Page 94 of No Going Back

“And from what she said to me in that basement, she feels the same.”

“I’m bad news, Sam. She deserves better.”

“What makes you say that?”

He shrugged. “Doesn't matter. It’s just the way it is.” He wasn’t about to share his feelings with his captain. That would be...well...weird. He’d already said too much, although Sam seemed genuinely interested.

“Look, Tyler. I am sure Dex already said this to you, but if you need to take some time off, then say so. There’s no harm in doing that, and it will not affect your place on Raven.”

“Thanks. I’ll think about it.”

There was no way he wanted to take time off. Being with the guys, working, training... It kept him focused. It was his lifeline. The one thing in his life that made sense, that he trusted and gave him a purpose.

Sam squeezed his shoulder. “Stop beating yourself up. One step at a time. All you should be concerned about at this moment is Mira getting through surgery, and being there when she wakes up. Because she’s going to want to see you.”

Tyler leaned over his knees and pondered his hands wrapped around each other.

Sam stood up, thumping Tyler’s shoulder. “Come on. Let’s head inside. You don’t want to be out here when she’s done in surgery.”

The two men made their way back. No one said anything as they entered and settled into empty chairs to wait some more. A few minutes later, Dale joined them.

“How are your people?” Sam asked.

“They’re all out of danger. A few broken bones. They were lucky.”

“That’s good news, Dale.”

“Yeah, listen, guys. I just got a call. I know your minds are elsewhere, but I wanted to give you at least a little good news.”

“You found a connection to Aziz?” Tyler asked hopefully.

“Unfortunately not, but the intel from the houses led to four other addresses. FBI and SWAT just raided all four. Each place belonged to active cell members of Reborn. There was reference to the New Dawning of Allah at each house. They rounded up eight members, another two dead, cyanide pills. There were also weapons and more C4.”

“Anyone talking?” Sam probed.

“Not yet. Agents Adams and Lopez will head up the interrogations.”

“If they need any help, I’d be more than happy to assist,” Dex muttered through clenched teeth.

Sam glanced at him. “I’m sure they’ve got it.”

“Laptops, phones, and tablets were also recovered.”

“Good,” Sam said. “With any luck this will put another dent in Reborn’s plans for further attacks. At least something came out of today.”

“We thought we stopped them before, just a few months ago. They rebuilt that cell network very quickly, or it was way bigger than we thought in the first place. How long until they come at us again?” Tyler challenged. “We need to go after them.”

“We will. You just heard Dale. We have people in custody and new intel to work through.”

Tyler cursed. “God dammit, Sam. Do you really think Reborn, Aziz, or whoever is leading them, would tell any of their low-level cell members their big plans? This is much bigger than we ever thought. How did CIA, NSA, and whoever else miss just how big their operation is? How many supporters or believers they have here, on our own doorstep?”

He fought to keep his voice calm, but his frustration at Mira fighting for her life and Reborn being behind it threatened to spill over.

“Tyler, outside now.” Dex stood. Tyler did, too.

“No, Dex. Enough is enough.” He looked between his captain and team leader. “We need to go back there and end this. We should have done it a year ago. Dex, you know I’m fucking right. You feel exactly the same way. Don’t try and deny it,” Tyler challenged. Surely, deep down Dex wanted to shut down Reborn as badly as he did.

“I agree,” Dex said. “We do need to end this. Too many innocent people are getting hurt.” Tyler was surprised; he had been expecting the “we need to do this the right way” speech.

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