her concern for Grant, in her heart, Blair hoped that Loverboy was waiting. She hoped that tonight would be the end of this nightmare.
She thought about Cam, watching Grant and trying to protect her. If anything happened to someone else Cam was responsible for, Cam would never forgive herself. It would tear another hole in the fabric of her being and kill another piece of her heart. Blair did not want that to happen, and most of her reasons were selfish. She was afraid that eventually, Cam would close off those parts of herself that bled for the wounds of others. And if that happened, Blair would lose the part of Cam that she needed the most. No one had ever been able to reach through the bars of her invisible prison to touch her the way that Cameron Roberts had. No one else had ever really seen her, not the way Cam did. She needed that, because without it, she was so hopelessly alone.
She did not know how long the words had been there before she noticed them. She gasped and pushed her chair back as if to escape from the reality of what she was seeing. 'Oh my god.'
Instantly, Mac, Felicia Davis, and Lindsey Ryan turned toward her in concern.
'What is it?' Mac asked urgently.
Blair's voice shook as she responded, 'I'm not sure. Look at what just came up on the screen.'
The other three crowded behind her, peering over her shoulder to see the message.
Egret. Are you there?
'Is it him?' Blair asked breathlessly. 'Could it be a timed message he sent earlier?'
Mac looked at Lindsey Ryan, whose face was a study in concentration. She was furiously assessing everything she knew about him, mentally forming and discarding theories, trying to read his distorted mind.
'Maybe a stand-in?' Mac asked. 'Someone helping him?'
'No, it's him,' Ryan said softly. 'He'd never let anyone share in this.'
'What should I do?' Blair questioned.
'If she answers, he'll know she isn't in the amusement park,' Mac warned.
Lindsey stared at the question on the monitor, considering their options and trying to predict the consequences. It was almost impossible for a rational mind to predict the irrational mind of someone like Loverboy. On the other hand, she, more than anyone else, had been trained to do just that, and her opinion was the best information they had to rely on.
'Lindsey?' Mac asked quietly. 'I've got to advise the Commander. It's your call.'
She looked calmly at Blair. 'Answer it.'
Hands trembling, Blair typed,Yes
I always knew you wouldn't come
'Ask him where he is,' Lindsey instructed, her eyes riveted to the screen.
Blair complied.
I'm watching them look for me
'Jesus Christ,' Mac cursed. Immediately, he switched to Cam's frequency. 'We have communication from the subject,' he said sharply. 'You are compromised. I repeat - you are compromised.'
Cam didn't hesitate. 'Grant, evacuate now. Repeat, evacuate now.'
On Stark's frequency, she ordered, 'Institute retrieval. Retrieve your package now.'
Switching yet again, she said, 'Doyle. We've been made. He has visual. We are evacuating.'
No one answered. She frantically opened all frequencies. Nothing.
She stepped to the edge of the platform and dropped to the ground. She landed a few feet from Savard. 'Anything?'
Savard shook her head, her expression grim. 'Commander, I don't see her. I'm getting no response on any channel. Com links are all down.'
'God damn it - he's jamming us,' Cam snapped angrily. 'Let's go get her.'
For an instant their eyes met and then they turned, shoulder to shoulder, and raced through the gates of the decaying amusement park into the darkness beyond. As they passed under the archway, Cam tried once more to reach Grant or Doyle. Her transmissions were met with silence. She looked ahead but all she could see was the blue black of the night sky broken by the silhouettes of the detritus of the abandoned park.
'Savard,' Cam whispered as they rushed forward. 'Swing right and cover our flank. If he's here, he's going to go after one of us. Let's not give him too many targets in one place.'
Immediately, Savard melted away into the darkness.
The refreshment stand was fifty yards in front of her. She would be there in less than 60 seconds. 60 seconds.
Jesus, where is Grant?
Cam looked to the high ground, which is where she would have positioned herself if she had wanted to command the battle. In this situation the best vantage point was on top of a building, but the ones still standing in the arcade were in clear view of Doyle's men on the warehouse and they hadn't seen him. Still, out of habit, she scanned the structures with a sightline to the refreshment stand. Nothing.
Where the fuck is he?
She was almost there. The night had grown eerily still, yet she couldn't hear anything except her own heart pounding in her throat. She ran, her skin prickling with apprehension. She thought she saw a figure moving in the shadows by the side of the building. She raised her gun, slowing minutely, struggling to see through the shifting shadows.
