by Radclyffe
Major Simons studied her, then flicked his gaze to Savard. "Why don't I ride with you two and we'll see what we can do about that." He crab-walked to the door and jumped down to the ground, turning to look back inside once he landed. "Let me brief the team leaders, and then I'll be back with the rest of our team."
"Commander," Savard said when Simons was out of earshot, "what happened to our rear-action orders?"
"I figure as long as we're standing behind him and his men, that's the rear." Cam watched the soldiers confer. "And our agenda is slightly different than theirs. I want Matheson alive so we can put him in a room—a very small room—so we can question him. I don't care how long it -takes, but he'll stay there until he breaks. I want to know who else we have to worry about in the future. Which of my people," she looked at Savard, "or your people, are like Foster—working beside us every day and just waiting for orders to move against us."
"I want to be in there with you," Savard said fiercely.
Simons walked toward them with three Delta Force commandos.
"Stay by my side when we land," Cam said.
"Yes, ma'am." Of one thing Savard was certain. She wasn't going to let anything happen to Cameron Roberts.
*
When Diane turned off the shower, she heard her cell phone ringing. She'd left it on the bathroom counter with her cosmetics bag. She stepped out, grasped a bath sheet in one hand, and picked up her phone with the other. She did not recognize the number and thought about letting it go to voicemail. On the final ring, something told her to answer, and she flipped it open. "Diane Bleeker."
"I'm on a pay phone. I only have a minute."
There was static on the line, but the connection was clear enough for her to hear the unmistakable sound of an airplane taking off. She tried to keep her voice steady as her entire body tingled. "Are you all right?"
"Yes. I wanted to say I'm sorry about this morning."
"Where are you?"
There was no immediate response, but Diane had the sense that she shouldn't speak her name. She waited, her stomach tight with anticipation.
"Dulles." There was the sound of a deep breath, then the hurried words, "Everything was set in motion long before I fell in love with you. The only way I could keep your name out of things was to follow the plan."
Diane tried not to be distracted by the phrase fell in love with you, but the wild beating of her heart made it difficult for her to think. "Where are you going?"
"I can't tell you."
"What do you mean, 'keep me out of things'?" Diane felt the pressure of the seconds ticking away and desperately wanted to understand.
"Who we're personally involved with—it's a matter of security. They'll watch you, Diane. Your privacy will be gone. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen."
"Then tell me why you did it."
Her voice came through the line muffled, as if by unshed tears. "I couldn't help it. I needed you. I need you."
Diane closed her eyes. She felt their bodies soar together, their breath mingling, their souls surrendering as one. "Then I'm here."
"Do you understand what that means?"
"I do. I don't care."
"I have to go." A beat. Two. "I love you so very much."
The line went silent, but the words echoed in her heart. I love you too.
*
From the air, the access road through the dense green forest looked like a snake slithering through the grass. If she hadn't known it was there, Cam didn't think she would have recognized it for what it was—a single-track dirt road leading five miles into an unpopulated and undeveloped region of the Appalachians that bordered Virginia and Tennessee. As they descended, she focused the binoculars Major Simons had provided her on a tiny patch of tan that stood out amidst the confluence of green. After a few seconds, she nudged Simons's shoulder and pointed, mouthing the words, Fire tower.
He followed her direction and nodded. Then he climbed forward, pointed to the pilot, and spoke into his throat mike. The helicopters veered north to circle around what might be a lookout post. Cam doubted it would make much difference, but minimizing advance notice could only help. She glanced across the aisle to Savard, who looked composed, almost meditative. She almost would have preferred that Savard look a little jumpy. Sun Tzu said that the greatest warriors did not fear death and, therefore, did not hesitate in battle. On this particular day, Cam wanted a little bit of hesitation on Savard's part. If she got hurt, Stark would have a hard time handling it. So would she. She'd just have to see that nothing happened to Savard.
*
Felicia walked out onto the deck. "Do we know anything yet?"
"Holding pattern," Stark said. She nodded toward Blair. "But it's possible that Ms. Powell may have something for us in an hour or so."
Felicia raised an eyebrow.
"I spoke with Lucinda Washburn not long ago," Blair explained. "She promised to give me an update, but you know how information is handled at that level. It may or may not be the whole story." She shrugged. "Usually, Lucinda tells it to me straight. I could call my father, but..." She considered what Cam had told her earlier about the layers of protection around her father when these kinds of operations were underway. Her lover was willing to risk her life for concepts as hard to define as honor and patriotism. Blair was not willing to compromise those ideals by asking her father for the details. He might very well tell her, because he loved her, and that was something that she could not ask him to do. He was more than her father. He was the president of the United States. Sometimes, she didn't want to think about that, because it frightened her that there were people who wished him harm. It also overwhelmed her when she considered the magnitude of his importance to the world. He was the man who had held out his arms to catch her when she took her first steps, lest she fall. He was the man who had swung her up to his shoulders to watch the Fourth of July parades when she was too small to see through the crowds. He was the man whose opinion mattered to her more than any person's in the world, except Cam's. But despite all of that, he was also the man whose responsibilities set him apart from everyone else, even her. She shrugged again and tossed the dregs of her coffee over the railing. "Maybe Cam or Savard will call soon and fill us in."
She turned and strode into the house.
Felicia watched her go and as the door swung shut, looked back to Stark. "You okay?"
"Yeah. Everybody's on edge, that's all." She hunched her shoulders against a sudden gust of wind and studied the sky. "I think it's gonna rain again."
"Maybe. The weather's really hinky out here in the middle of the ocean." She squeezed Stark's shoulder. "Why don't you go on in. I'll stand watch out here for a while. I've been cooped up in that damn building for days staring at the monitor—I can handle a little fresh air."
"What do you think is going on with Valerie?"
"Ah, God. I think the CIA wanted to know what we found before anyone else." She buttoned the top button of her navy wool pea jacket as the wind picked up. "She helped break the case open for us. We'd have arrived at the same place eventually, but she helped get us there sooner."
"I was thinking the same thing," Stark admitted reluctantly. "You know, sometimes we don't have a lot of choices."
"I have a feeling no one really knows what's happening minute to minute these days in terms of our security network," Felicia said, her expression uneasy. "I'm glad we're here and that Egret is out of things for a while. They're keeping the vice president under wraps somewhere too. Probably smart. I'm glad I'm not on the president's detail."
Paula snorted. "Yeah. They probably want to keep him in the underground bunker, and knowing President Powell, he's not going to go for that."
"No. That's why I can't be too angry with Valerie. Every day we get closer to these guys, we cut the risk of something really bad happening again."
"So maybe it all evens out in the end?"
Felicia wrapped her arms around her body, wishing, not for the first time, that
Mac were with them. "I hope so."
*
The four helicopters descended in a ring toward the compound. As the layout of the camp became more distinct, Cam noted that the trees had been clear-cut for a hundred yards around the fenced perimeter and the ground bulldozed flat. There appeared to be guard posts on either side of the main entrance, which was barricaded by a double swinging gate. A ground approach, even if they'd had armored jeeps, would have been ill-advised because of the absence of cover. As it was, the helicopters would have to deliver the troops right into the heart of the compound.
Simons's voice came through the powerful loudspeaker in their helicopter. "This is the United States Army. All personnel in the compound, assemble on the parade grounds. This is the United States Army. Surrender your weapons and assemble on the parade grounds. This is the United States..."
As the message repeated, Cam quickly scanned the open area between the main building and several smaller ones that probably served as the training grounds. At least a dozen men in fatigues hurried from the buildings. The helicopter to the right of hers, which she could see through the open door, zigzagged sharply away. Through her earphones she heard Simons shout, "The idiots are firing on us. Take us down! Take us down!"
The helicopter dropped precipitously, and Cam was thrown back against the inside wall. Across from her, Savard appeared eerily calm.
"All troops, prepare to jump," Simons commanded. "I want these birds back up in the air as soon as we hit the ground."
Cam drew her weapon and glanced at Savard once more before getting in line behind the two Delta commandos who crouched in the open doorway, waiting to drop the last ten feet into the hot zone.
Chapter Thirty-One
C am was grateful for the enormous clouds of dust that the helicopters lacked up from the hard-packed earth of the parade grounds. At least the impromptu sandstorm afforded them a few seconds of cover as they prepared to drop into the fire zone. She put her hand on Savard's back and leaned close to her. "Go first. I'll provide covering fire. Take cover anywhere you can, but try to follow the front men."
"No," Savard shouted back. "You won't have anyone at your back."
"Do it," Cam said as she saw the second soldier drop from view. She pushed Savard forward. "Go, go!"
The helicopter bounced from side to side as if buffeted by a high wind, hovering as close to the ground as possible. As soon as Savard's head disappeared from sight, Cam jumped after her, mentally repeating, drop and roll, drop and roll. She landed with a bone-rattling, teeth-jarring thud and let her legs go soft, pitching forward into a shoulder roll and coming up in a crouch with her weapon extended. Overhead, the steady pinging of bullets impacting on the ascending helicopters sounded like hail on a tin roof. Her eyes were filled with grit and her vision hazy, but she could see well enough to make out that Savard was down and unmoving eight feet away. The only thought in her mind was to get her to cover as she threw herself flat on the ground and started to crawl, ignoring the small puffs of dirt that signaled bullets striking the ground nearby.
*
Blair walked into the living room, surprised to see Diane curled up in one corner of the sofa with a glass of wine in her hand. "Isn't it still morning, or did I miss something?"
Smiling wanly, Diane shook her head. "No. You're right. But if I drink another cup of coffee, I'm likely to have a meltdown. And frankly, I've been keeping such odd hours for the last week or so, my internal clock is totally disrupted. It feels like seven at night."
"Actually," Blair said as she threw herself down on the sofa beside Diane, "I might join you if we don't hear something pretty soon."
"You don't have any idea what's going on?"
"No. But I'm willing to bet that once they have the names of these guys, which they do now, they're not going to wait around to go after them. And I'm willing to bet there's a reason that Cam took Savard, and not Felicia or Stark, to this so-called briefing. Savard's FBI. She's trained in armed apprehension. So is Cam, because she was originally part of the investigative division of the Secret Service. But Stark and Davis have always done protection, and there's a difference. They're not as used to making arrests."
Diane reached over and took Blair's hand. "She's going to be fine. Even if they're involved in something risky, they're not alone. Your father and Lucy aren't going to let Cam do anything really dangerous. They know what she means to you."
"You are speaking about Cameron Roberts, my lover, right?" Blair said. "The one who believes that sacrifice is the greatest form of love?"
"Is she any different than you as far as that goes?" Diane spoke gently, but the look in her eyes said that she knew Blair would give up anything to keep Cam safe too.
"It's not the same." Blair turned away from Diane's appraising stare, blinking back the tears that were as much a result of frustration as fear. She sighed. "But her behavior is not a news flash. I should be used to it by now."
"No, not used to it. You'll never be used to it, I suppose, as long as she does what she does." Diane gave Blair's hand a shake. "But perhaps you'll begin to believe that she's coming back, because she always does."
Blair nodded. "I know. And I know that's the only thing I should really be thinking about."
"Good. So practice."
"I'll try." Blair leaned her head back against the sofa and stared at the ceiling, toying with Diane's fingers. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm all right."
Blair turned her head, hearing a calmness in Diane's voice that hadn't been there when they'd walked on the beach. She searched her friend's face. "My God," she breathed, "she called, didn't she?"
Diane said nothing.
"Are you afraid to tell me because you think I'll do something to endanger her?" Blair sat up straight. "Diane?"
"Some people here are very angry at her."
"Cam defended her this morning," Blair said. "Even though she was angry, she said she understood her. She said that sometimes they don't get to choose what they do."
"They do choose, though, don't they," Diane said quietly. "They choose to follow orders, because they believe that what they're doing is right or important or.. .necessary."
"You've really gotten a crash course in the trials and tribulations of being in love with a spooky, haven't you?" Blair said gently.
Diane laughed, a tremor in her voice. "Oh, I certainly have. No wonder you resisted Cam as long as you did."
"Yeah," Blair laughed, "for all of about two seconds."
"We're a great pair, aren't we?"
Blair slid her arm around Diane's shoulders. "I would never do anything to hurt you. Is she all right?"
"I don't know. I think so. We only...we only spoke for a moment."
"So you don't know anything?"
Diane shook her head. "Not a thing. I don't think she's in Washington anymore, though. So if there's something going on with Cam and Renee right now, she's not a part of it."
"No, probably not right now. But there was some reason that she left the way she did, and I expect there's going to be hard feelings about that for a while with quite a few people."
"What about us? Is it going to come between us?"
Blair reached for Diane's other hand. "Not if we don't let it. Let's agree right now that sometimes our lovers might not see eye to eye. That will be between them. Not us. Okay?"
"Okay."
"You do know what you're getting into, don't you? Because it's probably going to be a very bumpy ride."
"After this morning, I think I've got a pretty good idea just how rough it's going to be." Diane smiled softly. "But when I thought she was gone, really gone, it was as if something inside of me had broken, and I knew I would never be able to fix it. And then the second I heard her voice, everything felt right again."
"Well. That's your answer, then, isn't it?" "It seems to be. Does it ever begin to make sense?" "Once in a while," Blair said, "when you feel her next to you, and you know that that's the only thing in the world th
at truly matters."
*
"Savard," Cam shouted. "You hit?"
Savard turned her head in Cam's direction, spitting dirt from her mouth. Her face was pale and contorted with pain. "Twisted my knee when I landed. Tore something, I think."
"Can you move?" Cam took in the crimson stain on Savard's leg and the ragged tear in her pants. Bullet wound. Somewhere nearby, men shouted and the intermittent bursts of automatic weapons fire continued. "We need to get out of here," Cam said urgently. "Just crawl."
"Don't think.. .I can. You go."
"Forget it, Agent. Get moving." Cam gripped the back of Savard's jacket in her fist and pulled, inching forward on her elbows, keeping her belly and hips on the ground. She jerked Savard with her. "Push with your good leg and use your elbow for leverage. Come on. It's only thirty feet or so to the building."
"Commander, I..."
"Move"
"Yes, ma'am."
Together, they maneuvered across the open ground. At one point, Cam saw a figure in faded green camos race around the side of the building, a rifle in his hands. She sighted on his chest, waiting to pull the trigger if he trained his weapon on them. But before she needed to fire, he pitched forward, his rifle flying from his hands. He writhed on the ground, a red patch spreading rapidly high on his back. He'd taken a round in the shoulder. The Delta Forces aren 't shooting to kill, at least not unless they have to.
"The stairs are just ahead," Cam yelled. "Get up on one knee and put your arm around me. We're going inside."
Cam wrapped her left arm around Savard's waist, her weapon in her right hand. Savard pushed up with her uninjured left leg, and the two of them clambered up the stairs and through the door. The room was empty except for several chairs turned over on the floor and a desk that sat in front of a doorway centered in the far wall.
"You're bleeding," Cam said, easing Savard down to the floor by the side of the desk. She guided Savard's hand to the wound. "Press on this and keep your eye on the front door. Use the desk for cover if you need to. I'll check the back."
