Page 82 of Her Captivated Hero

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There were fourteen potential targets.The King of Jordan and his family, the Ambassador of Oman, the President of the World Bank, a Nobel Lauriat, the King of Bahrain, his second wife and two sons, or one of the three journalists who had broken the story about the atrocities in Yemen. The last three weren’t likely, since there were three of them, and all three had different genetic make-ups, but Langley thought that taking out any one of them might make the Saudis’ point. They were all up at the dais at the front of the of the ballroom.

What the hell, why not just shoot one of them?

Oh yeah, they get sick, then the Saudis aren’t responsible, Gray reminded himself.

Gray willed Wyatt to report something. Dex, Dalton, Griff and Hunter were still coming in with nothing, but please say that Mason had this. Any other time Gray would take on the mission and not be wishing it on another team, but another time he wouldn’t have Riya in a room upstairs.

“Champagne?” a waiter asked as he walked by.

Gray shook his head. It was like he was in a James Bond movie.

Riya had explained that the gas would work best in an air conditioning vent because it would disperse the toxin throughout the space, like it had in Las Vegas. But here on the floor of the venue, it would need to be put nearer to the targets. Gray saw Aiden’s blond hair moving closer to the front of the room. Thank God Abu Dhabi was such an eclectic city and blondes weren’t that out of place, otherwise he and Aiden would be screwed. That was the reason Griff and Hunter were supposed to have been on this duty, they both had dark hair.

“They’ve got a shooter,” Wyatt came in loud and clear through Gray’s receiver. “Mason says they don’t think he has anything to do with the potential Saudi plot, it was a lone terrorist.”

Gray didn’t have to ask his men if they heard, he knew they would all be on high alert.

“There!” Hunter shouted.

Aiden turned and looked at Gray, then he started meandering through the crowd as if he wasn’t listening intently to his receiver.

Gray could hear a loud grunting. No gunfire, but the sound of fists on flesh was clear. Then there was the sound of metal hitting metal.

Was it the canister hitting the HVAC unit?

“Catch it!” Griff cried out.

A man yelled curse words in Arabic.

Gray started to walk quickly to the exit, when a voice came over the loudspeaker. “Is there a physician in the house?”

He turned his head and saw that the King of Jordan was leaning over his son who was slumped over the table. The King was clearly gasping for air. Gray couldn’t see the wife or young daughter. Had they slipped under the table? The prince was being held up by one of the reporters.

Ah, fuck.

“We got it, Gray. We got the canister before it was deployed.” Hunter said. “We’re taking it to the suite.”

“Aiden, find the other one,” Gray said into his mic. “Find the empty one that was used on the Jordanians. Riya’s going to need it.”

“I’m on it.”

* * *

It wasrare that she had to wear her ‘hot suit’, but when she did, she was fanatical about it. Wyatt, God bless him, had done a second inspection for any kind of leaks before she had suited up. They had also gone through the biocontainment lab. He had helped her try to make the portable tables rest as flat as possible on the uneven floor of the bathroom.

“I don’t understand why such an expensive room would have such a poorly constructed floor,” Riya complained.

Wyatt laughed. “Riya, I’m pretty sure this is travertine, it’s really expensive stone.”

“Well it’s silly. Look, the table rocks.”

Wyatt had put paper under the legs to steady the table. So when Hunter had said he was coming in with a canister, she was ready for it. She put on her helmet, and air-purifying respirator, then waited.

She saw Wyatt asking her something.

She crimped the hose on her air supply, because she couldn’t hear him over the hissing air. “What?”