Page 172 of Jay Bird

“I mean the ambush positions weren’t established after somebody spotted us entering the area. Based on what I’m finding, those positions were set before we ever got there. They knew the direction we would approach from, they knew approximately when we would arrive, and they knew the exact route we were supposed to take.”

A cold feeling worked its way through Derek as memories of that night rearranged themselves in his head. He thought about where the first shots had come from and how quickly they had been pinned down. Every time they had tried to move, another position had already been waiting for them.

At the time, they believed the enemy knew the terrain better and had gotten lucky. Now Derek wondered if luck had never had a damn thing to do with it.

“You’re telling me someone knew our mission plan.”

Tink’s expression was grim. “I’m telling you they weren’t sitting out there hoping a team crossed their path. They were waiting for us, Derek.”

“Who gave them the route?”

Tink shook his head. “That’s what I need to find out.”

Derek rubbed a hand across his jaw as he looked toward the dark yard. For years he had carried the guilt of wondering if they had missed something. But if Tink was right, they had never been given a fair chance to begin with.

Someone had purposely sent them into an ambush.

“Does anyone else know about this?”

“No. I came to you first.”

“Good. Keep it that way until we know exactly what we’re dealing with. I want everything pulled again—the original mission reports, personnel files, intel sources, and every person who had access to that route, no matter how far removed they seemed at the time.”

Tink nodded. “Already started.”

“Of course you did.”

“You know me.”

Derek looked at him. “And Scorpion?”

“I’ll find him.”

Derek did not doubt that. Tink had always possessed an irritating ability to uncover people who had spent years making sure they couldn’t be found.

“What happens when we do?” Tink asked.

Derek didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he looked through the windows again at the people gathered inside his home. They were laughing, eating, chasing kids and enjoying Christmas without the slightest idea that a ghost from Derek’s past had just resurfaced.

For years, Alpha and Bravo had fought their own battles. Each team had suffered losses, faced enemies, and protected the people they loved, but this felt different. Scorpion wasn’t connected to one of the teams.

He was connected to where it all began. And if someone had betrayed Derek’s old team from the inside, then finding Scorpion wasn’t simply about revenge. It was about finally learning the truth behind a mission that had haunted him for years.

Derek turned back toward Tink.

“Find him. Find out who gave him our route. I know that bastard had something to do with it.”

Derek looked once more toward the house, at the men he had spent years commanding and the families they had built around them.

Whoever had orchestrated that ambush all those years ago had taken people from Derek once. He wouldn’t get another chance.

Tink slipped his phone back into his coat. “So, what are you thinking?”

Derek opened the back door, and the warmth and laughter of his family spilled out into the cold night.

He glanced back at Tink.

“I’m thinking it’s time we finish what he started.”