Page 76 of Her Ruthless Protector

“Absolutely.”

“Okay, you have your marching orders, let’s hit it,” Kane said to the team. He turned to A.J.. Hopefully it was pertinent and not a pep talk, but first she had something in her own team to take care of. A.J. turned to Shelly. “Can you come here?” She tilted her head and Shelly followed her to the side, away from the line that was beginning to form.

“I don’t want you part of the Amber search.”

“Why?” Shelly looked perplexed.

“You’re taking too much glee out of it.” A.J. kept her cool, despite the fact that she was disappointed and more than a little angry. “Shelly, this is serious and I’m depending on you as my right hand. We’re dealing with scum who want to assassinate innocent people.”

Shelly looked at the ground, then she looked back up at A.J.. “I’m sorry, it’s a coping mechanism. This is scaring the hell out of me, and I’m just trying to block it by focusing on something fun. I’m really sorry.”

A.J. breathed a sigh of relief. It was good to know that Shelly actually knew the gravity of what was going on. “It’s okay. Now that we have that cleared up, I’m going to have you work with whoever Kane designates to knock on trailers for the search. You have the spreadsheet of acts and where they’re all located and who their managers are. You should also have their contact info. I need this done in the next two hours.”

“Did I just hear my name?” Kane asked.

She looked up and saw Kane flanked by two men. She recognized one from the Mayor’s Dinner.

“Kane, I was just tasking Shelly to get all of the contact information of the contestants’ managers so that you could contact them. Once she does, she’ll need to work with people to do the searches, and that’s where you come in.”

“I’m going to be working with Ed to get his project up and running,” Kane said. “My lieutenant Max Hogan here, who you met last night, is going to supervise Ed’s remaining men to do the searches. I don’t think you met Gray Tyler, he’s the lieutenant of the other SEAL team. He has a question.”

“It’s good to meet you both,” Gray smiled and nodded. “A.J., I’m splitting up my men into two forces. One group is going over the set-up of the main stage, backstage, and the mammoth electronic display screen behind the stage. The other group is going to the opposite side of the stadium where the VIP boxes are. That spot has a lot of hidey-holes for snipers, and we’re going to have to put men on patrol. I want to make sure everything is locked tight and we’ve got everything covered. Is there a stagehand or two we could commandeer?”

A.J. sighed. “You need Chet and Alistair. They’re the best, they know every nook and cranny.”

“Chet volunteered to search Amber’s trailer,” Shelly piped up.

“Then he can un-fucking-volunteer,” A.J. growled.

“I believe that’s what you said to Cullen,” Max grinned at Kane.

“Damn right I did,” Kane looked over at A.J. and smiled.