Page 5 of Free

"Thanks for taking him tonight." Kasey glanced up. "We were having a good date night until we got that text."

"It was no problem. Warren is there now with them, but they'll probably never know we left. They were out cold hours ago," Beau assured him.

"Good." Noam reached for Kasey's hand.

Bryon listened, but it only caused pain. These guys were close. They were family. No matter what happened, they stuck by each other. This was going to kill the team, but even more so, it was going to kill Xander.

Dyson and Xander were closer than brothers. They'd been through hell together. Being in the military, then coming home to take on Xander's father, they'd seen the worst of the world, and that was before he'd asked them to join STK. Thank God that Xander had Matt and Faith to keep him grounded. Had this happened before Xander married, he hated to think what would have happened. At least now, there was hope that Xander could keep it together.

"Bryon, what can we do for you?" Kasey asked.

Bryon shook his head. "There's nothing. Until we see the charges, see if there's bail, see how serious this is going to be. My guess is he'll be held on no bail. I can't see them letting him out. The crimes are too violent, the so-called-victims too many. Go home and I'll be in touch once I know more. There's nothing any of us can do tonight."

They all stared at him, but none of them moved. He didn't expect them to. As much as he hated it, they were in this together. They wouldn't go home until they knew more.

His cell phone pulled his attention from the group. He glanced down to see who was calling, not surprised to see Becca. Of course, she would be the only one who listened to him when he said not to come in if this ever happened. The one person he wanted there by his side. The one person who could help him focus. "Hey, love," he answered.

"Hey, you okay?" Her soft voice eased some of his tension as he walked into the living room for some privacy.

"Not really. I don't know what to do, Babe." He sank down on the couch, his head in his hands.

"You've planned for this. I've heard you and Carter talk about it for years. We hoped it would never happen, but now it has. We'll get him out, but you've got to stay calm. This isn't your fault, Bry. It just happened. It's no one's fault. Promise me, you aren't blaming yourself."

"I promised these guys I'd take care of them. I brought them into this, Becca. It all comes back to me."

"It doesn't. Listen, we know there is nothing you can do tonight. Go to bed, wait until we see the charges tomorrow, then put your plan into action. Do you want me to come over?"

Bryon wanted nothing more than to hold Becca and forget everything, but he couldn't. "No, there's no point in both of us being stressed here. You have to work in the morning. Go back to sleep and I'll see you when you get off tomorrow afternoon, okay?"

"Alright, I love you. Call me if anything changes or you need me."

"Love you too." He hung up, flopping back on the couch. All he could think about was what Dyson was going through. Jail wasn't fun, and there was nothing he could do to save him right now.