Неизвестный - 06. Honor Under Siege

“Let me take you in,” Sybil said.

“Thanks.”

Her father stood to greet her when she came in and kissed her cheek.

“You feel cold,” Andrew Powell said.

“I’ve been out walking.” Blair settled onto an antique sofa and glanced at Cam, who sat in a chair opposite her father on the other side of a low coffee table. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Cam rose and walked around the table to sit next to Blair. “Okay?” She touched her fingertips briefly to Blair’s leg, then put her hand back in her lap.

“Sure.” Blair regarded her father. “I know there are some things we can’t talk about, but Cam is my partner. She almost died ten days ago. What more can you ask of her?”

Andrew Powell, in his early fifties but looking a decade younger, with thick wavy hair and blue eyes the exact color of Blair’s, regarded her with an expression that might have been sympathy or regret. “We need good people, Blair, especially now. And Cam is one of them.”

Blair shook her head. “How many times? Is there a quota on bullet holes? Concussions? Because she’s had her share. More than her share.”

“Blair,” Cam murmured. “Let’s hear what the president has to say.”

“I’m not talking to the president,” Blair retorted. “I’m talking to my father. That counts for something, doesn’t it, Dad? Just a little?”

“I’m your father,” the president said. “It means everything.”

“But you’re still going to ask her, aren’t you? For whatever job needs doing, no matter what it might cost.”

Andrew Powell shifted his gaze to Cam. “You can say no, no questions asked. No one will think less of you.”

Blair snorted. “That’s because the people giving the orders are sitting safe behind some desk somewhere. They don’t have the balls for anything else.”

Cam waited.

“Three weeks ago,” Powell said, “I established the Office of Homeland Security. I expect within a year the office will become a Cabinet department. We’re drawing from all sectors of domestic and foreign security to fill the critical positions.”

“Field posts or administrative?” Cam asked.

“Both.”

“Answering to whom?”

“For now, to the Director of Homeland Security—who answers to me.”

“Anti-terrorism?” Cam asked, very aware that she was interrogating the president, and he was allowing it. She wondered how much that had to do with her relationship with Blair. Quite a lot, she imagined.

“That and border security. Possibly Customs. We’ll work those things out as we finalize the Cabinet level responsibilities.”

“Why can’t the security agencies we already have handle anti-terrorism?” Blair asked. “The CIA, the FBI, the military security divisions. God, how many are there?”

“A lot, and that’s part of the problem,” the president said. “We obviously need to centralize and oversee intelligence gathering, analysis, projections—the whole thing. And we need to be able to respond with effective, organized force.”

Cam leaned forward. “On domestic soil?”

Powell’s face hardened. “If need be.”

“It’s going to take some doing to get the FBI, CIA, DOJ, and military intelligence to play together,” Cam observed.

“I know that. And time is something we don’t have.” He stood and walked to his desk, then returned to his seat with a thick folder. “We’re organizing a number of special teams immediately, drawing from personnel across security divisions. I’d like you to head one, Cam.”

“On behalf of the Secret Service?” Cam asked.

The president shook his head. “Obviously, all of this is for your ears only, but I expect we’ll move the Secret Service completely into Homeland Security within the next few months. I want you as one of the new deputy directors of the OHS.”

“In what capacity?” She quelled the quick surge of excitement. The balance of power within the intelligence community was shifting, and she was being offered a premier seat.

“Counterintelligence.”

Cam looked at Blair, and her focus instantly shifted from exhilaration to concern. Blair was pale, and the shadows beneath her eyes were back. “I can’t give you an answer right now, Mr. President. Blair and I need to talk.”

“I understand. Once you’ve decided, we can discuss specifics.”

“Thank you, sir,” Cam said, standing and extending her hand.

Powell rose to return the handshake. “I couldn’t discuss this with you beforehand, Blair. With either of you. It’s a matter of national security.”

“Of course,” Blair said dully. “It always is.”

Stark approached as Cam and Blair stepped into the lobby.

“We’ll be going directly to my apartment, Chief,” Cam said.

“Very well.” Stark murmured a few words into her radio. “The vehicle’s right outside.”

“Thank you.”

Blair was silent on the walk to the Suburban and remained that way for the cross-town ride. When they reached Cam’s building, Blair automatically took her position between Stark and Hara, with Cam and the third agent slightly behind her as they entered the lobby and crossed to the elevator.

“Hara, you’re on radio backup. Wozinski, you’ll take the lobby this shift.” Stark glanced at Blair. “Will you be going out this evening?”

“I don’t know,” Blair said as she stepped into the elevator ahead of Cam and Stark.

“You can reach me on my cell should you decide—”

“I know that.”

When the elevator doors opened, Stark checked the hall before allowing Blair to exit. There were only two apartments per floor with doors opening off each end of a spacious, carpeted foyer and small seating area. The short hallway and the alcove next to the elevator were empty.

Cam removed her keys from her pocket. “I’ll check the apartment, if you want to wait here with Ms. Powell.”

Blair made no objection, and when Cam emerged from the apartment a moment later and held the door open, Blair walked past her with no comment. Cam followed her inside and closed the door.

“Hungry?”

Blair glanced at her watch. “Diane should be here soon. Let’s wait.” She checked her phone, then pushed a button. “I’ll see where she is. We can order pizza.”

“Okay. Let me have your jacket.” Cam held out her hand for Blair’s leather blazer. She hung it in the closet next to her own, listening as Blair spoke with Diane.

“Where are you?…Do you need a ride? Are you sure?…Okay. See you soon.”

“She’s on the train?” Cam asked.

“Yes. She’ll be here in about an hour.”

Cam crossed the room, took Blair’s hand, and drew her to the sofa in front of the windows. “Let’s talk.”

Blair leaned against Cam’s shoulder. “Why? It never changes anything.”

“I didn’t see this coming,” Cam said. She eased her arm around Blair’s shoulders and drew Blair against her side. She leaned her cheek against Blair’s hair. “I didn’t give much thought to this homeland security business when I first heard about it. It’s going to be a huge bureaucratic snafu with all the security agencies struggling to protect their turf. That’s not my style.”

“My father wants you to head a special team.” Blair said. “That always means outside normal channels. That’s your style.”

“I admit that’s a little more appealing. I’ve never had a desk job. I don’t want one.”

“I know. You’re a field agent. But we’re not talking about chasing counterfeiters, Cam. Special teams for homeland security means terrorists. It means something dangerous.”

“Not necessarily. Most of the time special teams are assembled just because they’re more efficient at gathering information. It’s still mostly desk work.”

Blair tilted her head up. “That’s bullshit.”

Cam smiled. “We don’t know what your father wants me to do.”

“You can’t possibly think it’s a coincidence that Lucinda brought up Valerie Lawrence right before my father asked you to head up a special counterintelligence team. Do you?”

“No,” Cam said quietly. “I don’t.”

“My father can’t talk about those kinds of operations, but Lucinda can, which is why she met with us first.” Abruptly, Blair stood up, walked to the windows, and spoke with her back to Cam. “They want Valerie, and they’ll use me and my friendship with Diane if I let them. And they’ll use you, because you…” She raised her hand, then let it fall. “Because you were in love with her.”

Cam crossed to Blair and rested her hands on Blair’s shoulders, drawing her gently back until their bodies connected. “You know that’s not true. What happened between us was limited to a few disconnected hours. It had nothing to do with the rest of our lives. And I didn’t know she was a counterintelligence operative. Jesus, I thought she was a prostitute.”

“I know all that. And I know you had feelings for her. I’ve told you before, it’s okay.” Blair shrugged, her back still to Cam. “Well, mostly okay. Except now and then when I let myself notice how beautiful she is.”

Cam nuzzled Blair’s hair. “I was never in love with her.”

“She was special, though. She had to be, for you to care for her.” Blair half turned so she could see Cam’s face. “Do you trust her?”

“That’s part of what I’m going to have to decide. Because if I undertake this assignment, and it’s Valerie they want me to find, I have to know who I’m going after.”

Blair turned completely and threaded her arms around Cam’s waist. “If you take the assignment?”

“I won’t do it if you don’t want me to.”

Blair pulled away. “I hate when you do this.”

“Do what?”

“Make me be part of the decision. It was easier when you just did what you wanted. Then I could be angry with you for doing it.”

“You’re losing me.” Cam caught Blair’s hand again. “If I’ve learned anything about being with you, it’s that I’m supposed to talk about things with you. Don’t confuse me.”

Blair grabbed Cam’s shoulders, jerked her close, and kissed her. Hard. “How would you feel about me if I said no. I don’t want you to do it.”

“I love you.”

“I can’t stand worrying about you. I can’t take one more phone call telling me you’re hurt.”

“I won’t do it.”

“I want you to take a supervisory position in homeland security. You know how to run teams. You can do it without being on the street.”

“Okay.”

Blair squeezed Cam’s shoulders, felt the hard muscles ripple under her fingers. She flashed on an image of Cam naked, her body toned and tight. Her body scarred. Her body battle ready. She kissed her again, tasting the heat of her mouth, feeling the strength in her arms as they came around her and held her tightly. “I love you so much.”

“Blair.” Cam whispered, sliding her fingers down over Blair’s chest to cradle her breast. She kissed Blair’s throat as Blair’s nipple hardened against her palm. “I never want to hurt you.”

“I know,” Blair breathed, arching her back and exposing herself to Cam’s mouth, offering the vulnerable vessels in her neck to the glide of teeth and tongue. She covered Cam’s hand where it held her breast and pressed down, moaning at the ache of pleasure that shimmered through her. “Do what you have to do.”

Cam splayed her hand over Blair’s back and pulled Blair’s shirt from her jeans. She kissed down Blair’s throat to the hollow between her collarbones. “What are you saying?”

Blair leaned away and pulled off her top, then swiftly released her bra and dropped it to the floor. She arched her back, breasts lifting in invitation while she fumbled at her jeans. “Hurry. We don’t have much time.”