Page 40 of No Going Back

“Yeah, OK, you cocky son of a bitch.”

“Man, that guy is lethal,” Mackie whispered to Tyler.

“Yeah, he is,” Tyler agreed. Dex had been cool with him all morning, though, so Tyler was keeping a low profile.

“Hey, you OK? You’ve been really quiet today.”

Out of all the team guys, he was closest to Mackie. They were partnered together most of the time, were the two youngest on the team and hung out together often. Or used to, before Mira.

“I’m good. A little tired, that’s all.”

“Something keep you up last night?” Mackie waggled his eyebrows.

“Nah, just one of those nights. Couldn’t sleep, you know how it is.” Tyler shrugged, but Mackie was looking at him concerned. He forced a smile.

“Mackie, I’m good, really.” He playfully punched his friend on the shoulder. He wasn’t good, but he didn’t need Mackie or any of his team worrying about him.

A cellphone rang, grabbing everyone’s attention. Dex was the only one to have a phone on him and the team looked at him expectantly. Dex moved away and answered. Seconds later, he turned back to them.

“It’s not the op yet, but Sam wants to talk to us.”

***

THE TEAM FILED INTO the war room. Tyler scanned the room, hoping to see Mira. Not today. Kelly was the only member of the intel team present. The boys settled around the briefing table. Tyler watched Dex sit down next to his girl, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. He always did that, but it had never bothered Tyler. Until today.

“How was target practice?” Sam asked from the screen.

“We still got it.” Steve grinned.

“You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t.” Sam’s sarcasm was nothing new to any of them. “Anyone I should be worried about?” he asked, tone only half joking.

Tyler glanced around at the other team members. Then his eyes met Dex’s. Yeah, his shots were off, and they both knew it. But he still hit the target.

“Nah, they all passed.” Dex replied easily, looking back at Sam as he reached for his baseball.

“I disagree,” Ryan said. Sam looked at him, eyebrows raised, the whole team waited for Ryan to elaborate, and Tyler held his breath.

“The target was the forehead, our team leader here seemed to mistake both eyes and the nose as the forehead, I’d say that’s cause for concern.” The team laughed, muttering words of agreement. Except Tyler. He was just relieved no one seemed to have any concerns over his shots. Dex shrugged at Ryan’s comment, grinning broadly, tossing the ball in the air.

“You mean he defied the rules and was being a cocky bastard. Why am I not surprised?” Sam said, making them laugh even harder. “Alright, let me get to why I called you in.” Sam settled them down. “Kelly, give them the latest on Aziz.”

“Asma, Lazir’s wife, and their ten-year-old son are living at Aziz’s hotel in Islamabad.”

“Well, that’s a step up from Daram.” Mackie said.

“They’ve never lived in Daram. That’s why we didn’t even know about them. Lazir was born in Daram, but his family sought refuge in Pakistan when things got ugly. Long story short, he met Asma, they got married, and had a child. But Lazir was angry at what was happening in Daram, got involved in political rallies, extremist groups, and decided to return to Daram to fight for his country.”

“Fight for his country? The man is a fucking terrorist,” Donnie said.

“Yes, it seems the allure of power soon meant more, and his warped belief that he was chosen to spread the New Dawning of Allah began to take root. The intel team have been watching some of his videos where he spouts the cause, basically a very anti-American cause.”

Tyler watched Dex squeeze Kelly’s hand in support. The fact she had to even mention Lazir’s name after what the bastard did to her angered all of them.

“So, is there a chance Aziz has always been bank rolling him?” Dex asked.

“Yes. I think so, but we’re still working on confirming that. It could be Aziz is taking a more active role in things. Avenging Lazir’s capture for his daughter and grandson. We know Lazir always wielded power, had a big following, that’s why he was an HVT. The attacks Reborn were planning took a lot of money.” Kelly brought the dark net up on screen, highlighting some text.

“It’s the latest chatter that’s more concerning.”

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