Page 91 of No Going Back

“Jesus Christ.” Dale didn’t hide the emotion in his voice.

“How’s Tyler?” Liam asked.

“Balancing on a knife edge. He, Kelly, and Mackie went to the hospital. The rest of us will stay here until everyone is out.”

“Hey, man, are you OK?” Liam asked.

Liam got it. He was a team leader. Understood having to keep things under control when all you wanted to do was scream.

“Yeah. Just another fucking day at the office, right?”

“OK. We’re on our way back. Let us know as soon as you have news.”

“Yeah, ‘course. Hey, Dale. Is there anyone we should call, for Sam?” Sam had never discussed family. Dex had no idea if he had one. Parents, kids?

“He has a son. Once we know more, I’ll make the call. Just keep me informed. And guys, Sam would prefer to keep his son private.”

Both Dex and Liam acknowledged Dale before Dex ended the call. The rope had lifted again. The body of another prisoner came into view, dead. Jesus, was everyone else dead?

Dex turned his back. All this time, he’d been so worried about Mira and keeping Tyler in check, he’d assumed Sam was OK. Expected to see him come up right after Mira.

“Hey, you good?” Ryan moved beside him.

“That was Liam. They found another hideout. Lots of intel to go through, but the team and Dale are heading back.”

“You brought them up to date?”

“Yeah. Jesus, Ryan, they’re pulling out dead bodies now.”

“Doesn’t mean anything and you know it. Until Max comes up, he’s still looking.”

Dex sighed. He fucking hoped so. The thought of Reborn being responsible for taking out Sam... Christ, how many more people would those fuckers hurt or kill in retaliation?

“Tyler might have pissed me off today but he’s right about one thing. We have to take down Reborn. Once and for all,” Dex hissed.

“We will. You just said there’s more intel. Something will give.”

“No, Ryan. I’m done waiting. It is time to go hunting.”

“Dex, we’re not even sure Aziz is behind it yet.”

“Daram, Afghanistan, Pakistan. We have allies in those countries. People we know. We go there. We get people to talk. It’s how we found Kelly. It will be much quicker than trying to take them down from here.”

Ryan pulled Dex further away from Steve and Donnie. Apparently, he didn’t want them hearing this conversation.

“Listen, I get you’re pissed. We all are. But we both know we can’t just go over there and start asking questions. We go there and get caught, we could start a whole new fucking war.”

“We’re not meant to set foot in half the places we operate. That’s the whole point of this team. They’re hurting people we care about. Mira’s in critical condition, and Sam might be dead. So, fuck you, Ryan, I’m not waiting for them to strike again. They want us? Let’s go to them and give them what they want.”

Dex fought to control his temper. He did his best to never lose it in front of his team, but today, even he was being pushed beyond his limits.

“Dex, this isn’t you. You need to get yourself together.”

“I am together. I’m just fucking angry.” Dex scrubbed a hand over his face.

“We can all see that. You’re letting this thing with Reborn and Tyler get under your skin.”

“Can you blame me? Tyler has been way out of line today. He’s lucky I let him stay. He’s been off lately and I knew it. We all saw it. I should have stood him down.”

---