Page 78 of No Going Back

Dale sent the video to Sam’s phone. Dex kept watching Tyler, letting him have some time to cool down. Then he would try and talk to him.

“Son of a bitch.” Sam fumed. “A building that harbors some of the people responsible for crimes against our country. People that have killed my own brothers.”

“You said someone had been poking around, trying to find out about our team. Reborn know more about us than we realized,” Dex said, his eyes still on Tyler. He didn’t seem to be calming down; he looked even more agitated.

“I have people analyzing the video, and CIA will hopefully share any intel they find on the drives Raven recovered,” Dale added.

“Sam?” They all heard the faint word.

“Hey, Mira. You’re back with us,” Sam said aiming the camera back on her, so the rest of them could see. Jesus, she was so pale, her skin an ugly shade of gray. Dex looked behind him to call out to Tyler. He couldn’t see him. Turning fully, he scanned the area. Where the hell did he go? Just as he pulled out his cell to call him, he heard the shouting, then Ryan called out.

“Dex!”

“Ah, shit.”

***

TYLER HAD A TEMPER, but over the years he’d learned to manage it. Channel it into determination and adrenaline to do his job. Today was not one of those days. The waiting around was torture. He could see his teammates moving rubble in a human chain, one piece at a time, following the rescue team’s instructions. It was a slow process, but it was taking way too fucking long. If the elevator shaft was clear, why couldn’t someone get down there, get to Mira? He’d go down there in an instant. Taking risks is what he did; he needed to get down there. He needed to get to Mira.

Tyler scanned the site, looking for Max. Seeing him, he ran over.

“Hey, let me go down the shaft.”

Max looked at him. “No. It’s not safe yet and when it is, my guys will go down.”

“Is it clear?”

“Almost.”

“Jesus Christ, what the fuck is taking so long?” Tyler snapped.

“You need to back away,” Max said calmly. “This is my operation.”

“I don’t give a fuck whose operation it is! We got people down there. Mira is going to die, if we don’t get her out now. Do you understand that? She’s going to die.”

Tyler heard a shout behind him, then Ryan was next to him.

“Ty, come on. Let the man do his job.”

“She’s running out of time, Ryan. I’m done waiting around doing nothing.”

“I understand you’re worried, I want to get her out, too,” Max tried reasoning with him. “We’re working as quickly as we can. But if you can’t control yourself, you need to leave my rescue site.”

“Tyler, leave it.” Ryan took his arm.

“No, Ryan, I can’t leave it.” Tyler pulled out of his grip. “Quickly? You call this quickly. Jesus, just clear the damn shaft and let me down there! This is fucking—”

“Tyler!” Dex stepped between him and Max. He turned to Mackie coming up behind him. “Get him out of here.”

Dex glared at Tyler. Ryan and Mackie took hold of his arms, steering him back.

“Come on, man, let’s go.” Mackie shoved him forward.

“She’s going to die, do you hear me? And that will be on you.” It was almost a cry, but he let his teammates haul him away.

“For fuck’s sake, Tyler. What’s got into you?” Mackie demanded, once they were a few feet away.

Tyler leaned against a truck. Ryan and Mackie stood in front of him. He knew they wanted him to calm down.

---