not to consider the particulars of those plans.
'Home,' Blair responded. Diane had invited both her and Marcy over to her apartment for dinner and drinks, but she had decided to pass. It had been a long day and a longer week. She didn't have the energy for conversation or the desire to deal with Marcy's obvious interest. She might have to deal with it soon, but not when she knew her emotional armor would already be breached. She'd need a little time to garner her defenses again.
'That was quite a speech,' Cam said as they walked. 'They were right to have you give it.'
Blair smiled, pleased despite her weariness. 'Thank you.'
Cam merely nodded, anxious to get Blair into the safety of the waiting car. They were thirty feet from the vehicles, Stark and Savard keeping pace to either side, when they heard someone call out, 'Blair!'
Blair looked back over her shoulder, then stopped as Marcy Coleman hurried toward her.This could be awkward, she thought, very conscious of Cam beside her. She didn't want to have a personal conversation with Marcy in front of her. It shouldn't have mattered, and she was well used to ignoring her security guards, just as they were well schooled in appearing totally deaf and blind under such circumstances. She had no doubt that Cam would behave as if nothing were happening, but Blair would know she could hear. She wasn't sure what Marcy would say, or precisely how she herself would respond. Shewas certain that she didn't want to deal with a request for a date, no matter how delicately worded, in front of Cameron Roberts.
'Sorry,' Marcy said, suddenly flustered as she looked at the cadre of Secret Service agents loosely ringing Blair. For the first time it was abundantly clear to her just who she had been trying to seduce.Jesus. 'Diane told me you weren't coming by later, so I thought I should give you this.'
She held out a white envelope, smiling uncertainly when Blair regarded her with a slightly confused expression on her face.
Cam listened with half an ear to the vehicles starting their engines behind them while thinking that the attractive doctor was making a very serious attempt to capture Blair's attention. She tried to tell herself that her annoyance was merely due to the hiccoughing coming from the motor of one of their cars. She'd have to speak to Mac about the maintenance schedule. She couldn't have Egret's vehicle breaking down.
Blair took the envelope and was about to tuck it into her fanny pack when Marcy added, 'He said you'd want to look at it right away. That you'd know whom it was from.'
Blair faltered, staring from Marcy to the envelope. 'He?'
'Wait,' Cam ordered sharply, about to reach for it when the significance of the engine's stuttering finally registered. She grabbed Blair, shouting, 'Everybody down!' just as the air exploded with heat and thunder.
Blair was momentarily stunned by the noise and shaken by the force of being thrown to the ground. She heard Cam's voice, raw and urgent, as she was suddenly being dragged away by Stark and Savard.
Get her out Get her out GOGOGO!
Blair was too confused and shocked by the sight of the burning car to resist until she saw Cam running not in the direction the other agents were evacuating her, but in the opposite direction, directly toward the inferno.
'No!' Blair cried, struggling to escape the hands that restrained her as the second vehicle careened to a halt beside them and the doors flew open. As Stark pushed her into the back of the car, Blair had only a fleeting glimpse of Cam stepping intentionally into the blaze and reaching for what remained of the door on the flaming wreck.
The she could see nothing, and all she could hear was the wail of sirens and her own silent screams.
Chapter eighteen
The next thing Blair was clearly aware of was the wild rocking of the car as it careened around curves on the narrow twisting road through the park. She could barely breathe because Stark was practically lying on top of her in an attempt to shield her from projectiles directed at the windows.Blair shifted on the seat, pushing Stark none too gently away. She sat up and stared at the two women with her.
'What's happening?' she said urgently.
No one answered her. Stark and Savard, their faces grim,each witha hand to their small earpieces, alternately listened to and then answered their respective colleagues. Stark was rapidly switching frequencies on her transmitter, issuing rapid-fire one-word responses. Blair assumed it was some kind of code concerning their evacuation route or destination, because she couldn't make any sense of it.
'Where is Cam?' Blair demanded, her voice louder, stronger now that she had caught her breath. 'Agent Stark, are you talking to her? Is she all right?'
Something about her tone caught Savard's attention. She had been listening with only part of her mind, and when she registered the edge of fear in Blair's voice, she misinterpreted it. 'Ms. Powell -- are you injured?'
Blair stared at her, trying to contain her panic and her escalating anger. This was an all too familiar nightmare - a deja vu so horrifyingly real she wanted to grab Savard and shake her. Everyone was focused on protecting her, as if her life were so much more important than everyone else's. It was insane.
She struggled for control amidst the disorientation of being whisked away to some unknown destination while the threat of danger enveloped her like an oppressive, invisible cloak. Even worse than the infuriating helplessness of having no control over her own safety was the terror of knowing that Cam might be hurt - might be seriously injured - and she was not there. Again.
Blair took a deep breath, knowing these women were only doing their jobs, and said again, 'Is there any word from Cameron? Is she all right?'
'I don't have any information as to specifics,' Stark said, her voice tight with stress but still polite. She hesitated, and against regulations, added, 'Emergency medical services are on the scene. I have no word on the extent or nature of casualties.'
Blair's stomach clenched, and she fought to quell her rising fear. She held Stark's gaze. 'Can you tell me if she's hurt? Can you just tell me that?'
Stark shook her head, barely managing to say, 'Ms. Powell, I can't. I don't know,' before the pain struck. She gasped at the sudden rush of near-blinding pain in her head that was just now becoming noticeable.
