Page 6 of Tango Down

Everyone confirmed, and soon I had Mercier and Danny in one ear, and Joel, River, and Shay in the other. Only, Shay didn’t have an earpiece, and I had a feeling we were going to protect him from engaging in any more fighting. But you never knew. Shay didn’t strike me as a guy who backed down.

“Joel and I are approximately two minutes away,” I said, barely able to speak at this point.

We let the burning helicopters guide us.

* * *

Greer Finlay

“Before they can get closer,” I said, pulling the pin from the grenade. Then I threw it at the doors to the big garage, and half the structure exploded.

I hauled in a breath, smelling smoke and destruction mixing with wet jungle, and let the adrenaline course through me as Cullen and I ran for the next hideout between two smaller buildings. The others had been talking about tunnels and secret escape routes, and the way my brother and I figured, it was best to blow up every entrance where such an escape was possible.

“Danny and Reese coming through between garage and command center,” Mercier reported.

“Garage bay is torched,” I replied. “Go behind. Handful of guards trying to push through with women and children.”

I plastered myself to a house wall and grabbed my rifle once more. With so many civilians crowding this section of the property, we couldn’t shoot willy-nilly anymore.

“What’s your ETA, Mercier and Crew?” I asked, peering through the scope. Four guards—they were standing near the blown-up entrance of the garage, useless, just shouting in Spanish, running out of options. They wore uniforms and were more heavily armed than the regular hit men we’d encountered earlier. I counted seven sobbing women and their six, seven, eight, nine young children. Bare feet, mud over their fancy threads. “No more shooting around the garage—I’ll get the guards. The rest are just women and children.”

“Roger that. Crew and I will be there in sixty seconds,” Mercier answered.

I took a steadying breath and let it out slowly, finding my focus in the scope. A shot to the forehead caused another guard to drop, and I got the remaining three before the group scattered.

I cursed. “Women and children spreading out around the garage—proceed with caution.”

Mercier reported back to the others.

“Fuck,” I heard Crew gasp. “Is everythin’ on fuckin’ fire?”

“We’re workin’ on it,” Cullen grunted, body checking a door till it opened. I covered him while he peered inside. “Supply storage. Clear.” He told Mercier and Crew to meet up with us in there, and we ducked inside to recharge and catch our breath.

“Third unit entering main estate through the back,” Mercier reported back. “Second unit’s status, Elliott?” There was a pause before Mercier spoke again. “Understood. Second unit will search through villas.”

I flicked on my headlight and dimmed it low, not wanting to readjust to the darkness again in mere minutes—

The door opened, and Cullen and I immediately lifted our weapons, only to lower them again when we recognized Crew’s form.

Thank fuck—we’d been worried sick.

Crew stepped into the poor light, and Cullen was there a beat later to crush his boy in a hug.

“This isnota rescue op,” Crew was quick to say, patting his old man on the back. “I need you to say it with me, Dad. You’re not rescuing me.”

I cracked a smirk. Attaboy. And he was right. We were here as backup. Which he’d sorely needed before all these PMCs had crawled out of the Hillcroft gutters.

“Just shut up and hug me properly,” Cullen replied gruffly.

I gave Crew a pointed look, and he sighed and complied. He was thawing out. I understood him 100%; he wanted to be strong and independent, and he fucking was. He was better than he gave himself credit for most of the time, but when Cullen and I’d heard Crew was heading to Colombia with just one other man…?

It was finally my turn to get a hug, and I squeezed him tightly. “Good to see you, kid.”

“You too, Unc. Don’t worry, I’ll keep youse safe out there.”

I laughed and clapped him on the back, just hard enough for him to protest.

I knew my nephew. Now wasn’t the time for a heart-to-heart. We’d get to that later.

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