“It’s time to bring out all the big guns,” Ed declared.
Alexei twisted back around to grin at Max. “He literally means big guns.”
The large man was practically bouncing in his seat. “Plus the danger putty. I don’t think we’ve used any since Argentina.”
“That’s because all of Greece is ancient. They were afraid you’d damage some old relic,” Alexei said with a wave of his hand.
“Or that you’d wake up the old Greek gods.”
“Danger putty?” Max asked between the rambling chaos.
“C-4,” Ed explained. “But just a bit here and there. When I was a Navy SEAL, I worked demolitions, so you can be sure that I know exactly what I’m doing.”
“And you want to use C-4 here? In Egypt? The land of crumbling lost tombs, pyramids, and ancient, sleeping gods?” So maybe his voice was higher pitched than normal, but panic was almost choking him.
“I’ll be careful.”
Max winced. Ed looked like a puppy who’d been left out in the rain. He never wanted to see that sad expression on his face again. “How about we agree to discuss the usage of danger putty before you explode it? Just so we can properly consider the ancient structures in the area.”
“But I can still use flash-bangs and smoke bombs?”
“Y-yes. That should be fine,” Max stammered. This was definitely going down as the weirdest fucking day of his life.
He lifted his eyes to Ed’s smiling face and found an answering smile growing on his own lips. Yeah, the world was a weird place and there might be a few people willing to torture him to death to get their hands on the Tomb of Kazemde, but a sweet and sexy man always rescued him. He’d also fallen in with some insane people who would stand by him through this mess.
All in all, he was willing to say that he was coming out ahead.
Now he had to figure out a way to cash in that rain check he’d promised Ed.
9
EDISON WALKER
It took close to an hour to return to the house. With two different groups hunting Max, they had to be extra careful they weren’t followed. They also wanted to give Charlie and West the chance to get to the house first to tighten up security.
They talked for a bit about the kinds of jobs that Max had pulled as a kid and the places he’d traveled. He seemed relaxed, but Ed couldn’t deny that he just didn’t know the man all that well. He wouldn’t be able to tell if he was faking it, covering up a broken heart or a belly full of rage.
If this had been his sister who’d abandoned him years ago and was now looking to fuck over his life some more, Ed wouldn’t have taken this so calmly. There would have been stomping, raging, fast driving, and maybe randomly shooting bullets into things that didn’t necessarily need bullets.
And yeah, he’d be tempted to get Kairo to hack her personal information and ruin her life.
But he was petty like that.
If this shit wasn’t bothering Max, it meant he was a far better man.
Ed wished he could read him more clearly.
At the rental, Soren and Alexei dropped them off and went to find a good hiding place for the car. They’d go out later and find another vehicle that hadn’t yet been spotted by Rive or Mironov.
The moment they stepped inside, the rest of the team gathered close, wanting to know if they were okay. Will immediately became handsy, wanting to check his patient’s stitches. Others wanted Ed to explain how in the world they’d got hijacked in the first place—not something he had a good answer for yet.
A high-pitched whistle cut through the chaos. Silence instantly blanketed the room, and they all turned to see Max holding his hands up in the air.
“I need to talk to Ed for a minute. Alone. There’s something we need to finish discussing in private.”
Before Ed could even ask what the topic of discussion would be, Max grabbed his hand and dragged him up to the second-floor bedroom where he’d first woken. Ed closed the door behind him, trying to ignore the nervous thud of his heart as he wracked his brain for what Max might want to discuss with him.
Max stood in the center of the room, his fists on his hips and a frown puckering his brow. He sighed. “This isn’t going to work.”
“What?” Ed exhaled. He didn’t even know what they were discussing, but he didn’t like the sound of that. They had to work. They’d figure out a way.
Just as he was going to say that to Max, he heard the man mutter under his breath, “Being short fucking sucks.”
The Egyptologist turned toward the bed, then climbed on it so that he was standing on the mattress in his sandy, dirty shoes. He was now a couple of inches taller than Ed, and a smile bloomed on his face.