After the Storm (KGI #8)(100)

“I’ll take care of things here,” she assured him. “Now go kick some ass so Eve and her siblings can move forward with their lives.”

No, he hadn’t volunteered any information on the who and how of his mission today, but she wasn’t an idiot. She knew it had everything to do with Eve’s stepfather and that Donovan would be making his move in short order. She only wished she could be there to see the ensuing ass kicking.

The corner of Donovan’s mouth lifted in a semblance of a smile, but his expression was serious and his gaze focused. Determined. He didn’t acknowledge her statement that it was Eve’s stepfather he was taking care of, but neither did he refute it.

He ruffled her hair and then without a further word, he strode to his truck, got in and roared down the road toward the main entrance to the compound. Rusty watched until he disappeared, a cloud of dust kicking up in his wake.

They really ought to consider paving the roads inside the compound.

She waved her hand in front of her face to clear the cloud of dust that drifted back toward the house, and then she turned and headed to the front door, quietly letting herself in.

But when she walked inside the living room, she stopped dead in her tracks, staring in shock at the sight before her.

Eve, her expression just as grim and determined as Donovan’s had been, was standing a few feet away and she was holding one of Donovan’s pistols. And it was pointed directly at Rusty.

“What the hell?” Rusty demanded, anger surging, her words biting in the silence.

“You’re going to get me out of this compound,” Eve said calmly.

“What the hell for?”

There was genuine bafflement in Rusty’s question. What the holy hell was going on here? She felt as though she’d stepped into an alternate universe. Had the entire world gone mad on her?

“Why isn’t important,” Eve said, her voice like ice.

Her eyes were cold, her expression inscrutable. But the gun never wavered in her grasp, and it made Rusty damn nervous.

“Um, Eve? Just so you know, that pistol doesn’t have a safety.”

If she sounded nervous, it was because she was. She was bloody well terrified. And Rusty didn’t scare easily. But being on the business end of a loaded, aimed gun? Yep, that would do it.

“Then you better make sure my finger has no reason to accidentally pull the trigger,” Eve said in an even icier tone.

Holy f**k. The world had gone insane. Rusty shook her head, certain that this was some bizarre dream she’d walked into.

“I don’t understand,” Rusty said quietly, trying to stall. But how? Donovan would likely be gone for hours. Her other brothers would all be with him, as would Nathan and Joe’s team in all likelihood. There was no one to help her. No one to defuse the situation. Rusty was it, and if she didn’t get Eve to see reason quickly, this was going to be one FUBAR situation.

Not to mention Donovan would have her ass if she allowed Eve off the premises. With her stepfather still a wild card, it wasn’t safe for Eve to leave the confines of the high-security compound. Surely she had to realize that.

“All you need to understand is that if you don’t do exactly as I tell you, I’ll pull the trigger,” Eve said in a cold voice Rusty didn’t recognize at all.

Eve was one of the most gentle, soft-spoken women Rusty had ever met. This was so out of character for her that Rusty didn’t even know where to begin. But whatever she did, she had to do it quick before this resulted in death. Her death.

“I’m mentally unstable, remember?” Eve taunted. “A danger to myself and to others. Surely you know that. It’s in all the news reports.”

“Bullshit,” Rusty snapped. “Where are Travis and Cammie?”

Her response seemed to surprise Eve.

“They’re staying here,” Eve said, her voice cracking with emotion for the first time since Rusty had walked through the front door.

Here was a weakness Rusty could possibly exploit.

“You’d just leave them behind?” she asked incredulously. “If you do, you aren’t the person I thought you were, Eve.”

Pain drifted into Eve’s eyes. And grief. Honest-to-goodness devastation. It was as plain as if Eve wore a sign on her forehead.

“I can help you,” Rusty said in a low voice, one she hoped was soothing and convincing. “Just tell me what’s going on. You have to know I’ll do anything I can to help. I can call Donovan. He’ll sort this out. Whatever it is, Eve. It can be solved. It’s what my brothers do.”

“Don’t lie!” Eve demanded, fury lacing the explosive outburst. “Don’t lie like everyone else has. At least be honest. That would be a novelty for sure.”

Rusty sent her a look of genuine confusion. She had no idea what had prompted this craziness but whatever it was, it was not good. One only had to look at Eve to know this was a woman nearing her breaking point. It was only a matter of time until she snapped. Unless Rusty was able to come up with something fast, this was all going downhill in very short order. Hell, it already was.

“You’d really leave Cammie and Travis?” Rusty asked again, purposely making her tone soft and unaccusing.

Pain splintered through Eve’s eyes. Hell, it made Rusty hurt to see the very real agony in Eve’s expression.