Page 72 of Her Captivated Hero

Liam didn’t say anything, but his smile was shrewd. While the general and Liam had a mini-bromance, Gray tried to get Riya’s attention, but she was busy folding the corner pages of her black composition notebook. She might not show any expression on her face, but her nervous tic showed she was as stunned by this turn of events as he was.

“Have a seat, men,” the general said to Hale and McAllister. After they were seated, he looked around the conference table. “Gentlemen, and Lady, we have a problem that is going down in the next twenty-four to thirty-six hours according to our sources at Langley. Someone very close to the upper echelons of the Saudi royal family is planning something big. They’ve been dealing with a lot of negative international media attention which has turned into some instability within the family. It’s creating a power struggle. Our CIA source, who is exceedingly reliable, says that the Prince is planning something in less than two days.”

The Middle East, like that was something new. But the idea of Riya being part of something with the Saudi royal family made his blood cold. He tried to get her attention, but her gaze was fixated on her notepad.

“You think the Saudis are responsible for creating that toxin?” Riya asked the general.

“Yes. Our team was able to analyze the delivery system used in the proof of concept they pulled in Las Vegas. It has the same signature as one the Saudis used with a nerve agent in Yemen.”

“What proof of concept?” Liam asked.

“That’ll be explained at the overall meeting,” the general said. “In here, I want to go over what Langley said and the team assignments.”

“There is a tech conference in Dubai, a fashion show in Bahrain, and a humanitarian award ceremony in Abu Dhabi. Every single one of these is a viable target, but we’ve identified the most people the Saudis might want to take out, at the Abu Dhabi event.”

There was a ringing sound, and the general pulled out his phone.

“I need to take this,” he said as he got up and went to the corner of the conference room.

“Why do we need scientists?” Gray said looking at Captain Hale.

The general put his phone back into his pocket. “Good question. I’ll handle that explanation when we’re with you and your entire teams. Where are they?”

“We have all of our men assembled together down the hall,” Mason said.

“Great. We’ll go meet with them,” the general said as he stood up. “The CIA thinks all three targets have a high likelihood of being hit, but I’m convinced it’s going to be the humanitarian award ceremony in Abu Dhabi. There are five or six high profile targets that the Saudis are salivating to take out.” He pointed at Gray. “Since your team just handled Al Khabor, I want Black Dawn there.” He turned to Captain Hale. “Captain, who do you want on the other two assignments?”

Captain Hale gave Gray’s counterparts considering looks. “Max, you’re Bahrain. Mason, you’re taking Dubai.”

The general started talking again. He turned to Liam. “We’ll follow you, Commander to the meeting room.” He motioned for Riya and the other two scientists to follow him out of the room. Riya kept her head down as she left.

“Fan-fucking-tastic, we get to babysit a bunch of models in Bahrain. Seriously, put a bullet in me,” Max said under his breath.

“Aren’t you single?” Mason asked Max, as Gray watched Riya’s braid swing behind her while she walked out the door.

“Yep,” Max answered. “And when I was younger, I dated models. These days I’d prefer to dress in a chicken suit and carry one of those billboards in Times Square.”

God, could these two clowns take any longer to get out of the room?

“Speed it up, I need to get to the briefing.” Gray growled at Max.

“What’s up with you and the pretty scientist?” Mason asked.

“If you’d get out of my way, I can tell them that the pretty scientist isn’t qualified to go on a mission.”

Max and Mason stopped, blocking his way. Mason pushed a hand into his chest. “What the fuck are you thinking?”

“Riya is mine, and she sure as hell isn’t going on a mission to some sort of hotspot. No way, no how.”

“Man, you have no choice.” Max’s voice was implacable.

“Watch me.” He pushed past Mason and Max and yanked open the conference room door.