Max is still heaving with labored breathing, given his relative lack of physical capability. For the one who usually stays behind in the van, his efficiency in dispatching the FBI henchmen impresses even you, giving you the swell of a proud parent. It also gives you further consideration to what you’ve always thought, that maybe Max takes the assignment of your safety more personally than he should.

“Covered tracks or not, finding me couldn’t have been easy.”

“Well, when we lost you in Belgium, I figured I could return home and wait, or I instead I could infiltrate your former cover, blackmail Len Ho into giving up his contacts, detour through San Diego to track down the shell company that has ties to Director Casey, figure out who his cleaners were, stake them out for a few weeks and follow them here.”

Agency rules be damned. You give Max a big, smacky kiss.

He smirks. “Easy, soldier. So, you get it or not?”

Nodding, you reach into one of your utility pockets and produce the mechanism.