Page 56 of No Going Back

Mira did as Sam asked. She continued to scan the area, trying but failing to stop worrying. God, he had to be alright, be at the exfil. Last night could not be the last time she saw him. The man had her heart, whether he realized it or not. Her eyes caught movement on the screen. She zoomed in as much as possible. Oh, shit.

“Sam?” She pointed to the screen, her hand shaking.

“Fuck. I see it.”

***

“TY, COME IN.” MACKIE barked for the fifth time. No response.

The team made it back to the beach, ready to move out to the Zodiac. Tyler wasn't there, and they still couldn’t reach him.

“No sign of him?” Dex asked. He and Ryan were the last to reach the beach, carrying Gomez.

“Nothing,” Mackie confirmed.

“Did anyone hear or see anything after he said he was going to check the light?” Dex looked around at his team. All shook their heads.

“Raven, you have four SUVs driving at speed, heading toward the house.” Mira announced.

“Copy that. How long?” Dex asked in a hushed tone, remaining calm as always on the outside, though on the inside he was anxious as hell about Tyler.

“ETA approximately four minutes.”

Dex looked at his team who were watching him expectantly. There was no good option here, and only a few minutes to play with. But there was also no damn way he was leaving a man behind.

“Ryan, take Gomez, get him to the Zodiac. Steve, Donnie with him.”

They had to swim out to the Zodiac with Gomez’s dead weight. They would need three of them to rotate holding their prisoner over the distance and getting him on the chopper.

“Mackie with me.” Dex faced Ryan. “Ryan, if you don’t hear from me in five minutes, you get Gomez on the bird and away.”

“No fucking—”

Dex cut him off, his tone terse. “Not up for discussion, Ryan.” There was no negotiation on this.

“And if you don’t find him in time?”

“Ryan, move!” They were out of options here.

Ryan nodded, but he did not look pleased. Dex motioned to Mackie and the two of them headed back to where Tyler last reported from. Jesus, they were going to be seriously outnumbered if they didn’t find Tyler before those SUVs arrived. He refused to believe Tyler had fucked up or was down. There had to be a good explanation why he’d lost contact.

“Base, this is one.”

“One, what’s going on?” Sam replied.

“Me and six are going back to find our boy. The rest of the team will proceed as planned.”

“What do you need?”

“Keep us posted on those SUVs, find a backup exfil, in case.”

“Already working on that,” Sam confirmed. Of course, he was. Sam knew Dex wouldn’t leave without Tyler.

He and Mackie reached the east side of the property and saw the light from the window that had triggered Tyler to investigate. Dex signaled and they moved through the back door, heading toward the light. Silently they edged along the hall, continuing to use the light as their guide. There were no signs of a struggle; everything was quiet. At another open door, they paused to listen. Nothing. On Dex’s signal, they swung into the room, weapons raised. Dex cursed. Tyler lay on the floor, face up, not moving, a pair of cutters in his hand. Mackie immediately crouched beside him, about to check for a pulse.

“Wait!” Dex took in the scene.

“What the fuck, Dex?”

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