A warmth went through Dodge, something he hadn’t let himself feel in years, although he had no real beef with Ranger.

“Last time I saw you, you were in Afghanistan. When did you get home?”

Ranger gave a half smile, but something hooded came over his eyes. “A while ago,” he said. “Hey, Echo.”

Echo had come in beside Dodge and now stepped up to Ranger to give him a hug. “Range. Glad you’re back.”

He hugged her too, then let her go. “Not sure I’m back, but . . .” He looked at Dodge, then his father. “Something’s happened.”

Echo took Dodge’s hand, squeezed.

“What do you mean? What happened?” Dodge asked. He glanced at his father, who had walked over, his hands in his pockets. He met Dodge’s gaze, his shoulders rising and falling.

Something—and his thoughts went to the worst. “It’s Colt,” Dodge said.

Ranger’s expression turned grim, and he nodded.

Echo’s grip in his tightened even as Dodge’s other hand went to the back of a nearby chair.

It wasn’t supposed to end like this. Their story wasn’t over—his and Colt’s. Dodge was supposed to have time to fix things, to apologize, to forgive . . . and be forgiven.

“When? Where?” He took a breath, and his voice barely wavered. “How?”

Ranger blinked, frowned, then came close and put his hand on his shoulder. “He’s not dead.”

Dodge didn’t know why, but Ranger’s words shuddered through him, turned him even weaker. He looked away, blinked back a terrible burn.

“Then what’s happened?” Echo asked, probably for him.

“He’s been taken,” his father said, walking up to stand beside Ranger.

Dodge looked at his brother, who nodded.

“Almost three weeks ago,” Ranger said. “While on assignment in Africa. Nigeria, to be exact.”

“What’s Delta Force doing in Nigeria?” Although with the recent violence there, maybe they’d been deployed to protect or even rescue national assets. “Have they sent in a team to get him?”

“He’s not with Delta anymore,” Ranger said. “Hasn’t been for quite a while.”

Dodge glanced at his father, who lifted an eyebrow. So, this was news, even to him.

“He was discharged a while back. There’s a rumor going around about dishonorable behavior, but I looked into it—he got a general discharge, nothing noted on his record.”

But not an honorable separation, so it meant something went down.

“So, what’s he doing in Africa?”

“He works for a private security outfit—Jones, Inc. They have a global SAR team and a private security action team. Colt is on the action team along with a former teammate of mine, Fraser Marshall. They were in Africa doing some security work when they were taken.”

“By whom?”

“According to Ham—head of Jones, Inc.—he thinks it was by an offshoot group of Boko Haram. It’s a jihadist organization—”