Page 4 of Her Righteous Protector

“Do you think this could have something to do with one of the foster families you lived with?” Kane asked.

“That’s what I’ve been thinking, but seriously, Kane, most of them didn’t have a pot to piss in. They were relying on their checks from the state. What’s more, I was raised in Minnesota, and the law firm is in Chicago. Nope, nothing is computing.”

“Okay. I’ll have something for you tomorrow,” Kane promised.

Max heaved a sigh of relief; he hated mysteries.

“Thanks, man.”

“It’s nothing.”

“How’s A.J.?”

“Her latest project has her in knots so she’s spending a lot of time in Atlanta,” Kane said. Max could hear the frustration in Kane’s voice. He knew that his friend supported his wife’s career as a television producer, but he also wanted to spend as much time as possible with her.

“Can’t Python take over?”

“Paul,” Kane said. “Remember, he likes to be called Paul now. No, he can’t. Right now it’s taking A.J.’s magic touch. But I’m picking her up from the airport tonight.”

“Well hell, Kane, then I can’t ask you to do this for me. I’ll get Gideon from Omega Sky or Dex from Black Dawn to help me out.”

“Fuck that noise,” Kane said emphatically. “You’re mine and I’m yours. The day you start seeing other computer guys is the day I divorce you, you got that?”

Max laughed. “Yeah, I got it. I take it A.J. has a late flight, huh?”

“Yeah, she does,” Kane admitted. “Otherwise I’d tell you to piss up a rope. There is no way I’d be giving up my quality time with my wife.”

“Thanks, Kane, I appreciate it.” Max was still chuckling as he hung up his phone. The thing was, he knew his friend and second in command was a master of multi-tasking. He’d seen him run programs inside of programs and still run a marathon at the same time. He’d come up with something for Max by morning.

Now he could sleep in peace.

2

The phone jarred Max awake. It was the ringtone that told him it was coming from his commander. He grabbed it off his nightstand.

“Hogan,” Max answered.

“The mission is on,” Commander Clark said without preamble. “Get your team to base, I’ll start the briefing in an hour.”

“Got it.”

“Max?”

It wasn’t often Max had heard that tone in Simon’s voice, so he knew he wasn’t going to like what was coming next.

“Yeah?”

“This is going to be a tough one.”

“Aren’t they all?” Max asked as he rolled out of bed and grabbed a pair of pants out of his dresser.

“This one is going to be different. You’re going to have a fight on your hands and it’s going to hurt. But I trust you to get it done.”

“Simon, what are you talking about? We’re going in after the missing reporter, right? The one who’s been targeted by the head of the Taliban?”

“Yeah, but I heard from one of my contacts she’s entrenched. But I don’t give a damn, you and your team have to get her the hell out of there before this becomes an international public relations nightmare.”

Max winced. “How high up has this gotten?”