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“Yep.” He headed back into the house to gather his team and clean up this mess before the local authorities arrived. “The other side.”
* * *
“Don’t worry, man. We’ll get him,” Gage said.
The team was back in the SUV, bumping down a backcountry road in pursuit of the world’s most dangerous terrorist. Kyle pulled out his phone and found a text from Commander Brighton. “According to the CIA intel, Arrieta’s headed for the private airstrip Coran Williams kept about ten miles from the compound. It hasn’t been used in years and is pretty run-down, but it’s probably Arrieta’s best chance of escape, if he can get one of his planes in there. The Agency has agents en route, but they want us there for backup.”
“Let’s go get him!” Gage punched the accelerator. “For Nick.”
“For Nick,” the others repeated.
A lump formed in Kyle’s throat, and he stared down at his phone screen.
“What’s wrong, dude?” Scotty asked.
“Nothing. It just still feels wrong, Nick being gone.”
“Yeah. I know.” Spencer nudged Kyle with a shoulder. “He’s here in spirit, though.”
“Always, dude. Always.”
“I can’t help thinking that it was my fault,” Kyle said. “Him dying. That if I’d just watched more closely, not turned away to check those crates in the truck, maybe I would’ve seen the sniper.” He swallowed hard. “Maybe I could’ve warned him, stopped it all.”
“There was nothing you could’ve done,” Gage said, catching Kyle’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “You’ve got to stop beating yourself up. Nick wouldn’t want that. We’re doing right by him by catching Arrieta—that’s what he’d want, to make the world safer. Once that’s done, though? He’d want us to get home and get on with our lives.”
Kyle sat back and snorted. “Since when did you get so smart?”
“Since I learned from you.” Gage smiled. “We all look up to you, man. None of us would be here if it wasn’t for you. You’ve saved my ass more times than I can count. You’re why I get to look forward to a future with Anna. But we all want you to have something to look forward to, also. And to do that, you’ve got to stop looking back.”
Spencer sighed from beside him. “Speaking of which…how are things between you and Natalie?”
“Fine.” Kyle scrunched his nose. “Why?”
“We just thought maybe you and she, you know…”
“No. I don’t know.” Kyle gripped his phone tighter, his stare flat. “Enlighten me.”
“Damn, dude.” Scotty hung his head. “We just thought maybe you and Natalie had finally hooked up. After all this time.”
Kyle clenched his jaw so tight it popped. That was private and personal and nobody’s goddamned business but his and Natalie’s.
“Look.” Spencer shrugged. “It’s obvious there were…feelingsbetween you and Natalie when you saw her in the hospital after she was shot. The way you made googly eyes at each other whenever you were together.”
“She’s my sister-in-law.” Each of Kyle’s words was clipped. “My brother’s wife.”
“Was,” Gage corrected from behind the wheel. “WasNick’s wife. He’s dead now.”
“And how does that change anything?” Kyle’s shout boomed through the vehicle despite the windows being open. “I’m here for one reason and one reason only. To find Nick’s killer and get him justice. That’s it.”
“He’d want you to be happy, dude,” Scotty said. “Like Gage was saying—you deserve to have good things to look forward to.”
“My happiness isn’t important.”
“It should be.” Gage frowned. “Listen, man. What are you going to do after this is all over, huh? Me and Scotty and Spencer, we’ve all got someone waiting at home, a life, a future ahead of us. What have you got?”
“Since when is my future any of your concern?”
“Not to get all mushy or anything,” Spencer said, “but you’re like a brother to me. To all of us. We’ve risked life and limb together more times than I can count. I think, after that, we all deserve a little happiness. That’s all we’re saying.”
