'But you and your operatives still know what she looks like,' Cam pointed out. 'You can find her.' That was obvious, and she wondered when he would get to the real issue.
He nodded agreement. 'Sure we can. Most of the time. The problem is, we also need to protect her privacy, as well as her reputation.' He ignored the slight lift in Cams eyebrow at that line of bullshit. Blair Powellhad no privacy. They both knew it was thePresidents image they needed to keep untarnished. Any scandal regarding his daughter reflected on his parenting skills, and ultimately on his character.
Blowing out a breath, he cut to the chase. 'Shes a lesbian. In certain situations, if we call attention to her, thats going to get out. She knows it, and she uses it.'
'How so?'
'She frequents some of the gay bars. Its hard for me to put agents in there, even when theyre undercover. I never know when shes going to duck into one. Plus, I dont exactly want to announce to everyone there that Blair Powell just walked in. She picks up women - women we have absolutely no way of identifying in the moment. We have no way to know where they might go, no way to put agents in place in advance. We are constantly running in second place hoping to God she doesnt get herself into trouble before we can get there.'
'Is she promiscuous?' Cam asked evenly.
'She does better with women than I ever did,' he remarked in frustration. 'She doesnt have a steady girlfriend. I wish to hell she did. Then maybe we could keep track of her. She doesnt exactly sleep around, but she doesnt go long without sex either.'
'What are you trying to tell me here, Agent Ryan?' Cameron asked, tired of skirting the edges of the issue. 'In addition to the fact that we have an uncooperative, high profile subject with a very problematic lifestyle?'
'Shes an angry animal in a cage, and youre the new zookeeper. Shes been trying to escape for years, and when she does, someone is going to get hurt.'
Cameron inclined her head in agreement. Blair Powell had lived with constant surveillance since her father had been elected Vice President for two terms, and governor of New York before that. Now that he was a newly seated President, she had at least three more years of even closer monitoring. She was a prisoner in all but name, and Cameron doubted anyone could tolerate that for long. The political pressure to hide her sexuality must make it even worse. If she had the luxury of empathizing with the First Daughter, she would have felt deeply for her predicament. But Blair Powells happiness was not her responsibility, and she couldnt waste time or objectivity worrying about it.
'Some one may indeed get hurt,' she responded. 'I intend to see that its not her.'
'Agent Roberts?' a handsome Brad Pitt look-alike inquired as Cam stepped off the elevator on the eighth floor of a brownstone apartment building that faced the south side of Gramercy Park. He extended his hand with a disarming smile. 'Im Mac Phillips. The others are inside the command post. Welcome to the Aerie.'
She took his outstretched hand, smiling at the play on eagles nest. 'Cameron Roberts. What's on for this morning?'
She accompanied him into a large loft space that had been sectioned into work cubicles and equipment stations by shoulder high particle-board partitions. Their surveillance center occupied the entire floor directly below Blair Powells penthouse suite. A small conference room enclosed by glass filled the far corner. As they approached the group of people seated within, Phillips consulted a printout in his hand.
'Intro and weekly briefing now. You are scheduled to meet with Egret at eleven in the penthouse.' He caught her faint expression of surprise and shrugged. 'She wont talk to any of us. She says if she must discuss her plans, it will only be once, and with the team commander.'
'Its her prerogative,' Cam remarked. As she walked, she was making careful note of the banks of video monitors, multi-cassette recorders, computer simulators, and a large grid of New York City, digitally indexed and showing up-to-the minute placement of police vehicles. It was the same array of equipment used to monitor the White House and surrounds, and with the same reason. The President was vulnerable through his family. To avoid the appearance of that vulnerability, the First Family needed to be shown living as normal a life as possible, not shuttled about by armed guards. Hence, their protection needed to be provided at a distance, with as little visibility as possible. The semblance of freedom was a ruse they all conspired to perpetuate - everyone, apparently, except Blair Powell.
'Good morning, people,' she said briskly as she strode to the head of the oblong table. She glanced at each face, making brief eye contact with everyone. 'You have one hour to tell me everything I need to know about this operation, and everything you dont think I need to know as well. Lets get started.'
At the end of an hour during which Cam listened, questioned, and issued a few directives, the agents who constituted her team sensed there was a new game in town. Everyone present took their responsibility seriously, for the sake of their future employment if for no other reason, and each had felt the frustration voiced earlier by the departing team commander. That dissatisfaction was heightened by the fact that they disliked Blair Powell, although none of them would ever say so, even to each other. Over the six months since Andrew Powell had been President, the obstructive, uncooperative attitude of his daughter had subtly undermined the confidence of the operatives. An hour with Cameron Roberts provided them with the first jolt of optimism theyd felt in weeks.
**********
'Allow me to summarize,' Cam said as she stood and walked to the window looking down on the postage- sized private park that formed the heart of Gramercy Park. As she watched an elderly woman unlock the gate that surrounded the park, she spoke, her back to the room, but her voice clearly audible. 'Ms. Powell resents our intrusion into her life; she resents our presence in every public and private moment of her day. She undoubtedly resents our observation of her personal liaisons and romantic encounters. I, for one, dont blame her.'
She turned to the group with a small shrug. 'The fact that Ms. Powell does not welcome our presence is
