Page 101 of Secrets Along the Shore

“You’re trapped? Are you safe?”

“For the time being. When you land, you’re gonna have to come get us. We can’t keep walking the streets.”

“Alright. I have a few guys driving that should be there in an hour and a half. They’ll bring you here.”

Tyler nodded. “Alright. We’ll be waiting.”

“Good luck, Tyler.”

He lowered the phone and set it on the console.

Elara watched him. “How much longer?”

“Maybe two hours. Then you’ll be home.”

She smiled slightly. “Thank you, Tyler.”

He didn’t respond. They shouldn’t have thanked him yet. They had a long way to go. The Rukas were scouring the city. With two hours to wait, they’d get found again. Only a matter of time.

CHAPTER

FOURTEEN

June 9

3:57 a.m., Outside Vukovar, Croatia

“Please,remain in your seats. We will be landing in ten minutes,” the pilot informed them.

So close. They were so close to extracting their targets from Vukovar. Yvonne had started to doubt that they would manage it. Tyler fled and fought a small army. Viktor’s forces were trained and lethal. They weren’t looking to spare lives, except maybe Elara and her son—but that didn’t seem guaranteed.

Viktor wanted control. That’s why he’d refused to let Elara and Rian go. And that’s why he still had his men pursue them. He wanted them back. He wasn’t afraid to kill to get them either. Why should he be? He’d killed law enforcement and threatened government officials to stay in business.

Yvonne almost regretted not being able to kill Viktor during the mission. But he probably stayed in his fortress outside the city to ensure his safety. He didn’t seem like the type to get his hands dirty, but he wasn’t all that sneaky either. He used threats to manipulate people, instead of trying to remain subtle.

Maybe eventually she’d take him down. For now, her focus neededto stay on this mission. She’d gone through so many scenarios to get Tyler and the targets out. The main problem was numbers. They didn’t have enough men in the area. So she’d come. So had her brother, against her wishes. She didn’t want to have to move, but she’d rather not lose Tyler out there. There was something about him that intrigued her. He’d worked with a team in the military, but he’d proven tonight that he could work with and without one. That made him unique to her guys.

“Do you think our new guy will pull this off?” Amir asked as he held his phone on his leg. He’d said he thought Tyler was interesting and a valuable addition to the team. Tyler fought hard for their mission and managed to keep Elara and Rian safe.

She shifted her gaze out the window beside her seat. “We’ll see.” She hoped so. If Tyler did pull this off, she might offer him a place on her team like Amir had hinted. Tyler had valuable skills and proved his determination, even after the team was wiped out. She glanced at where Gage sat silently on the opposite side of the plane. “What do you think?” She trusted Gage, but he had difficulty working with certain people. Koen had helped him get along with everyone. Maybe the Australian could fix the issue with Tyler, too.

Gage shrugged. “He fights hard, I’ll give him that.” He leaned forward in his seat. “But we don’t know that he isn’t just tricking us. He went radio silent for hours. How do we know that he hasn’t made a bargain with Viktor?”

“He didn’t.” Yvonne was positive of that. The man was an honorable soldier who was everything Koen promised. “Besides, he didn’t have anything to update us on.”

Paul shifted in his seat, facing Gage. “I think you’re worried about our new guy.”

The term “our new guy” had been used a lot in the last several hours. It’d started with Amir, and now everyone was using it. They all seemed to accept the idea that Tyler might join the team, except Gage.

“I’m worried that he won’t look out for our team. Five of our guys got killed.”

“Adam trusted him,” Adele spoke quietly from her spot beside Gage.

Gage’s jaw tensed, then he shook his head as if he’d almost said something that would likely upset Adele, but he’d contained the thought.

“Anyway, I think you’re worried about Tyler because of your friend, Carter. He’d been young. A little reckless, and that got him killed,” Paul spoke carefully, his usual cheerfulness and joking hidden by a stern mask. “I think you don’t want him on the team because he might get some of us killed, but more importantly, he might get killed.”

Gage glared at Paul. “He’s not Carter.”