Page 60 of Her Loving Hero

“When I get my ass chewed by my lieutenant right after my wife give’s birth because he thinks I hadn’t kept him in the loop.”

Kane cleared his throat. “Shit. I owe you one for that.”

“Bullshit, you owe me a whole lot more than one, McNamara,” Dex said as he tossed his phone on top of a mound of papers that included a sonogram picture. He gestured for Wyatt to take a seat in the small office. It wasn’t the same room he was used to, then he realized they’d probably converted his old office into a nursery.

“You know, you could have Kane give you some of his magical airline miles to make up for it. That way you get to fly first class,” Wyatt suggested.

“Miles? What the hell are you talking about? He flies military transport like the rest of us yahoos.”

“Don’t tell Emily,” Wyatt laughed.

“Business boys. We have business to discuss. What’s more I have information to share, if the whining is done.” Kane sounded exasperated.

“Let me guess, the Ambassador’s dinner with the Emir of Qatar and the Secretary of State was cancelled because it was a target,” Wyatt surmised. “Got anything less obvious to share?”

“Yes. Something new and unexpected has popped up in two of the universities in Muscat and Nizwa, both within a week of one another, and it looks like it doesn’t look organic, it looks planted. A new radicalized group called Oman Nationalism.”

“What are their leanings? What have they done?”

“They haven’t done anything yet, but they’re saying that they won’t let Oman be bullied by the American backed regimes.”

Wyatt looked at Dex. “Kane, that makes no sense. Oman is Switzerland, they rarely back a horse in the race unless it’s an underdog so that they can keep the sides balanced.”

“There are a couple of really good guys on the ground in Oman,” Kane said. “These guys are working covertly, trying to infiltrate the group in Nizwa. Max said they expect to find Hamza al Libi pulling the student’s strings.”

“Al-Qaeda is more on Yemen’s side, right?” Dex said slowly. “And Hamza is Al-Qaeda.”

Wyatt nodded, and Kane gave a bored, “Yes.”

“So, what would Yemen and Al-Qaeda have to gain about stirring up students and Oman Nationalism against Saudi and the UAE?” Dex asked.

“That’s what the suits are trying to figure out,” Kane said. “In the meantime, Wyatt, I would be expecting to see the Hoag women in San Diego pretty damn quickly.”

Wyatt felt his stomach turn. Carly he could handle. Lilliana, not so much.

There was a ping as an e-mail came in on Dex’s computer, he tilted back on his chair so he could punch his keyboard and call it up.

“Oh Man, it looks like there will be a briefing on this developing crisis tomorrow morning,” Dex said in a Jamaican accent.

Wyatt and Kane groaned.

“Please say that is the last damn time you will say Oman in a Jamaican accent. That is one tired assed joke.” Wyatt begged.

“Oh Man, no it’s not,” Dex continued.

Wyatt pulled out his wallet, took out a twenty and handed it to Dex. “Here, go buy yourself a sense of humor.”

* * *

Emily wasready to spit nails. Dealing with her mother was like trying to nail jello to the wall. All she had been trying to do was convince her to come stateside where it was safe. But no, Tammy Wynette needed to stand-by-her-man. She pulled the last towel out of the dryer and slammed it shut.

“Sorry!” she called out. She never slammed things. Emily didn’t want Wyatt to think that she wouldn’t take proper care of his things. She picked up the laundry basket and walked down the hallway to her room and got down to the business of folding clothes.

“What are you apologizing for?” Wyatt asked as he knocked on the doorjamb to her room.

“I slammed the dryer door shut.”

“Well, I think that requires a written apology,” he teased.