Prologue
Three years ago…
“Put the gun down, Campbell. You don’t want to do this.” With his heart lodged in his throat, Master Chief Gabriel Dawson somehow managed to hold his own weapon steady. Finger next to the trigger, he kept his gun trained on the man he’d once considered to be a brother.
“Wrong again.” His former teammate chuckled. “Idowant to do this. I want to look into your eyes while I rip away the only thing you’ve ever really cared about. Just like you did to me.”
Though he wanted to—Goddid he want to—Gabe refused to look at Ellena. If he did…if he saw her fear and allowed himself to think of everything he stood to lose…his control would shatter.
“She’s not the only thing, Vic.” He stared at his former teammate. “I care about every man on our team.”
“Except it’s notourteam anymore, is it?” Vic’s upper lip curled into a vengeful sneer. “It’syourteam, Dawson. Judd, A.J., Neil… they walk around in your shadow like a bunch of fucking puppies searching for some tit. And you”—he snorted—“you lead ’em around like you’re the head of the goddamn pack.”
“I’m just doing my job. As the team leader it’s my duty to—”
“As the team leader, you’re supposed to protect us!” The man’s face turned red, the barrel of his gun pressing against Ellena’s head even harder.
Gabe’s trigger finger twitched. “I did protect you.”
“You threw me under the fucking bus!”
“I told the truth.”
“You ended my career.”
“Wrong.” Gabe clenched his jaw. “You did that all on your own the second you killed that man in cold blood.”
“He was a terrorist!” Spittle flew from Vic’s mouth as he spoke.
“He was an unarmed prisoner on his knees with his hands bound behind his back.”
Two weeks ago, the team had been sent to Pakistan to stop a group of men who’d invaded and terrorized a small village just outside Karachi. Hamza Hassan, the man Vic had murdered, was among those captured.
“Hassan raped and murdered a woman while her six-year-old son hid under the bed. I did the world a fucking favor, and you damn well know it!”
A vein in the middle of the unstable man’s forehead bulged, anger and resentment turning the skin there a dark reddish-purple. Sweat beaded and fell from Vic’s temple.
Gabe knew he needed to tread carefully. For the past month, he’d been worried about his teammate’s mental wellbeing. Concerned the darkness of the world they lived in was too much for the young SEAL to handle.
He was right.
“You disobeyed my direct order to stand down,” he reminded Vic.
“It was just you and me, man.” Vic stared back at him. “You could’ve looked the other way.”
“No.” Gabe shook his head slowly. “I couldn’t.”
Vic smirked, but his crazed eyes held no humor. “Always a fucking boy scout. You couldn’t wait to run your mouth and tell everyone what happened.”
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“Yes, you did! You could’ve chosen to have my back like all those times I had yours. Instead, you looked me square in the eye and tore that patch from my chest. That patch meant everything to me, man.Everything!” A tear leaked from the corner of Vic’s eye, the silver streak mixing with the thin sheen of sweat. “You destroyed the only family I’d ever really known. How could you…” His voice cracked. “They want to send me to prison, Gabe. Fucking Leavenworth.”
“I know.”
Because that’s where the Navy sends murderers.
“You were supposed to have my back!” Vic yelled again as another tear fell. “How could you do that to me?”
