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Deja vu swept over Dex as he huddled in the hillside observing what was now Ahmed Khalini’s compound. A little over three months ago, Alpha was in this exact position ready to go in and rescue Kelly. Now they were here as Raven. They’d agreed on the new team name together. Raven, keeping the “black” theme of Onyx black ops.
Construction at the compound was ongoing. A wall now surrounded the perimeter, barbed wire along the top. Inside two buildings appeared completed, and another two, one to the east and one to the west, were still under construction. The largest of the finished buildings replaced the one where they found the tunnels underneath. Where they found Kelly. The tunnels would provide protection, an escape route for Khalini, but not today. They had no intention of letting him get anywhere near those tunnels.
Two dozen soldiers guarded the compound. Nothing they couldn’t handle, but Dex had no doubt more were just a phone call away, and he had no idea how many that call would bring. Timing was everything on this op.
They’d been doing surveillance for the last two hours. Mackie had confirmed Khalini entered the main building a little over an hour ago and hadn't left. It was now close to midnight, and most of the Reborn soldiers had turned in for the night, just a couple had been posted on the roof of the main house with rifles.
“Let’s head to the breach point,” Dex whispered.
As they moved down the hillside to the perimeter wall, Dex tapped his coms, switching channels, singling out Sam. “Is it a go?”
“Negative. Take the target then get out. We’ll come back for them; you have my word.”
“Copy that.” Fuck, he so wanted to bring Bravo home.
Raven got into place at the rear of the compound. A tiny blind spot from the soldiers on the roof. Steve and Tyler boosted up Donnie, who cut through the barbed wire with ease, tossing it aside. He climbed on top of the wall and reached down, grabbing a rope from Ryan. Donnie disappeared over the other side and secured the rope, allowing the others to climb easily over the wall.
Once over, they stayed low, behind the west construction, sweeping the area and listening to ensure they remained undetected. Confident they were good, Dex glanced over at Donnie.
“Ready?”
“You know it.” They bumped fists and Donnie made his way up one of the ladders inside the west building. The rest of the team poised to provide cover if necessary. At the top of the ladder, Donnie would have a clear line of sight of the two soldiers on the roof.
“OK Raven four, this one’s on you. Whenever you’re ready.” Dex had no doubts Donnie, the team sniper, would take them with ease.
“You got it, boss man.”
Seconds later Dex heard two pops.
Donnie’s voice came over coms. “Targets down.”
Dex looked at Steve and Mackie. “Go.”
The two men hustled to the east building to set explosives. The blast would distract from Raven and the two dead lookouts. The plan was to draw the soldiers to the commotion, giving the team the chance to enter the main house.
Within five minutes, Steve, Mackie, and Donnie were back with the rest of the team.
“OK, boys, let’s go get this son of a bitch. Blow it.”
Several small explosions ripped through the east building. Reborn soldiers raced toward the fire, screaming at each other in clear confusion.
“Let’s move.” It was imperative they get into the main house before Khalini had a chance to suspect they were under attack and head for the tunnels.
The team cleared the main floor before Dex and Ryan trotted up the stairs. The sound of footsteps stopped them in their tracks. The footsteps got closer. No kill shots. Khalini was inside this house somewhere and orders were to take him alive. Dex raised his rifle and swung it down, catching the man as he came into view. Disarming him, Dex raised his NVGs and aimed a light in the man’s face.
“Not him.” He quickly zip tied his hands, before stepping over the unconscious body.
With one room left, the two men paused, either side of the door.
“You know this would be way easier if we didn’t need him alive,” Ryan whispered.
“No kidding. On me.”
Bullets shot through the door. Dex cursed and stepped back, pressing flat against the wall same as Ryan.
“He’s armed,” Ryan said.
“You think?” Dex replied sarcastically.
Ryan chuckled and Dex grinned.
Dex pulled a flashbang from his tactical vest. Ryan put his hand on the doorknob, opening it at Dex’s nod. Dex threw the flashbang inside and both men flattened back against the wall as the blast went off. Dex swept through the door, Ryan right behind him. Someone was crouched down on the floor.
“Get up, hands above your head,” Dex shouted. The figure didn’t move, his hands covering his ears. Ryan slung his rifle over his back and hauled the figure to his feet as Dex covered him. The man reached for a knife. Ryan tackled him and the knife dropped to the floor. He held him still while Dex shined a flashlight in the man’s face to make sure.
Dex activated his coms. “Target acquired.”
“Exfil is ready and waiting,” Sam confirmed in his ear.
“Raven five, how we looking?”
“The fire’s getting most of their attention, but some are getting suspicious. Only a matter of time before they realize we’re here,” came Tyler’s voice.
“OK, fall back to rendezvous. We’ll meet you there.”
Ryan zip-tied Khalini’s hands. “His hand’s bleeding. The knife must have caught him,”
“He’ll live,” Dex grunted, taking hold of Khalini and pushing him toward the stairs. Ryan led, clearing the way. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Ryan motioned for Dex to hold while he cleared the best way out. Dex intended to take full advantage of these couple of minutes. He pushed Khalini up against the wall.
“Lazir. Where is he?”
Khalini said nothing.
“Is he here?”
Still nothing.
“Where are the bodies?”
Nothing.
“I know you speak English, you son of a bitch. Where are the bodies? The American team Lazir murdered. The men you led to their death.” They were here somewhere, and fuck if he was going to leave them here. “You know what I’m talking about. What did you do with them?”
Khalini sneered at him with a look of defiance. Tried to spit in his face, but Dex caught him, the butt of his gun slamming into his jaw.
“Don’t fucking push me. Where are they? I know they were burned and buried. Tell me where.”
Khalini stared at him. “It was you, wasn’t it? You came for the woman. If you hadn’t blown the place up, maybe you would have been able to take them home.”
Dex pulled the knife from his vest, pushing it into the already open wound on Khalini’s hand. When Khalini cried out, Dex covered his mouth with his hand to muffle the sound. “Tell me where the fuck they are.” He growled in Khalini’s face.
Oh yeah, now the bastard was scared. “One finger won’t hurt.” He hovered the knife over Khalini’s little finger. No, he wouldn’t do it, that’s not who he was. But he was OK threatening it.
“There’s a way out back, let’s go.” Ryan was back, taking in the scene before him.
“I need a minute.” Dex didn’t look at Ryan, too intent on getting the information. Khalini was sweating.
“We need to move, boss. Now.”
“One minute. I’ll meet you at the back door.” Dex’s voice was ice and Ryan walked away.
“Last fucking chance, asshole.” He pushed the knife against Khalini’s finger. Yeah, he was crossing the line here, Sam would probably have his ass for this. “Tell me where Lazir and the bodies are.”
“Beyond the rear perimeter wall. Shallow grave in the cluster of trees. But I wouldn’t waste your time. The dogs would’ve had them by now.” Khalini spat.
“And Lazir?”
“I don’t know where he is.”
Dex knew he was out of time. If they didn’t move now, he would put his team at risk.
“If you're lying, this conversation won’t be over.” He hissed before withdrawing his knife.
Shoving Khalini forward, Dex joined Ryan at the back door.
“We clear?”
“Yeah, team is the other side of the wall. Ready?”
Dex nodded. They made their way to the rope, Ryan went first, Dex shoving Khalini up, Ryan grabbed him and threw him down, none too gently, on the other side. The two of them jumped down after him.
“How much time do we have?” Dex asked his team.
“Not long. They’re searching the building, will notice he’s gone any minute. If they haven’t already alerted the other villages, the fire will have gotten attention. We need to be gone before more arrive or we’ll be severely outnumbered,” Steve confirmed.
Dex glanced at Tyler. “Put something around that hand.” He motioned to Khalini before activating his coms. “How long for our ride?”
“Ten minutes out,” Sam confirmed.
“I need a bit longer.”
“Why?”
“No time to explain.” He’d take the heat later.
“Raven one, what are you doing? Get the fuck out of there now.” Sam’s voice was firm.
“We are getting out.” Dex cut his coms and looked at his team.
“What’s going on?” Ryan asked, the whole team watching their team leader.
“We’re bringing Bravo home.”
“Whoa, was this the plan all along?”
Dex ignored the question, pointing to the cluster of trees behind them. “Our friend here says they’re in a shallow grave over there. We have zero time. Ty, Mackie, go get the truck. Take this fucker with you. The rest of you with me. We have one shot at this, and it’s not going to be pretty.”
He didn’t need to say more. Each one of them wanted nothing more than to bring their brothers home so they could be laid to rest properly. Dex was conscious of precious minutes ticking by as they scoured the ground in silence, all eyes focused on the dirt beneath them. If more insurgents got to them before they got out of there, they were going to be in a shitload of trouble.
“I got something,” Donnie announced. The team ran toward him. What looked like a hand was sticking out of the ground. The bones still had some flesh. The severe cold temperatures would have slowed the decomposition. It had to be them. Some fingers were missing. That bastard Khalini was right. The dogs had tried to get to them.
The team began digging with their hands, guns, whatever they could find. Fuck, this was the ugliest thing Dex had ever done. He wanted to throw up, could see his team were struggling too, but they would do this. There was no way they were leaving these guys here any longer. The earth was loose. The bodies must have only been moved there recently, which worked in their favor.
The sound of the truck came fifteen minutes later. Shouting from inside the compound was getting louder.
“We got three vehicles, about twenty tangos closing in,” Tyler said as he reached Dex.
“ETA?” Dex asked.
“Maybe five minutes.”
“Let’s get moving boys.” Shit, it was going to be tight.
They loaded the last body into the truck, covering them with a tarp. Not quick enough. Gunfire erupted. Cursing, Dex took up a defensive position as did the rest of his team, returning fire at the advancing insurgents running toward them.
“We’re too exposed here, Dex, we need to move.” Ryan was next to him, taking cover behind the trees.
Dex activated coms. “Let’s fall back to the truck, Raven five, get ready to floor it.” They still had the advantage of NVGs, and their aim was way more on target. He and Ryan were the last ones to reach the truck. They both reached for grenades.
“Now!” Launching, they used the explosion as cover, diving into the truck as Tyler floored it, giving them precious seconds to get ahead. Drawing more grenades, they waited for the insurgents to follow. Seconds later, three trucks appeared through the smoke, advancing on them at speed. Dex and Ryan launched again, taking out the first truck. The others whizzed past it, gaining on them.
“One down, two to go.” Ryan held another grenade as they waited for the other trucks to come into view. It didn’t take long.
“Ty, slow it down. Team give us cover,” Dex yelled.
The gap between them reduced as Ty slowed down enough to make the bullets uncomfortably close.
“Fuck, Dex, this is a little too close for comfort,” Mackie said. He, Donnie, and Steve, rifles raised, returned fire. Dex and Ryan launched again, taking out one truck. The team’s bullets hit the other truck’s tires, causing it to swerve and crash.
“OK, Ty, get us out of here. There's probably more on route.” The team kept their defensive position.
Dex activated his coms. “Base, we’re going to need that additional exfil. And it’s a hot extraction.”
No mistaking the sharp intake of breath at the other end of the phone. “Copy that.” Sam’s voice was clipped and this time he cut coms.
Fuck, that wasn’t good. Ryan glanced over at him. “Everything OK?”
“Nope.”
Ryan looked at him quizzically but let it go.
Sam came through with the exfils. Khalini was being whisked away to a black site to be interrogated. Bravo was finally going home to be laid to rest in peace. The team settled in for the ride home, everyone quiet. Digging up the bodies had been one of the toughest things any of them had ever done. But damn, it was worth it. Gone but never forgotten. If only they could have got Lazir too.
Twenty-four hours later they were back at HQ, thoroughly exhausted. Dex knew it had been hairy out there, more than a little outnumbered, but they’d handled it. Clearing security, Sam was waiting for them, face like thunder.
“What the fuck was that?” Yeah, Sam was furious. “My office, now.”
Dex glanced at his team, who watched him questioningly, before following Sam to his office.
“Khalini told me where they were, it was the right thing to do.” Dex tried to justify his actions as he stepped inside and closed the door.
“I don’t fucking care what he told you. Did you even consider he might have been lying? Might have been a trap. I gave you an order, Dawson. Intel was not confirmed. Your orders were to take Khalini and get the hell out.”
“He wasn’t lying. I made sure of that.”
“And how exactly did you do that?”
“I persuaded him.”
Sam cursed, but Dex ignored him. “We got Khalini and our brothers. Job done.”
“And caused a goddamn firefight that got the attention of every village in the area. Black Ops Dawson, remember what that means?”
Dex chose not to answer.
“What if you’d been outgunned? We would have lost Khalini, and your team captured or dead. This is not the way my teams work. If you cannot follow orders, we are going to have a serious fucking problem.”
“I seem to remember you told me if I felt an order needed to be changed, I could make that call. That you understood things changed in the field. Or did I get that bit wrong?” he asked, barely keeping his frustration in check.
“The op was Khalini, and you executed your way. You were told to stand down on the bodies and you ignored it. I warned you about going rogue. If you had a lead on Bravo, your first action should have been to tell me, not cut fucking coms and do your own thing.”
Dex rubbed his hands over his face.
“This isn’t SEALs, Dawson. Our rules of engagement are very different. We don’t exist. That means clean and discreet. Doing anything else draws way too much attention and could destabilize the whole US operation there. I warned you of that. We had a limited window. You were way past it and way out of line.”
“It was a risk—” Dex tried to speak but Sam wasn’t done.
“You get to handle ops as you want. But I told you at the start no unsanctioned shit. You tell me and we work as a team. You don’t get to make those calls on your own, you do not go rogue, and you sure as hell don’t ever fucking cut coms with me.”
Dex stayed quiet, sensing there was more.
“Fuck, Dawson. Did you even consider that as we didn’t have the intel, I’d already called off the additional exfil? There was way too much that could have gone to hell, and the fact that you didn’t even consider that concerns me. A lot.”
Sam barely paused to take a breath.
“I get you wanted to bring them home. We all did, but not at the cost of any of your team’s lives, innocent lives, or starting a fucking war. To be blunt, they were dead. This is not the same as when you went for Lieutenant Kimber. This kind of thinking is going to get you and your team killed.”
Dex didn’t agree. He was confident of his team’s ability and would never risk their lives, although it had got a little close. He’d seen an opportunity and took it. But yeah, he knew he shouldn’t have cut coms. That was crossing the line big time.
He waited, but Sam appeared to be done.
“OK, you’re right. I stepped across the line but there was no time to run it past you, so I made a call. I saw an opportunity and I took it. That’s who I am, Sam, and you knew that before you offered me this position. Think outside the box, remember? But I hear you. I should’ve looped you in, but I don’t regret bringing them home.”
“You got lucky this time and I will manage the fallout. But listen to me when I say this is your one and only warning. You and your team are the best. Don’t give me a fucking reason to regret my decision in bringing you on board.” Sam stood opening the door. “If I can't trust you, Dawson, this isn't going to work. And to be clear, if you fuck up like this again, you and your team are done.”
“Understood, sir.”
Holy shit. Dex walked back to the war room. OK, he expected to be in shit, but he could have just fucked this for the team.
“What the fuck was that about? Why was he so pissed?” Steve asked.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s sorted.” Dex went to sort his own gear, but Ryan stepped in front of him.
“What did you do?”
“Ryan, leave it.”
“No. Sam wouldn’t be pissed like that unless we fucked up. None of us thought we had fucked up, but my guess is you disobeyed an order and didn’t tell us. Sound about right?” No mistaking Ryan's anger. Dex looked around at his team, all waiting for an explanation.
“Alright. He told me to stand down on bringing Bravo home because he hadn’t got a definitive location. Khalini told me where they were, so I made the call to go get them without telling Sam.”
“For fuck’s sake, Dex. We just got here and you’re pushing the boundaries already? Sam could bounce us from here in an instant and then what happens? We fail here, do you really think any of us would have a military career to fall back on?” Ryan threw his hands in the air.
“It all worked out. We got Khalini and we brought Bravo home. Sam’s pissed, but he’s letting it go.”
“Letting it go? We already needed to earn his trust as a new team, and you just made that ten times harder. You are the team leader, and you know damn well we will follow you anywhere, but you were out of line going against Sam. The man chose you, fucking sought you out to lead this team, helped save your ass from a court martial, and this is how you repay him?”
“Ryan’s right, Dex. That wasn’t cool,” Steve said.
“So, we should have just left Bravo there? That’s not who I am.”
“It wasn’t your call to make alone. If we didn't bring Bravo home, we all know we would have gone back for them. Leave no man behind. But there was more at stake here. Sam warned us this op had to be dark. In and out. We caused a fucking riot. Every village in the area knows a team of soldiers were there. No wonder Sam was pissed.” Ryan picked up his jacket. “I know you’ve bent rules before, but this was a step too far. You need to rein it in before you destroy all of our fucking careers.”
Dex watched him storm out of the room. Fuck, Ryan had never spoken to him like that before. Cautiously he looked at the rest of the team. “You all feel the same?”
Mackie was the one to speak up. “Dex, we love you, man. You know that. But you said yourself when you asked us to follow you here, that the stakes are higher, the risks greater. We’re all still standing here because more often than not you always make the right call. I’m proud that we brought Bravo home, but it was a big risk, not just because of the noise we made, but we were outnumbered and are lucky to have got out of there without any casualties. We don’t have the backup, the QRF. This isn’t SEALs. We’re on our own. We trust you when you give us an order. Don’t make us doubt that.”
Mackie and the rest of the team left, leaving Dex alone. He’d messed up big time. If his team doubted him, they had a serious problem. And hell, the thought they might doubt him was a kick in the gut.