Page 3 of No Regrets
“Daram? That would be one of our teams,” Ryan Baxter, Dex’s second in command, said.
Dex started walking. “Let’s get Joe on the phone and find out what the hell is going on.”
Ryan was right. It could be Bravo or Charlie team. Worse still, Kelly sometimes deployed with those teams as intel liaison. Ryan fell in beside him. Ryan wasn’t just his 2IC, he was his best friend. They had met at the recruiting office in Coronado, both enlisting at age eighteen. In the dozen years since, they had been to hell and back several times. Literally.
“Don’t jump to conclusions. When did you speak to Kelly last?”
“Two weeks ago. She mentioned they were waiting on a green light.”
The team filed into a briefing room. Within minutes Dex had Commander Joe Johnson on the secure line.
“Good to have you all back at base. Great job.” Joe’s deep voice held praise.
“Thank you, sir,” Dex replied. “We just heard there’s a situation in Daram.”
At the silence on the line, the men frowned at one another. Finally, Joe spoke.
“Bravo team were deployed to take out a high value target in Daram.”
“Who?”
“Ahmed Khalini. Reyes Lazir’s number two.”
Alpha team knew exactly who they were. Reborn. Believers of a new dawning of Allah and that Lazir had been chosen to spread the will of this new Allah to all. To destroy anything and anyone American and anyone who showed support to them. They were nothing more than terrorists, albeit well-funded terrorists, responsible for numerous attacks on American military in the Middle East.
“Green light was given. Should have been a routine mission,” Joe continued.
“What happened?” The blood drained from Dex’s face, experience telling him this wasn’t going to be good.
“It was a set up. The building was rigged. It blew as soon as Bravo breached.”
Shock waves reverberated through the team as they absorbed the news.
“How many did we lose?”
“All of them.”
“Fuck!” Dex raked his hands through his hair. They knew these guys, had worked with them on joint ops. Shared more than a beer or two. Hell, he had played pool with Mike, the Bravo team leader, right before Alpha deployed.
“There are no survivors?”
“The ground support team came under fire. They lost Commander Dave Senata. Four others were injured. Quick Reaction Force was launched and got them out.”
Fuck, if they needed QRF to get out, things were bad. Joe paused and Dex’s mouth went dry as he waited for him to continue.
“Lieutenant Kimber was the intelligence liaison and was taken alive.”
His heart dropped like a stone to his stomach. “When?”
“A little over forty-eight hours ago.”
“Jesus Christ, Joe! Please tell me they sent another team to get her back?”
“A black ops team is on route.”
“Black ops? You mean DEVGRU?”
“Dawson, we lost a whole team. We have to be sure no one will be walking into another ambush. The op has to be dark, so I will not discuss it. Not even with you.”