Page 46 of Her Ruthless Protector

“Covert Oversight, they’re tight. They’re going to bring in all of their people for the times required. It’s going to cost some serious cash, but the airport manager is on board.”

“I’ve checked over the video monitoring system here. One hundred cameras. One hundred fucking cameras for a stadium filled with forty-one thousand people. We’re screwed. We’ve got to go to the source so we can back-end this.” Kane could hear the frustration in his friend’s voice. Just one more day of coding and he could get his ass back over to that target.

“I’ll be back there as fast as I can.”

“Be sure to bring that big brain of yours, we’re going to need it. I’m calling Max. He better get Gray and Liam in on this. I’ve got a pretty bad feeling that this is the target. To hell with the dignitaries and those OPEC shits—all these innocents and the splash they could make taking out a bunch of wanna-be and actual celebrities? Yep, this is it. It’s the grand finale, my man.”

“I—” Kane started to say, and then realized he was talking to a dead phone. “The son-of-a-bitch hung up on me. Well, he’s right about some things,” Kane muttered.

He punched in a number and got voicemail.

“Dex, I know you’re literally in the shit, but Max is going to be calling Gray for an update. But from one second-in-command to another, I need a deeper dive. I know you’ve been downloading everything you’ve been learning in Afghanistan to me, but I’ve seen where some of it is just at a top view level. I need the nitty-gritty. Call me, I’m going to tell you what we’re up against.”

Kane opened the door to the room where the three programmers were working.

“We figured out another one,” Mohit said with a big grin. “Do you want to see?”

“Give me ten minutes, and I’ll come check it out,” Kane said. “I’m done with two of my calls, I need to make one other. I’m going to stretch my legs.”

The three men nodded and then turned back to their computer screens. Kane shut the door and headed toward the concourse at Terminal One—it had the best food court. He needed something sweet to go with the tart flavor. Or was A.J. the sweet? He’d find out. It was always so much fun to discover what she’d be serving.

He dialed, and this time she answered instead of her assistant.

“A friendly voice. How’d you know I needed to hear one of those?”

The sweet.

“Annabelle, I’m glad to be of service,” he said as he made his way down the crowded airport concourse.

“Keep guessing, Swabbie. When are you done being super geek over at the airport? Pretty soon everybody’s going to be rehearsing in their skimpy little costumes, you don’t want to miss that, do you?”

Kane chuckled. “Are you going to be wearing cut-off jeans again?”

“Nope, I haven’t had time to do laundry. But I swear it’s gotten hotter, so I’m going to have to wear something even cooler in my trailer at night. On a serious note, I can’t thank you enough for that database you set up. Shelly took it over today and she said it was head and shoulders above what she could have come up with.”

Kane saw a mother struggling with her baby stroller and stopped to help her lift it over the lip of the stair. She gave him a grateful smile. He picked up the little blue elephant the toddler had dropped and handed that to the child, who gave him a gummy grin as he clasped it to his chest.

“I’m glad it’s working. Dealing with anything fun today?” he asked as he spied the Caribou Coffee.

“Absolutely nothing. It was drama, drama, and more drama. Kill me now. When are the terrorists supposed to be here?” Before he could say anything, she qualified her statement. “It’s okay, I didn’t really mean it, and I’m in my trailer so nobody can overhear me. But I have to say that today has been a day.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Althea.” He was gratified when she snickered. “You know I’m going to start making up names pretty soon.”

“I’m just proud Mr. Wizard hasn’t used his mad skills to look into my past and find out my real name. Seriously, Kane, it means a lot.”

He got into line, only two people in front of him. “Does it mean enough for you to fess up?”

“I told you, my name is A.J.” She sounded tired, but warm and snuggly at the same time. Damn it, he wanted to be in her trailer with her.

“Please tell me you’re going to go to your hotel tonight.”

“Damn right I am. The press is hanging around here. There’s no air conditioning, and I need to talk the bartender into letting me buy another bottle of scotch before the BBC anchor and his Irish cronies drink them dry.”

“Bad girl, thinking all of us Irish will drink so much.” He got to the front of the line. “Hold on, I have to order.” He turned to the girl behind the counter. “I want a large iced turtle mocha and a raspberry white chocolate scone.”

“You bastard!” A.J. screeched in his ear. “You’re at Caribou Coffee! If you don’t bring me back some of their goodness, don’t think this little flirtation of ours is going one step further.”

“Are you telling me the way to your heart is through your stomach?” Kane handed the woman his money and she gave him his change that he put into the tip jar. He headed over to the barista area to wait for his drink.