Code of Honor

Chapter Thirty-three

“Where are you going?” Blair’s father asked.

“I’m not sure,” Blair said. She stifled the urge to run—she needed some air, some space, some room to collect herself. Her mind was whirling as if she might fragment into a thousand jagged shards of glass at any second. “Probably home. I need to move around, I can’t just sit here.”

“But Luce might find—”

“Luce will call me when she gets anything,” Blair said. Inactivity was going to drive her mad. And she knew if she stayed, her father might feel compelled to do something he shouldn’t do. She couldn’t put him in the position of violating national policy because of who she was. But she couldn’t stand by and do nothing, and short of negotiating with the terrorists for Cam’s release, there was nothing that she considered beyond possibility. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to do anything crazy.”

He smiled sadly. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”

“I want her back. I don’t care what it takes, and I’m not going to talk about it with you.”

“I won’t ask you to. But I want a promise.”

“If I can.”

“Don’t trade yourself for her.”

Blair smiled wanly. “I suppose I might consider that, if I didn’t know how much it would piss her off.”

“She loves you. So do I.” He rubbed his face. “How can I be the most powerful man in the world and not be able to help my own daughter?”

“Because being the president means you have to put the personal aside.”

“I’m sorry. For this—for all the times—”

“Don’t. You don’t have to apologize for anything. It hasn’t always been what I wanted, but I never wanted you to change anything. I still don’t.”

He studied her for a long time, as if seeing her for the first time. “I love you, and you’ve always made me proud.”

“I love you too. And you’ve always made me proud.”

Blair grabbed her coat, left the Oval Office, and walked out of the White House alone. As soon as she reached the street, she made a call. “I need to talk to Valerie. Right away.”

“All right.” Diane must have heard the urgency in her voice. She didn’t ask anything at all. “Is this number all right for her to call?”

“Yes. But tell her it’s a private matter.”

“I will. Do you need me to do anything?”

“I don’t know. I guess, just be around.”

“Sweetie, for you, I’m always around. I love you, stay safe.”

“I will.” Blair walked a few more blocks and then hailed a cab. She felt as if she were turning to stone inside, as if all her emotions were solidifying into hard edges and brittle planes. If her anger were a blade, the world around her would be a bloodbath. And she wouldn’t care.

*

Loren checked to make sure the tavern owner was stable and accepted he didn’t want her to call for help. Outside, she straddled her bike and punched in the number she’d never used—her emergency backup number, the one she was supposed to call if Sky didn’t answer. She got voice mail, identified herself, and disconnected. Five minutes later her phone rang.

“This is Dan Bussy. What do you need?”

“I need to know why you picked the Timberwolf for Sky’s meeting.”

“I…I don’t understand.”

“I don’t care if you understand or not. Who gave you the name of the place?” If she’d been standing in front of him, she’d have had her hands around his throat. He was the weak link—he had to be.

“Look, let me talk to Sky.”

“I’d really like to do that, but she’s not available right now.”

“What does that mean?”

“Unless you want me to come down there looking for you, you’ll answer my questions. And I promise I won’t ask nicely if I have to find you.”

“I don’t answer to you.”

“You do now, or I’m going to start making calls to people you might not want me to be talking to.”

“Look, I don’t know what’s going on there, and I haven’t much to tell you. Sky needed backup, and I arranged for it.”

Loren went cold. “Backup. Who knew?”

“Just the local sheriff. And they didn’t know who she was—”

“What did they know?”

He sighed. “That one of our agents was meeting a VIP out-of-towner and we wanted backup.”

“And did you happen to tell them who the VIP was?”

“I had to give them someone to identify. I couldn’t keep them completely in the dark.”

“Jesus, how stupid could you be. Who knew? Names.”

“I told you, I dealt with the local sheriff. We’ve used his guys before for backup. They’re reliable and it’s their turf. It’s good for public relations.”

“Right. Your public relations compromised Sky. We all might be. Find out what happened to the backup, because it doesn’t look like there was any.” She disconnected.

Someone had ambushed Sky and Roberts. Why? Who would benefit? Taking down federal agents was no small deal. The problem was, too many people were getting too close to the truth. Someone in the sheriff’s department had leaked the intel about the meet. Ramsey had connections inside the department, undoubtedly the militia did too. If it had been Ramsey, he would have gone after Sky before the meet, and chances were she and Sky would both be dead by now. That left the militia. They wouldn’t want Sky, they wouldn’t even know who she was. They wanted Cameron Roberts.

She started her engine and pulled out onto the highway. In seconds the Timberwolf was swallowed by the night. By the time she reached home, she had a plan.

*

Cam sat with her back against the wall, her legs stretched out on the narrow bed, waiting for Jones to make her next move. Jones must have contacted Lucinda by now, and if she had, Lucinda was tracking her. It wouldn’t take that long to find out where she had been staying and who she’d been meeting. Narrowing in on this place was going to take some luck.

Blair would know by now too. And that was the thing worrying Cam the most, that Blair was going to suffer because of her. At least Blair would know she was doing everything she could to come home. Blair would know that nothing mattered more than that.

She was worried about Dunbar too. Dunbar was shivering despite the heat being thrown off by a space heater in the corner of the room. Cam got up to cover her with her topcoat.

“Thanks,” Dunbar said unsteadily, her teeth chattering.

Cam laid her palm on the back of Dunbar’s neck and looked over her shoulder at the guard on the door. The woman had been replaced by a heavyset bearded man in black BDUs carrying the ever-present assault rifle. “Hey, she’s running a fever. Someone needs to dig up some antibiotics. You must have some around here.”

He snorted. “In case you haven’t noticed, this isn’t Walter Reed and you’re not in charge.”

“Then get me the person who is.”

“Like I said, you don’t give orders around here.”

“If you want my cooperation, you’ll get someone in here with the authority to open up that drug cabinet.”

“Or…?”

“Or I’m going to suddenly become very uncooperative. And nothing will happen in terms of a prisoner exchange unless I make it happen.”

The guard looked uncertain for the first time. After a moment, he spoke into a radio.

Cam leaned down to Dunbar. “Just hang in there. We’ll get you some medication.”

Dunbar’s eyes were glassy. “Don’t worry about me. Don’t make any decisions because of me. I’ll be fine.”

“I know.” Cam squeezed her neck gently. “But I need you mobile if the time comes we have to move.”

Dunbar grinned, a savage, wild light in her eyes. “I’m tough, I’ll make it. Just say when.”

Cam nodded. She’d have to trust Dunbar and hope they’d have a chance to find out just how tough she was.