Page 11 of Reclaiming Izabel

Gunshots blasted holes through the door. A force slammed into me and knocked me to my ass. A fiery arc swept above me. Someone dragged my dead weight into the last room we cleared.

“Son of a bitch,” I hissed. Chest on fire, I checked my vest and exhaled a painful breath.

“You all right?” Brick asked.

“Yeah. SAPI plate stopped the fucking round,” I choked.

“Looks like Youssef is making a last stand.” Brick gave me a hand up.

“Sounds good to me,” I muttered.

Rex entered the room. “Got an SED on the door.”

Through the throbbing of my chest, I grinned. I loved our toys. Sticky Explosive Device was a bomb that could attach to any surface. It was our last resort if the tango had no plans of surrendering because of the destruction it could cause. I wanted Youssef dead and not to waste another molecule of oxygen on the bastard who’d killed my brothers.

“Light him up.”

I staredat the mangled body of the man who’d eluded capture for so long. If Youssef Hamza hadn’t died from the blast wave, he would have bled out from the tear to his femoral artery. A piece of the door had turned into a deadly spear and pierced Hamza in his thigh and sliced through the critical vessel if the massive pool of blood under him was anything to go by.

Brick received confirmation from our analyst that the transmitted image was indeed the Maharib Altanwir mastermind.

His end was fatalistic, poetic justice.

For me, it was a chance for my life to move forward. The weight in my chest, the need to avenge my fallen brothers had finally lifted as a sense of freedom took hold. The shackles of Deadly Spear fell off and I could look to a future again.

A future with Izabel.

Ramstein-Miesenbach,Germany

1800 local time

“So,any idea what you’re going to do after this?”

Brick’s question broke through my thoughts. Now that Youssef Hamza was dead and his organization was in tatters, I was anxious to reintegrate into society. But getting back to Izabel wouldn’t be as easy as I first thought. Though she may come to understand why I faked my death, she wouldn’t have agreed to that plan if she’d had a say in it. She would have gone on the run with me. Even if I were crippled and with Hamza breathing down our necks, she would have stood by my side. No, she’d be furious if she found out the truth.

I’d broken her trust. Gaining it back would be the toughest fight of my life.

“Go home. Get back to my wife.” I wanted to snort because I had no fucking clue how to approach her.

“Are you joining the SEALs again?”

“No. I had planned on quitting. The day everything went to hell…that was supposed to be my last mission.” Pain stabbed my chest as I remembered the baby we lost.

“Does that mean I don’t get to call you Dave anymore?”

Dave Morgan had been my identity. I made myself respond to both names because I’d always intended to return as Drake Maddox.

“You can call me whatever, Brick.”

“I’ll miss your ugly mug,” the ginger-haired operator said.

The door opened and the rest of the crew filed in. Viktor brought up the rear with his data analyst, Tim. The man was a whiz with computers, just like Hank.

“Tim analyzed some of the information collected from Hamza’s compound and we believe we’ll be able to identify who leaked the plans of the JSOC operation to the various terror networks.”

“Weren’t you certain it was someone from the administration?” Brick asked.

“We need hard evidence before accusing a high-ranking official of treason.”

---