Page 117 of No Going Back

“Raven 3, come to us. Guys, no shooting unless absolutely necessary.”

Steve pulled the van out of the alley and screeched to a halt right in front of them. Donnie took shotgun, the rest of them piled in the back. Before the doors were closed, Steve sped away. Sirens sounded in the distance.

“Where to, boss?” Steve asked.

“Safe house.”

Tyler looked at his team leader, then he took in the rest of the team one by one, overwhelmed they were here. They’d come here. For him. They tracked him down and came for him. Risked their lives to save his.

“Thank you.” He barely recognized his own hoarse voice. The words were inadequate, but he didn’t know what else to say.

“You don’t need to thank us, Ty, it’s what we do. I’m just glad we made it in time,” Ryan said.

“It was fucking close. You must have an angel watching over you, brother.” Mackie patted him on the back.

“I thought I was dead.” He shook his head, closing his eyes as tears threatened again. “A few seconds later and —” He stopped, not able to complete the sentence. The van went quiet. It had been way too close, and they all knew it. Dex finally broke the silence.

“Don’t go down that road, Ty. We were there and you’re here, back where you belong, with your team.”

“After everything I've done? I don’t deserve to be a part of this team.”

“Fuck, Tyler, you earned and deserve your place on this team. Don’t ever think otherwise, and you sure as hell don’t get to walk away from us that easily.” Dex bore into him, pushing his point home.

Tyler swallowed. No one was angry with him, no one had asked him why. They were just there, no questions asked. Even Dex. Despite him leaving without a word, they still had his back. He plucked up the courage to ask the question, burning a hole in his chest.

“How’s Mira?”

Dex smiled. “She’s good. Lung’s healing well. She’s out of hospital and staying at our place so Kelly can keep an eye on her. She needs to take it easy for a while.”

Tyler’s whole body relaxed, knowing Mira was OK. He didn’t push for any more information and the team didn’t offer any more. Was she mad at him? Did she ask for him? Had they told her what he’d done? Too many questions, but now was not the time for that conversation.

“Boss, we got company. What do you want to do?” Steve’s eyes darted to the rearview mirror.

“How many?” Dex moved to look out the small back window.

“Looks like two cars. At least four in each.”

Ryan peered out the window next to Dex. “Pakistani Army.”

Tyler waited in silence with the rest of the team for Dex to decide the next steps. A stab of guilt hit him that he’d put them in this position.

“Alright. Sam was very clear about ROE. We are not authorized here. Steve, we need to put some space between us and them, get away from civilians, out of town into the mountains.”

“You bet.”

Dex activated coms. “Base we’ve attracted some attention, possibly Pakistani army. Any way to distract them off our tail?”

Tyler watched Dex’s face. Whatever Sam was saying wasn’t good.

“Copy that,” Dex finally said, his voice tight.

“I take it that was a no on a distraction. What did he say?” Ryan asked.

“He politely said don’t shoot the Pakistani army,” Dex said dryly.

That got some smiles. Even from Tyler.

“No kill shots, boys. Let’s run them off the road.”

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