'Let's go up the back way to the stage,' Cam suggested as she and Blair approached. 'There are too many people in front.'
'I at least need to make an appearance here first,' Blair said matter-of-factly. At Cam's frown, she added gently, 'I am identified with this event. The American people know my life story, and the story of my mother's death. I'm here because I'm identified with this disease, and I need to be seen. It's expected.'
'You'll be seen by millions of television viewers in about twenty minutes,' Cam pointed out as she took Blair's arm lightly and started to move around to the side of the high temporary stage. 'That will have to do.'
'Cam,' Blair said quietly.
Cam stopped in her tracks at the sound of her name spoken as only Blair could say it.
Blair touched Cam's arm briefly, continuing softly, 'He doesn't want to hurt me. If he did, he wouldn't be sending me the messages he's been sending.'
Cameron looked over the faces in the immediate vicinity, imprinting each on her mind. She saw Stark and Savard already posted at opposite corners of the stage and Mac in conversation with the Mayor's security chief. She was satisfied that all was as it should be.
Then she looked at Blair, and there were no barriers in her eyes this time. No professional distance, no orders or rules or protocol between them. 'I don't know what he's going to do. I don't know when he's going to do it. I don't know nearly enough.' She struggled not to touch her, and for the barest of instants, she brushed her fingertips over Blair's hand. 'Blair, I just want you safe.'
'Yes, I know,' Blair responded, no anger or resentment in her voice. She could not argue with the honest caring in Cam's face. It wasn't how she wanted it - it was not what she wanted from her - but it was real nonetheless. 'And you've done what needs to be done to ensure that. Now, I need to go and do this.'
Cam nodded, knowing she would never be comfortable with it, but accepting that Blair would not let this threat interfere with her life or her responsibilities. 'Let's go see the Mayor, then, Ms. Powell. You'll make the photographers a lot happier than he will.'
Blair smiled. 'Why, thank you, Commander.'
When Blair stepped to the podium, Cam was positioned to the right rear, just a few feet behind her. Stark and Savard were at ground level directly in front of her, and several FBI agent's on loan from the New York office were interspersed in the crowd near the stage.
Mac, coordinating the various teams from the communication van, was linked by radio to Jeremy Finch, the driver of Blair's car; to Ellen Grant, in the second back-up vehicle; and to the Mayor's security chief as well as the NYPD crowd control captain. As it turned out, for that sort of affair, it was proceeding without a hitch. The audiovisual equipment actually functioned; the speakers were keeping to their preplanned schedule; and the hundreds of people scattered about in Sheep Meadow were surprisingly orderly.
Blair had exchanged her running gear for warm up pants and a dry T-shirt in one of the tents, as had Cam and the others, and she looked casually stylish as she faced the mass of onlookers. When she began to speak, the sound of cameras clicking fluttered through the crowd like something alive.
While part of Cam's attention was completely focused on crowd activity in the area within visual range of Blair, another part listened to her speak. She had a beautiful speaking voice, warm and strong and somehow soothing. Cam knew the story, of course. Everyone did. A man could not run for the presidency of the United States and have something as critical as his wife's valiant battle with breast cancer not be a prominent issue during the campaign. This personal tragedy was part of his image, part of his public face, no matter how private the pain. And because her father's life was open to intense scrutiny by virtue of his position, Blair's loss became public knowledge, too. Blair Powell had secrets she guarded, but this was not one of them. To fight this war, she had willingly exposed her deepest anguish. She spoke eloquently, urging lawmakers to allocate funds for treatment and diagnosis, exhorting women to practice vigilance and to be their own best advocates, and, above all, encouraging every person touched by the disease to never lose hope.
Cam thought she was magnificent.
When Blair finished, she turned away from the podium, and Cam stepped immediately to her side, careful not to touch her but walking close beside her toward the rear of the stage and the shelter of some overhead canvas tarps.
'Are you all right?' Cam asked quietly, because she had heard the tears beneath the noble words. Although she had rarely seen Blair shaken, she could sense her fragility now. There were some things that always hurt, no matter how many years had passed. 'Can I get you anything? Some water? You were standing in the blazing sun up there for half an hour.'
Blair glanced at her, aware of what Cam wasn't saying and grateful to her for not remarking on the fact that she was shaking. 'So were you,' she pointed out.
'Yes,' Cam murmured, passing her a bottle of water, 'but I had sunglasses on.'
Blair laughed softly. 'Well, that explains it. I'm all right, but I'd like to get out of here now.'
'Of course.' Cam spoke into her microphone quickly. 'Egret is flying.'
Blair smiled wearily. 'Egret is actually dragging, but carry on, Commander.'
'Destination?' Cam asked as they moved down the steps and across the field toward the waiting cars parked along the far edge of the grass. The meadow itself was large enough that the vehicles were actually quite a distance away on one of the main roads running north to south through the park. Cam wasn't happy about that, but it was the terrain she'd been given to deal with. Stark and Savard fell in behind them and Mac, upon hearing Cam's announcement, radioed the drivers to prepare for departure. 'I'd like to inform the drivers where you need to go.'
She asked as casually as she could, and hoped she sounded only professionally interested. She was acutely aware of the fact that Blair had spoken privately to both Diane and Marcy Coleman just before she had joined the other speakers on the stage. Cam assumed that she was making plans for the rest of the day. She had tried hard
