Page 100 of No Going Back

“No.”

No one had seen or heard from Tyler since he’d left the hospital for some air. He’d powered off his phone, and none of their texts or calls got answered. Kelly even tried to ping it. Nothing. The team had checked out all the local bars and motels, but found no sign of him. Dex and Mackie had gone back to Coronado, to his home. They knew he’d been there after hacking into his alarm system. His jeep had still been in the driveway. Tyler was making sure he wouldn’t be found.

“Two days, Dex. And he’s shut us out. His family. I feel like shit for not seeing it, not following him out of that room.”

“You and me both, brother.” None of them had anticipated Tyler leaving, convinced he just needed some space and would stroll back into the hospital. He’d been so relieved that Mira had made it through surgery. No one could explain why he had suddenly disappeared.

Raven were exhausted. Lack of sleep, worried about Mira and Tyler. The surgeon had said Mira could be in a coma for days or weeks, so Dex was planning to tell the team it was time to get back to work. He and Sam had talked about it earlier that day. Nyx were out. If another op came in, Raven would need to be ready, even without Tyler. It sucked, but life went on. Their work went on.

Footsteps got his attention. Ryan, Donnie, and Steve walked toward him down the corridor.

“Hey, guys. Her folks are in there?” Ryan nodded at the ICU room.

“Yeah.”

“We did another round of the local bars. Nothing. Liam and the boys are finishing up. Kelly’s staying at the Farm to see what she can do to locate our boy.”

Dex nodded and stood up.

“Guys, we need to head back to training today, back to routine.”

“Without Tyler?” Steve asked.

“Yes. Sam can’t manage without us indefinitely.”

No, it wasn’t what any of them wanted to do, but Mira was in good hands and her folks were here.

“I feel the same way as all of you. Just because we’re going back, doesn’t mean we don’t care, and we’re not turning our back on Tyler. Not ever. Tyler knows how to stay hidden if he doesn’t want to be found. Like we all do. We won’t stop looking, but my guess is he’ll surface when he’s ready.”

“Boss, I gotta ask you something, and I need you to tell me the truth.” Mackie had all eyes on him. Dex waited for him to continue.

“You said he’s been dealing with some personal shit, and we’ve all seen he’s been off lately. I thought it was all about Mira, but it’s way more than that, isn’t it?”

Dex hesitated for just a second. “Yeah, it is.”

“Tell us. We can’t help him if we don’t know.”

He regarded his team. Fuck, he got it. He was family and they wanted to help.

“I can’t tell you. It’s not my story to tell, and I won’t betray his confidence like that. Not even to you guys. Plus, I’m not sure even I know all of it.”

“Then tell me this. How screwed up is his head? Because my gut is telling me he’s about to do something stupid.” Mackie barely got the words out.

“Jesus, Mackie, you don’t really think he...fuck...” Donnie shook his head.

“No! Not like that.”

“Come on, guys. Tyler’s cooling of somewhere, getting his head together, that’s all.” Dex sighed. This was hard on all of them, and he prayed Kelly got a lead on him soon. She was doing everything she could to locate him. Not an easy task given his training.

“Look, Tyler and I spoke before we spun up. He was working through some stuff but was fine. You all saw him on the op. Yeah, he made a bad call, but other than that he was on top form. Yes, he’s dealing with shit, and this thing with Mira is new. The two together, exhaustion, getting fucking electrocuted. It all probably came to a head. I’m worried about him only because I hate to think of him dealing with shit alone when we’re all here for him.”

Dex wished he could give something more to reassure all of them. He and Sam planned to go see Claire. Maybe she could help figure out what had made him run.

“I guess we should see Mira before we head out then. You coming back with us?” Ryan asked him.

“Yes.”

Ryan nodded, then slowly opened the door to Mira’s room. Steve and Donnie followed him in. Dex sat down next to his youngest team member.

---