Page 105 of No More Lies
Voices around him became vague, distant. Dex was now on the satellite phone. The manhole cover had been removed, and men in hazmat suits were issuing orders. Donnie was at Steve’s side, trying to talk to him.
None of it registered. None of it mattered.
Volkov had traded his wife to the terrorist organization that had waged a war with Onyx.
***
TRACER HATED THIS FUCKING country. What the hell was he thinking coming to Pakistan when he could be swimming in the aqua blue waters he called his backyard in the Maldives. Damn Onyx and his conscience. He mentally rolled his eyes, he was getting soft.
He, Dex, and Ryan went way back, but after Tracer’s leg got torn up by an IED, he was out of SEALs and on his own. He’d cut ties with the guys, more for his own sanity. Seeing them living the life he was meant to had been too damn hard. Eventually, getting over his victim mentality, he’d started his own private security firm. The guys that worked for him were all much like him. Discarded from various military divisions, but not ready to retire the skills they’d spent years perfecting.
Fuck, it was hot. Sweat run down his face and he sat and waited with one of his team for the right moment to move in.
He’d not been back in the game long. Needing to keep his head down and stay away from the US, he’d taken time in the Maldives to recharge, until he was confident the dust had settled. Maldives had never signed an extradition treaty with the US. While that did not protect him from Onyx, since those guys operated anywhere, he didn’t think Captain Sam Harrison was interested in looking for him.
Tracer had taken down one of the biggest cartel leaders in Mexico. The man had been responsible for murdering his sister and her boyfriend. He crossed more than a few lines doing it, but he didn’t regret his actions. The only people he’d killed were scum, but the law didn’t see it that way. When his agenda crossed paths with Raven team’s mission and innocent lives became involved, things got messy. The oath of a SEAL had never left him, and he’d risked his own freedom to help out Raven, and ensure no innocents was killed. Raven knew what he’d done, the people he killed, but he’d not heard from them since.
Captain Sam Harrison could have found him easily, but clearly had looked the other way. Tracer had been monitoring chatter, keeping his ear to the ground, but it seemed no one was actively looking for him; the captain likely had something to do with that.
After a few months of relaxation and finally being able to think about moving on from his sister’s murder, it was time to do something. He had plenty of money stashed away, but he wasn’t a man who could sit on his ass the rest of his life. He missed the action. It was like an addiction. So here he was back with his team, only now they had to work under the radar. Despite no one looking for him, his name was damn well on several wanted lists.
Tracer had contacts all over the world, on both sides of the law. Before getting in deep in the cartel world, CIA had been trying to recruit him. MI6, too. A lot of mercenaries out there didn’t give a fuck who they hurt to get a job done and collect a paycheck. Tracer didn’t work that way. Yes, he wanted to be paid, but he would never go through innocent people to do that. It had earned him a reputation and despite his wanted status, CIA had come knocking at his door once more. He continued to decline. He preferred to work for himself, choosing his jobs. Like this one. Although this one he wasn’t getting paid for. This one was going to be a favor for old friends. He didn’t expect his team to work for free and would pay them out of his own pocket. He could afford it.
Tracer had been keeping a close eye on what was going on in the world of terror. He spent hours on the dark web, checking in with contacts. Subconsciously, he was also looking for anything to do with Reborn. Reborn had made it personal with Raven; he’d witnessed that for himself. It made him sick that so many innocent people were getting caught up in the feud.
Reborn didn’t give a shit about the rules of war. The terrorists had murdered a SEAL team, captured Dex’s woman, kidnapped Ryan’s girlfriend, blew up an FBI building, and almost killed Tyler. Now it seemed they were helping a Russian escape the US with Steve’s wife. When he stumbled on the intel, Tracer knew he needed to get his ass to Pakistan and help out the boys.
“Looks like they’re almost ready.” Levi said from beside him bringing him back to the present. Levi was former Marine Corps, forced out of active duty after a traumatic brain injury. That was five years ago. These days, Levi suffered from occasional migraines, but with treatment he was able to pay for because he worked for Tracer, he had the TBI under control.
“Good. I forgot how fucking hot this country is.”
“Maldives is kind of hot, too.”
“Yeah, except there’s a fucking ocean to cool off in, instead of sitting in this tin can of a car frying.”
Levi chuckled. “A little grumpy today, aren’t we?”
“Haven’t had my coffee.”
“So, why are we doing this favor? You ever going to tell us?” They were wearing coms, connected to the rest of the team in a van down the street.
“I told you. A couple of the guys on Raven are old friends.” His team knew who Onyx were, all of them. Tracer had made it his business when he got to the Maldives to get that information. It had taken some doing. Onyx were need to know. He would never out them, but their paths were likely to cross, and he wanted to be sure he or his team didn’t inadvertently shoot one of them.
“Nothing like being vague.” Levi’s voice dripped sarcasm and laughter rang in their ears from the rest of the team.
“You know I’m the boss here, right? I tell you the job, we do it, you get paid. What the fuck does it matter the reason.” Tracer’s voice held a hint of humor.
“Because this was a rush job,” Levi said more seriously, “and it seems personal.”
Tracer sighed. “It’s not that it’s personal. It’s because I hate when these fuckers use people, we care about to get what they want. They got a beef with Raven, those guys will go toe to toe with them every single damn time. But Reborn, they go after their families. It’s not the first time, not even the second. They’ve done it time and time again. Now that Russian bastard is about to hand-deliver Steve’s wife to them. So yeah, if there is any chance, we can help stop that from happening I intend to do it.”
His thoughts wandered briefly to Chloe. Chloe was the sister of Ryan’s girlfriend. She’d gotten taken by the cartel he’d embedded himself in. He managed to get her out, but she had been shot in the process. It still made him sick even thinking about it. Chloe was a sweet, innocent young woman who had unfortunately danced with the wrong guy. She was doing well now. He’d been checking up on her, too.
“That’s seriously fucked up, using family,” Levi said. “We’re on board no matter what, you know that.”
Done talking, Tracer nodded towards the small plane. “Showtime.”
***