Page 45 of Her Ruthless Protector

“Any leads on who might be doing the sabotage?” Cullen asked.

“That’s why I’m heading to Don. He’s been working with the stagehands and Ed’s second-in-command. Meanwhile, Ed’s with you two, right?”

Asher nodded. “This place is so damned exposed you might as well have put a big red ‘X’ in the middle of the field.”

“If it would bring in more tickets, Don would do it,” A.J. laughed.

“That’s not really an issue though, is it? You’re sold out for the semi-finals and the finale. How many people are supposed to be here on the big night?”

A.J. did a three-sixty twirl around and pointed. “The Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex holds thirty-four thousand. We’re allowing for standing room in front of the stage, so that’s another seven thousand. All in all, we’re expecting forty-one thousand. Yeah, we sold all the tickets last month.”

“Holy fuck,” Cullen breathed.

“I told you this was big stuff.” Asher grinned.

“We have to get the Omani army to play. How in the hell is the airport and hotels handling the influx of people?” Cullen asked.

“That’s part of the deal. You can’t be considered to host unless you have the infrastructure. That’s the reason they’re getting that extra terminal built and ready to rock ‘n roll next week. It was for this event. As for the hotels? They had that in place. That was part of the Sultan’s way of putting his people to work. A lot of the hotels had been sitting empty, so this is a boon to them.”

They got to Don’s trailer. “This is our jumping-off point,” Cullen said. “You keep us informed as to what’s going on with the sabotage.”

“Back at you on the other business,” A.J. said cautiously. There wasn’t a chance in hell she wanted to be caught saying the word terrorist.

“Give our love to Kane,” Asher waggled his fingers at her as she grabbed the handle to Don’s trailer.

“Asher, if I see your teammate before you do, something is wrong with the way your team is set up. I know some organizational management training classes that your leader could take advantage of. What’s his name? Should I call him?”

Asher opened his mouth, but then thought better of it.

A.J. grinned. She liked winning.

* * *

“She said what?”Kane asked Cullen to repeat the story.

“You heard me. Asher was almost going to engage again. Would have been nice to see, she would have eviscerated him. Seriously, I love the man, but he’s not in her weight class.”

Kane smirked. Then he thought of something. “Remember, Lyons, you’re not in her weight class either.”

“Yes I am, I just know that I’m not on her radar. Kind of sucks.”

“Yeah, it’s good to be me. Are we meeting tomorrow morning in Max’s room?”

“Later than normal. He and Zed are bunking over at the Al Bustan Palace. According to Zed, Max has a shot with that chef if he wants one. Omand thinks our Lieutenant is hot. When I tell him that you’re making time with a red-headed angel over here, and he’s caught the eye of a pasty-faced French chef, you will no longer be Max’s favorite.”

Kane grinned. Cullen had a point, but Kane didn’t care. A.J. was worth it.

“So, besides putting Asher in his place, what else is going on at the contest?”

“The place is swarming with reporters. It’s giving me the heebie-jeebies. A.J. has them pretty well corralled in the press area, but like cockroaches some of them are getting through to other spots. We’re just trying to blend in with Ed’s team.”

“Sounds like a plan. What are you and Ed’s team doing?”

“Looking for potential entry points. I’m telling you, Kane, this is not the way to go. We’re going to have to go after them, not try to protect this place—it’s impossible. Today A.J. told me that forty-one thousand tickets have been sold for the grand finale. There’s no way we can check everyone. We’re going to have to figure out when and where they plan to infiltrate.”

Kane had come to that same conclusion earlier today as he was setting up the surveillance system. Here at the airport, they had almost thirteen hundred security cameras set up, which was a fifth the number that Heathrow had.

“Which company did they hire to monitor their camera feeds?” Cullen asked. “It better be someone good.”