Page 2 of Reid

“Good copy, Tack. Captain K out.”

The room was filling with smoke now, the roar of fire beneath them loud in his ears. Sweat poured from his body as the heat increased around them.

Skinner moved out first and Reid instructed Rachel to swing her leg over the edge. The girl followed his lead as Reid began to cough on the smoke.

“Go, I’m right behind you.”

Skinner nodded and began the climb down with the girl. Reid was about to swing his leg over when the floor beneath him gave way and he found himself falling through the ceiling of the large dining room.

The oak dining table broke his fall. The landing stole the breath from him. He felt a rib crack, sharp pain lanced through him as ash and fiery debris rained down. Rolling off the table he fell to the floor as the fire around him burned everything in sight. Glass smashing from the heat gave him a vague idea where the window might be.

Limping, he moved in that direction and he felt someone plough into his body, knocking him to the floor. Twisting, he fought with the man on top of him. His attacker tightened his forearm around his throat in choke hold. Spots danced in front of his eyes, a combination of lack of air in the room and the tight hold around his throat. He knew he needed to get free and fast.

Sliding his left arm up inside the choke hold, he pushed his attacker’s face to the side and with his right arm locked his hands and applied quick pressure, making the tango release his hold. Rolling, Reid hit the man with a one-two punch, but the smoke was getting to him now and his strength dissipated.

He needed to end this fight quickly but couldn’t get to his gun. Applying the same choke hold the attacker had used on him, he used the last of his strength to choke the man out. He fell back on the ground as he heard voices from the window. As his vision began to blur, he saw Clayton East’s face, his oldest friend and FBI Medic.

“Always getting yourself into shit and needing me to come save your, ass,” he said with a grin as he lifted Reid and half dragged, half carried him to the window before pushing him into Holler’s waiting arms.

As soon as the cold air, fresh air hit his lungs he began to cough, hacking up the smoke from his lungs. “The girl?” he asked in between bouts of coughing.

“The girl is secure and on her way to Memorial Hospital. We need to exfil and get you to the same place.”

The three of them jogged to the second exfil sight on the outer ridge of the property, close to a ravine. He ignored the pain in his ribs and throat and ran beside Clay and Holler. The helo was hovering above them as they moved to crouch behind the rocks. A sudden burst of machine gunfire made them duck and Reid watched in horror as Holler fell, his body riddled with bullets.

Noise and pain fell away as Reid collapsed to his knees beside his friend trying to save him even as he knew it was too late. The responding fire from the helo made the night fall silent again.

“Reid, come on, we need to go,” Clay called.

Reid nodded, his emotions in a fog as he acted on instinct. He pushed his arms under the knees of his friend and lifted him. Clay moved around and together they carried their friend’s body to the helo that would take them to safety.

His eyes never left Holler as Clay shoved an oxygen mask over his face and Reid let him. This mission was a fuck up from beginning to end. Lack of reliable intelligence had put them all at risk. He went over and over in his mind what he could have done differently. Trying to see if he could have saved Holler.

The three of them—him, Holler, and Clay—had gone through HRT training together, were thick as thieves and now he was gone. They all knew the risks but like so many, they thought they were invincible. Reid knew there would be an investigation into why he’d disobeyed a direct order.

He’d do it again though, because that girl hadn’t deserved to die for her father’s mistakes. It was a feeling he knew all too well.

SIX MONTHS LATER

Reid walked out of the Director of the FBI’s office at Quantico and felt the sun on his face. He was now officially a civilian. His superiors, although understanding of his decision to go back, couldn’t ignore the fact he’d disobeyed a command.

The HRT only worked because the men were able to carry out their missions without questioning what they’d been told. Offered a desk job or the opportunity to resign, he’d signed his resignation letter there and then.

His best friend was leaning against the black pickup, his arms crossed over his chest when he left the building. “You quit?” he asked although it came out more as a statement than question. Clay knew him better than anyone, except perhaps his mom.

“No other choice, I can’t sit at a desk.”

“What you gonna do now?”

Reid slid into the passenger seat beside his friend. “Not sure, but a buddy of mine from Delta said there’s an opportunity he’s been offered in the private sector.”

Clay angled his body in the seat to look at him, raising his brow. “And?” He knew a but was coming.

“But it’s in the UK.”

Clay’s eyebrows shot up and he drew in a breath. “Wow. You considering it?”

That was the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question. Was he considering it? All his life he’d stayed close to his mom, helping with the girls since his dad had left when he was ten. She didn’t need him as much now. Nessa and Tori were older and finding their own lives.