Mac Philips looked up as his new boss walked into the command center. He raised an eyebrow slightly in inquiry. She seemed pensive but displayed none of the thinly veiled discomfort Ryan tried to hide after one of his encounters with Egret. But then Mac didnt expect her to reveal anything. He couldnt remember the last time he had met anyone quite so impenetrable. He had a feeling this was going to be a 'need to know' operation. He found he liked her unspoken respect for Egrets position, and her basic assumption that they were there to protect her, not have an easy time. He was getting tired of the undercurrent of dissatisfaction and criticism that had been the daily fare around there for the last few months. If she could turn that around, he was all for her.
'Anything unexpected?' he asked as she joined him.
'Not so far. The public functions are as outlined. For the gallery opening tomorrow, Ill be inside with two others. Have two people with the car outside. That means the afternoon and evening shift will split the extra duty.'
He made a note. 'Right.'
'We can use some of the White House detail for the dinner on New Years Eve. Have one team stay here to meet her plane when she returns for the parade. All of that is standard, and in the future you can draw up the duty rosters. Just be sure I get a hard copy of who will be where.'
'Done,' he responded. He waited, wondering how she was going to deal with the real problem.
'Ms. Powell will not confirm any personal plans, which puts us in a reactive mode. I do not want her to get away from us, especially not now. I have a feeling shell be testing our new command. She is going to move, you can be sure of that. Keep a car accessible in case she grabs a cab, and have someone ready for foot pursuit, preferably a woman. If she goes to a gay bar, it might be easier if we have a woman on the inside.'
'Weve had lousy luck so far,' Mac remarked. 'Half the time we lose her in transit.'
Can stood, stretching her cramped shoulders. 'That is no longer acceptable. Im going home. Page me the minute she steps out her door.'
'Until what time?' Mac asked as he prepared to make a note.
'Anytime,' she said with finality. 'If she isnt in her apartment, I want to know about it.'
'Yes, maam,' Mac responded crisply. He watched her glance once around the room, assuring herself that all was in order, before she left. He had a feeling Egret was in for a surprise, and he was looking forward to seeing it.
**********
Cam stripped as she walked through her new apartment to the shower, eager to wash the effects of her flight and the first day of her new assignment from her body and her mind. The cool spray refreshed her, but did little to dispel the disquiet left from her meeting with Blair Powell.
It was not just the young woman's confrontational manner that had affected her. She was angry at herself for the physical response, however unwelcome, that the woman had provoked in her. She had been aware of an insistent pulse of stimulation long after she left the apartment. It may have been unbidden, but she felt betrayed by her own body. With an irritated shake of her head, she pulled on shorts and a tee-shirt. She could hardly be expected to control her involuntary nervous system! And here in New York there was no discrete way to relieve it. She would just have to run off the lingering remnants of arousal.
**********
Blair Powell looked down onto the busy streets below as Cam ran lightly down the steps of her brownstone and began her jog toward Central Park. She was very quickly swallowed by the crowds. An afterimage of her lean form lingered in Blairs mind as she reached for her phone. It occurred to her that the agents downstairs might be listening, but she no longer cared. She dialed a number from memory.
'Hey, you,' she said with a smile in her voice, 'How come youre working on a Saturday? ... Right! Youre still trying to be the youngest assistant director! ... Of course I need a favor! .... Background check - a Cameron Roberts. This might be a tough one. Shes secret service.... Yes, I know how much youre sacrificing! Just get me whatever you can. ... Call me as soon as you have something, okay? And hey - I know I owe you, really .... Not in this lifetime you wont!'
As she replaced the receiver, she contemplated calling downstairs to advise them of her change in plans. But then again, why alter the routine now. She slipped into a dark brown leather jacket as she left her apartment.
**********
The pager clipped to the waist band of the small pack Cam wore beeped just as she completed the first lap around the Central Park Resevoir. She dug out her cell phone, punching numbers with barely a break in stride.
'Roberts.'
'Egrets on the move.'
'Do we know her destination?'
'No, maam.'
'Are we covering?'
'So far. Shes on foot and we have her in visual.'
'Good. Dont attempt to make contact. Just stay with her. Ill be there in twenty minutes. And Fielding?'
'Yes maam?'
'Tell them not to lose her.'
'Yes maam.'
