Page 68 of No Regrets

“Maybe five minutes.”

“Let’s get moving boys.” Shit, it was going to be tight.

They loaded the last body into the truck, covering them with a tarp. Not quick enough. Gunfire erupted. Cursing, Dex took up a defensive position as did the rest of his team, returning fire at the advancing insurgents running toward them.

“We’re too exposed here, Dex, we need to move.” Ryan was next to him, taking cover behind the trees.

Dex activated coms. “Let’s fall back to the truck, Raven five, get ready to floor it.” They still had the advantage of NVGs, and their aim was way more on target. He and Ryan were the last ones to reach the truck. They both reached for grenades.

“Now!” Launching, they used the explosion as cover, diving into the truck as Tyler floored it, giving them precious seconds to get ahead. Drawing more grenades, they waited for the insurgents to follow. Seconds later, three trucks appeared through the smoke, advancing on them at speed. Dex and Ryan launched again, taking out the first truck. The others whizzed past it, gaining on them.

“One down, two to go.” Ryan held another grenade as they waited for the other trucks to come into view. It didn’t take long.

“Ty, slow it down. Team give us cover,” Dex yelled.

The gap between them reduced as Ty slowed down enough to make the bullets uncomfortably close.

“Fuck, Dex, this is a little too close for comfort,” Mackie said. He, Donnie, and Steve, rifles raised, returned fire. Dex and Ryan launched again, taking out one truck. The team’s bullets hit the other truck’s tires, causing it to swerve and crash.

“OK, Ty, get us out of here. There's probably more on route.” The team kept their defensive position.

Dex activated his coms. “Base, we’re going to need that additional exfil. And it’s a hot extraction.”

No mistaking the sharp intake of breath at the other end of the phone. “Copy that.” Sam’s voice was clipped and this time he cut coms.

Fuck, that wasn’t good. Ryan glanced over at him. “Everything OK?”

“Nope.”

Ryan looked at him quizzically but let it go.

Sam came through with the exfils. Khalini was being whisked away to a black site to be interrogated. Bravo was finally going home to be laid to rest in peace. The team settled in for the ride home, everyone quiet. Digging up the bodies had been one of the toughest things any of them had ever done. But damn, it was worth it. Gone but never forgotten. If only they could have got Lazir too.

Twenty-four hours later they were back at HQ, thoroughly exhausted. Dex knew it had been hairy out there, more than a little outnumbered, but they’d handled it. Clearing security, Sam was waiting for them, face like thunder.

“What the fuck was that?” Yeah, Sam was furious. “My office, now.”

Dex glanced at his team, who watched him questioningly, before following Sam to his office.

“Khalini told me where they were, it was the right thing to do.” Dex tried to justify his actions as he stepped inside and closed the door.

“I don’t fucking care what he told you. Did you even consider he might have been lying? Might have been a trap. I gave you an order, Dawson. Intel was not confirmed. Your orders were to take Khalini and get the hell out.”

“He wasn’t lying. I made sure of that.”

“And how exactly did you do that?”

“I persuaded him.”

Sam cursed, but Dex ignored him. “We got Khalini and our brothers. Job done.”

“And caused a goddamn firefight that got the attention of every village in the area. Black Ops Dawson, remember what that means?”

Dex chose not to answer.

“What if you’d been outgunned? We would have lost Khalini, and your team captured or dead. This is not the way my teams work. If you cannot follow orders, we are going to have a serious fucking problem.”

“I seem to remember you told me if I felt an order needed to be changed, I could make that call. That you understood things changed in the field. Or did I get that bit wrong?” he asked, barely keeping his frustration in check.