack asked.
“Yes. But that doesn’t mean I have to make it worse.”
“Any chance it’s because you caught feelings?” Jamie asked.
A small chance.
“Fuck you.”
“That’s Gibson’s job. I’m just calling it as I see it.”
“Enough,” John’s authority prevented my reply. “Austin’s feelings for Nina are his own to deal with.”
Well, fuck. When had my uncle become such a master at manipulating words? He’d added fuel to the fire while shutting everyone up.
If I were more like G, I’d bow to his mastery.
