Page 12 of Her Ruthless Protector

“The Oman authorities are out. They are not going to be playing ball with us,” Liam said with disgust.

Kane sat up in his chair. This made no sense.

“What do you mean?” Gray Tyler asked.

“The Sultan of Oman believes that Saudi and the US are turning on them because of their stance on the Yemeni refugee issue.”

“Turning on them?” Max said.

“Yes, turning on them,” Liam bit out. “We’ve always had a great relationship with the Sultanate, but right now Oman thinks that we’ve allied ourselves with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and are looking to do harm to them.”

“That’s bullshit,” Wyatt Leeds said. “Can’t Ambassador Hoag convince Sultan Qaboos that we’re on his side?”

Kane stifled a grin. Apparently, Wyatt had gained some respect for his soon-to-be father-in-law the ambassador.

“He’s trying,” Liam said. “Personally, Captain Hale and I think that al-Qaeda is at the bottom of this. We’re thinking that they are planting this idea with members of the Sultan’s cabinet, in order to spread discord. But the brass and Langley are thinking that Oman is actually turning on us. But according to everything you all have reported to the Captain and I, the Omanis are solid, and we trust you. It’s a fucking clusterfuck.”

“So basically, we’re on our own to cover the potential targets,” Max said.

“That about covers it,” Liam said.

“Pun intended,” Dex whispered.

Kane rolled his eyes.

“What?” Dex asked.

“I’ve researched some of the targets. There’s one that we really don’t want to be assigned to.” Kane whispered to Dex.

“You got something to say, McNamara?” Liam growled from the front of the room.

“Sir, no, sir.”

Shit. He always hated being singled out.

“Good. Then allow me to continue. Right now, I need Black Dawn back in Afghanistan. We might not have gotten any information from al Fadi’s son, but there is another video that was intercepted from Hamza al Libi, and we have Kane and Wyatt to thank for that.”

“How’s that?” Max Hogan asked.

“That tape of Hamza that Kane and Wyatt got three months ago had a specific signature. One of the geniuses at Naval Cyber Warfare developed an algorithm to capture and crush anything with that particular signature as soon as it hit the web.”

He’d have to meet this guy.

“Anyway, from this download we know that al-Qaeda has something new planned and it’s ugly. They’re operating out of Ghazni, so Gray, that’s where I’m sending your team. You’ll get more info tomorrow.”

“Gotchya,” Gray nodded.

“So that leaves us with the four potential targets here in Oman,” Liam said. “I’d really like to say that this was bullshit, but the Captain and I have been in meetings with the brass and suits for the last two days. If al-Qaeda could make it seem like the Saudis were behind the attacks on Oman’s soil, then the Sultan of Oman would finally stop being neutral and do what al-Qaeda really wants, which is back Yemen.”

“Yeah, but why would any reasonable Omani believe that Saudi Arabia would attack the OPEC Summit—that’s their bread and butter, right?” Max asked. “That makes no sense.”

“Depends on how you slice it. There are going to be plenty of sub-committee meetings where the Saudis aren’t involved. Having Qatar, Iraq, or Iran suddenly taken off the oil producing playing field would definitely be to Saudi Arabia’s advantage,” Liam explained.

“If Gray and his guys are going to be in Afghanistan, how are you suggesting we play it?” Max asked Liam.

“I’ve got a list of people that Langley has vetted at each of these potential targets. You can use them as liaisons.” Liam handed a slim file to Max. “I’ll e-mail you the zip file with their info. You can divide up your team as you see fit. You’ll have anything you need for this assignment.”

* * *