Page 98 of No Mistake

Clean shots took out the men. Just as he moved forward, Kelly’s voice sounded in his earpiece.

“Raven 1, four hostiles coming across the top of the containers heading your way.” She was monitoring feed from the drone they had launched.

“Raven 6 with me. Rest of you, go as planned.” He and Mackie swung around, guns raised waiting for the men to come into view.

“What row of containers?”

“Middle and starboard, two on each. You’ll see them in five, four, three, two, one.”

Dex and Mackie fired, their bullets hitting the enemy men center mass. When they fell forward onto the deck, their machine guns erupted randomly toward the accommodations.

“Everybody OK?” Dex waited as both teams confirmed no one had been hit. Not waiting for more of Reborn’s men to come and investigate, they headed inside to catch up with the others.

It was taking way too long to get to their people. Dex didn’t like it. Now they had made their presence known, Perez or Reborn might just kill Ryan and Sophie out of spite.

“Raven 1, we see movement on the bridge. We’re headed there,” Liam advised.

“Copy that,” Dex answered. Raven moved forward, toward the target cabin. He had heard nothing further from Tracer. Was that good or bad? It was way too quiet. If no one was down here, it meant there was nothing worth guarding. Ryan could be dead. Fuck, they could all be dead.

Dex shook the thought from his mind. Ryan was tier one. He could handle himself. He could be hiding out. Dex wished they’d cleared the air between them. Yeah, Ryan had pissed him the fuck off, taking off, leaving the team and, as team leader, Dex was furious. But as his friend, his brother, he understood. The line between team leader and brother was a very thin one, and Dex hated having to cross it. But if anything had happened to him... Fuck, Dex, get a grip.

Approaching a cabin door, Dex peered through the window and froze. Ryan lay on the floor, not moving. Shit, blood was everywhere. A lot of fucking blood. The window was small, so Dex couldn’t see the whole room. He couldn’t confirm Ryan was alone. He tried the door. Locked. He looked back at his team.

“Steve, blow this fucking lock, now.”

Steve moved forward and set the charge.

“Ryan’s down. Looks like he’s alone, but be ready,” Dex said to the team.

“It’s set.” Steve moved back, as did Dex.

“On three,” Dex said. “One, two, three.”

The door blew and Raven swept the room in seconds, Ryan was among several dead bodies.

“Tyler!” Dex kneeled beside Ryan as the rest of the team maintained cover, never assuming they were safe.

Dex held his breath, taking in the sight of Ryan’s bruised face. He had a cut above his eye seeping blood down his neck. God, there was so much fucking blood. Everywhere, congealing. He’d been here a while.

“Talk to me, Tyler,” Dex demanded. Tyler reached out and checked Ryan’s carotid.

“He has a pulse. It’s faint, but it’s there.” Tyler followed the blood spill. “He’s been stabbed below the ribs. Twice. He’s lost a lot of blood. He needs a hospital right now.”

Dex touched his ear. “Base, we need a medevac right now. Raven 2 is down.”

“We’re on it. How bad?”

Dex looked at Tyler. His face said it all.

“Fuck, Sam. It’s bad. Really bad.”

“WE HAVE TO GO BACK. We can’t just leave him.” Sophie struggled in Tracer’s arms.

“Ryan can handle himself. Our deal was we get you out of here no matter what. That is what I’m doing. He’ll take care of Perez and Ali, and join us before you know it,” Tracer said gruffly.

“But—”

“But nothing. This is what he does, sweetheart. His job. His team are here. They know where he is and are probably already with him.”

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