by Radclyffe
“You secure?”
“Yes.” Sky fell back on the bed and draped her arm over her eyes. The slight bit of pressure on the left side of her face sent a shock of pain through her jaw. “Ow.”
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” Sky shifted a little to take the pressure off the side of her face, but when she squinted she could see Loren, who had turned on her side. The blanket fell away, baring a lot of naked back. Sky gave up trying not to look. She was still human, after all. “Why are you calling me?”
“You’re going to have a visitor.”
“Believe me, I’m not in the mood for entertaining.”
“It doesn’t matter. We don’t have any choice.”
“Who?”
“Homeland. And someone serious.”
“Listen,” Sky said with patience she didn’t feel. “Things are hot around here right now. We don’t have time to give a sit rep to some bureaucrat who probably just wants to get credit for—”
“Deputy Director Roberts.”
“Crap.” Sky sat up, unmindful of the blanket dropping down to her waist. The room was warmer than she’d expected. Loren had started a fire in a potbellied stove in the other room, and the air smelled of wood smoke and pine. She’d pulled off her clothes, all of them, when she’d gone to sleep. They’d reeked of beer and bar smoke. “What the hell is going on?”
“Since when does Homeland ever tell anyone anything?” Dan said. “Maybe nothing. Word is, she’s just looking for some information that might tie into another case. That’s all I know, but if we don’t accommodate, we’re likely to have a lot more than Roberts poking into our open cases. None of us want that.”
“No,” Sky agreed. While all of the agencies paid lip service to interagency cooperation, in reality, they all ran their own operations because they didn’t really trust anyone else to do it as well as they could. And, let’s face it, after years of work, when a bust went down, no one wanted to share the glory. The last thing she wanted was Homeland Security digging around in their ongoing undercover ops. If it meant talking to some desk jockey for an hour or two, she’d manage it. “When?”
“I bought you a little time. Told them it would take me a while to contact an agent in the field. You tell me.”
“Tomorrow we’re headed for Reno. If you can get us seventy-two hours, that would work.”
“I’ll do my best.” Dan cleared his throat. “You need anything?”
Sky immediately thought of Loren. “Not a thing.”
“Okay then. I’ll be in touch.”
“Yeah,” Sky said. “You do that.”
She disconnected and dropped the phone back onto her pile of clothes. From across the room Loren said, “Trouble?”
“I don’t know.” But Sky didn’t see how it could be anything else.
Chapter Twenty-two
“Sounds like something’s going on you’re not too happy with.” Loren leaned over, snagged her T-shirt off the chair next to her cot, and pulled it over her head. She wasn’t self-conscious about being naked, but both of them naked in the same space probably wasn’t a good idea. Sky still seemed to be too consumed by her recent conversation to even register she was sitting up in bed wearing nothing but a scowl. And Loren wasn’t about to tell her. Her imaginings hadn’t come close to conjuring how beautiful Sky was. Her breasts were full, rose-tipped and perfectly shaped for holding. Her abdomen was sleek, a luscious curve disappearing beneath the folds of the blanket draped across Sky’s hips. She didn’t doubt for a second that the rich red-brown of her hair would be echoed in the delta between her thighs, and suddenly she wanted to confirm her suspicions. Stomach churning, she dragged her gaze up and away.
“Finished?” Sky asked.
Loren laughed, not in the least embarrassed by something so natural—and so pleasurable. “Not by choice. You’re beautiful. Different time, different place, I’d show you how much.”
Sky blushed. “You can save the line, McElroy.”
“If I wanted a line, I’d come up with one better than that.” Loren swung off the cot and went to the cubbies next to the bathroom where she kept her clean clothes stacked on shelves. She found a pair of jeans without too many holes and tugged into them. She walked barefoot back to the cot and sat down. “So what’s going on?”
“That was my ATF counterpart. He says Homeland is poking around. They want to meet.”
Loren shook her head. “Bad idea. The more people who get involved, the greater the chance of a leak. It sounded to me like you agree.”
“I do, but I don’t think there’s much we can do about this. It’s a deputy director, and you don’t say no to somebody at that level.”
“The last thing we need with a big buy coming up is someone blundering around, giving away our cover.” Loren had the prickly sensation in the back of her neck that, little by little, things were slipping out of her control. That kind of feeling usually ended up with someone being dead. In warfare, orders were orders and you did what you had to do. This was bureaucratic bullshit, and she didn’t feel nearly as compelled to go along. “I say we conveniently forget to show up.”
“I’ll set things up. Since there’s nothing you could tell her that I don’t know, you won’t even have to go.” Sky grimaced. “It’s politics and maybe bullshit, but I get paid to handle that.”
“So you’ll be the only one at risk, is that it?”
“All things considered, you’re more important to the operation than I am.”
Sky didn’t seem concerned about her own welfare, and that pissed Loren off. “Is that all that matters to you? The operation?”
Sky gave her a look that would have withered stone. “Isn’t that the song you’ve been singing since we met? Nothing else matters except getting the inside story on the militia. And now you’re close. I’m expendable. You’re not.”
“That’s bullshit,” Loren said. The idea of Sky’s cover being blown, of her at risk of being taken out by the Renegades or FALA, bothered her a lot more than the operation going south. She hadn’t thought anything mattered to her except the operation, either. Nothing had mattered for so long it’d become the norm. Now something did matter. Sky mattered. She didn’t want her going off without backup, and she didn’t trust anyone except herself to keep her safe. “We’re partners. We’re in this together. I’m going with you.”
“No, we’re not, and no, you’re not.” Sky climbed out of bed, scooped up her clothes, and walked toward the bathroom. “When do we leave for Reno?”
“Tonight. It’ll be a two-day drive, considering the weather. We’ll have to stop more frequently.”
“Good. I’m going to take a shower. Then I need to go get the rest of my clothes and move in here.”
“Setting up house?”
Sky smiled over her shoulder. “Why not? I’m your old lady.”
The curtain swung closed over the alcove and the water came on in the shower.
“To hell with this.” Loren followed Sky.
*
Cam’s cell rang while they were in the middle of breakfast. She checked the readout and gave Blair an apologetic smile. “Sorry. Have to get this.”
“No problem,” Blair said, pouring them each more coffee. The next thing Cam would say was she was leaving. A small knot of disappointment formed in her stomach, but she brushed it away. She believed Cam wanted to stay with her, wanted to carve out time for them, and she understood too it wasn’t always possible. She’d seen her father’s life and understood the demands that duty made—on not just one person, but everyone around them. She smiled inwardly, thinking how, from the time she’d been old enough to recognize the cost, she had been so determined never to let her life be dictated by the obligations of others. And here she’d fallen in love with someone so much like her father that nothing had really changed. Except her. She wasn’t angry at Cam, didn’t feel her life had been hijacked. She’d made this choice and not for one second had she ever regretted it. There were
times she wished things were different. She was only human, after all. She couldn’t promise not to complain when Cam’s obligations, or her own for that matter, derailed their personal plans. She wasn’t going to torture Cam for being who she was or destroy the joy of what they shared because she couldn’t always dictate the time and place when they could be together.
Cam ended her call and put her phone down on the table. “I’m sorry, I—”
“You have to go somewhere,” Blair said, sparing her the apology she didn’t need to hear.
Cam’s smile was rueful. “I should, yes.”
Blair reached across the table and took Cam’s hand. “Do me a favor.”
“Anything.”
“Don’t apologize to me for what you have to do. I don’t need to hear it. All I need to hear is that you love me and you’ll be back as soon as you can be.”
“All right. But can I say, once more for the record, I would never cancel plans unless I didn’t have any choice. The moments I’m with you are the happiest of my life.” Cam lifted Blair’s hand and kissed her knuckles. Her dark eyes deepened to obsidian. The look was one that often promised Cam’s hands would be on her in seconds.
Blair’s chest tightened. If the small table hadn’t been between them, she might have shown Cam exactly where she wanted her hands. “You always know just what to say. That must be why I fell in love with you.”
Laughing, Cam drew Blair’s hand to her mouth again and kissed her fingers. “That and my many other charms.”
“Don’t push.”
“Worth trying.”
“So,” Blair said, “tell me, what’s come up?”
“That was my contact in the ATF. He’s got someone who might be able to provide some names. Another place to look.”
“You’re convinced it’s a militia group behind this?”
“Probably not alone, but yes, all of our intelligence suggests the only organized domestic organizations capable of this kind of long-range planning are the militia groups. I’m looking at Idaho because that’s the last place I can track Jennifer Pattee. How much of her history is fabricated, I can’t be sure, but I suspect that early in her life, whoever trained her tried to stay as close to the facts as possible. It’s just not that easy to create an entirely new background for someone within the system.”
“So you’re going to Idaho.”
“Yes.”
“But not today?”
Cam shook her head. “No, today I’m going to DC to tell Jennifer Pattee about my trip.”
“Hoping to surprise her into giving something away?”
“It’s a possibility.”
“If she’s been trained her entire life for this, I can’t imagine she’s not prepared for something like that.”
“Oh, she’s prepared. She’s as well trained as any professional soldier.” Cam took a deep breath, her expression a mixture of anger and sadness. “Someone is training children, perhaps lots of them, to grow up to be traitors. It’s worse than criminal.”
Blair rubbed her thumb over the top of Cam’s hand. “You know it happens everywhere, we just never thought it would happen here.”
“I know. I’m just afraid the problem is a lot worse than we suspect.”
“Do you think she’ll talk this time?”
“Honestly? No,” Cam said. “But I don’t want her to think we’ve forgotten about her. And I want to see her reaction when I ask her about Angela Jones again.”
“When are you leaving?”
Cam glanced at her watch. “I should grab a shower and get going.” She smiled. “Then I can be back sooner.”
“You are getting the hang of this.”
“Thanks. I’m working on it.” Cam rose, came around the table, and kissed Blair. “Thanks for understanding.”
Blair stroked her cheek. “Just remember you’re due back here tonight.”
“Got it.”
Blair watched her head toward the bathroom, knowing Cam meant it, and also knowing nothing was ever for certain. She contemplated joining her but decided she wouldn’t be able to keep from delaying her. She showered second, and by the time she got out of the bathroom, Cam was already dressing.
“When will you be back?” Blair asked. She tossed her towel into the hamper and padded naked over to Cam.
Cam buttoned her shirt and pulled on black pants. “Ought to catch the four p.m. shuttle and be back in time for dinner.”
“Good.” Blair picked up Cam’s belt from the bed and threaded it through the loops on Cam’s pants. She slid the leather through the silver buckle and secured the hasp. Pressing close so the cool metal pressed into her belly just above the juncture of her thighs, she kissed Cam, careful not to wrinkle her perfectly ironed shirt. “I’ll make reservations somewhere.”
“Since we’re eating at Diane’s for your birthday,” Cam said, cupping Blair’s bare butt, “why don’t we order in. I think I’d prefer you naked all evening.”
Blair laughed. “Oh really. I suppose I could turn up the heat and work just like this all day—just in case you come home early.”
“I’ll do my best, but I’d prefer you wear clothes.” Cam slipped an arm around Blair’s waist. “I like undressing you.”
“Mmm. Okay then.” Blair kissed her again and stepped back. She needed to let her go, and the sooner she did, the sooner she’d have her back.
“Be careful.”
Cam grabbed her jacket. “Always. See you soon.”
Chilled, Blair grabbed a robe and walked out into the living room. The faint hum of the elevator was the only sound. Cam was already gone.
*
“Excuse me,” Sky said when the curtain slid back and Loren crowded into the small space in front of the shower stall. “Naked here. Taking a shower.”
“I know you’re naked,” Loren said. “I noticed that quite a while ago.”
The bathroom was little more than a closet, with a small toilet, a pedestal sink barely big enough for a quick rinse angled in one corner, and a two-by-two foot shower where you’d have to turn around to get both your front and your back wet. With Loren in the space along with her, Sky was forced to back up against the painted plywood wall to make a little breathing room. When Loren took a step closer, the miniscule space between them disappeared. Loren’s jeans rubbed against her thighs, the unexpected friction as tantalizing as a caress. She felt herself swell, get wet, and her nipples tightened. She stared into Loren’s eyes. “What are you doing?”
Loren braced her hands on either side of Sky’s shoulders and pressed a little closer. She liked the look in Sky’s eyes—a little wary, a little angry, a little aroused. She liked the way Sky’s lips deepened to a ruby red and swelled as if waiting for a kiss. She decided not to make her wait. She kissed her. “I think I’m taking advantage of you.”
Sky flattened her hands against Loren’s shoulders, but didn’t push her away. “I’m not the being-taken-advantage-of kind.”
Loren’s eyebrow arched. “No? Well then, maybe I’m just indulging myself. I said you were beautiful. That was an understatement.”
“Loren,” Sky murmured, “if you don’t get out of here in the next twenty seconds, this game is going to get very serious.”
“That’s what I was hoping.” Loren dipped her head again and kissed her. She wanted to drink her fill. She want to plunder—to fill her hands, her mouth, with warm flesh and sweet flavor. If she gave in for just an instant to those wants, she feared how far she would go. Where she would stop. If she could stop. She pulled herself back from the brink. Fought for breath. “Nineteen seconds.”
Sky reached deep for control. She struggled not to grip Loren’s T-shirt and tear it off. She wanted Loren naked. She wanted Loren inside her. “Go.”
Without a word, Loren left. Sky stepped into the hot shower and closed her eyes. She hadn’t gotten what she wanted, but she’d managed to get what she should want. Somehow without her being aware of it, those had become two different things, and Loren w
as the cause.
Chapter Twenty-three
The two guards on duty were not the same ones who had been there the last time Cam questioned Jennifer. They obviously knew her, as they gave her ID only a cursory examination.
“Anything unusual reported in the last few days?” Cam asked.
The younger of the two guards, a husky, freckled blond who looked as if he’d be right at home on a Midwestern farm, turned to a computer and brought up a file. He scrolled through it quickly and swiveled back to face her. “Nothing out of the ordinary.” He shrugged. “Actually, nothing much at all has happened.”
“No visitation requests?” Cam didn’t expect there to be any, but sometimes the simplest things could be overlooked. Again, the guard shook his head. “I’d like to see the video feeds for the last thirty hours.”
“Sure thing.” The guard gestured to an adjacent chair, and Cam took off her topcoat and laid it over the back. By the time she sat down, the guard had pulled up a video file.
“The controls will come up with the mouse,” he said and went back to his work.
“Thanks.” Cam positioned the mouse over the lower left-hand corner of the screen and clicked the play icon. The white-walled cell, lit as brightly as an office in daytime and looking about as coldly impersonal, came into view. Jennifer Pattee sat on her bed with her back to the wall and her knees drawn up, her arms folded around them. The timestamp said 0500 the previous day.
The prisoner didn’t look particularly distressed. She was given daily access to a shower and a change of clothes, and she’d obviously been making use of the privilege. Her hair was washed and combed, her pale gray jumpsuit was clean. The faint circles under her eyes suggested she might not have been sleeping entirely well, but the casual observer would not automatically recognize her as a prisoner. Cam fast-forwarded and noted the times at which Jennifer’s meals were provided. Jennifer took each tray, sat on the side of her bed, and methodically consumed all the food, her expression never betraying any reaction to how it tasted. She simply ate as if it were her duty. And perhaps it was. Fueling up to be ready for the fight to come. Whoever had trained her had anticipated this, and while Cam appreciated the necessity of preparing soldiers to withstand hardships, she could not fathom teaching children those lessons. But despite her abhorrence for what Jennifer likely experienced as a child, Cam had no sympathy for the woman. Jennifer was a criminal, and she had been ready to kill any number of individuals to make her statement.
