Page 73 of Secrets Along the Shore

“Yeah, I’m sure. Dealt with a lot in the CIA too,” Adam added. The CIA was probably where he got his intelligence training. But what about his wife? She had a different accent. Made Tyler think the Israel Defense Force or something.

Adam coughed into his hand, then cleared his throat. “I think we’re lucky to have you on the team.”

Then he must not know what happened to Tyler’s team. “I don’t reckon you’d feel that way if you knew everything.”

“Your team died,” Adam said evenly.

Tyler clenched his jaw. So the American did know. Probably the whole team did. “Yeah.”

“I get it. You get close with your guys. They become more like brothers to you.”

And that brotherly relationship had meant a lot to Tyler. Those three men were some of the only ones he could rely on, no matter the situation. Maybe that’s why it hit him so hard.

“You can’t really tell me you trust me with your team, with your wife, knowing that I killed seven men.” The guilt kept eating at him. It needed to stop…so why couldn’t he make it?

“You don’t get the medals you did for slacking off, and from what I’ve heard, you did everything you could.”

Yeah, right.

“You should know that things are different here.”

Oh, great. Another conversation like he’d had with Gage earlier. That was the last thing he needed.

Adam turned to face him. “We are a team. We work together, but don’t completely rely on each other…because at any moment, one of us could get taken out. The mission has to come first. If there’s money waiting at the end of it, it’s got to get finished. One of us dies, the rest keep going. Sure, it may be a hard hit, but we all chose this.”

Tyler met his gaze. “None of you hold grudges when one of your friends gets wiped out?” He was indirectly asking what Gage’s problem was. If he knew how the team worked, why did he dislike Tyler so much?

With a sigh, Adam shook his head. He glanced in Gage’s direction in the other room for a second. “Like I said, military teams are like brothers. He’s still got that ingrained in him. His best friend was killed in action. There was no way to save him. But the objective had to be completed.”

So maybe Gage blamed himself for his friend’s death?

“Gage is a good man. I don’t think he hates you. He’s just…irritated, to say the least, that you’ve joined the team at an odd time. Look at it this way, this is his first mission since his best friend died. You’re sorta taking his best friend’s place.”

Tyler frowned. “I’m not trying to replace anyone.” And he was leaving after this.

“You’re doing the same job Carter did. Taking point during extractions.”

Crap.

Adam patted his shoulder and then turned and headed over to his wife. He took a seat beside her at the table after pecking her on the lips.

Tyler folded his arms over his chest. What should he be more worried about? The fact that Gage did have a problem with him? Or the fact that their last guy died doing this job? Gage had mentioned some new guy on the team was responsible. That new guy didn’t seem to be here, judging by how everyone got along and respected each other. But what about the others? Did they really have each other’s backs, if one of their own died?

“Well, that’s fun stuff.” Paul strode from behind Tyler. Had he been there the whole time? No way Tyler had slipped up that bad and not noticed. “Good luck, maybe you’ll live longer than the last guy.”

Great. Tyler roughed a hand over his face. Okay. Now he had more than his own abilities to worry about. What did Koen get him into?

“Got it. It’s just a ditch,” Patrick announced.

Von frowned. “A ditch?”

“What’s he burying?” Amir leaned over Patrick’s shoulder, although the wall monitor should have displayed the same footage.

“You think maybe he killed them?” Adele rested her folded hands on the table next to Patrick.

“No. Not without first getting the money,” Von replied.

Tyler shifted to get a better look at the screen with an aerial view of Viktor’s yard. Tree limbs overshadowed the dark indent of the ditch. It made it look somewhat deep. But…there was green. Wasn’t that grass growing in it?