She caught her breath as Cam captured her fingers and caressed them gently. The light pressure of their palms sliding together was more achingly sweet than another woman's naked body pressing against her in the heat of lust. She stood there, buffeted by the chill night air, her head light with wanting her, and dared not move. Dared not break the fragile bond.
Finally Cam sighed and released her. She was so very tired and she couldn't trust herself with Blair so near. She had just needed to touch her so much. And now she needed to go.
What she had to say next came hard. It was hard for her to even think it, but she had to. Everything between them had changed drastically almost overnight. They'd spent five frantic days trying to assuage a yearlong thirst, and nothing had really been settled when they'd parted, except they both believed there'd be a next time. She thought then that they'd have time to tackle the issues of Blair's notoriety and her own professional ethics, but the reappearance of Lover Boy had changed all of that. Now whatever personal relationship they might have had was secondary. She knew Blair was hurt and angry, and she'd seen Blair in the arms of too many lovers not to know what she did when she was hurt. She said what she had to say. 'If you don't plan on going home tonight, please tell Grant. Let them protect you.'
Staring straight ahead so that she would not see the goodbye in Cam's eyes, Blair replied quietly, 'As you wish, Commander.'
And then she was alone, the wind whipping at her tears.
*
At precisely 0700 the next morning, Cam walked through the command center toward the conference room. 'Stark, Mac-' she called as she passed each of them, '-with me. The rest of you will be briefed later.'
She closed the door to the conference room after they followed her in and waited until they took seats. She was crisply attired in a steel-blue suit, a tailored white linen shirt, and imported black loafers that matched the belt at her waist. There were faint shadows under her eyes, but her gaze was clear and sharp and glinting with something hard. She remained standing, leaning forward slightly with her hands on the back of a chair. Had they been looking, they would have noticed that her knuckles were white where she gripped the leather. It was the only sign that she was distressed.
'This is what I know,' she began, her tone and demeanor completely composed. 'Approximately three months ago Lover Boy contacted Egret via the U.S. mail. His messages consisted of short rambling notes professing his undying love for her, his desire to make love to her - put quite a bit more crudely, and his intention to be alone with her so that he could convince her of his passion.' At her first few words, Stark and Mac sat up straight, clearly shocked.
'Commander! This is the first-' Mac began, his face pale.
Cam held up her hand to silence him. 'We'll get to that. Six weeks ago he began electronic contact, this time in addition to his verbal descriptions, he sent short video clips of explicit sexual activities he hoped they might share.'
Stark couldn't contain her disbelief. 'It's impossible. She would have told us. She's difficult, but she's not stupid. She would know that we had to be informed.'
'The FBI knew. They formed a task force to monitor the situation,' Cam began. At that announcement, Mac's mouth fell open. She continued, preferring to save the considerable explanations for later. 'They've set up their own surveillance system with vehicles and agents tracking her whenever she's outside this building. They've attempted to set up alternate e-mail connections in the hopes of backtracking his messages to their source. So far, they've been unsuccessful.'
She forced herself to let go of the chair back when her fingers began to cramp. Her voice still quiet, she said, 'I was called back because ten days ago his messages changed. He's becoming more violent; he threatened her.' She was surprised to feel her voice catch and hoped that Mac and Stark hadn't heard it. Quickly she continued, 'The behavioral people at Quantico feel that he may be decompensating, either because he's been unsuccessful at gaining access to her or just because he's coming unglued. In any event, we must consider her at risk at any time.'
'Oh my God,' Mac breathed, 'how could they have kept us out of the loop?'
Struggling now to contain her own anger, she answered, 'They were investigating us.' That wasn't strictly true. The FBI had been investigating everyone on the security team with the exception of Cam. She was exonerated by virtue of the fact that she had been an unintended victim of Lover Boy's presumed attack on Blair.
Mac stood up, too agitated to sit any longer. 'That's insane. Some of us were with you when it happened. We couldn't have been the shooter!'
'I agree with you,' Cam shrugged. 'But I don't have to remind you how paranoid our brethren in the FBI can be. They were floating the theory that if it was one of you, it might have been a hired hitman who did the shooting. A stand-in to deflect suspicion from you.'
'Oh, for Christ's sake,' Stark muttered, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she frequently did when upset. 'I don't believe I'm hearing this.'
Cam almost smiled at that. Over the past year, Paula Stark had become the agent closest to Blair Powell. Cam could only imagine how furious she must be having her professional integrity maligned and her efficiency undercut by people who were supposedly on the same side. She also believed that Stark cared for Blair, and she didn't think it had anything to do with the night they had spent together. She didn't encourage any kind of personal attachment between her agents and those they guarded, but it privately comforted her. Blair deserved to be cared for.
'I'm sure members of the task force will be showing up soon to convince you that this is all quite real,' Cam went on. 'Our official policy is one of cooperation.'
Mac and Stark looked at her expectantly, waiting for her real orders.
'We are the Secret Service. We are the people assigned to guard her. We are the people with her twenty-four hours a day. This is our ball, our game, our rules,' she said decisively. 'Stark, you will choose a replacement to lead the day shift. Until further notice, you are Egret's primary guard. If at all possible, when she's outside this building, you will be with her. That means physically within sight of her. You'll be working split shifts, so review her itinerary carefully.'
It was a tough assignment, and Cam watched Stark closely as she spoke.
'Yes ma'am,' Stark said immediately. 'Understood.'
