Oath Of Honor

Chapter Thirty

Evyn called Cameron Roberts. “We’ve got something on audio. Sounds like she’s arranging a meet.”

“E-mail me the audio file,” Cam said.

“It’s on its way.” She glanced at Block, crowded next to her in the back of the surveillance van. They’d parked around the corner from Jennifer Pattee’s town house, within range of the transmitter Wes was wearing but out of line of sight. Block was focused on monitoring the audio feed—he wasn’t paying any attention to her. “We can’t get both sides of the conversation, but the subject is coming through clear. She mentioned a mutual contact—Tom. There’s no way he—”

“That doesn’t concern us right now,” Cam said.

She knew their priority was locating and securing the stolen biocontagion, but no way was she letting Tom become a suspect. “I just want to go on record that I’m the best one to have observed his activities, and nothing suggests he’s involved.”

“I appreciate that, and I’m sure he will too. We picked up the name on a few scattered communications over the last few weeks, but we haven’t been able to put anything together. At this point, we’re simply being cautious.”

“I understand. There’s something else,” Evyn said. “I think she made Wes.”

“Hold on. Let me listen to this,” Cam said. “I’m downloading it now.”

Evyn chafed in the sudden silence and switched to watching the video feed from the camera they’d mounted on a light pole halfway down the block from Jennifer Pattee’s front door. If she didn’t occupy her mind, she was going to drive herself crazy imagining what was going on with Wes inside that house. They didn’t have eyes inside—there hadn’t been time to get anything in place. So she was left to imagining Wes and Jennifer’s activities by following the audio transcript on the computer next to Block. The impersonal words appeared as if a ghost were typing them, but she had no difficulty hearing Wes’s voice. She knew Jennifer Pattee well enough to recognize hers too. As the words scrolled down the screen, Evyn saw Jennifer with Wes.

She’d always found Jennifer attractive but aloof, which had never bothered her because Jennifer wasn’t her type. She was capable, competent, and sexy if you liked aggressive femmes, but she’d always sensed something just a little bit calculating about her. Jennifer was nothing like Wes—Wes didn’t play games, didn’t pull her punches, asked the hard questions, and didn’t run from the answers. Wes didn’t run from anything, which was why she was sitting in Jennifer’s house tonight with no backup close enough to help her if something went sour. The thought curdled her stomach.

She reread the transcribed message. Even without the audio to accent the innuendo, Jennifer sounded like she was coming on to Wes. The idea of Jennifer so much as touching Wes made her want to kick down the town house door. She wasn’t jealous—she was furious. Jennifer was a terrorist, and she’d do anything to achieve her goals—sleep with Len O’Shaughnessy, seduce Wes, maybe even get rid of someone she perceived as an obstacle to her mission. Right now, that obstacle looked a lot like Wes.

“Can you tell where they are?” Evyn asked, her voice sounding loud above the low steady hum of electronics.

Block said, “Huh?” and lifted the headphones from one ear.

Evyn gritted her teeth. “Can you tell where they are in the building?”

“The GPS on the transmitter is pretty specific. With the blueprints we have as reference, I can place them pretty close.” He dropped the headphones back in place. “Looks like they’re still in the living room.”

The living room. Good. The front door led directly into the living room, so if Wes got into trouble at least Evyn could be inside in under a minute. A lot could happen in a minute.

Her phone rang, and she grabbed it off the narrow counter bolted to the sidewall of the van. “Daniels.”

“It definitely sounds like a meet,” Cam said. “From what we can get of the caller’s voice off the enhanced audio, definitely male. Doesn’t fit the scenario unless Jones handed off the stolen specimen to an intermediary.”

“That would be a reasonable plan,” Evyn said. “That way, Jones protects her identity and there’s no link between her and the person releasing the virus.”

“Except in this case, there is. Which may be exactly why they’re using an intermediary. Could be they’ve been seen together before or fear that some other connection might come to light.”

“I’ll buy that. So who’s the intermediary?”

“No fix on that yet,” Cam said. “And we don’t know how many other intermediaries might be involved. Whoever’s funding this is probably many degrees removed.”

“Invisible,” Evyn muttered.

“Unfortunately, yes. For now, our job is intercepting the virus.”

“What about Wes—Captain Masters. If Pattee gets suspicious—”

“Doubtful she’d attempt anything tonight—if Pattee was involved in O’Shaughnessy’s death, she had to have planned it in advance. The captain ought to be safe tonight, but stick with her until she gets home.”

“Looks like they’re staying in for the rest of the evening.”

“Good—that makes it less likely Pattee will pick up on our surveillance. Let me know if anything changes.”

“Roger that.” Evyn couldn’t find anything very good about the idea of Wes being alone with Jennifer Pattee for the rest of the evening. Wes had proved she could handle herself in tight situations, only Evyn wished she didn’t have to prove it in this one. She totally trusted Wes—she just didn’t trust Jennifer Pattee.

“Got a car approaching…slowing…” Block sat forward and adjusted the video monitor. “He’s parking right across the street from Pattee’s town house.”

“Food delivery?”

“Looks that way.”

“Can you shoot a still remotely?”

Block fiddled with some buttons. “Ought to be able to.”

“Good. Get me a shot of him and let’s run it.” Evyn tossed her cell back on the counter and silently sent a message to Wes, urging her to leave as soon as she could. She’d done her job—more than her job—and now it was time to let Evyn and the others shoulder the risk. Somehow, she knew if Wes received her plea, she’d ignore it. Wes didn’t run, ever.

*

Wes caught the Metro as she’d been instructed and got off at the stop closest to her apartment. She let herself in and turned on the lamp just inside the door. She was transported back to the last time she’d walked in late at night. Evyn had been with her then—moving into her, kissing her, taking her. Wes shuddered, her skin slick with nerves and heat. She pulled off her coat and tossed it over the back of the sofa. Her blazer followed, and she dropped that on the breakfast bar on her way to get a beer from the fridge. She didn’t bother to turn on any more lights. She just waited.

Ten minutes later a knock came on the door and she opened it quickly.

Evyn strode in. “Are you okay?”

“Did you get everything?” Wes asked.

“They’re working on the audio now, but you did good. How do you feel?”

Wes pointed to the beer she’d opened and left untouched on the breakfast counter. “Like I can’t wait to get back to the clinic. How the hell do you do this on a regular basis?”

Evyn laughed softly. “I don’t. I’m protection, remember?”

“Yes, but you’ve been in the field too.”

“I never did much undercover.” Evyn slid her hand around Wes’s waist and tapped the transmitter. “Come on, let’s get this thing off you. We need to debrief—get your impressions. We can only get so much from the audio.”

“Why did Roberts want me to come back here instead of reporting directly to her at the White House?” Wes unbuttoned her shirt and pulled her tank up. “Do you really think someone might’ve followed me from Jennifer’s?”

“No sense taking a chance. This way, to anyone watching, you finished your date and went home. Anyone following would assume you were in for the night.”

“Hell of a date,” Wes muttered.

Evyn carefully loosened the adhesive and removed the transmitter. “What’s your impression?”

Wes sat on one of the bar stools facing out into the living room and propped her elbows on the counter behind her. “She sent a lot of mixed signals. She might have been trying to seduce me, but she was also trolling for information.”

“What kind of information?”

“Mostly about Len. She’s a medical person. Sudden death is something we’re familiar with. But she pushed a little bit where he was concerned—maybe trying to see if we suspected foul play.”

“That makes sense if she was party to his death.”

“But why would she have wanted to get rid of him? Someone would take his place—if not someone from the outside like me, one of the other docs from the inside.”

“My working theory,” Evyn said, securing the transmitter in her jacket pocket, “is that Len started to suspect her. Maybe he overheard something. We’ll probably never know, but for some reason, they wanted him out of the way.”

“Then I’m no threat.”

“Not unless she thinks you suspect something too,” Evyn said quietly. “When you’ve killed once, it gets easier—at least for some people.”

Evyn’s eyes were cloudy, troubled. Wes took her hand and pulled her closer. “What’s wrong?”

“Sitting in that van listening to you with her—knowing you were too far away for me to get you…” Evyn cupped Wes’s face and kissed her. “Made me crazy.”

Wes’s pulse soared. Her whole life had been geared toward taking care of others—she’d learned to be self-sufficient, learned to stand alone. She’d never been so critically important to anyone before. Evyn made her feel like she mattered—right now, in this moment—more than anything else in Evyn’s world. She looped her arms around Evyn’s waist and pulled her in tight between her thighs. “I’m sorry if it was hard for you.”

Evyn rested her forehead against Wes’s. “I knew you could handle yourself—don’t get me wrong.”

“I think we both know we can do our jobs, no matter what.”

“I do. I believe that. But part of me, the part I shoved away a long time ago so I could focus on getting where I wanted to get, that part was just a little bit scared.”

“I suppose every time you’re away, in potential danger, I’ll be a little bit scared too.” Wes kissed her. “But I’ll be damn proud too.”

“Wes,” Evyn murmured, sliding her mouth over Wes’s, kissing her throat. “I should tell you—”

“Yes?” Wes arched her neck, gave more of herself to Evyn’s mouth. “What?”

Evyn groaned, her hands trembling on Wes’s shoulders. “I’m falling in love with you.”

Wes slipped her fingers into Evyn’s hair, drawing her mouth tighter to her skin, wanting the heat of Evyn’s mouth searing her flesh. “I’m so glad. Because I’m in love with you.”

Evyn shuddered. “I’m not making love to you again until we’re in a bed.”

“I don’t have plants or a cat,” Wes whispered, “but I’ve got clean sheets.”