Page 2 of Twister

Dagger looked down, then nodded. “Maybe.” But maybe not. He’d do as Tex asked and watch his buddy. After the very real fear that they were going to lose him back in Haiti, it was almost unbearable to think that he had been so affected by it that he was struggling. And if he was struggling, Dagger wanted to fucking know about it.

When he reached the showers, Twister was already out and drying off. Everything about him was honed down to heavybisecting muscles. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on him. He looked more ripped than he had before his injuries.

Twister wrapped the towel around his waist and tucked it.

He started for the sink and Dagger stripped down and washed as quickly as he could. By the time he got out, still dripping, he entered the bathroom as Twister finished trimming his dark beard and mustache.

“Hey,” Dagger said, a pool of water gathering under him.

Twister looked over and frowned. “What the hell, bro. Someone is going to slip. Wipe that shit up.”

“I will in a minute.” He stared at Twister, and he shifted.

“What?”

“How was the obstacle course?”

“It was fine. Nothing out of the ordinary,” he said, and Dagger thought he sounded more tentative than his teammate had ever sounded in the past. Twister shrugged, tucking his utensils into his kit. He ran his hands through his close-cropped hair, and Dagger noticed how they trembled. Dammit.

“You’d tell me if anything was bothering you, right, man?”

Twister grimaced, then laughed. “Of course, I would.” He started out of the bathroom, but before he headed to his locker, he pointed at Dagger’s feet. “Wipe that shit up.”

Dagger watched him go, then took care of his own grooming and hygiene. As he dressed, he wondered if he was being too hard on Twister. The guy had almost died back in Haiti. That had to affect anyone. Maybe he didn’t want to talk about that. Maybe that was weighing on his mind.

Dagger got to his car and his cell phone chimed. He grabbed it and saw that it was his half-brother’s widow, Quinn. He was so surprised he fumbled the phone. Brian Cole’s death had been close to eighteen months ago. The pain of losing his brother was still aching inside him, and as he stood there, a tsunami of grief washed over him. He’d made a point of following up with her asmuch as possible, but Quinn had totally shut him out, making him feel that he had also lost her and the boys. That constant ache had become part of his life. Her once vibrant smile was almost nonexistent, especially when she saw him. Deep down, he knew he was a trigger that set her off remembering her husband’s death. His team had made the call, he had been on the team as his backup, and they had failed him.

Brian had been a former SEAL, Dagger’s reason for going to BUD/S and following in his footsteps. Dagger’s mom had married Brian’s dad, and when he’d come along, Brian was just turning ten years old. Their father had traveled a lot for his commercial pilot’s job, and Brian had taken over when he was absent. It was Brian who had thrown baseballs for him, protected him from bullies, and given him the stability he’d always relied on. It was another thing his brother had bestowed on him that led to Dagger becoming a SEAL. There wasn’t anything as unshakable in the world as the steadfast brotherhood.

After getting out of the Navy, Brian joined the US Department of State in their Overseas Criminal Investigations Division as a Diplomatic Security Service special agent, specially trained Foreign Service security professionals. He had posed as a State Department official to secure the release of Astraea “Jack” Devers, now Easy’s wife. These days she went by Hitchcock.

Dagger was concerned about Quinn all the time, even calling and telling her countless times that if she ever needed anything, all she had to do was let him know. Dagger was aware, just from his experience with Quinn, that she would have to be in a tough place for her to call. But unless she asked for help, his hands were tied. He sensed something was wrong, and that unease never left him. All the while, even though it was through no fault of his own, he felt as if he was letting Brian down. That particularguilt never went away. He’d spent plenty of nights thinking on how he could get through to her but had to be resigned to her silence.

He answered the phone. “What’s up, Quinn?”

“Uncle Kade?” The tiny voice made him sit up straighter, an uneasy feeling unfolding in his gut. He looked at his dive watch. It was still way early, and if he remembered correctly, the school bus wouldn’t be rolling past until another hour and a half. His hand tightened on the phone.

“Hey, buddy. Ezra, right?”

There was a brief pause, then, with a funny catch in his voice, the boy said, “You can always tell us apart, Uncle Kade. Anyway, you told Mom that if she needed anything, you’d be there. That’s right?”

“Of course. Where is your mom?” Just then, Easy and Brawler were walking by. Easy stopped and looked concerned. He raised his brows. Neither he nor Brawler moved.

“She’s in bed, and she won’t get up. She usually makes us breakfast before we go to school. She cries sometimes when she thinks we can’t hear, and she’s really busy and sometimes grumpy. Me and Elijah are scared.”

That uneasy feeling turned to something sharper, and suddenly, Dagger’s heart stalled.

There couldn’t be anything wrong with Quinn. Not Quinn. “Is she breathing?” Dagger asked, his whole body tense, forcing himself to a quiet tone. That’s when Twister stopped, followed by Flash and Shark.

“I’ll drive,” Twister said as he maneuvered Dagger to his car, and his other teammates piled into Easy’s vehicle.

“We’ll follow you,” Easy said.

“I don’t know.” Ezra finally answered, his tone wobbly. His voice went distant and muffled as he directed a question to someone else. Then after a few agonizing moments, he cameback on the line. During his pause, Dagger gave Twister the address, and they started moving.

“Elijah says her chest is going up and down,” he whispered into the phone.

Dagger made himself relax his jaw. “That’s good, Ez. You and Elijah are doing great. I’m coming over with my friends. Okay?”

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