Page 26 of Her Righteous Protector

“Yes,” Kane said without looking up from the tablet. “Kostya, start rounding up your charges and try not to piss off Ms. Sorensen in the process.”

Kostya glowered at Kane’s lowered head and Max grinned as he left the room.

“Kane, that just leaves you, me, Cullen, Leo, and Zed. Book us through either Qatar or UAE and get us back to Crete, then we’ll pick up our gear and take a military transport home.”

Kane looked up at Max. “Already done.”

“Of course it is, what in the hell was I thinking?” Max sat down in the seat beside him. “Do we have time to send a report to the commander?”

Kane gave him a broad grin. “Of course I arranged for enough time.”

Max laughed, and they got to work.

9

Max landed in Virginia at damn near midnight, with Zed, Leo, Kane, and Cullen. He’d had good news all around on the last leg of his journey. Ezio’s CT scan came back showing fluid around the brain which had caused all of his symptoms, but even in the twenty-four hours he’d been at the hospital in Germany the fluid had decreased. Raiden and Asher were on their way home.

Meanwhile, Nic had told him that Kostya and Lark had played nice the entire trip to California and that Lark’s mother, Beatrice Allen, had been at the airport to greet her daughter. She’d come with her own security team and a nanny to help with the Nuri girls. Beatrice had whisked her daughter and the Nuris into a limo before the bags were even claimed, so Kostya and Nic should be back soon.

With all the information that he received, he was fine to talk to Commander Clark who was waiting for him at the airport. Max nodded to Asher, Zed, and Leo as they broke off to head home and Kane stayed with him to go with the commander into his office. As soon as Simon’s door was shut and he was seated behind his desk he asked, “Why was Kostya Barona really with you?”

Max thought rapidly. “Kane, I know A.J. is waiting for you, you’re dismissed.”

Kane didn’t look happy, but he left the room and shut the door after himself.

Simon ran his fingers through his salt-and-pepper hair. “Shit, this isn’t good if you had to let Kane go. Are you going to try to take this all onto your shoulders?”

“It was my mission, so it’s my decision. I had information that turned out to be right, that Ms. Sorensen would not leave Afghanistan without Samira Nuri and her two daughters. She had been in contact with Kostya so I knew there was some trust there, and I also knew that there was trust between Kostya and Samira because he had worked so closely with her dead husband. It was my determination his help would be critical.”

Simon stared at him for one of the longest minutes of his life.

“Is that the story you’re sticking with?”

“It’s the truth.” There was no reason to get into how they had created a back-dated cover story. Max refused to lie to his commander and Simon knew it, which was why he didn’t ask any follow-up questions.

“Good job on completing your mission,” Simon smiled wryly. “Now get out of here and get some sleep. Tell the rest of your team, including Barona, that when they touch down, they don’t have to report in to me.”

Max’s smile was relieved and grateful. “I will. Thank you.”

“Get out of here.”

* * *

The knocking on his door would not stop. Max pulled the third pillow over his ears to try to drown it out. When it finally stopped he breathed a sigh of relief. But the peace didn’t last long, as he soon heard tapping on his bedroom window.

“Max? Are you home now? I saw your truck.”

“I’m not home, Mikey,” Max yelled out.

Mikey laughed. “Yes, you are. Dad said not to bother you, but we’re going to get ice cream later, did you want to go?”

“I’ll go tomorrow.”

“We might not go tomorrow.”

Max pushed his naked body upright and got out of bed. He walked over to his dresser and pulled on a pair of sweat pants then opened the blinds. He blinked at the bright sunlight as he opened the window so that he was better able to talk to Mikey.

“I promise to take you to get ice cream tomorrow, okay, buddy? But I’ve got other stuff I need to do today.”