Page 49 of Her Ruthless Protector

* * *

“Dex,it’s about damn time you called,” Kane said into his satellite phone. He’d ducked over to his hotel to make some calls and was damned happy when this one came in.

“I have Wyatt here with me. He’s just got some information from a kid named Chris Lancaster today over WhatsApp.”

“Tell Chris to stop using it, it’s not secure,” Kane damn near yelled. “And what the hell are you doing with a WhatsApp account, Leeds?”

“Chill out, I’m monitoring it,” Dex said soothingly.

“I don’t give a shit if you’re monitoring it, you and the Western hemisphere are monitoring WhatsApp.”

“Actually, it’s the Middle Eastern world who’s monitoring it,” Dex said, and Kane could hear the smile in his voice. Shit, he was slow tonight. Dex wanted people to monitor it. He was using it as a red herring.

“Okay, did Chris pass good or bad information?”

“Unfortunately, the information is pertinent,” Wyatt sighed. “Barkat al-Fadi’s brother-in-law is a big deal. He does business with Chris’s dad.”

“You’re kidding. How in the hell was that intel missed?”

“Liam is going to find out. He is pissed.” Dex said.

“Anyway, the brother-in-law is running scared because he thinks that his business interests will be hampered when people start associating him with al-Fadi.”

“What’s his name?”

“His name is Balushi, he’s Omani, he married al-Fadi’s wife’s sister. Still, there’s a connection. So, he’s been talking to a couple of people he trusts at his company, and word got back to Chris’s dad,” Wyatt said.

“How in the hell did Chris find out about this, and why didn’t his dad go to Ambassador Hoag?”

“After our little adventure four months ago, Chris considers himself quite the spy, and I think he’s doing a lot of eavesdropping. As for Hoag, the kid didn’t know why his dad hadn’t talked to the ambassador.”

“So, does Balushi have any information that might help us with this mess?” Kane asked.

“He said that his wife is terrified after talking to her sister. Apparently, al Fadi’s wife has had her children threatened by al-Qaeda. If she doesn’t arrange a visit to the prison to see her husband, they say they’ll kill her daughter. She’s supposed to find out something.”

“Another fucking fail on the part of the suits—according to them al Fadi knows nothing,” Kane said bitterly. Kane paused. “Dex, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Oh yeah. We’re chasing our tails here in Afghanistan. The two old guys here don’t have a clue what the target is. If they did, they wouldn’t be threatening to kill that child. Barkat al Fadi must have been put in charge of this mission and be coordinating it.”

“But it wouldn’t have stopped just because he’s in prison, he has to have some lieutenants. We need to find out who they are and stop those motherfuckers.” Kane pounded his desk with his fist.

“They must have been laughing their asses off, having our team over here in Afghanistan,” Dex said. Kane could tell how pissed-off he was.

“When will you be here?”

“Gray’s already assembling the team.”

“Good.”

* * *

Shit, shit, shit.

Tonight was supposed to be white chocolate and raspberries. Kane tagged Leo, who was grabbing Nick, and all three of them rolled up at the entrance to the Al Bustan Palace hotel at the same time. Max and Zed had arranged for a conference room for them to get their shit together.

It felt like the good old days when Kane walked into the lobby. He hadn’t seen this much fancy since KMI’s hey-day in San Francisco. He was impressed with the concierge, she didn’t bat an eyelash at their less than stellar appearance when Leo asked where the Lotus conference room was located.

She provided a card that would allow them access into the elevators and the conference room on the mezzanine.