Page 33 of Her Ruthless Protector

7

“Kane, thanks for filling us in. A.J. has a hell of a point. The, Is There Talent Out In the Universe Contest is a prime target,” Max conceded.

“Do I get to go back to the Song Contest?” Asher asked from where he was lounging against the wall in Max’s hotel room.

Max glowered at him. Even though their lieutenant was sitting down on his bed, Kane didn’t for one second take it to mean he wasn’t capable of leaping up and throttling Asher.

“My mom wants to know,” Asher grinned at Max as he pushed it.

Cullen laughed as he swung back and forth in the desk chair. “Sure, blame it on your mom. I’ve seen what Amber looks like. I’ve decided that I want to cover the song contest too. Wanna hear me sing? They’re down an act, I can fill in.”

Cullen started singing ‘Danny Boy’.

“Order him to stop,” Kane begged.

“Enough,” Max roared. “We need to concentrate. Asher, enough already. Yes, you’re going back to The Voice without Blake Shelton. Cullen, if you sing again, I’ll find you a latrine to dig. Anybody else want a piece of me?”

Oh damn, what was up Max’s ass?

Kane figured he better take his lieutenant aside after the meeting. Nick yawned and Max opened his mouth to ream him, but Leo smiled and raised his hand.

“What?” Max demanded.

“I’ve been meeting with the security folks at the airport and I finally have something good to report.”

“Thank the Lord,” Max said with feeling. “Spill it.”

“While they’ve been doing the build-out for the new terminal, they’ve also been doing covert upgrades on the two older terminals at the Sultan’s request. With the amount of surveillance they just put in, you’d think it was China. I swear, they’re going to know if someone drops a gum wrapper.”

Kane zeroed in on the only noteworthy part of Leo’s diatribe. “Perez, you said ‘going to know’. Just when is this shit going to be operational?”

Leo raised both of his hands. “First, you need to calm down and listen to my whole answer.”

“I don’t like it already,” Kane muttered.

“Two months. They’re behind schedule and over budget. It was supposed to be this week.”

“You are always such a little unicorn, pooping rainbow turds. Like that’s going to do us any fucking good.”

“Kane, I told you to listen to my whole answer. They have all of the cameras in place, and all of the electronic components are there. The problem is with the system itself, there are glitches and they can’t figure it out. They need some kind of electronical wizard to save the day.”

Kane’s heart plummeted. He knew where this was going, and it wasn’t back to the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex and A.J. Max’s next words confirmed it.

“Leo and Nick, you two are still at the airport. Leo, since you’ve dug this up, work close with Kane. Cullen, you’re pulled from airport duty. Instead, it’s you and Asher at Oman’s Got Talent.”

“Zed and I have OPEC covered, but Raiden, what’s the word on Amnesty Conference?” Max asked the silent member of their team.

“I was afraid to say something for fear I would be asked to audition. You guys have seen me juggle, I thought someone would want me to sign up for the contest.”

Kane looked over at Max to see if Raiden’s humor had softened him up any. It hadn’t.

“Just the facts, Sato. Enough with your attempt at humor.”

Everybody but Raiden flinched at Max’s tone. What the hell was up with Max?

“Everything still looks tight, Boss. Two people have had to drop out, I’m going to hear who their replacements are tomorrow or the day after. The personnel at the Swiss Embassy hates any kind of change, so they are treating this like a Level Three threat. I’m working beside their head of security as they work through the new delegates’ backgrounds.”

“Sounds good. Okay, you’ve all got your assignments. Get a little bit of shuteye and let’s hit it in the morning.”