Gunner’s gut clenched.
“Is Cale coming in for the update?” Sydney glanced toward the door. “I’m sure he needs to hear—”
“I need to talk to the two of you first.” Logan’s words were emotionless. Just like his eyes.
Gunner didn’t like where this scene was going.
“Mercer...Mercer is the one who handed down this job. He asked specifically for our team to handle the mission.”
“We are the best,” Sydney said, grinning a bit.
Logan didn’t smile. “He had a tip about the hostage, and he wanted us to follow up. I wanted to get a visual before I passed on the suspicions to the team.”
“Just what kind of suspicions are we talking about?” Gunner crossed his hands over his chest and waited.
Sydney came to his side. Her grin was gone. Her shoulders brushed against his.
Logan’s watchful gaze noted that light touch. His eyes narrowed, and he blew out a hard breath. “Mercer had intel that an American pilot was being held. A man with strong ties that could potentially be...manipulated by the group holding him.”
“What kind of ties?” Sydney asked.
“Military ties to a covert team.” Logan’s shoulders straightened. “To our team.”
Gunner’s heartbeat kicked up.
“I saw the hostage earlier.” Logan’s hands were clenched. That wasn’t a good sign. Not good at all. His gaze came back to Gunner. “I got the visual confirmation that we needed.”
Why wasn’t he just coming out and saying—
“The hostage...it’s Slade.”
Sydney’s body swayed next to him, and Gunner automatically reached out, wrapping his hands around her shoulders.
Then he froze.
Slade?
“He’s thinner. His hair’s longer. He’s got a beard and a limp but...it’s him.”
“Slade is dead.” Sydney’s voice was hushed.
Logan’s gaze drifted to her. “No, he’s not.”
“We buried him.”
Gunner felt like ice was wrapping around him. “We put a tombstone over an empty grave.” He stepped toward Logan. “I saw him die. I was there.” This couldn’t be happening. “There was no pulse,” he growled out the words. “I checked. There was no surviving the hits that Slade had taken. With that much blood loss...”
He’d been dead.
Because Gunner never would have left him if he thought his brother had still been alive.
“I saw him, Gunner. I. Saw. Him.” Now Logan raked a hand through his hair, and Gunner realized just how agitated the team leader was. “The features are the same. Hell, I’m not one hundred percent on this...we’d need DNA for that...but the intel Mercer has...what I just saw...it looks like him.”
“G-Gunner?” Sydney sounded shocked. Lost.
He couldn’t look at her right then. Because he was afraid of what he might see in her eyes.
He’d had her beneath him on that bed, been inside her...