Page 5 of No More Lies

Chapter 2

“So, I guess the girls went out the other night,” Dex said. The team had gathered at their forward operating base to wrap up the Korea mission so they could get on a plane home.

“Yeah, Sophie said there were a few drinks involved,” Ryan added. He nudged Steve. “It was good to hear Diane went. I’m sure she needed a night off.”

Steve hid his surprise. He had no idea she’d gone out with the girls; they’d not spoken since he’d spun up five days ago. “She did need the night off. I haven't had a chance to speak to her yet.” He had texted her to say they should be home soon, but she hadn’t replied. The norm lately.

“No one can resist a few tequila shots.” Tyler grinned. “I know Mira can’t.”

“Now it makes sense. Mira was drunk on tequila when she agreed to sleep with you.” Ryan retorted.

While the team laughed, Tyler gave him the finger. “Asshole.”

“Alright, Sam’s standing by,” Dex said. “Let’s get him on the line so we can wrap this up and go home.”

Mackie opened up the laptop and got Sam on video call.

“Good to see you boys. Great job,” Sam’s voice held praise. “Everyone alright?”

“Yeah, we’re all good, Sam,” Dex replied for the team. “We’re just finishing up our after-action reports and will get them to Mira.”

“Sounds good. All looks clean from my end. Anyone got any concerns?”

Dex glanced around at the team; everyone shook their heads. “Nope.” He turned back to Sam. “Any chatter?”

The mission had been to rescue a soldier whose parachute had failed. Upon deploying his back up chute, he had drifted off target and landed just across the border in North Korea, instead of South. Since even a single US military member in North Korea could potentially start a war, Onyx had been tasked with rescuing the soldier before the North Koreans found him. It ended up being almost routine. They hadn’t encountered a single member of the NK army.

“No chatter at all. Nice job, guys. Time to come home. We’ll do a full debrief when you’re back. Listen, Nyx are still in play. Not sure when they will be back.”

“Are they OK?” Dex asked.

“Yeah, they’re fine. We just got thrown a curve ball. There is another potential op. I’m still getting info and will let you know as soon as I have some idea of the timeline. Make the most of the flight back and rest. This could be a quick turnaround.”

“Copy that, boss.” Dex gave him a quick salute with a grin. Sam ignored him and ended the call. The screen went blank.

“OK, guys, get your reports to Mira. Ryan, can you find out what time we can be wheels up? Hopefully we can get out of here and be home tomorrow.” Dex said.

“Sure thing.” Ryan left for the flight tower. The rest of the team dispersed to file their reports.

Finally, it was just him and Dex. “Hey, Dex, got time for a quick chat?” Steve asked.

“Sure. What’s up?”

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