Page 25 of Her Ruthless Protector

Kane’s head jerked up at the sexist praise.

Chet rolled his eyes. “Let me guess, you’re a SEAL, right? Even a SEAL could use a bunch of stagehands, considering what goes on at a show of this magnitude.”

Kane looked the three men over. They were right. They were the eyes and ears of this place and having them on board would be extremely helpful.

“Yep, I’m a SEAL. We’ve got some intelligence that there are a couple of different events here in Oman that might be targeted by al-Qaeda and this event is one of them. It’s my job to check things out.”

“Is the Major on board?” Alistair asked. “He’s a good man. Knows what’s up.”

Kane nodded.

“There’s only one of you?” Chet asked.

“My teammates are spread out at the other targets, they’re looking more viable, and what’s more, with Ed working with me, I have more of a leg up.”

“Now you have us. We have seventeen. We know everything,” Alistair said.

The third man snorted. “You’re full of shit, you dumb Brit. If we knew everything, we wouldn’t have three people in the hospital. So, shut up and let’s get to work and figure this shit out. First thing we need to do is coordinate a watch with Ed and his team.”

“What’s your name?” Kane asked.

“I’m Mohammed Farouk, from Lebanon. There’s always bad shit going on in my country, these men believe in the goodness of men, I believe that someone is always out to cut your throat, and this proves it.”

He had a point.

“Can I be in on your meeting?” Kane asked.

“We wouldn’t have it without you.” Chet said.

* * *

It tookabout an hour to assemble almost everyone, Kane noticed that it was A.J. who was on point to do the herding. She was good at it. They were gathered at the far end of the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex well away from any of the contestants. A.J., Don and Ed were looking up at Kane and the rest of the men in the seats. Kane hid a smile as she leaned her hip back on the rail—in those jeans she made quite the sight. Still, there was no hiding the aura of competence.

“A.J., you called this little shindig, so why don’t you start?” Don Salise said.

A.J. stood up straight and all trace of a smile left her face. “First, thanks for getting here so quick, I just wished it could have been under better circumstances. I have some updates on the Spaniards. Letty Hernandez is in surgery, and I’m heading over there after we’re done here. Pablo and Carlotta both should be good to go home in the next couple of days. But, all three of them could have died. I really appreciate the fact that all of you are double-checking all of our equipment for signs of sabotage, but this is going to require a hell of a lot more than that.”

She nodded when hands went up.

“Derik?” she nodded to one of the men in the back row.

“Why are we being questioned? Do you really think it was the stagehands?”

“To tell you the truth, I don’t,” A.J. answered. “But Ed would be an idiot not to question the people who had the easiest access to the equipment. Didn’t they also ask you about the other people milling around the area who aren’t riggers and stagehands?”

“Yes,” Derik agreed reluctantly.

“What would you suggest we do?” she asked in a reasonable tone. Kane was impressed that she wasn’t being defensive, instead she was including him in on the solution.

“I think you should find out if anyone currently working with any of the acts has worked as a stagehand or a lighting technician,” Derik said.

“Or any kind of construction work,” another stagehand inserted.

Ed stepped forward. “I’ve got my team going through everybody’s resume who is working here, including the performers looking for exactly that type of thing.”

“Your team members should be vetted too,” Mohammed Farouk spoke up.

“I’m personally going through all of my men’s backgrounds. If anyone shows up with those kinds of skills, they’ll be extensively questioned by me.”