Page 110 of No More Lies

“How did you dig and connect the dots?” Dex asked. The op was a need to know only, and access to anything pertaining to it was restricted.

“Come on, Dawson, I can’t tell you all my secrets. I take it you secured the sarin?”

“Jesus Christ, you know about that, too?” Ryan said.

“Why do it, though? You could have just called me and gave us the info, and we could have taken the plane.” Dex wasn’t letting it go.

“Where’s the fun in that? I got on that plane because you damn well know that Volkov would try and get on it with his daughter no matter what bullets were flying. He would run, and someone needed to be on board to stop him. And that’s exactly what happened. If I hadn’t had been on that plane, he might have got away with that little girl.”

“You risked being caught. This could have ended differently.”

Tracer sighed on the other end. “Can you guys not just say thank you?’

“Thank you,” Dex said. “But I still want to know why.”

“You’re not going to give it up, are you?” Tracer cursed but didn’t wait for a response. “Look. You guys could have tracked me down and brought me in anytime. You haven’t. Consider this my way of saying thanks.”

“You saved Sophie’s life and her sister, Chloe’s,” Ryan said firmly. “You don’t owe us.”

“I did that because it was the right thing to do. And while it was going down, Dawson, you made sure my mother was protected from the cartel without me even asking. I will never forget that. Onyx is going against protocol by not bringing me in. No one is actively looking for me, and I’m guessing Harrison has something to do with that. So, when a chance to help you appeared, I wasn’t going to ignore it.”

Dex looked at Ryan. This was the Tracer they remembered from BUDs. The oath they took, the bond they had, was all still there.

“Steve won’t forget this, nor will we.”

“Got the feeling Steve wasn’t too sure about me.”

“He doesn’t know you as well as we do,” Ryan said. “But he trusts us, and we trusted you.”

“Good. Can I go home now?” Tracer said with humor.

“Where is home now?”

Tracer chuckled. “You know I’m not going to tell you that voluntarily.”

“Don’t trust us?” Dex said lightheartedly.

“I’d like to think we’re past that. I don’t want to put you in the position of knowing. You are all still military boys.” Tracer replied seriously.

“No chance we’re going to see you to buy you a beer, then?”

“Who knows. I’m sure our paths will cross again.”