Page 33 of Maximus

“I assumed.” Jason cleared his throat. “I’ll send Merlin in with the container. I’ll need to know the dimensions of the largest canvas. He’ll contact you when he’s in country.”

“Understood.”

“Max?”

“Yes, sir?”

“If you have a connection with this woman, you’ll want her to come home with you, right?”

“Yes, sir.” There was no doubt about that.

“Someone will have to be in charge of finding the owners of these paintings and overseeing their care until that happens. I don’t have a curator on the payroll, but I’d be willing to have one for this purpose. Of course, she’ll have to have someone to sponsor her until the immigration paperwork is done. And she can never know you’re a Shadow.”

“With your permission, I will sponsor her, and this will be my last case. I find I prefer eliminating threats from behind my keyboards.”

“Thank God. Yes, you have my permission and my gratitude for coming to your senses.” Archangel chuckled.

“She knows I work with computers, and when this is done, I will tell her my name as I want her to live with me.”

“Jewell is running a deep background on her.”

“I already have.” Max rolled his eyes. As if he wouldn’t have made sure he knew everything about the woman before approaching her.

“And you’re a bit prejudiced, so let Jewell do it again,” Archangel chided him.

“Duplication of effort, but whatever lets you sleep at night.”

“Well, thank you for your permission. Now, about the other request you made.”

“I want to bring that CCS operator under my wing. He has talent that hasn’t been tapped based on several items I’ve seen. Unless he’s challenged, he won’t recognize what he can do.”

“You’d be anonymous like you were with Jewell.” That was an order, not a request.

“Yes.” He didn’t want the responsibility of trying to form a connection with the man. The odds of that happening were astronomical, which was why his connection with Elena was so unique.

“Then you have my approval to reach out to him. As far as we know, he’s content where he is, but if you need him to relocate, we can do that, too.”

“No, as long as you can provide the assets he’ll need to upgrade his systems, where he’s currently located will work. I know the limitations and can design safeguards to ensure he’s never located.”

“When you’re ready to reach out, let me know. I’ll call him and let him know the contact is authorized and classified. Nothing will be said to the other node operators.”

“That works.”

“And Molchalin?”

“We’re on a two-week timeline. The only wildcard is Sokolov. If the man approaches Elena again, I will take him out.”

“Sokolov is yours when Molchalin is eliminated. The Council included him in the violet code's personnel list.” Archangel continued, “But until Molchalin is gone, he’s to be monitored and not eliminated.”

Max didn’t reply to that comment. He’d never violated a direct order, but he was damn sure going to violate that one if the bastard put a hand on Elena again.

“Did you hear me, Maximus?”

“I did.”

“I’ll take that as an acknowledgment of my directions.” Archangel sighed. “Don’t do anything that will jeopardize this assignment.”

“I will kill Molchalin, then Sokolov.” Max looked down the hallway at the bedroom door. “Is there anything else?”

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