Honor Under Siege

“I’m going to try very hard not to.”

“I believe you, and like I said, that’s good. Because you’re the one she wants, and in the end, that’s the only thing that matters.” Blair picked up her pencil. “So, just off the top of your head, who does this guy remind you of when you see him?”

“Bob Hoskins, only thinner.”

“Roundish face, broad eastern European features…” Blair sketched quickly and asked without looking up, “Hair?”

“Dark brown, thinning, no obvious balding spots. Subtle widow’s peak.”

“Good eye. That’s great.”

“Thanks,” Valerie said. “For this and for looking after Diane.”

“You’re welcome.” Blair continued to draw. “And by the way, I’m glad you showed up.”

“Pale blue eyes, five o’clock shadow.” Valerie sighed. “I should’ve thought to wear one of those little lapel cameras to one of our meets.”

Blair stopped drawing and stared. “You actually use those things?”

“No, but I’ve always wanted to.”

Blair shook her head. “Like I said. Scary”.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Wednesday

“Yes, that’s correct. 777-3214. I’ll pay by credit card.” Valerie turned at the sound of footsteps behind her. Cam stood in the doorway watching her intently. “I’m sorry. Here it is.” Holding Cam’s gaze, she recited her account number. “And you’ll be sure that goes in tonight. I understand. That’s fine. Thank you.”

Valerie closed her phone. “Did you need me?”

“Phone drop?” Cam asked neutrally.

“Yes. I change the contact number weekly and reprogram my cell.”

Cam crossed the guest house kitchen to the window that looked out onto the wraparound deck. It was late afternoon and the sky was a solid blanket of hazy gray clouds. “Storm coming. I think it’s cold enough to snow.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me if I’m planning on disappearing again?” Valerie joined Cam and their shoulders touched lightly. She might have imagined the heat that penetrated Cam’s shirt and her own blouse, but she knew the sensation was real.

“No. That’s not what I was thinking. I know you’re not ducking out.”

“Thank you.”

“I do have a few questions, though.”

Valerie smiled. “What do you want to know?”

“It sounds like you’re anxious to get a new number to your handler.”

“He won’t use one more than once, and I ignored his last message a week ago.”

“Any particular reason you want an open line to Henry right now?”

Valerie shrugged impatiently. “Cameron, in the last two days I’ve looked at hundreds, probably thousands of photographs. Felicia has worked on a regression image of the sketch Blair did. It’s a good approximation of him when he was younger, and we’ve run that, plus an age-appropriate computer-generated image, through every database that exists, including Interpol. We can’t find him, not this way.”

“Eventually we’ll sort out Matheson’s other contacts, we’ll find Matheson, and he’ll lead us to Henry or someone else will.” Cam turned her back to the window. She was inches from Valerie. “This is the tiresome part of investigative work.”

“Believe me, I understand that some things take time. I spent five years creating my cover in DC before I’d even met you.”

“Jesus.” Cam was blindsided by a wave of anger and tenderness when she imagined Valerie being used as currency in the high-stakes game of international espionage. For an instant, the barriers of professionalism and personal restraint wavered, and she almost touched her.

Valerie shook her head, recognizing the change in Cam’s expression. “It’s all right, Cameron. Truly.”

Cam’s charcoal eyes darkened to obsidian. “It isn’t, but it’s done.”

“Not quite.” Valerie backed away. There was too much heat between them, there always had been. “It won’t be done until I know that I can trust Henry or I can be sure the link is broken for good.”

“You’re planning to meet him.”

Valerie smiled ruefully. “You’re very good at this. The Company lost out when they didn’t recruit you.”

“They tried.”

“I’m not surprised. What stopped you?”

Cam shrugged. “I was a little older than you by the time they approached me, and I already had serious trust issues. Seeing my father killed when he was supposedly being guarded made me wary of giving too much control to anyone. And I guess it made me want to do a better job than had been done for him.”

“God,” Valerie sighed. “I wish I’d had a little less trust when Henry first showed up in my life.”

“How do you intend to determine if Henry can be trusted?”

“He’ll either try to kill me, or he won’t,” Valerie said simply.

“And if he does try?”

“Then I’ll know that my entire life has been more of a lie than I ever realized.”

Cam stepped closer, but kept her hands at her sides. “Not all of it.”

“No,” Valerie whispered, her gaze gently caressing Cam’s face. “Not all of it.”

“You’ll need backup.”

“I’m not asking you or your team to put yourselves at risk because of my miscalculation.”

“Bullshit,” Cam said dismissively. “Number one, you’re part of the team. Number two, it’s not your miscalculation. Number three, I was going to suggest you meet with him myself.”

“Really.”

Cam rubbed her neck wearily. “Yes. I think we’d break this eventually, but I don’t think we have the time. We can’t stay here forever. Blair has public obligations. Diane has a life, and I think—no, I know—they’ll try to get to you through her. We have to draw out your handler and Matheson on our terms.”

“I agree. Besides, I never did enjoy waiting for someone else to dictate conditions.”

“Then let’s start calling the shots ourselves,” Cam said fiercely.

“All right.” Valerie hesitated. “May I ask you a personal question?”

Cam smiled. “There’s something left about me you don’t know?”

Valerie touched her sleeve, then dropped her hand. “Many things, I’m sure. This is about Blair.”

“Go ahead.”

“Do you tell her about these things?”

“Oh man, ask me something easy.” Cam slid her hands into her pockets and walked the length of the room, then returned. “I tell her as much as I can because that’s my part of what keeps us together.”

“And what’s hers?” Valerie asked.

“She tries to understand why I do what I do and doesn’t ask me not to.”

“She’s going to be unhappy about this.”

“Possibly, but not nearly as unhappy as Diane is going to be.”

“I haven’t decided if I’m going to tell her.” Valerie returned to the window. “It will be beautiful here if it snows.”

“You know, I’m the last person to give advice on personal matters,” Cam said, standing beside her.

Valerie laughed softly. “But?”

“You should tell her.”

“Why?”

“Because you owe it to her. You let her fall in love with you. You could have stopped it.”

“I couldn’t.” Pain filled Valerie’s voice. “I couldn’t because I needed her so much.”

“Then you forfeited your right to make unilateral decisions.”

“Your approach to relationships is something like battle planning, Cameron,” Valerie said.

Cam lifted her shoulder. “You use what you know.”

“What I know is that I’m not going to run anymore. From anything.”

“The only way we’re going to know if Henry has turned is if he makes a move to take you out.”

“Yes,” Valerie said evenly. “In this particular instance, the length of our relationship works against him. He’s used to thinking of me as a subordinate. He’ll probably be suspicious, but I don’t believe he’ll truly see me as a threat.”

“He’ll still have the first shot.”

“I’ll just have to duck.”

“Let’s hammer out a plan with Felicia and Savard so you don’t have to.”

“I’m not going to like this, am I?” Blair stepped away from the canvas she was painting and faced Cam, brush in hand.

Cam smiled crookedly. “Probably not at first, but—”

“Just tell me, and let me decide.”

Cam moved a few more steps inside the door and studied Blair’s new work. She’d never seen her paint a portrait before, and this one caught her by surprise. Blair had captured Valerie’s innate loneliness in her remote expression and the faraway focus of her ice blue eyes. Cam found it hard to look away as she crossed the studio to her lover.

A roaring fire blazed in a large stone fireplace against the far wall. The only other light came from several spotlights that Blair had focused on her easel. Blair wore a faded red plaid flannel shirt a size too big, faded jeans, and moccasins. She had been engrossed in working on a small area of shading and hadn’t heard Cam enter the room at first. Cam was sorry to have disturbed her.

She put both hands on Blair’s shoulders and kissed her. “That’s beautiful.”

“So is she.” Blair gave a quizzical smile. “I haven’t been able to get her face out of my mind. I’ve seen beautiful women before, but it’s not just that she’s attractive. She’s hauntingly sad and yet so strong.”

“The sadness will disappear the longer she’s with Diane.” Cam rubbed her cheek over Blair’s hair. “Mine did.”

“Cam,” Blair wrapped her arms around Cam’s waist and caressed her back. “You sound a little sad right now.”

Silently, Cam shook her head and kissed Blair’s throat, then brushed her lips over Blair’s ear. “I love you.”

Blair leaned back, keeping her thighs tight against Cam’s, and smoothed her palms over Cam’s chest. “Oh, darling. I love you too. Now tell me the bad news. I know you didn’t interrupt me just to remind me why I love you so much.”

Cam winced. “I need to talk to you about an operation we’re planning, and I need you not to tell Diane.”

“Please Cam. I can’t just stand by and watch Diane be used—”

Cam shook her head. “It’s not like that. It’s not that I don’t want her to know, but it’s not your place or mine to tell her about it. It’s Valerie’s.”

Blair snapped off the spotlights, leaving only the fireplace to illuminate the room, and walked a few feet away to face the fire. Cam watched the red glow cast Blair in shadows and dreaded the distance that was about to come between them.

“Valerie is going to arrange a meet with her handler,” Cam added.

“Is that safe?”

Cam said nothing.

“You don’t know, do you? That’s the reason for the meeting, to try to…what, make him show his hand?”

“Something like that.”

“This was Valerie’s idea?” Blair glanced back at Cam. Beyond her, through the window, the night sky was devoid of moon or stars. The ocean was a distant thunder that might have been the sound of bombs falling.

“Yes,” Cam said, “but I was going to suggest it if she hadn’t.”

Blair shook her head wearily. “You two are far more alike than I ever realized.” She paused, her expression rueful. “Appearances can sometimes be so deceiving. Valerie looks so much like the woman she was supposed to be—the kind of woman who would spend her time acquiring fine art and appreciating the company of a handsome woman like you in her bed.”

“Blair—”

“And of course,” Blair went on undeterred, “she is those things, isn’t she? But she’s also as single-minded and stubborn and…and reckless, in her way, as you and all the rest.” Blair threw up her hands. “God, Cameron. Is there no other way?”

“We don’t think so.”

“I know there are things you’re not telling me, but you don’t need to spell it out for me to know how dangerous this is. How worried about you do I need to be?”

Cam kept her gaze steady but she flashed on Valerie, alone, with a man who very probably wanted to kill her. “I’ll be backup. It’s far more dangerous for her.”

Blair tilted her head as if listening to something that hung in the air between them. “You’re frightened. Frightened for her.”

“I always worry about my team—”

“No, it’s more than that.” Blair closed the distance between them and settled her hands lightly on Cam’s waist. “It’s okay. I know how you feel about her.”

Cam shook her head. “No. You don’t.”

Blair smiled wistfully. “You are everything in the world to me. And you love me perfectly, Cam. Perfectly.”

“I wish I did.” Cam frowned as she skimmed her fingers through Blair’s hair. “But I swear I’ve never loved anyone like I love you, and never will.”

“See what I mean?” Blair kissed her softly. “Perfectly.” She traced the column of Cam’s neck and slid her fingers underneath the collar of her blue button-down shirt. “I’d like to ask you a favor.”

“I’ll do it if I can.”

“Let Savard lead the operation. You’re too close to Valerie and I’m afraid of what you’ll do if she’s in trouble.”

Cam rested her forehead against Blair’s. “I have the most experience with operations like this. Savard is not a hundred percent. I can’t let Valerie do this without the best backup possible.” She looked deeply into Blair’s eyes. “It has to be me.”

When Blair framed Cam’s face, her hands trembled. “Promise me that you will not sacrifice yourself for her. I don’t care about your duty. I don’t care about your honor. I care that you come home to me. So you promise me that.”

“I…” Cam thought about what it meant to have Valerie and Savard and the others place their trust in her, to lead them into danger with the pledge that she would guard their well-being with her life. She thought about what it meant to ask for the love of a woman. She had asked for Blair’s love, and her vow had been sworn the first time Blair had said I love you and she had not walked away. “I promise.”

Diane found Valerie on the beach.

“I’m sorry if you wanted to be alone.” She kept both hands in the pockets of her coat, even though she wanted to touch her. “Savard and Felicia came up to the house for a late supper and said that you’d gone for a walk.”

Valerie slid both arms around Diane’s shoulders and kissed her softly on the mouth. “Don’t apologize. I’m glad to see you. I’m sorry I lost track of time.”

“It’s cold and you don’t have any gloves.”

“I’m fine.”

Diane pressed close to her. “You’re not. You’re shivering.”

Valerie smiled. “Let’s go inside, then. Have you eaten?”

“Not tonight. I was waiting for you.”

“Sorry.”

Diane kissed her lightly. “Stop saying that.”

“All right.” Valerie took Diane’s hand. “Let’s grab something quick to eat and warm up in bed.”

“If I have a choice between you in bed or a meal, I’m not going to need dinner.”

Valerie laughed. “Then let’s go to bed first and have a midnight snack later.”

“What I have in mind might take longer than midnight to accomplish.” Diane drew Valerie’s hand into her pocket as they climbed through the dunes. “I want to make love to you because I’ve been thinking about it all day.”

“I think I hear a but,” Valerie said gently.

Diane took a breath. “But I don’t want to be with you while part of my mind is wondering what secret you’re keeping. Is it something you can tell me?”

Valerie stopped on the back porch and pulled Diane into the shelter of her body, out of the wind. She rested her cheek against Diane’s. “We’re planning an operation. I’m preoccupied, that’s all.”

“An operation. You and Cam and the others?”

“Yes.”

“Will it be dangerous?”

Valerie hesitated. “It could be if we’re careless, but we’re not going to be.”

“I don’t have any experience with this. I’ve known Blair most of our lives and I thought I had some understanding of what her life was like, but I was wrong.”

Valerie stiffened. “I had no right to drag you into this. It might be better if I left.”

Diane turned Valerie until she could see her face in the faint light coming through the windows from the house. “Is that what you want? To leave me—to leave us?”

“No,” Valerie whispered faintly.

“Then don’t ever say that again. Just give me time to get used to this. Can you do that?”

“Yes. God, yes. Anything.” Valerie kissed her again, her fingers trembling as she cupped Diane’s face. She buried her face in the warmth of Diane’s throat. “Anything, anything as long as I don’t lose you.”

“You must be certain that I don’t lose you either.” Diane kissed Valerie urgently. “All right?”

Mutely, Valerie nodded, hoping that her silence would be taken as the promise she couldn’t make.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Thursday

Valerie grabbed the phone on the first ring and slipped from bed.

“Yes?” She moved to the window and peered out into a starless black night. She was barely silhouetted, but Diane could still make out the shimmering outline of her body.

“I’m ready…I had to be sure. Yes. Yes, but I don’t trust her.” She lowered her voice and Diane strained to hear. “Look, I can’t talk… Where?…No, somewhere I can be sure you’re alone. Trust?” She laughed harshly. “You might be followed…Look, forget it. I’ll just… Yes, that will work. All right, if that’s what you want…No, that’s too soon. Because I don’t want to alert anyone here to what I’m doing… Yes. Fine. The usual.”

After breaking the connection, Valerie remained still in the silent room, listening to the echo of his voice and the breathing of the woman in the bed. Between those two people lay the boundaries of her world— past and future—bordered by truth and lies. Quietly, she made her way across the room and slipped back into bed. She drew Diane into her arms. “I’m sorry I woke you.”

“How did you know?” Diane asked.

“I could tell from the way you’re breathing.”

“You’re very perceptive.”

Valerie grimaced. “It’s funny, I was trained to do two opposite things equally well. To avoid intimacy with anyone, while at the same time being sensitive to every nuance of expression and movement. It seems I’ve spent my life watching, but never living.”

Diane took Valerie’s hand and drew it to her breast. “I’m alive and I’m very real. So is my love for you.”

“Why?” Valerie murmured, cradling Diane’s breast and brushing her lips over the nipple. “I can’t imagine this is what you want.”

“This? You mean being with you?”

“Everything that being with me means.” Valerie sighed and rested her cheek between Diane’s breasts, still softly caressing her nipple.

“Your phone call. That was the person you report to, right?”

“Yes.”

“You’re going to meet with him.”

“Yes.”

“You lied to him, about not trusting someone here. Cam, I guess.”

“Yes, I lied to him,” Valerie said, holding very still.

“Did he believe you?”

“I don’t know. Probably not. One of the basic rules of our training is not to trust what people say, or sometimes even what they do, until they’ve proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they’re trustworthy.”

“The two of you have known each other for a long time. Doesn’t that count?”

Valerie gently kissed the curve of Diane’s breast. “You’d think it would, wouldn’t you? But it really doesn’t. It’s possible that he was telling me the truth at the beginning, and somewhere along the line his priorities or his orders changed. It’s nearly impossible to tell.”

“But you don’t trust him any longer, do you?”

“No,” Valerie said.

“Do you trust me?”

Valerie kissed Diane’s throat, then her mouth. “Yes. Completely.”

“Will you tell me what you’re going to do?”

Valerie hesitated and the silence that closed in around them was more frightening than anything she’d ever known. “When I know, I’ll tell you.”

“Thank you.”

“I know I’m asking a lot of you, but—”

“I have no idea why people fall in love,” Diane said. “Or why we need to. But I do know this about you—you’re strong but you’re lonely, and you can survive without love, but you long for it. You need me, and I need you. None of the rest matters.”

“You’re the only person I’ve ever let myself truly need,” Valerie said so softly Diane could barely hear her. “If I lost you now—”

“I’m not going anywhere, I promise.” Diane lifted Valerie’s face between her hands and kissed her, softly at first, then more deeply. She guided Valerie on top of her until their legs entwined and their bodies melded. Her kisses grew insistent as she urged Valerie’s hips to move with hers, calling to her without words, marrying their bodies and hearts with the force of her passion and desire.

“I love you,” Valerie murmured.

Diane’s breath quickened as Valerie groaned and thrust harder. Wanting more, wanting everything, Diane twisted onto her side and forced Valerie onto her back. Still kissing her, Diane cupped Valerie’s sex and found her already wet and open. With a soft groan she pushed inside her, rejoicing silently as Valerie arched and cried out in pleasure and surprise.

“Oh yes, that’s how…there…I need you hard, please, harder,” Valerie gasped.

Distantly, Diane was aware of her own building arousal, but all she wanted was to have Valerie with nothing between them—no secrets, no fears, no regrets. “I love being inside you. I love feeling your heartbeat under my fingertips. I love to please you.”

With every word Diane thrust a little harder. Her teeth skated over Valerie’s neck, and when Valerie tightened around her fingers, she sucked on the delicate skin of her throat.

“Oh my God,” Valerie moaned, pushing against Diane’s hand. “I’m coming. Oh God, it’s so good.”

Diane closed her eyes tightly, concentrating on Valerie’s labored breathing, her soft cries, the pounding pulse that beat around her fingers. She carried her smoothly to a peak, and then again, until Valerie buried her face in Diane’s neck and cried silent tears. Diane rocked her and caressed her face.

“It’s all right, darling. Everything is just exactly as it should be.”

“I’m not used to anyone touching me that way,” Valerie whispered. “Sorry, I can’t…my control…”

Diane laughed. “Oh, I hope you’re not apologizing. You’re beautiful when you come. I never want to stop making love to you.”

Valerie laughed weakly. “That’s one thing I’ll never ask.”

When Cam walked into the kitchen at 5 a.m., she found Valerie seated at the table, her hands inert around a mug of coffee. “You’re up early.” Cam helped herself from the fresh pot on the counter. “What’s on your mind?”

“Henry called.”

“Are you ready?”

“More than ready.”

“But?” Cam watched a litany of emotions flit across her face. Anger, unease, resolve.

“I know things are going to move quickly once we start planning the operation,” Valerie said. “So I wanted to talk to you before the briefing, What I am going to say is just between you and me.”

“I’m listening.” Cam could guess what was coming. Valerie was used to working alone, being alone. She had never learned to lean on others—so like Blair that way.

“If something goes wrong, we both know it’s very unlikely you’ll be able to extract me,” Valerie continued. “I don’t want you to try. Collateral damage would be high, and…” She glanced down at her hands, which she’d folded on the tabletop, and then into Cam’s eyes, “My life isn’t worth yours or one of the others’.”

A gasp cut across her words. “It is to me.” Diane stood in the doorway. “Damn you, it is to me!”

“Diane!” Valerie jumped to her feet and caught Diane as she turned to flee. “Diane, wait, you don’t understand—”

Diane whirled back, her cheeks pale and her eyes blazing. She knocked Valerie’s hands away. “What do I not understand? I just heard you tell Cam she should let you die rather than risk someone else’s life. Every single one of them risks their life every day protecting Blair. Is she so much more important—” She broke off and covered her face with her hands. “Oh God, I can’t believe I’m saying this.”

“That’s enough,” Cam said steadily, rising to her feet. “No one is going to die. And no one,” she said, her eyes fixed on Valerie, “is going to be left behind. That’s the last conversation I intend to have about this.” She pointed to the clock. “We have a briefing in twenty minutes and we have a lot of planning to do. I expect you to be on time, Agent Lawrence.”

Cam walked out without waiting for an answer.

“I’m sorry,” Diane whispered, turning away.

Valerie gently caught her shoulders and embraced her. “No, I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to hear that. I never should have talked to Cam about this here.”

“But you’re not sorry for asking her to leave you behind, are you. I thought you said you loved me.”

“Oh God, I do,” Valerie said desperately. “But can’t you see, my whole life has been leading to this point, and I couldn’t live with myself if Cam or one of the others suffered for the mistakes that I made.”

Diane caressed Valerie’s cheek. “You don’t get it, do you? Loving someone means forgiving yourself for the past and living for the present. And the future. We all have regrets, darling.”

“I’ve always operated with the knowledge that my life is expendable.”

“Well, it isn’t anymore.” Diane kissed her softly. “Please try not to forget that.”

Valerie took a deep breath. “All right. I’d better go.”

“You won’t… do anything without telling me, will you?”

“No. We’ve still got time.”

“Of course we do,” Diane said fervently. “Of course we do.”

“Yes?” Matheson said when his phone rang.

“We’ve arranged to meet.”

Matheson smiled. “Run it down for me.”

He listened, making a few notes on a notepad with the motel’s name and logo stamped at the top. After a moment he said, “Nice work.”

“There’s still a chance we could bring her over. And she’s got an inside channel to several targets.”

“You might be right. Let’s weigh the options.”

“Okay, let’s get started.” Cam walked briskly to the table, making eye contact with the agents already assembled. Stark and Valerie sat side by side across from Felicia and Savard. “Agent Lawrence, why don’t you fill us in on your conversation with your handler.”

If Valerie noted the formality, she didn’t show it. “Henry and I made contact at 0330 and spoke for less than five minutes. We agreed to a rendezvous at 2300 tomorrow.”

“That doesn’t leave us a lot of time,” Cam commented.

“I realize that, but he initially wanted to schedule the meet for tonight, and it would not have been unusual for us to rendezvous with such little lead time. Twenty-four hours was as much delay as I thought I could manage without rousing his suspicions.”

“We’ll work with it,” Cam said. “Location?”

“The extraction point we used when I left the island the last time.”

“The beach here?” Stark said sharply. “No way. We’re not letting hostiles onto the island while Egret is on site.”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t clear,” Valerie said quickly. “Not on the beach, but where the extraction vessel was anchored.”

“On the water,” Savard said, making it a statement. “You’re going to meet him at sea.”

“Yes. I’ll take my boat and we’ll rendezvous approximately a mile out.”

“So he knows you’re at Whitley Point,” Felicia said.

“He does. He asked if I had contacted Cameron. I said I had and confirmed my location when he asked.” She glanced briefly at Cam. “I had to assume that he already knew. A lot of small planes pass over here every day, and he could easily have aerial surveillance photos. If he knows I’m here, or that you are, I didn’t want to be caught lying to him.”

“Whose idea was it to rendezvous at sea?” Cam asked.

“His.”

“It’s a trap,” Felicia said. “He can sink you out there and make it look like weather or a mechanical problem.”

Valerie shook her head. “Not before he meets with me. I told him I didn’t trust Cameron. He’ll want all the intelligence he can gather on Cameron’s operation before he burns his connection with me.”

“Smart,” Cam observed. “He’ll want to talk to you. He’ll want to know what we might suspect about him or Matheson.”

“That’s what I think, yes,” Valerie said. “That would be typical for this kind of situation. A brief verbal information exchange.”

“What about putting me below deck on Valerie’s boat, Commander?” Savard asked.

Cam shook her head. “He’s going to search.”

“Can you at least get him onto your boat?” Savard asked Valerie. “We can rig cameras and microphones to monitor you there, but if you have to board his, we’ll be lucky to get audio.”

“Will he search you for a mic?” Felicia asked.

Valerie shrugged. “I don’t know. He never has before, but the rules have obviously changed.”

Cam held up her hand. “We can’t depend on him coming aboard Valerie’s vessel. We’ll need long-range satellite tracking. Mac can coordinate that from here.” She looked at Stark. “You’ll need to pull people from Tanner’s day crew to augment your night shift. We can’t be certain they won’t try a dual assault, and you and Mac will be tied up coordinating communications.”

Stark stiffened. “Mac doesn’t need me to assist. I can go with the ground detail, Commander.”

Cam shook her head. “Not with Egret on site. You need to be here. If something goes wrong, you’ll have to evac her quickly. I’d suggest you make contingency plans to get her back to the White House, but that’s your call.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“We’ll have to go without visual if Valerie boards Henry’s vessel,” Cam said with a nod to Savard, “but I want audio surveillance that Henry won’t catch even if he looks. Wires are too risky if he does a body search.”

“He’s not going to have the equipment to look for an implantable,” Valerie said. “If we get it in by tomorrow morning, the puncture site should be very difficult to spot as little as twelve hours later.”

“A transdermal receiver?” Savard said, her eyes brightening with anticipation. “How are we going to get it? That’s the kind of stuff only the DOD has, and even that’s just a rumor.”

“It’s not a rumor,” Valerie said.

“What’s the range?” Felicia asked.

“1000 yards.” Valerie glanced at Cam. “He may see you at that range.”

“Possibly,” Cam said. “But we’re close enough to fishing and shipping routes that there will be plenty of water traffic, even at night. We’ll run without lights as much as we can.”

“That’s quite a distance if we have to extract quickly,” Savard said.

“Once Valerie and Henry rendezvous, he’ll be occupied and we’ll be able to drift in closer.” Cam cut her eyes to Valerie. “A minute. That’s likely to be how much time we’ll need to get aboard if you signal. Two, tops.”

“Understood,” Valerie replied with a faint smile. “That’s a very acceptable margin.”

“With respect, Commander,” Savard said, “that’s a long window.”

Cam didn’t disagree. Even sixty seconds could be a death sentence if the operation went bad. “We’ve got thirty-six hours to cut the margin. Let’s get working.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Friday

“You don’t have to leave right away, do you?” Diane sat on the bed watching Valerie dress. “It’s not even nine o’clock.”

Valerie hesitated, still not used to disclosing the particulars of an operation to anyone. Of course, before Diane, there had never been anyone close enough other than Cam. Now, even though she would trust Diane with her life, she felt uneasy discussing the work she did. She had only just returned from spending the day finalizing the last details of the plan with Cam and Savard, and her mind was completely engaged with what was to come. It occurred to her then that there were reasons intimate relationships were discouraged for agents such as herself. The needs of others were a distraction. Life was a distraction.

Forcing herself to focus on Diane, Valerie found her looking more pale than usual. She knew Diane hadn’t slept the night before, even though she had tried to pretend she was sleeping. Eventually they’d both admitted they were awake and had made desperate love until morning, when Valerie had silently slipped away while Diane slept.

“I want to be at the rendezvous point well before he arrives,” Valerie said.

“What about the others? They’ll be with you, won’t they?”

“They’ll follow a short time later. Don’t worry, they’ll be there long before anything happens.”

“Can I come with you to the marina?”

Valerie shook her head as she tucked her long-sleeved T-shirt into her jeans. “I’m riding down with one of Tanner’s crew and they won’t be coming back here.” She kissed Diane softly. “I don’t want you getting marooned out there in the middle of the night.”

“I don’t mind waiting.” Diane rose and clasped Valerie lightly around the waist. “I’m going to go slightly stir crazy waiting here.”

“You need to stay here,” Valerie said gently, pulling Diane close. She brushed her mouth over Diane’s ear. “It’s important that you stay close to Blair in case you have to leave quickly.”

Diane stiffened. “You mean if something goes wrong out there.”

“There are any number of reasons why Stark might want to move you both, and it won’t necessarily mean that anything has gone wrong. Just promise me you’ll do whatever Stark says.”

“I’m not leaving here without you.”

“You may have to. Please, love, I need to know that you will do what Stark says.” Valerie cupped Diane’s cheek. “I need to know you’re all right so I can concentrate on doing this thing. Can you help me?”

Diane took a deep breath. “Yes. But promise you’ll call me or come find me as soon as you can?”

Feeling Diane tremble, Valerie murmured softly and kissed her. “I won’t disappear. I won’t do that to you again. No matter what.”

Diane nodded. “Where’s your gun? You’re taking your gun, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” Valerie released Diane and went to the dresser where she kept her weapon. She clipped the holster to the waistband of her jeans. “He’ll expect me to be armed.” She didn’t add that he might also ask her to relinquish it as a show of good faith. Diane didn’t need more to worry about.

“I’m sure there are things I should be doing or saying, but I forgot to ask Blair for pointers,” Diane said shakily.

Valerie gathered her close again, drawing deeply of her scent, imprinting the shape and feel of her body and the way she fit so seamlessly into her own waiting places. “You don’t require any advice on giving me exactly what I need. I love you.”

“I love you too. I’ll see you soon.”

“Yes you will,” Valerie said gently. She kissed her and was careful not to make it feel like goodbye. She would not leave Diane with that memory.

Cam reached for her shoulder holster but Blair got to it first and held it up so Cam could shrug into it. She pressed against Cam’s back, caressing the tops of her shoulders and down her arms. When she reached her hands, she slid her fingers between Cam’s.

“Tanner was here earlier. I think she wanted to come with you.”

Cam shook her head. “We’re using more civilians than we should already, but since I know I can’t keep Tanner from sending her people out on the water to do perimeter surveillance, I asked her to head up that part of the operation. But there’s no way I’m letting her get anywhere close to Henry.”

“I wish you didn’t have to get close either,” Blair said, meeting Cam’s eyes in the mirror over the dresser. What she saw made her tighten her hold on Cam, wrapping their joined arms around Cam’s middle, as if she could keep her safe within her embrace, forever. “You’re worried about something. What is it?”

“The problem is we can’t really get close enough,” Cam said, “so we’re going to be relying on some pretty dicey technology. That’s not the way I like to do these things.”

“No, I know,” Blair murmured. “You like to be right there yourself. Is it selfish of me to be glad that you’re not going to be able to stand in front of her if someone starts shooting?”

Cam eased out of Blair’s embrace and turned. “No, it’s not selfish. I wouldn’t feel any differently if the positions were reversed. This is just one of those times when it’s actually better to be close to the line of fire.” Cam kissed her before walking to the closet to retrieve her windbreaker. “But we have an experienced team, and with Stark and Mac here coordinating and Tanner’s people on the water, we’ve got all the bases covered. It’ll be fine.”

“Where’s your vest?” Blair said sharply.

“In the truck.”

“Tell me you’re going to wear it.”

“I will.” Cam grabbed Blair and kissed her again, harder this time. “We’ll need to debrief as soon as we’re done, so it might take awhile before I can call. Don’t worry, okay?”

“I’ll try.”

She stepped back, but kept a grip on Blair’s forearms. “If for any reason Stark wants to evacuate, it might be tomorrow or the next day until we reconnect.”

Blair narrowed her eyes. “Why might Stark want to evacuate?”

“We don’t think Matheson will try to hit here, but it’s not beyond the realm of possibility.”

“Is that the only reason?”

“Blair,” Cam said pleadingly.

“Cameron. When will you stop trying to protect me?”

Cam shrugged ruefully. “Probably never.”

Blair stroked her face. “All right. Good enough. Then just answer when I ask, if you’re not going to volunteer the information.”

“If Stark loses communication with us for any reason, we’ve agreed that she will get you out. It might be something as simple as the satellite link going down, so there’s no reason for you to worry if it happens.”

“You can’t honestly believe that.”

“The only person at risk here is Valerie,” Cam said. “That’s the truth.”

“Don’t think I don’t care about what happens to her, Cam,” Blair said, “because I do. I like her. Diane loves her. I don’t want anything to happen to her.” Blair tangled her fingers in Cam’s hair. “But you are my lover, and you come first, before anyone. Before Diane. Before my father, before this country.”

Cam held Blair’s face as gently as she could and caressed her mouth with her lips. As she kissed her, she whispered, “The same is true for me. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“How’s the leg feeling?” Paula asked as she buttoned her shirt.

“Good. Steady.” Renée slid an extra clip of ammunition into her jacket pocket. “Did you post extra people on the beach?”

“Yeah.” Paula threaded her belt through her holster and snugged the buckle down. “We tightened the perimeters and doubled the guards. Matheson is not coming ashore without us knowing it.”

“What about the road?” Renée sat on the bed to lace her boots. It still hurt to squat down or bend over. Fortunately, she wasn’t going to be doing much moving once they got on board the boat.

“We put up roadblocks diverting everything except local traffic, and we’ve got two people there to check any cars coming through. Fortunately, island traffic is really light this time of year.”

“Yeah, I know. If this had been summer, it would’ve been a nightmare.” Renée walked to Paula and snaked her arms around Paula’s shoulders. “Don’t take any chances, okay? I don’t have to tell you how good Matheson’s people are.”

Paula thought back to the attack on the Aerie and the insane few moments when the automatic weapons fire was all she could hear. It seemed almost incomprehensible that six short weeks ago an attack like that had been beyond imagining, and now she was preparing to protect the first daughter of the United States against a possible assault by a group of US extremists as if it were business as usual.

“The commander was right moving us here. It’s more defensible than if we were almost anywhere else. But don’t worry, at the first sign of any problem, I’m moving her.”

“Good.” Renée kissed her quickly. “I’ll see you in a little while.”

“Hey,” Paula said, stopping Renée with a hand on her arm. “I know you want this guy. We all do. Just…just don’t take any chances, okay?”

For the first time, Renée recognized that Paula was worried. Worried and trying not to burden her by saying so. For the last two days, they had both been so caught up in planning the operation that they’d barely had a moment alone together. When they had taken a break, they’d had little energy to do more than fall into bed to catch a few hours’ sleep before getting back to work. And, she had to admit, she was excited about another operation and thinking about nothing else. She was eager to get back into the field, and hungry, aching, for payback. Ever since 9/11 she’d felt impotent, and the thwarted raid on Matheson’s compound had only added to her sense of helplessness. Now she had a chance to settle the score, and that was all she’d been thinking about.

“Hey, sweetie, I’m sorry,” Renée said. “I’ve been running on autopilot since yesterday morning. God, I want this guy so bad.”

“Do you think you’ll be able to take Henry alive?” Paula asked.

“That’s going to be Valerie’s call, I think,” Renée said, sitting down on the edge of the bed and patting the space next to her. “Sit with me for a minute.”

Paula sat beside her and slipped an arm around her waist.

“If Valerie reads Henry as still friendly, she’s going to recommend a meeting between the three of them—her, Cam, and Henry—someplace on neutral territory. If she doesn’t trust Henry or if Matheson shows, I think Valerie is going to make a different call.”

“That’s got to be tough after all the time they’ve worked together,” Paula said.

“She’s ice.” Renée said it respectfully. “She’ll do whatever needs to be done.”

“I know. We all will.” Paula kissed Renée and squeezed her hand. “Try not to mess your leg up again tonight.”

“I won’t.” Renée smiled, tightening her grip on Paula’s hand. “By the way, I love you like crazy.”

“Same here,” Paula whispered. “Same here.”

“All set?” Cam asked as Valerie joined her and Savard in the kitchen.

“Yes. Where are the others?”

Cam tilted her head toward the closed doors of the adjoining room. “Operations center. Do you want to look at the setup?”

“No,” Valerie said. “I’m sure Mac has everything under control.” Valerie stood next to the table where Savard was drawing a clear solution from a 50cc glass vial into a 1cc syringe and unzipped her jeans.

“How does your neck feel?” Savard asked as she opened a foil wrapper and extracted an alcohol swab.

“A tiny bit sore,” Valerie said, rubbing a fingertip lightly over the spot just below her ear where the transdermal microphone had been inserted that morning. “How do you read it?”

“Loud and clear,” Savard said, pointing to the wireless receiver that was barely visible in her ear. “Right leg or left?”

“Left.”

Savard pulled on gloves, swabbed Valerie’s upper thigh with the alcohol, and palpated for the femoral pulse. When she found it, she inserted the needle half an inch away, drew back until she saw venous blood, and injected the Neosynephrine. “You’re going to feel your heart race in a few minutes, but the peripheral vasoconstriction won’t be maximal for an hour and a half to two hours.” She met Valerie’s eyes. “Once this starts working, your skin is going to be damn cold and if he touches you, he’ll know.”

“If he touches me it will only be for a second and I don’t think he’ll notice,” Valerie said as she zipped her jeans.

Savard gathered her equipment. “Wear as little as you can on the boat on the way out to drop your core temperature even more. I don’t know how well this is going to work. I’m just guessing on the dosage.”

“I dressed light and I’ll take my jacket off. I’d go in the water, but he’ll notice if I’m wet.”

“We can’t risk you getting that cold,” Cam said, shaking her head. “If you have to go into the water for any reason later on, and you start out with a core temperature that low, you won’t last thirty seconds.”

Valerie smiled. “You’ll be there before that.”

Cam said nothing.

“See you later,” Savard said, touching Valerie lightly on the arm before leaving.

“There’s a car outside to take you down to the marina,” Cam said as she and Valerie walked toward the front door. “I’ll ride with you.”

Valerie stopped. “No. Stay here. I know how many last-minute details there are to check. I’m all right, Cameron.”

The hallway was dimly lit, and Cam thought Valerie looked almost ghostlike in the shadows, as if she were already gone. It made her uneasy, and she unconsciously reached out and touched her cheek. “You’re not going to be alone out there.”

“I know. I’m not worried.” Valerie covered Cam’s hand for a brief second. Then she drew it away from her face, but kept Cam’s fingers in her grasp. “There are many things unsaid between us. You should know that there were times that your presence in my life was the only thing that mattered to me. There was never a single moment when I felt anything but cared for by you.”

“Valerie,” Cam murmured. “You’re—”

“Let me finish, because we’ve got work to do,” Valerie said gently. “I’ve been happier these last few weeks, despite everything, than I’ve ever been in my life. Diane means everything to me, and if it weren’t for having met you and realizing that I could love someone, I don’t think I would have been able to love her the way I do. Take care of her for me, if anything happens to me tonight.”

“All right,” Cam said roughly. “I’ll make you that promise because I don’t want you thinking about anything tonight except the operation.

Do your job, and I’ll do mine, and you’ll be back here before sunrise.”

“Thank you, Cameron.” Valerie leaned close and kissed Cam lightly on the mouth. “Happy hunting, Commander.” Then she turned and walked out the front door.

Cam listened to the engine start and the vehicle pull away before heading back to the operations center. The ache in her chest eased as soon as she walked in and saw Mac and Stark sitting before computer consoles. Felicia stood just behind Mac, her hand on his shoulder. These were her people, the best at what they did of anyone in the world. She trusted them to keep Blair safe. To keep Valerie safe.

“How’s the feed?” Cam asked.

Without turning around, Mac said, “Excellent. Our friends in the Pentagon have great toys.”

Cam leaned down to look at the satellite image of the sector of ocean where Valerie would rendezvous with Henry. It was so clear, she could feel the spray. “Amazing. Why didn’t we have this before we hit Matheson’s compound? We might not have dropped into a hot zone.”

“Because it wasn’t their action.” Mac looked over his shoulder at Cam and grinned. “And, you weren’t a deputy director of Homeland Security. If you had been, who knows what kind of cool equipment they would have pulled out for you.”

“Hopefully Henry doesn’t have the same toys.” Cam glanced at Stark. “Exit strategy in place?”

“Yes. We’ve got choppers standing by at Bradley.”

“Do they know why?”

Stark shook her head. “No, only that it’s priority one.”

Stark’s phone rang and she pulled it off her belt. “Stark. Send him in.” She closed the connection. “Tanner’s man is here.”

A moment later, Wozinski entered with a thin, sandy haired young man dressed in black BDUs.

“This is Jeff Donaldson,” Wozinski said.

Cam held out her hand. “Donaldson.”

“Ma’am.”

“Tanner tells me you’re a good shot.”

“Sniper duty in Somalia, ma’am.”

“Good.” Cam watched his eyes as she spoke. They were clear and calm and steady. “Comfortable with infrared targets?”

“Yes ma’am. If it’s hot, I can hit it.”

“That’s what we’re counting on.” Cam thought of the injection she’d just given Valerie. “And we’re hoping that one hot target is all you’ll have.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

“They’re leaving.” Blair rose from the living room sofa where she had been waiting with Diane.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll stay here,” Diane replied, her voice subdued.

“I’ll be right back.”

Blair caught up to Cam just as the team reached the front door. She smiled briefly at Savard and Felicia, then turned to her lover. She ran the edges of Cam’s windbreaker through her fingers as she leaned close and kissed her softly, far more quickly than she wanted. “See you soon.”

“I’ll call you,” Cam murmured. “I love you.”

Blair stepped away and in the next instant, Cam and the others were gone. When she turned, she saw Diane halfway down the hall, standing in the doorway of the living room. She forced a smile and went to join her.

“What now?” Diane asked.

“It’s going to be quite a while before we hear anything,” Blair said. “I’m too restless to sit, and if you’ll be all right, I’d like to check in with Mac and Paula. I’ll feel better if I know what’s going on.”

“I don’t know what I want to do.” Diane made an angry sound. “But I don’t need to tell you, sitting around and waiting is not my style. Can I come with you?”

Blair hesitated, remembering the horror of seeing Cam on the video monitor after she’d been shot—lying on the ground, bleeding— and literally watching her die. She doubted that they would have that kind of communication link tonight, but even if they couldn’t see or hear exactly what was happening, she still wasn’t certain that letting Diane listen to Paula and Mac monitoring the events was such a great idea. If something went wrong, Diane would never be able to forget it. Blair didn’t want that kind of nightmare for her.

“I may be new at this,” Diane said as if reading her mind, “and I’m hoping this is the last time I have to wait while she’s out doing something like this, but if she’s willing to go out there and do it, I can at least be a part of it here. Then I’ll feel like she’s not alone.”

“Okay,” Blair said, shaking her head ruefully. “I don’t know why I even questioned it. You wouldn’t have fallen in love with her if you couldn’t handle who she is.”

Diane smiled. “Thanks.”

Blair knocked on the closed door to the dining room before opening it a few inches and sticking her head in. “Can Diane and I come in?”

Paula swiveled in her chair, her expression distracted but her tone polite. “Of course. We’re not going to be able to explain much once things get going, but you’re welcome to stay.”

“Thanks,” Blair said. “You don’t need to worry about us, Chief.”

Blair and Diane moved up behind Mac and Stark.

“Can you tell us what we’re looking at?” Blair asked.

“This is a satellite relay of ten square miles surrounding the meet point,” Paula said, turning back to the computer monitor, which showed a smattering of small blips on a grid surrounding a dark circle in the center. “The majority of the vessels in the area are fishing boats, commercial ships, and the occasional recreational vehicle.” She pointed to a glowing dot in the middle of the circle. “That’s Valerie.”

“How do you know that?” Diane asked.

“We have GPS transponders in all of the vessels, including Valerie’s, the command ship with Renée and the commander and Felicia, and Tanner’s surveillance boats.” Paula skimmed her finger in a semi circle along the border of the screen. “These are Tanner’s people here.”

“When will we be able to see Cam?” Blair asked.

“They’re just leaving the marina now.” Mac adjusted the wireless receiver in his ear and spoke using a throat mic, keeping both hands on the keyboard of his computer. “Commander? How do you read?”

A few seconds passed, then Mac spoke again. “Loud and clear, Commander.”

Paula said without looking at him, “Can you put that on audio, please, Mac.”

“Yes ma’am.” Mac keyed a series of commands into his computer and then spoke again. “Ready for camera scan.”

“Sending image…now,” Felicia’s voice announced from the speakers.

Yellow, red, and blue images vaguely resembling human forms flickered on Mac’s screen and then stabilized.

“How do you read?” Felicia asked.

“Four hots.” Mac opened a small window within the larger screen and a fluctuating bar-graph appeared. “Temperature variation less than two degrees. Give me a coordinates check.”

Savard rattled off a list of figures.

“What are they doing?” Blair asked, not really expecting an answer.

“Checking the variance on the infrared thermal detector camera,” Paula said. “The lower levels of thermal radiance are due primarily to two things—either larger body mass and high body fat, which blunts the reading, or a true depression in body temperature.”

“You’re the warm one, Renée,” Mac said.

Savard laughed. “That’s what they tell me.”

“Mac, can you correct for body mass using the limited readings we have?” Felicia asked. “Valerie is thin and her core temperature is going to skew the thermal readings. Can you factor for that?”

“Working on it,” Mac said, inputting figures as he spoke.

“You’re in visual range, Commander.” Paula straightened and her voice took on an edge. “We have an approach vessel closing on ground zero, bearing…”

Blair sensed Diane trembling beside her and slid an arm around her waist. She kept her voice low so as not to disturb Mac and Paula. “Just remember that we’re only getting part of the picture here, so don’t worry, no matter what seems to be happening.”

“I know. I’ll remember. It’s just…she feels so far away,” Diane whispered.

“She isn’t. And Cam and Renée and the others are right there.”

“Savard, hold us here,” Cam’s voice said.

The words were so clear that Blair almost looked over her shoulder to see if Cam had miraculously returned. Even miles away over radio, the sound of Cam’s voice eased the tension that had been slowly clenching her muscles and squeezing around her heart until she felt as if she were a piano wire tightened to the point of snapping. She forced herself to take a breath and let it out slowly.

The red numerals in the lower left-hand corner of Paula Stark’s monitor read 2258.

Cam opened the priority one channel to Valerie. “Lawrence?”

“I’m here, Commander,” Valerie said.

“Approach vessel on its way.”

“Roger that.”

“If you’re forced to board his ship and we lose our audio link to you, I want you to bail at the first sign of trouble. Are we clear?”

“Clear, Commander,” Valerie replied.

“Confirming scan now,” Cam said. “Switching to open channel.”

“Roger that. Greetings, team,” Valerie said. “Glad to see you.”

“We’re right behind you, Valerie,” Savard said.

“Do we have her?” Cam asked Felicia, bending down beside Felicia’s computer array against one wall of the ship’s cabin. Behind them, Savard eased the engine down to idle and the ship rocked in the swells.

“I’ve got her,” Felicia said. “I’m just adjusting the feed to Donaldson’s video goggles.” She opened up the com link in her head set. “Donaldson? Target on screen?”

“Sweet and hot, ma’am,” he radioed from his position outside on the bow.

“Not too hot, I hope,” Cam murmured. “Where does she fall on the thermal range?”

“Five percent below mean.”

Cam frowned. “That’s not much to distinguish her from Henry.”

“She’s cold, I can guarantee you that,” Savard said. “Much colder and her reaction time will be so slow she won’t be able to protect herself.”

“Here he comes.” Valerie’s voice filled the cabin. “Switching to transdermal mic.”

Savard linked to Mac. “Anyone else out here with us?”

“Lots of someones,” Mac radioed, “but no one in critical range.”

“Okay, let me know if anyone moves within the strike radius.”

“Roger.”

A minute of silence passed until broken by Valerie’s voice, muted by the shielded microphone.

“Toss me your tie line,” Valerie said, “and come aboard.” “Here you go. Catch,” a deep male voice responded. “Drop your ladder. ”

Savard glanced at Cam in surprise. Cam shook her head, thinking it wasn’t necessarily a good sign that Henry was so willing to board Valerie’s boat. It meant they had an open channel to Valerie if they needed one, but if Henry’s plan was to eliminate Valerie, he wouldn’t want to do it on his own vessel. He’d want to do it on hers.

“Are you armed?” Henry said.

“Of course.”

“What about the others?”

“What others?”

“Don’t tell me you came without backup.”

“Do you see anyone?” Valerie asked.

Henry laughed. “Only about two dozen boats out there.”

“I told you I don’t trust them. No one knows I’m out here. Search the boat if you want.”

“Not necessary. I agreed to this meet under these less than optimal circumstances,” Henry said, “so you’ll believe me when I tell you that you need to come in. You’re in danger.”

“From whom?”

“From Roberts. The White House sent her after you.”

“Why?”

“They need a scapegoat. How long do you think they’ll be able to keep the attack on the president’s daughter quiet? Add to that they botched the assault on Matheson’s compound and let him escape.”

“He had help.”

“The country needs accountability, especially after 9/11. Someone needs to pay for that,” Henry said. “Washburn and the security adviser and a fair number of other people have decided it will be you, for starters. It’s out of our hands.”

“And if I come in?”

“We’ll help you get lost for a year or two. There’s work to be done elsewhere.”

“Convincing, isn’t he,” Felicia muttered. “Bastard.” “What’s the temperature register look like?” Cam asked. “There’s a three degree difference between them.” Felicia keyed Donaldson. “Can you distinguish the primary from the friendly?” “Yes ma’am, as long as they don’t move around too much.” “On my mark,” Cam ordered on the same channel. “Yes ma’am. Locked and loaded.”

“Who tipped Matheson?” Valerie asked. “We think he has friends in the Special Forces.” “Do we have a name?”

“Several possibles. I’ll brief you as soon as you are secure.” “Where do you want me to go?” “I want you to come with me now.” “Tonight?”

“If you go back, Roberts may lock you down and we won’t be able to extract.”

“What about my boat?” “We’ll sink it. It’s a good cover.”

“He came prepared.” Cam checked the digital readout on the electronic timer running in one corner of Felicia’s monitor. Henry had been on board almost five minutes. That was a long time for this kind of rendezvous.

“If she goes with him, he sinks the boat and she’ll disappear,” Savard said. “If she doesn’t agree to go, and he’s bad, he’ll sink the boat and she’ll disappear. Either way, he wins.”

“I need at least 24 hours to create a plausible cover with Roberts,” Valerie said. “I didn’t spend all that time getting close to her to lose my connection to her now. Even if I have to go deep undercover, I’ll still have a link to her.”

“She’ll never give you anything.”

“She already has.”

“What?” Henry’s voice rose.

Listening, Cam tensed. Valerie was playing a dangerous game. If Henry thought she already had important information, he might not let her go even if he wasn’t working with Matheson. If he was Matheson’s front man, all the more reason to take her now, or eliminate her.

“They’re close to identifying…”

Two miles away, Stark’s satellite image showed a new blip at the same time as Mac picked up a thermal flair five miles from Valerie’s boat.

“Christ,” Mac blurted. “It’s an SSM!”

Stark jumped to her feet. “Target?”

“Tracking!”

Stark grabbed her radio. “Hara, this is command one. Stand by to evacuate.”

“No!” Blair exclaimed, grabbing Stark’s arm. “What is it?”

“Missile.” Stark turned sharply to Mac. “Target. I need it now, Mac!”

Mac was already opening the comm channel. “Savard! Ship to ship missile, targeting Valerie’s boat. Forty seconds to impact!”

“Donaldson, mark,” Cam snapped.

“Roger.”

Cam switched to the open microphone on Valerie’s boat. “This is Cameron Roberts. You are targeted for a direct hit by an SSM. You have thirty-seven seconds. Evacuate your vessel.”

“She’s lying,” Henry shouted. “Stay right there!” “No,” Valerie said, “she’s…Henry, we have to…why are you drawing your weapon? There s no one…”

“Thirty-two seconds,” Savard called. “She’ll never disengage from Henry’s vessel in time, Commander.”

“Fire!” Cam ordered and Donaldson’s rifle cracked from just outside the cabin. Cam spun toward Savard. “Get us in there now.” “It’s going to get hot,” Savard noted even as she powered up the engine and shoved the throttle to maximum.

Cam didn’t answer, stripping off her windbreaker and vest as she ran from the cabin. She’d been wrong. They didn’t have thirty seconds.

Blair pressed close to Paula’s back, unconsciously gripping her shoulders. “What’s happening?”

“Time?” Paula shouted to Mac.

“Five… four… three… two… one…”

For a millisecond, the blip in the center of Paula’s screen doubled in size. Then it winked out.

After a minute of silence, Diane asked unsteadily, “Where’s Valerie?”

“We’ve lost the signal,” Paula said tightly.

“What about Cam’s?” Blair’s fingers dug into Paula’s shoulders.

Paula shook her head.

“Fine shooting, Colonel.” Matheson leaned against the rail of the boat, feeling a swell of satisfaction as a tower of flame climbed into the sky on the horizon.

“Thank you, General.”

“We’ve eliminated both problems at once,” Matheson said. “It’s time to rejoin our men and re-dedicate ourselves to our true mission. We have a war to win.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“Is she… are they… Oh, God,” Diane whispered. “Get me a narrow-field, real-time image!” Paula ordered. She keyed her radio. “Hara, standby. Close the roads. No one in or out. Call in the backup units and position them on the shore and the perimeter.”

Blair realized she was still gripping Paula’s shoulders and forced herself to let go. She couldn’t move her eyes from the screen in front of her. She stared at the dark circle, willing an image to appear.

“Cam’s boat,” Blair asked hoarsely. “Cam’s boat should still be there, shouldn’t it? Paula?”

For the first time in her life, Paula ignored the first daughter. Renée was on the boat that had suddenly disappeared. The thought sent a momentary surge of panic through her and she went completely blank. Then, as if changing a channel in her mind, picture after picture snapped into view and came sharply into focus. Beirut, the Cole, the World Trade Center, the Pentagon. A field in Pennsylvania. Not one life. Not hundreds of lives. Thousands and more to come, she knew. And her part to play was here, today, and it would never be about one life again. Not even the life of the woman she loved.

“They’re there, somewhere, and we’ll find them,” Paula said steadily, because she had to believe it. “Mac, get me a picture of what’s going on out there and an open line to Renée Savard.”

“Yes ma’am,” Mac said, his voice rough with strain. “I’ll do that.”

“There’s debris in the water,” Savard shouted over the roar of the engine.

Cam leaned over the railing, narrowing her eyes against the icy spray and staring at the shiny black surface of the water. “Who’s got the wheel?”

“Donaldson. I need to be out here.” Savard raised the radio cradled in her hand. “I’ll direct him.”

Cam didn’t argue. She doubted she could get Savard to go back inside, and she didn’t have the time or inclination to persuade her. One hundred feet in front of them a geyser of flame spouted into the air, the engine fuel from Valerie’s and Henry’s boats burning. She should have expected something like this. Matheson would be a fool to leave a weak link like Henry alive, and Matheson was no fool. Henry had underestimated him, and so had she. She would not let Valerie pay for her miscalculation. She kicked off her shoes, shrugged out of her holster, pulled her badge off her belt, and pushed everything into a bench locker.

“You can’t… the water is 40 degrees—Commander?”

“Tell Donaldson to head for the flames and to get all the lights focused off the bow. Move ahead slowly. Christ, we don’t want to hit her.”

“Commander—”

“She’s in the goddamn water, Renée, and I’m going to get her out.”

Savard shouted orders into the two-way. As the boat corrected course, Cam flung her head back, furiously trying to clear her vision. Oily smoke roiled from the flaming hulls, obscuring the surface of the water. The boats were no longer tethered to one another and huge sections wallowed in the waves. Burning fragments the size of refrigerators drifted as they slowly sank.

“There!” Savard pointed off to their right. “The dinghy!”

Cam jerked around and followed Savard’s arm. A capsized inflatable rubber dinghy bobbed on the water.

“The explosion probably upended it,” Savard cursed.

Cam stepped up onto the railing and dove into the water.

“I’m getting something now, Chief,” Mac said urgently as he continued to rapidly type. “It’ll just take a second to redirect the satellite focus.”

“Get me in as tight as you can.” Paula turned at a sound behind them. Hara stood in the doorway. “All clear?”

“Yes ma’am. Everything is quiet.” She glanced toward the monitors but said nothing.

“Run status checks every five with the team leaders,” Paula directed.

“Yes ma’am. I’ll take point on the shore.”

“Good.” Paula bent forward, peering at the monitor as if that would make the fuzzy images clearer. Without warning, the screen cleared and a sharp black-and-white image of a burning boat came into view.

Blair caught her breath, momentarily disoriented by the eerie sensation that she was watching news footage, the kind of images that were ubiquitous and somehow mind-numbing. But she felt anything but numb. Her nerve endings burned, and it felt as if her entire body were twitching. A red haze of fury and panic threatened to skew her vision, and she had to blink to focus.

“Can you tell whose boat it is?” she asked.

“Not yet,” Mac answered. “We’ll have a slightly wider field in just…there, there’s another vessel.” His voice drifted off as a partially submerged, smoking boat came into view. “We’ve got at least two vessels hit.” He touched his ear and frowned. “It’s Tanner requesting permission to begin search and rescue.”

Stark shook her head. “No. We don’t know that whoever sent the first missile doesn’t have another one ready to go. The commander’s boat is out there somewhere. Until we contact her, we keep this locked down. Tell Tanner to maintain her position. She is not to pursue any unknown vessel.”

Mac relayed the order.

“They might need help, Paula,” Blair urged. “What about the Coast Guard?”

“No. This is a Homeland Security operation. We don’t involve anyone else.”

“What if Cam’s boat was hit too?”

“If we confirm that,” Paula said, “I’ll send a team out from here.”

“How long can they last out there, if they’re in the water?” Diane asked.

Paula didn’t answer. Instead she said, “Find them for me, Mac.”

Cam didn’t think she’d ever been so cold. It was the kind of cold that went so deep it was an ache inside of her. She didn’t think about the pain but just swam arm over arm in the direction where she’d seen the dinghy. Valerie had been in it, she knew that she’d been in it. Henry was dead. She’d ordered him shot. Valerie was the only one who could have launched the dinghy.

Her clothes were sheets of ice dragging her down. Her arms and legs were heavy. It was hard to move. So much smoke. Black acrid stinging smoke that singed her already swollen throat and clouded her eyes with tears and salt. Cold.

Her hand struck an object and she tried to grab it, but it floated away. She rubbed her face against her frozen sleeve. The dinghy. A wave crashed over her head and she went under. It was a relief to be out of the smoke. Her throat felt momentarily soothed until she reflexively took a breath and water flooded her lungs. She gagged, vomited, then clawed her way to the surface. She broke through and sucked in a lungful of tainted air. Coughing, she tried to swim and managed only to keep her head above water. Then she saw it again. The dinghy. From somewhere deep inside, she found another ounce of energy. Valerie was there, she knew she was there. Valerie had launched the dinghy.

Cam pushed herself toward it. She had sent Valerie out here alone. She would not let her die alone. She found the nylon rope that circled the dinghy and tried to hold on to it with frozen fingers. When it popped away from her she gave up trying and sluggishly circled it, her muscles slowly turning to lead.

For an instant, she thought she imagined the white form floating next to the dinghy. When she reached out, her fingers were too stiff to grasp the ghostlike figure. Closer now, she could make out Valerie’s wrist wedged underneath the encircling rope on the rubber life raft. She had tethered herself to it somehow.

“Valerie,” Cam croaked. She got a mouthful of water and spat it out angrily. “Valerie!”

Cam struggled to release Valerie’s wrist from the twisted lines. The instant Valerie’s arm slid free, she started to sink beneath the surface. Cam couldn’t grip her clothing, but she managed to get an arm around her waist and pulled her against her body.

“Valerie, it’s Cam. Swim. You have to swim.”

Cam couldn’t tell if she was breathing or not, and for a fraction of a second she felt the way she had when Blair had been exposed to a potentially deadly toxin. The floodgates she kept securely locked against loss and despair broke open and the pain was so crippling she was momentarily paralyzed. They went under together, Valerie clasped in Cam’s arms.

“Command One, do you read,” Felicia’s voice filled the room.

“Felicia,” Mac cried. “Status. Status report. Are you—”

“… engaged in search and rescue. Any sign of incoming?”

“Negative.” Mac switched channels and the original wide-angle view came into focus. “Advise evacuate area as soon as possible.”

“Roger, as soon as rescue is complete. Do you have visual?”

Mac turned to Paula who was staring at the speakers as if she were trying to see through them to Felicia and the others.

“Felicia, this is Stark. We have debris from two vessels…no survivors identified.”

“Thermal scans?” Felicia asked sharply.

“Nothing,” Mac said, “but if Valerie’s in the water, she’s probably too cold already.”

“We have two in the water. Do you read? Two.”

“Who?” Paula inquired urgently.

Blair didn’t need to hear the answer. She already knew.

Cam didn’t have the energy to fight. The cold in her bones had dissipated, and so had the pain. Her body was strangely heavy, yet weightless at the same time. She couldn’t see, but the sharp smoky sting in the air was gone. She wasn’t in the air. She was underwater.

She was underwater, and Valerie was with her. Valerie wasn’t moving. What had Blair said to her? She’d made her promise something. Cam was so tired and it was so hard to think.

Promise me. Promise me you won’t sacrifice yourself for her.

That’s right. She had promised Blair. Promised her not to die for Valerie.

A surge of adrenaline shot through Cam, electrifying her. She’d promised not to die for Valerie, but she hadn’t promised to let her die. What had she said? No one was going to die. She tightened her grip on Valerie and kicked. The surface seemed very far away.

And then she felt it—Valerie was kicking too. Neither one of them was going to give up without a fight.

“Mac’s got a thermal body pattern in the water,” Felicia announced, hurrying from the cabin to join Savard on deck.

Renée strained to see through the smoke, arcing the floodlights back and forth. “Over there—two in the water, twenty yards off to the right. Help me lower the life raft.”

“I’m coming with you. Donaldson can handle the boat.”

Renée nodded and between the two of them they unlashed the life raft from its deck moorings, disengaged the lock on the pulley, and swung the small boat out over the water. Felicia hit the switch for the motor and as the inflatable raft lowered automatically, she grabbed two PFDs from a nearby locker. She tossed one to Renée and pulled hers on.

“There are two more clipped inside the raft for them.” Felicia swung her leg up and over the railing. “Let’s get them the hell out of the water.”

“Great idea,” Renée shouted and followed her over the side and down the ladder.

Felicia started the motor and propelled the boat toward the area of the last sighting. “Do you have them?”

“No!” Renée leaned as far over the front of the raft as she dared, gripping the handholds. “Head further to your right. There… wait. Yes! There!”

“Be careful,” Felicia shouted as Renée braced her legs against the side of the raft, released the handholds, and leaned over the side. Felicia set the motor to idle and clambered forward, joining Renée. Together, they grabbed for Cam, whose head and shoulders were just visible above the water next to the raft. Even in the flickering red light from the scattered fires still burning amongst the debris, her face looked deathly pale.

“Commander,” Renée shouted as she reached down with both arms. “Can you grab on to me?”

“No,” Cam gasped. She pushed Valerie forward. “Take her first.”

Felicia and Renée grasped Valerie’s inert body under the arms and pulled her into the raft. She wasn’t moving and appeared unresponsive. When Renée looked back into the water she saw Cam go under. She dove in, grabbed Cam around the waist and pulled her back to the surface. Shaking water from her eyes, she saw Felicia leaning down and pushed Cam into her arms. Then she fumbled for the rope around the edge of the raft and finally managed to hold onto it. Together she and Felicia pushed and pulled Cam into the raft. Finally, Felicia grabbed Renée’s arm and Renée managed to lever herself up and onto the floor of the life raft.

“Commander,” Renée gasped. Cam lay curled up against the opposite side of the raft. Valerie was stretched out between them.

“The commander’s conscious, but I don’t think Valerie’s breathing,” Felicia shouted, hurrying back to rev the engine. “We need to get them to the boat.”

Renée scarcely noticed as the small, crowded raft tossed and spun from crest to trough and back up again. Kneeling beside Valerie, she opened her blouse and pressed an ear to Valerie’s breast. She heard a distant heartbeat but she couldn’t detect any movement of her chest. Cupping Valerie’s chin, she tilted her head back, covered her nose with her opposite hand, and sealed her mouth to Valerie’s. As she blew into her lungs, all she could think was that Valerie was cold. Cold as ice. Cold as death.

“Come on, Valerie. Come on.” Renée blew another breath. “Breathe. Goddamn it. Breathe.” She felt the barest flicker as Valerie’s chest rose beneath her hand and she hurriedly pressed her cheek to Valerie’s breast again. This time the heartbeat was slow and even fainter than before. Far slower than it should be. Frantically, she yelled over her shoulder, “She’s breathing, but I’m not sure for how long. Hurry up or we’re going to lose her!”

“This is Staff Sergeant Donaldson reporting,” Donaldson’s voice announced through the speakers.

Paula straightened up abruptly. “Where is everyone else?”

“The agents are engaged with resuscitation efforts, ma’am. I have the conn, and we are returning to base.”

“Status?” Paula snapped.

“Two casualties.”

“Put that launch right up on the beach below our location. Do you copy?”

“Loud and clear.”

Paula signaled to Mac as she spoke and he nodded, murmuring instructions into his radio. “Donaldson—ETA?”

“Ten minutes.”

“How badly are they hurt?” Blair said, standing so close to Stark she could hear her rapid breathing. “Are they burned?” Behind her, she heard Diane groan softly.

“What’s their condition?” Paula asked.

“Major hypothermia. That’s all I can tell you, ma’am.”

“Roger that. Bring them home, Donaldson.”

“Yes ma’am. I’ll be pleased to do that.”

As Paula instructed Mac to call the marina for additional resuscitation equipment, Blair grabbed Diane’s arm and dragged her toward the door. “Come on. We need to get fires going in the bedrooms and fill the bathtubs. We’re going to have to get them warmed up.”

“Shouldn’t we call for an ambulance or something?” Diane asked, hurrying along beside Blair.

“No time,” Blair said, taking the stairs to the second floor on the run. “The most critical thing for an exposure victim is to get them warm as quickly as possible.” Blair stopped outside Diane’s bedroom. “Are you okay?”

Diane stared at her as if she were insane. “This is a nightmare and I keep praying I’ll wake up. But until I do, I’ll do anything I have to. I’m not going to let her die.”

“Don’t worry,” Blair said grimly. “No one is dying tonight.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

It was too dark for Blair to see exactly what was happening on the beach, even with the floodlights on the boat spotlighting the people swarming all over it. When she had attempted to run down in search of Cam, Paula had informed her that both she and Diane were confined to the house until further notice. Blair would have argued, but that only would have delayed Paula in organizing the teams to get Cam and Valerie up to the house. She was acutely aware that Paula was doing everything possible to take care of the injured, even though she had to be crazy with worry over Renée.

Despite understanding the reasons behind the protocols, Blair couldn’t control what she felt, which verged very close on panic. She just wanted to see Cam, and waiting was agony. She alternated between stalking out to the rear deck and pacing in the kitchen. Diane waited at the window, watching the activity on shore in pale silence.

“Here they come, finally,” Blair said when she was able to make out a clutch of figures transporting a still form on a stretcher toward the house. Only a single stretcher. Her chest tightened. What did that mean? Where was the second casualty? Where was Cam?

“I’m sure they’ll take them right upstairs,” Blair said, concentrating on what she could do rather than letting the terror swallow her. “Let’s go up so we can help.”

Within minutes, Felicia and Wozinski half-carried Cam into the bedroom. She was wrapped in an emergency thermal blanket and, other than her shoes, appeared to be naked. Her face was gray and her skin looked rubbery from the cold, but Blair was nevertheless enormously relieved to see that she was conscious and making some effort to walk. Blair pushed back the covers on the bed. “Over here.”

“I’ll get the IV set up,” Wozinski said, as Felicia and Blair helped Cam into bed.

“No,” Cam rasped. “You and Felicia give Savard a hand with Valerie.”

“Stark had supplies brought over from the emergency aid center at the marina,” Blair said, replacing Cam’s damp blanket with several layers of dry ones. “I heated four liters of saline in the microwave. Greg, I can help you get Cam’s line started while Felicia assists in the other room.”

“Yes ma’am,” Greg said.

Cam shook her head weakly. “I can wait—”

“No, you can’t,” Blair said firmly. “Go ahead, Greg.”

Felicia said, “I’ll be next door with Valerie.”

When Greg left to get supplies, Blair sat on the edge of the bed next to Cam. She cupped her cheek, shuddering inwardly at the icy touch. “Are you injured anywhere?”

“Bumps and bruises.” Cam’s teeth chattered. “Fire feels good. Maybe I can sit closer.”

“As soon as you get some warm fluids into you.” Blair stroked her face. “You know that rapid external rewarming can cause problems.” Blair had skied in enough remote areas to know the protocol for exposure and hypothermia. So did all of her security staff, and every shift contained at least one agent who was an EMT like Savard and Wozinski. Many hypothermia victims died during the initial resuscitation attempts because warming the outside of the body without raising the internal temperature led to cardiac collapse. “We’ll get you warmed up as fast as we can, but we’re not taking any risks.”

“Right now I’d take my chances,” Cam said, shivering violently. “Christ, I’m cold.”

“I’ll get some more blankets.”

“No,” Cam said, grasping Blair’s hand. “It won’t help. Just…stay close.”

“I can do better than that.” Blair kicked off her shoes, shed her jeans, and got under the covers. She cradled Cam’s head against her shoulder and wrapped her arms and legs around her. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Cam had drifted off by the time Wozinski returned. He silently and efficiently started an IV in Cam’s right arm and hung a liter of warm saline. “That will run for about ten minutes. I’ll be back to hang the second liter then.”

“Thanks, Greg.” Blair said, stroking Cam’s hair. “For everything.”

“It’s an honor, ma’am.”

Alone, Blair closed her eyes, even though she wasn’t tired. She wasn’t planning on sleeping. All she wanted was to listen to Cam breathe.

“Glad you’re here Greg,” Renée Savard said, applying EKG pads to Valerie’s chest. “Start another IV in her left arm, would you. We need to get another bag of the hot stuff into her. Her temp’s ninety-two.”

“Got it.”

“Tell me what I can do,” Diane urged, pressing close to the side of the bed near Valerie’s head, trying not to interfere but wanting desperately to do something. Valerie looked so white, so still…so lifeless. “Please.”

“Here.” Felicia tossed Diane a thermal towel from the emergency kit brought over from the marina. “Dry her hair and when that towel gets cool, I’ll get you another hot one.”

Valerie moaned, her body twitching reflexively when Diane touched her. Diane blocked out the sound and concentrated on doing anything she could to get her warm and dry. “Is she going to be all right?”

“Yes.” Renée placed an oxygen mask over Valerie’s face. “Here, hold this on. It’s really important. The warm air will heat the blood in her lungs and help raise her core temperature.”

“I’ve got it,” Diane said, taking the mask from Savard. When Valerie moaned again and jerked her head away, threatening to dislodge the mask, Diane leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Valerie, darling, it’s Diane. You’re all right. You’re safe. Let us help you.”

Valerie’s eyelids, so bloodless that the blue of her irises shone through the skin, flickered and opened. Wordlessly, she stared into Diane’s eyes.

Diane smiled and caressed her forehead above the re-breathing mask. “You’re going to be all right. I love you.”

Valerie nodded almost imperceptibly and closed her eyes again. Diane shivered, not from cold, but from the pain of losing that brief connection. “Tell me what to do. Tell me how to help her,” she said desperately.

Renée slid an arm around Diane’s shoulders and hugged her briefly. “You’re here, and she knows it. That’s exactly what she needs.”

“Do we know yet what happened out there?” Renée said, slumping into a chair in the command center. Mac and Paula hunched over the monitors. Printouts spewed from several nearby machines.

“Theories—no confirmation.” Mac said, looking over his shoulder. “How are they doing upstairs?”

“Both stable. Valerie’s in for a rough ride for a while.”

“Mac,” Paula said, pushing away from the computer console, “take over here for a second.”

“Sure thing, Chief,” Mac said.

Paula grasped Renée’s hand and gently guided her to her feet. Then she wrapped an arm around her waist and led her toward the hall. “You need to change your clothes. They’re wet.”

Renée looked down as if realizing for the first time that her shoes and jeans and shirt were dripping. She shivered. “Yeah. Good idea.”

Once upstairs in their bedroom, Paula took Renée into the bathroom. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Renée kissed Paula and brushed her fingers through her hair. “I’m fine, sweetie.”

“Okay,” Paula said shakily, wondering why she always seemed to lose it after she knew Renée was safe. “Stand there.” She pulled off Renée’s T-shirt and unzipped her jeans. “Take your shoes off and get out of these pants.”

Renée steadied herself with a hand on Paula’s shoulder. “What a cluster fuck. Who targeted Valerie’s boat, do you know?”

“No,” Paula said with disgust. “We’ve got satellite images of close to a dozen boats, not counting Tanner’s, that were in missile range. It will take a while to sort through them, but at first glance, they all look civilian or commercial.”

“It’s got to be Matheson.” Renée leaned against the vanity and closed her eyes, moaning with gratitude as Paula wrapped her in a huge towel. She burrowed her face in the curve of Paula’s neck. “You feel so good I never want to move.”

“Works for me.” Paula held her tightly and kissed the top of Renée’s head. “Scared me there for a while.”

“I thought we were going to lose both of them out there.”

I thought I might have lost you, Paula thought, and tightened her grip.

“I was pretty scared for a few minutes,” Renée whispered.

Paula finger-combed Renée’s tangled golden-brown hair. “Me too.”

Renée raised her head. “I’m sorry, sweetie.”

“Not your fault. You were doing your job, and I’m glad you were.” Paula kissed her. “I love you.”

“Yeah, me too.” Renée stroked Paula’s face. “Big-time.”

“And yeah,” Paula said grimly. “I think it was Matheson or one of his people. Who else could it have been? Henry must have told Matheson about the meet and Matheson decided to eliminate both of them at once.”

“Makes sense. Who would have figured he’d have that kind of firepower?” Renée shook her head. “We’re playing in a whole new league, now, aren’t we? Domestic terrorism is just another name for war.”

“We thought we had everything covered,” Paula said. “We were monitoring for air and water assaults, except we were looking for aircraft or boats. Who would have expected a missile launch off the New England coast?”

“I don’t suppose there’s any chance of intercepting him?”

Paula snorted. “Zero. I called Tanner’s people back in. Besides the fact that they’re civilians, he could have fired that missile from fifty miles away and been gone before it even hit.”

Renée stepped away, toweled off, and pulled the robe from the back of the door. Shrugging into it, she grasped Paula’s hand and walked back into the bedroom. As she opened the dresser and extracted clean clothes, she said, “Did someone contact the Coast Guard about Valerie’s boat?”

“Mac is doing that.”

“What’s our cover story?”

“We’re telling them it was a DEA surveillance operation and the engine on one of the boats caught fire. All personnel evacuated to another vessel, and there were no casualties. Because of the ‘sensitive nature’ of the operation, we can’t provide any further details.”

Renée grinned and pulled on dry jeans. “Nice. Your idea?”

Paula flushed. “Yeah.”

“I never knew you were so sneaky.” Renée found a dark green cable-knit sweater and pulled it over her head. Then she wrapped her arms around Paula’s shoulders and kissed her. “I’ll have to remember that in the future.”

“I didn’t want you to discover all my tricks before you were in too deep to escape me.”

“Oh, you needn’t worry,” Renée murmured. “There’s no chance of me going anywhere.”

Blair jerked awake and bolted upright. Cam was no longer lying next to her but sat with her legs dangling over the side of the bed.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Blair asked sharply.

“I want to check on Valerie.”

“Get back in bed, Cameron.” They were alone. A fire burned vigorously in the fireplace, throwing a hot red glow throughout the room. Blair gripped Cam’s wrist. “I mean it—and I’m not in the mood to argue.”

Cam, nude except for the sheet bunched at her waist, shifted to look down at Blair. “Just for a second. I only need—”

“You need some decent rest and to recover from nearly drowning out there.” Blair grasped her shoulders. “You don’t get it, do you? You’re not indestructible. And you won’t be any good to them, any of them, if you’re too weak or injured to function. If you don’t care about me, think about them.”

Cam blinked, her face registering her shock. “You think I don’t care about you? Is that what you think?” Gently, she tangled her fingers in Blair’s hair and kissed her, softly, first her mouth, then the angle of her jaw, then her eyes. “I thought Valerie was dead. I thought I was dying, too. But I knew I couldn’t, because of you. You’re all I thought about. You’re everything I live for.”

“Don’t.” Blair pulled Cam down on top of her and drew the covers over them. She caressed Cam’s back with both hands, slowly stroking the sleek skin and elegant curve of muscle and bone. “Don’t try to melt my heart. It’s not going to work this time.”

“All right,” Cam said softly. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for frightening you.” She kissed Blair’s neck and settled her head on Blair’s shoulder. “I couldn’t let her die, Blair.”

“No,” Blair whispered. “Of course you couldn’t.” She sighed. “What happened to Henry?”

“He’s dead. I ordered Donaldson to take him out.”

Blair stiffened. “Are you all right?”

“It had to be done. The boat was about to go up and he was in danger of shooting—”

“Darling, you don’t have to explain that to me. If you gave the order, it was the right thing to do.”

“You believe in me that much?”

“More.” Blair cupped Cam’s jaw. “I trust your judgment, just like all of them do. I can only imagine what it takes for you to make those decisions and give those orders, and maybe everyone else needs to believe that it’s easy for you to do, but I know differently.” She cupped Cam’s chin, tilted her head up, and kissed her firmly but gently on the mouth. “If you hurt, I want to know. If you need a shoulder, I have one for you. I can’t be on the front line the way you are, but I’m part of this fight just the same.”

“Thank you,” Cam whispered. “I’ve never understood more clearly than I did tonight that you are my strength.”

Silence ensued, then Blair said with a sigh, “Five minutes, Cameron.”

“What?” Cam said.

“You can see Valerie for five minutes.”

Cam stirred, raising herself on her elbow to study Blair’s face. “Why?”

“Because you won’t rest until you do, and because the others need to see that you’re all right. As wonderful as each of them may be, you are the force that holds them together.” Blair pushed the covers aside. “Let’s get up. I’ll help you dress.”

Diane finished settling a log on the fire and turned at the sound of the door slowly opening. Absently she cinched the sash on her robe.

“We didn’t knock because we didn’t want to wake her,” Blair whispered as she and Cam stepped inside.

“That’s all right. It’s good to see you.” Diane touched Cam’s arm. “Are you all right?”

“Fine. How’s she doing?” Cam asked quietly. She wore old khakis and a sweatshirt, and loosely clasped Blair’s hand.

“I’m not sure,” Diane admitted, pushing her hair away from her face. “She’s still asleep.”

“Diane?” Valerie muttered, twisting from side to side and dislodging the blankets that covered her. “Diane?”

“I’m here, darling,” Diane said and hurried to the bed. She leaned down and stroked Valerie’s face. “Everything is all right. You’re safe now.”

Valerie opened her eyes and after a few seconds appeared to focus. “Am I really in bed?”

Diane smiled. “You most definitely are.”

“I’m almost warm.”

“Yes,” Diane whispered, her voice breaking as the tears she hadn’t had the time or luxury of shedding finally filled her eyes. “You’re going to be fine.”

“Is everyone all right?”

Diane glanced over her shoulder. “Cam? Maybe you should talk to her for a second.”

Cam joined Diane by the bed. “Hi. Bit of a rough ride out there. Everyone’s fine, but you had quite a swim.”

A smile flickered across Valerie’s face. “I remember some of it. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“Henry…” Valerie frowned. “Henry.” She closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them, they were clearer. “I don’t think he knew what was coming.”

“No,” Cam agreed.

“He didn’t set me up tonight at least,” Valerie said faintly. She held Cam’s gaze. “Thanks for getting me out of there.”

“I’m sorry about Hen—”

“No, it was a good call on your part. Just…not on mine.”

“You don’t know that,” Cam said gently. “People change.”

“I wonder.” Valerie shivered violently and Diane quickly took her hand.

“You need to get some sleep, darling. No more talking right now.” Diane glanced at Cam. “Thank you for everything.”

Cam nodded and backed away from the bed. “Let me know if there’s any problem.”

“I will,” Diane said.

Blair slid her arm around Cam’s waist. “Let’s go. You’re shaking.”

“I want to check downstairs with Stark and—”

“Nice try,” Blair said, laughing gently. “You’re all out of options tonight. Might as well surrender.”

Giving in to the fatigue, Cam leaned on Blair. “Terms accepted.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Saturday

Just before noon, Cam tapped on Valerie and Diane’s door. When Diane answered, looking as if she hadn’t slept all night, Cam whispered, “Sorry. Is she awake?”

“On and off, yes.” Diane grimaced. “She woke up a few hours ago and wanted to get dressed for the morning briefing. Fortunately, she can’t get out of bed by herself, and I won’t help her.”

Cam smiled, but at the flash of fire in Diane’s eyes, she quickly smothered it. “I’ll only be a few minutes.”

“Do you want to speak to her alone?”

“If you don’t mind.”

Diane gestured to her robe. “Give me a second to throw on some clothes. I need coffee, anyhow.”

“Thanks.”

“Cam,” Diane said, partially closing the door, “I want to apologize for some of the things I said to you before. I know Valerie went out there because she wanted to, and you risked—”

“Diane,” Cam murmured, shaking her head. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. We’ve all been under a lot of strain.”

“You saved her life.”

Cam glanced across the dimly lit room to the quiet figure in the bed, thinking of where they had begun. “Then we’re even.”

“What happens now?” Diane asked.

“We take back control of our lives.”

Five hours later, Blair and Cam walked into Lucinda Washburn’s office. Lucinda’s only concession to the fact that it was a weekend was that she wore a gray sweater, casual black trousers, and low heels instead of a suit.

“I’d like to hear your preliminary report before I send it on to Averill,” Lucinda said, referring to the security adviser.

In other words, Lucinda would put in writing whatever she wanted the official story to be after she’d heard the facts. Cam sat on the sofa with Blair beside her and waited while Lucinda gave someone instructions to hold her calls before taking her customary seat across from them.

“I take it this unscheduled visit means something important broke?” Lucinda said.

“We’ve located Valerie Lawrence,” Cam replied. “Her Company handler, known to us at the moment only as Henry, is dead. I’m confident that he was the source of the security breach and not Valerie.”

“Excellent,” Lucinda said. “When will we be able to debrief Lawrence?”

“You won’t,” Cam answered.

Lucinda showed no change in expression when she shifted her gaze to Blair. “Would you mind excusing us for a few moments?”

“You know,” Blair said, leaning back and crossing her legs, “I really would.”

“Blair,” Lucinda said with the merest bit of heat.

“Luce,” Blair snapped, “you were the one who suggested using my best friend to lure Valerie out into the open. You wanted me involved then, and now I am. So I’m not leaving.”

Cam decided it might be wise to forestall the fireworks that were sure to come. “Valerie Lawrence is a member of my homeland security team, and any information she may have will be relayed by me if I feel it necessary. My agents will not be debriefed by anyone else.”

“Since when is Ms. Lawrence part of your team?” Lucinda asked.

“Since noon today.”

Lucinda folded her hands in her lap and appeared to be lost in thought. “How secure is her identity?”

“I’m not certain,” Cam said, “and neither is she. Henry has always been her only personal contact, but undoubtedly there are records of her somewhere in the Company system. However, the right word in the right place can take care of that.”

“What do you propose?” Lucinda asked.

“I propose that Valerie Lawrence died at sea in the same unfortunate boating accident that killed her handler.”

“I think you’d better fill me in on the details.”

Cam gave her a rundown of the events, and as she spoke, Blair shifted closer and took Cam’s hand.

“You executed a CIA handler?” Lucinda said incredulously.

“Jesus, Luce,” Blair said.

“I did, yes,” Cam said evenly.

“And you’re certain it was warranted?”

“Yes,” Cam said. “He was a traitor and he was about to kill Valerie Lawrence, or cause her to be killed.”

“What about this missile you described?” Lucinda’s eyes narrowed as she visibly assessed, ordered, and prioritized information. “Can we trace it back to Matheson somehow?”

“Doubtful. The boats and whatever might remain of the SSM are in several hundred feet of heavily trafficked waters. Salvage would draw unwanted attention. I don’t think it’s worth the risk.”

“All right.” Lucinda tapped her fingers soundlessly on the arm of the chair, an action that nevertheless had the impact of a gavel falling. “The official line is that Agent Lawrence died at sea during a meeting with her handler. And now what?”

“We’ll arrange for her to have a new identity,” Cam said, “and she’ll join my team as the counterintelligence chief.”

“I know we told you to pick your own people,” Lucinda said, “but—”

“You did.” Cam leaned forward, tucking Blair’s hand against her middle. “If you’ve changed your mind, then I resign.”

“Not many people try playing hardball with me, Deputy Director Roberts.”

“I can appreciate why. But I’m not playing. I didn’t ask for this job, and if I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it the way I see fit.”

“You’ll continue to report to me and, through me, to the security adviser.”

Cam nodded. “Agreed.”

“How do you assess the danger to Blair?”

“Currently, I don’t see her as a target. Matheson needed to eliminate his contact in the Company because he knew we would be searching for it. Who knows how much Henry knew about Matheson and his operation? Matheson risked exposure and possible capture to deal with Henry, but it was a calculated risk and for the time being, it’s paid off for him. Now, I think he’ll go underground and consolidate his power base.”

“Makes sense. What about the long term?” Lucinda asked.

Cam grimaced. “Eventually, once Matheson has rebuilt his forces, I think…” she hesitated and glanced at Blair. “I think he’ll make another attempt on Blair.”

“To what end?” Lucinda said.

“Blair is as much a figurehead as her father, and striking at her would not only privately undermine the president, but also publicly demonstrate that he is incapable of protecting the American people, even his own daughter.”

“Interesting theory,” Lucinda said, rising and beginning to pace. “That makes Blair as important to national security as—”

“Blair’s sitting here,” Blair said, giving a little wave with her free hand.

“Sorry,” Cam said.

Lucinda laughed and regarded Blair with her hands on her hips. “You wanted to stay, Blair. I never said we weren’t going to talk about you.”

“Including me usually works better.” Blair shifted her focus from Lucinda to Cam. “Just how long have you been working on this hypothesis?”

“Since the attack at the Aerie. There had to be some compelling reason to risk something like that—for Matheson to send his best men on a suicide mission. Why you? Why not the president?”

“Because,” Blair said slowly, “if my father were killed, he would become a martyr. The people would demand an explanation, if not retribution. Congress would rush to allocate money and personnel to find out what happened. But if he remains in office while his ability to lead is called into question and his authority is eroded, just the opposite happens. The political and economic ramifications would be devastating.”

“Yes.” Cam brushed her thumb over the top of Blair’s hand, which she cradled between both of hers. “All this means is that you have to be careful and we’ll all have to be vigilant. That’s nothing new.”

Blair smiled and skimmed her fingers over the edge of Cam’s jaw. “Thank you. I know what it means.”

“How close are you to getting Matheson?” Lucinda asked impatiently.

“Not close enough.” Cam frowned. “We won’t find him through any direct channels. He’s not going to return to his home base, or call upon men he served with, or contact remaining family members. He’s going underground. And the only way to find someone who has done that is to uncover a link to potential associates.”

“And that is the slowest route,” Lucinda said with a sigh. “Just ask the FBI. How many people have been on their Ten Most Wanted list for a decade or more?”

“Exactly. We’re compiling extensive profiles of known or possible contacts, but we need to expand our investigation to include paramilitary organizations. We might just stumble over him or someone who can lead us to him.”

“You’ll need more people for that.”

“We’ll need information analysts and data collectors based here in DC, but none of them will require critical security clearance. I want to keep the core investigation with my personal team working out of New York City.”

Lucinda sat back down. “Who don’t you trust here?”

“The better question is, who do I trust.” Cam shrugged. “I trust you, but there are too many eyes and ears in this building and all over this city.” Cam laughed bitterly. “Hell, the CIA put people inside an escort service. You can bet they have them in the White House.”

“It’s unorthodox to work that far outside the system.”

“Matheson came after Blair,” Cam said flatly. “I’ll do whatever I have to do with or without anyone’s approval.”

Lucinda glanced at Blair. “It boggles my mind that you haven’t killed her.”

“It was touch and go for a while when we first met.” Blair smiled softly and entwined her fingers with Cam’s. “Once you get to know her, of course, you discover…she’s just as dangerous as she sounds.”

“And what about the wedding,” Lucinda said dryly. “Considering recent events, have you two decided to take the prudent course and delay?”

Cam eased back against the sofa and said nothing.

“We’re getting married Thanksgiving weekend in Colorado,” Blair said. “You can try to keep it a secret if you want to, but it’s going to leak and we all know it, so you might as well go ahead and announce the details.”

Lucinda shook her head. “You’re sure?”

“We’ve been sure for a long time,” Blair said.

“And until then?”

“We’re going back to Whitley Point,” Cam said, “to finalize details for purchasing the house. We’d also like to arrange for renovation of the Aerie.”

“I thought we’d decided that the security breach was too severe to risk Blair returning.”

“We need a place to live in Manhattan if Cam’s base of operations is there,” Blair said. “And that’s my home.”

“Blair and I talked about it on the flight down here,” Cam said. “The breach wasn’t because of an inherent problem with building security, but because Matheson had an inside person providing him with details and access. Instead of reinventing the wheel somewhere else, we’ll correct for weaknesses there.”

“I’ll discuss it with the president.” Lucinda held up her hand when Blair started to protest. “You can save the damn declaration of independence, Blair. There are some things he wants to know about, and your security is one of them. That’s the way it is.”

“Okay,” Blair said quietly. “But I’ll talk to him about it, okay?”

“I suppose it is a father-daughter thing.” Lucinda smiled fleetingly. “So, where are we then?”

“Well,” Cam said, “we know our enemy, which is the critical element necessary to win any war. We have the best people anywhere in the world working for us. And we have every reason in the world to prevail, so eventually, we will.” She smiled at Blair. “As to the immediate future, Blair and I have a wedding to prepare for.”

Blair pulled Cam to her feet and slid an arm around her waist. “Finally, a plan I can’t find anything to argue with.”

Lucinda laughed. “Will wonders never cease.”

“No,” Blair said, kissing Cam tenderly, “not in this lifetime.”