They’d taken Tony for a reason, and Sloane was certain they’d be hearing from the Makhai soon. Dex stood, pulling Cael along with him. He placed his hands on Cael’s shoulders and met his gaze, determination burning through his bright blue eyes. “I swear I am going to do everything in my power to bring him home. You with me?”
Cael nodded, and Dex patted his brother’s cheek.
“Good.” Dex headed for the door, ignoring the fact he only had on one shoe. Sloane and Cael followed him outside, where a team of TIN medical staff and operatives were gathered. Dex turned to face them. “Tell Sparks I’m going to be at THIRDS HQ. I’ll see her there.” He turned to go, then paused. “Any of you guys wear size eleven shoes?”
The operatives exchanged glances before one hesitantly held a finger up.
“I need your shoes,” Dex said.
The wolf Therian was about Dex’s height and weight. He dropped his gaze to Dex’s feet, then let out a heavy sigh. With perfect balance, he bent one leg, took off his black shoe, then repeated the action to take off the other. He handed them to Dex in exchange for Dex’s beat-up Chuck.
“Thanks. Make sure your boss reimburses you.”
Oddly enough, Dex took the shoes but didn’t put them on.
“HQ?” Sloane asked as they headed toward Ash, who was talking to Austen. The second they saw him, they hurried over. Dex stopped and looked up at Sloane.
“We’re not TIN yet. Get everyone suited up and ready to roll out the moment you give the word. I need you to lead Destructive Delta one more time.”
The words filled Sloane with pride. Not just because he’d be leading his team again, but because Dex was doing what he’d promised Sloane long ago. No more lone gunman. They were doing this together. Sloane nodded and removed his phone from his pocket as Dex turned to Austen.
“You too. You’re still part of Destructive Delta. I want you to give Cael access to all the camera footage you have of the abduction.” He turned to Ash. “That van is going to be smashed to shit. I want it found.”
“You got it.”
Sloane put in a quick call to HQ and was put through to Calvin.
“Hey, Sloane.”
“I need everyone suited up and ready to go by the time we get there.”
“Will do,” Calvin said, no questions asked, no hesitation.
Sloane thanked him and hung up before turning back to Dex. “Done.”
“Good.” The
y headed for the garage where a black SUV waited for them. Dex told the driver where they were going and got in. He put on his newly acquired shoes as Sloane leaned in to talk to him. It was probably time for him to tell Dex about what happened at the Boathouse.
“The Makhai tried to kidnap Hudson.”
“What?” Dex stared at him.
“We went to eat at the Boathouse and were ambushed. They managed to get the drop on us and tranqed Hudson. They sent a whole army of mercenaries for him. They must have been watching us, all of us. They knew we hadn’t recovered from Postshift.”
“What happened?”
“Wolf showed up, driving the BearCat. Our BearCat.”
Dex opened his mouth to reply, closed it, and paused before speaking. “I don’t even know how to respond to that. I wish I could say I’m surprised, but lately I find that where Wolf is concerned, there’s just no telling what you’re going to find yourself dealing with. Wait, how did Wolf know?”
“Apparently he’s been monitoring the Makhai’s chatter—whatever that means—and managed to decipher one of their encrypted messages.”
“I’m guessing he didn’t take the news well.”
Sloane shook his head somberly. “He killed as many of them as he could before they retreated. He disappeared after them.”
“Can’t say I’m sorry.”