Page 80 of Secrets Along the Shore

Gage grabbed Tyler’s arms and tried to push him away. It didn’t work.

Adam grabbed Tyler and pulled him back, struggling to move the muscular soldier. “Alright, get off him.” Adele grabbed Tyler too, then the Australian stepped back.

He wiped at the blood sliding down his jaw. Glaring hard at Gage, he pointed at him. “I will save them. Just stay out of my way.” He pulled away from the couple and left the room. A few seconds later, a door slammed down the hall.

Yvonne rested her hands on her hips and puffed out a breath. She frowned at the dark spots on Gage’s face. He’d have a black eye soon. “Why did you do that? It was completely uncalled for. Tyler is doing everything he can.”

“We can’t trust him to get the job done. He has no obligation to us.”

“No. He doesn’t.” Yvonne closed the distance between them, until she stood a couple of feet from Gage. “But he does have an obligation to rescue our target. And let’s not forget that his team died—not because of him, but because of another team.” She’d read about the event as much as possible to ensure that she could trust Tyler. It hadn’t been his fault. And afterward, he’d fought to stay in the military.

“He lost his brothers in arms,” Adam added.

Adele sighed. “Gage, you lost your friend a year ago. He lost three friends six months ago.”

Gage’s gaze dropped to the floor. “Our team is better off without him.”

Yvonne sighed. “This is one mission. He’s not an employee. He’s a temporary partner. Let him help us complete this job. Not for us, but for Koen.”

“If this mission fails, don’t forget what I said.” Gage stalked away.

Fine. She didn’t care what he thought as long as he didn’t start a fight with Tyler again. Her gaze drifted to where Tyler disappeared.She could hardly blame him for how he reacted. The guilt from that loss weighed on him. She saw it. It might never go away, but it definitely wouldn’t if people kept reminding him of it.

Still. There was nothing she could do about that. She turned to Patrick. “Get to work on tracking down Viktor. We don’t have much time.”

What was wrong with him?Tyler hadn’t lashed out like that in years. Granted, Gage had it coming, and Tyler used to be a lot worse. Being in the military had helped temper the ever-present anger. The fighting helped him take out that anger on someone who deserved it.

He swiped a hand over his face. The military helped him deal with a lot. He had something to focus on. He got to fight…and for a while, he won. Now that he was out, he couldn’t go back to who he’d been before. He refused to do that. If he just had something to fight for. And at the moment, he did, Koen’s family. But after, who knew?

“I’ll worry about that later,” he muttered.

Beside him on the bed, his phone rang. Koen’s name showed on the screen. Great. Great timing. He’d rather have quiet, but he couldn’t keep ignoring his mate. With a sigh, he answered the call. “Hey, mate.”

“Tyler, how are things there?”

Tyler rubbed his bottom lip and winced at the pain. A line of blood appeared on his finger. Right. He’d forgotten he’d actually gotten hit. He shifted on the bed. “It’s fine.”

“Just fine?”

“We haven’t found your daughter yet.”

Koen sighed. “I heard.”

“I’m sorry.” He’d promised that he’d bring Elara back home, and yet he’d failed to get close to her. He ran a hand over his short hair. Someone else should have done this. Maybe Gage should have led everything.

“It’s a setback. You’ve dealt with those before. You’ll beat this one.”

Yeah. He had. But he always had people he trusted to back him up.Tyler leaned forward. “I don’t think I can do this, Koen.” He hated to admit defeat, but how was he supposed to win this? He wasn’t the same person he had been in the SAS. The mission from last night showed that he still dealt with the TBI. Not to mention the fact that he was suffering a headache that had nothing to do with Gage hitting him.

“Can you put Tyler Reid on the phone?”

Tyler frowned. “What?” His mate couldn’t be drunk. Koen never drank that much due to being a Christian.

“Tyler Reid never accepted defeat. He always found a new way to complete things. He never quit. So why are you?”

He stood and paced the room. “Because I can’t trust these people. Your daughter is at risk, and I can’t rely on them.”

“Then don’t. Work with them as much as you can. There’s no rules this time, Tyler. No commanding officer to tell you what you can and can’t do. You once told me that you wanted more freedom. This is the way to get it.”