Page 61 of Her Ruthless Protector

The door was open and Kane could see Abia holding her daughter close to her heart. The little boy was peering over the seat to watch them settle Zed onto the seat.

“Is he dead?” he asked.

“No,” Kane answered.

“That’s good. I like you guys,” the kid said as he settled back to rest against his mother’s side.

“We like you too,” Kane assured the boy as he got in beside Zed and lifted his head so it could rest on his legs.

Leo got into the driver’s seat and Kane started talking to him. “Let’s head toward the Taizz Aden Expressway until I can get ahold of Max, so he can talk to the brass. We need to get help now.”

* * *

Lieutenant Commander Liam Herne McAllister’srage was ice-cold. He pressed his satellite phone closer to his ear, sure that he was mishearing the rear admiral’s words incorrectly. He was brand new, the second youngest RA to ever be confirmed by the Senate. Liam, and everyone else, knew it was a political, not merit-based, appointment.

“Would you repeat that, sir?”

“The CIA cautioned your SEAL teams not to get involved. They had this in hand. There would be too much fallout if it was known we had a SEAL team involved in a Yemen retrieval mission. Therefore, I will not approve a Seahawk to get your wounded man.”

Liam was sitting outside the Mutrah Souk in Muscat having tea. It was continental enough that someone speaking English was no big deal.

Liam hated tea, but it was a damn sight better than listening to this asshole. Rear Admiral Anders would have cow triplets if he found out that not only was he still involved with the assignment he’d been told to stay out of, he was currently right smack dab in the middle of it while talking to him on the phone. Liam adjusted his thobe and took another sip of tea.

“I’m sorry, sir, this connection is bad, you couldn’t possibly have heard me correctly. Chief Petty Officer Zaragoza will die without immediate extraction,” he said mildly as he bowed his head to a group of ladies in hijabs who were walking by laden with groceries from the market.

“I heard you. Your men know the risks when they sign up. You and Captain Hale knew the risks when you sanctioned a mission that went against our intelligence warnings.”

“And that intelligence was obviously wrong, as my men just proved,” Liam bit out.

The women looked back at him startled when they heard his harsh words.

Keep it together, McAllister, otherwise the man you’re following might notice you.

“I don’t really care what your men found out. Protocols are put in place for a reason. You and your team can’t possibly understand the bigger picture. I’m late for a meeting. This discussion is at an end.”

Liam looked down at his phone in utter disbelief. For a nano-second he thought about calling his boss, Captain Josiah Hale. He knew that he was in D.C. with that prick Anders, but he wanted Josiah to have deniability. This was going to be all on him.

Jim Bates was a twenty-five-year man who captained the USS Mason. They’d been friends for twenty years. Liam shook his head in bemusement as he called Jim’s mobile number. Life sure had changed. Here he was in the middle of a covert assignment casually calling the captain of an aircraft carrier in order to save a life and blow up his own career.

“Liam,” Jim answered with a smile. “How’s it hanging? I can’t talk long. In the middle of the Bab-el-Mandeb strait. Might not be the Strait of Hormuz, but it’s almost as deadly.”

“Jim, I’ve got a situation. It’s a hot potato and it’s life and death.”

“Life and death trumps political bullshit every time,” Jim said immediately. “Tell me how I can assist.”

“I have a man in Taizz, he was working on my orders on an extraction. He’s critically injured and Ass Lick Anders refuses to send a Seahawk for him.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Jim’s voice was incredulous. “That little motherfucker. I’ll have your bird in the air in under two minutes. Do you have coordinates?”

“Jim, I’m torpedoing my career on this one. It’s on me, got it?”

“No way, I’m not letting you do that, this is a joint effort.”

“I’m going to give you my man’s information. He’ll get you the coordinates. We’ll talk later on how this is going down, but your uniform is not getting muddy.”

“Fuck you, McAllister. Now give me your guy’s contact. Where are you?” Jim asked.

“I don’t matter. Just help my men.”

* * *

Kane lookedup into the sky. His prayers had been answered as he saw the Seahawk helicopter landing. Zed had gone into convulsions fifteen minutes ago, and it didn’t matter how good Kane’s training was when you didn’t have the equipment you needed to help one of your best friends.

Leo was flashing his headlights so that the chopper could better see their SUV. It settled down fifty meters away from their vehicle and two corpsmen came running out holding a stretcher. Kane had the door of the backseat open and soon Zed was loaded on the helicopter. Leo worked with two other men to get the prisoners and Abia and her children loaded as Kane ensured that the corpsmen knew what the hell they were doing as they started the IV’s. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Zed was in good hands.

The Seahawk was already on its way back to the USS Mason when Max got ahold of him.

“How’s Zed doing?”

“Better,” Kane said. “We’ve got to get him to the operating room on board the aircraft carrier, but he’s got a fighting chance now.”

“Thank God,” Max said.

“What took the chopper so long to get here?” Kane asked.

“Fucking politics. You really don’t want to know. Suffice it to say, we have guardian angels on our side willing to lay it all on the line.”

Kane thought about it and he didn’t like how that sounded but he didn’t have time to care. He willed the Seahawk to fly faster.