Chapter Twenty-Three 8 page

Stark took her time. “Until we find Valerie and Matheson, I don’t want anyone new getting close to Blair.”

“I agree.” Cam blew out a breath. “Basically we’ll handle Blair’s security in the same way the Vice President’s has been set up since the attacks. She’ll be based in a secure location away from the White House known to as few people as possible, and she’ll make very few and only essential public appearances. We can’t keep her completely sequestered—first because she’d never allow it, secondly, because we can’t make prisoners of our elected officials and their families, and finally because the public is going to be looking for her. She’s too popular to just disappear.”

“We’re going to be thin on the ground,” Stark said, “now that Davis has gone over to OHS.”

Cam nodded as she drew a grid and added names. “You’ll have to work with a smaller team than usual for the time being. Hara, Wozinski, yourself, and Tanner’s people. Can you handle it?”

Stark didn’t hesitate. “Yes, we can.”

As satisfied with the security as she could be when all she really wanted to do was take Blair to some remote island for six months, Cam switched her attention to Savard. “We’ll follow by ground as soon as you and Davis are happy that you’ve accessed all the data immediately available to us. You can use the computers in my office in the West Wing and wipe them when you’re done.”

“How long will you need, Felicia?” Savard asked, sitting with her injured leg straight out in front of her. The cane she’d used in lieu of her knee immobilizer rested against the arm of the chair. She looked focused and steady.

Davis smiled, her dark eyes glowing. “I want to make sure I look in everybody’s closets and leave myself a backdoor before we leave. Say, three hours.”

Cam checked her watch as she stood. “It’s 0815 now. We should be leaving DC by 1200 hours, which puts us into Whitley Point around 2300.”

Savard and Davis rose, and Savard asked, “Where will we rendezvous, Commander?”

“In case anyone is checking, I’ll schedule you and Davis for a meeting at FBI headquarters at 1130 hours. On your way there, the meeting will be canceled and a vehicle will pick you up at 13^th and Pennsylvania Avenue.” Cam regarded Stark. “When would you like to depart here, Chief? If there’s anyone following Blair, they’ll lose the trail at Andrews.”

“We’ll have the vehicles out front at 0900 hours. I’ll wait downstairs until then.”

“Thanks,” Cam said, appreciating the few moments of privacy she would have with Blair. After returning from her meeting with Valerie, she’d been up all night talking to Lucinda and the president’s security adviser. She had yet to tell Blair the specifics of the plan, because she hadn’t worked it out until shortly before Stark and her security team had arrived. She was sore and tired, but it felt good being in the field again. Working. Doing what she knew how to do.

When the others had left, Cam walked down the hall to Diane’s bedroom and tapped on the door. “Can I talk to you a minute, Blair?”

“Sure,” Blair said. After she’d finished helping Diane pack, she’d gone to the kitchen for more coffee and heard the murmur of voices in the living room. Although she knew Cam wouldn’t exclude her from the discussions if she asked to sit in, she also knew that Cam and Stark were getting their first real test of working together in their new roles. She doubted that anyone in security or intelligence was going to like being overridden by agents from the new Homeland Security Office, not even Stark, not even when the agent in question was Cam. She decided her presence would only add to the tension. “When are we leaving?”

“About forty-five minutes.”

Blair glanced over her shoulder at Diane. “I’ll meet you in the living room in a few minutes, okay?”

“Yes. I’ve got some calls to make. I should let my gallery manager know how long I’ll be away.”

“Tell her three weeks for now.” Cam rested her hand lightly on Blair’s shoulder. The contact felt good. She had missed her the previous night, missed the way holding her through the night rejuvenated her.

Diane nodded. “All right, but I can’t be away any longer than that.

Sooner or later, I have to go back to my life.”

“I understand.”

“Will I be able to call or give them a number where they can reach me?” Diane asked.

“Everyone will have temporary cells by tonight. Once we reach Whitley Point you can call them.”

“Thank you.” Diane squared her shoulders. “You two go ahead. I’m fine.”

Blair slid her arm around Cam’s waist. “Come on, darling. Better fill me in on what’s going on.”

“Let me get this straight.” Blair leaned against the dresser in the bedroom watching Cam pack this time. “I’m being spirited away to Whitley Point surrounded by armed guards, while you drive for twelve hours out in the open where anyone could follow you.”

“We’re not going to be followed.”

“Then why can’t I come with you?”

Cam passed Blair the extra suitcase. “You need to take anything?”

Blair dropped it on the bed. “Yes. I’ll pack in a minute. Why can’t I go with you?”

“If anyone is watching us they’ll have a hard time following two separate groups. It buys us time.”

“Bull. You don’t want me with you in case someone comes after you again. In case someone…” Blair stalked across the room and pulled the shirt Cam was folding from her grasp. “Someone tried to kill you last night. And you think they might try again, don’t you?”

“Blair—”

“Don’t lie to me.”

Cam cradled Blair’s face between her hands and kissed her softly. “I won’t. You know that.”

“That’s what you think, isn’t it?”

“It’s a consideration, especially in light of my past relationship with Valerie. Matheson might suspect that she would come to me and that I might be able to bring her in. If someone wants to prevent that, getting me out of the way is the logical step.”

Blair forced herself to keep her expression neutral, even though the calm way that Cam discussed why someone would want to kill her chilled her to the core. If she wanted Cam to tell her the truth, she had to be able to handle the truth. No matter how much it terrified her. “Did you tell Valerie where we’re going?”

“No, but she has a number to call me.” She lowered her hands to Blair’s shoulders and rubbed them softly. “I’ll be okay. I’ve got good people with me and I know what I’m doing.”

“Do you think Valerie will call?”

Cam sighed. “I don’t know. When it comes right down to it, her training may win out. And she’s been indoctrinated not to trust anyone.”

“I don’t like us being separated.”

“Neither do I, but it’s only for a few hours. I’ll be there tonight, and we’ll wake up together tomorrow.”

Blair closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Cam’s waist. “You didn’t sleep all night. You’re hurt and tired. You’re not at your best, Cam, and you need to be.”

“Savard and Davis will be with me. They’ll do the driving. I’ll sleep.”

Blair rubbed her cheek against Cam’s shoulder. “I don’t want other women taking care of you.”

Cam laughed. “I think I’ll be safe with them.”

“What about the thing Saturday night I’m supposed to do for Lucinda?”

“I don’t like it,” Cam said, “but we all agree we can’t keep you completely out of the public eye. Lucinda is arranging for a suite of rooms at the Copley for us and the rest of the team for the weekend. I’ll be your escort, and Savard will accompany Diane.”

“Oh, Stark’s going to love that.”

Cam grinned. “It’s all in the line of duty.”

Blair leaned back, a glint in her eyes. “Is it, now? Then you’d better pack something besides work clothes. Like a tux.”

“That’s what rental places are for.”

“And you better make sure you sleep in the car,” Blair murmured, running her fingers along Cam’s collarbone and down over her chest. “I missed you last night.”

“Me too.”

“What about your hip and shoulder?”

“I’m stiff and sore, but functional.” Cam kissed Blair, taking her time, because it would be hours before they saw each other again and despite her words of confidence to Blair, she knew that anything could happen in the interim. “Besides, massage therapy will be good for them.”

“Then I’ll put you on my schedule for the morning.”

“I’ll be there.”

Blair held her tightly, unable to imagine any other possibility.

Chapter Thirteen

“Paula,” Blair said with quiet intensity, just the slightest bit of edge in her voice.

“Yes?” Stark said solemnly.

“If you had a round robin, why didn’t you bid more?”

Diane snorted and, despite the fact that it had been dark for over three hours and it was impossible to see the beach, Wozinski seemed to find something fascinating happening out the window. Stark hastily squinted at her cheat sheet, obviously at a loss.

“A king and queen in every suit. I would’ve taken the bid if I’d known you had that much meld,” Blair said.

“I didn’t see it,” Stark said bleakly. “I was so excited about the pinochle—”

“Never mind. It doesn’t matter.” Blair abruptly pushed back her chair, strode across the kitchen, and slammed out the door.

The room was silent for a moment and then Diane rose. “It’s freezing out there. She doesn’t have a jacket.”

Wozinski glanced at Stark. “Should I go with her, Chief? I can take her jacket.”

Stark shook her head. “Hara is out back and Tanner stationed a team in a vehicle on the street. She’s covered.”

“I’ll take her jacket,” Diane said, patting Wozinski’s shoulder as she passed behind his chair. “But thank you.”

“Yes ma’am.” Wozinski flushed. “Pleasure.”

It took less than thirty seconds for Diane to reach the back deck after grabbing Blair’s jacket, but she saw only a single figure standing at the railing, facing toward the ocean—shorter than either herself or Blair by several inches and more slender than Stark. Hara. Not Blair. For an instant, her heart twisted with an overriding sense of dread, as if Blair too had walked out the door and simply vanished. Just like the morning she had awakened in the guesthouse in a still room beneath a silent dawn and realized that Valerie had disappeared while she’d slept. “Where’s Blair?”

Hara did not turn, and even in the darkness, Diane knew that she was watching Blair. The cloud cover was so dense even the light from the full moon barely penetrated the inky sky.

“Sitting on top of a dune, fifteen yards down the path and ten feet off to the right.”

“It feels like thirty degrees out here, and you just let her go?” Diane snapped.

“Thirty-eight degrees.”

“Never mind,” Diane muttered, hurrying down the stairs to the path. A minute later she knelt beside Blair. “Put your jacket on.”

“Thanks,” Blair said, shrugging into it. “You don’t need to stay.”

With a sigh, Diane shifted around to sit facing the same direction as Blair and leaned against her. When Blair wrapped an arm around her, she snuggled closer and lightly rested her head on Blair’s shoulder. “Couldn’t you brood inside where we can have a fire?”

“It’s a lot harder to do if you’re comfortable.” Blair pressed her cheek to Diane’s hair. “Do you have any idea how much I hate waiting here, safe and sound and protected by armed guards, while Cam is out there somewhere with people who want to kill her?”

“I think I know,” Diane whispered.

“Oh, honey, I’m sorry,” Blair said. “Of course you do.”

“Renée called Paula with an update,” Diane pointed out gently. “She said everything was fine and that Cam was resting.”

“I know.” Blair sighed. “But that was three hours ago and they’re not due here for another four at least. Anything can happen.” She reached beside her and dug her fingers into the cold sand. “I just want to be able to protect her the way she protects me.”

“I bet you already do.”

Blair laughed harshly. “Hardly. Since everyone thinks I’m so important, I seem to be the one destined to wait, just like tonight.”

“You are important—”

“I’m no more important than Cam or you or Stark or any of the others.”

Diane wrapped both arms around Blair’s waist and hugged her. “You, Blair Powell, may not be more important than the rest of us, although I happen to think you’re pretty special and I’m sure Cam does too, but it’s not about Blair Powell.”

“No, it’s about the first daughter.”

“Yes. And I imagine that makes it all the harder.”

“There’s a reason you’re my best friend, you know,” Blair said softly.

“Besides the fact that I’m smart, beautiful, and well-connected in the art world?”

“Those are definite pluses, but you might be the only person other than Tanner who’s ever understood that having a famous father mostly just sucks.”

“Yes, I never did think living in a mansion was all that cool when it came with a bunch of state troopers hanging out on the front porch.” Diane tried not to shiver from the cold. She sensed Blair’s mood beginning to lighten and wanted to keep her talking. “Tanner could relate, because she had to put up with a lot of the same thing. Not the bodyguards and everything, but having a lot expected of her because of who her father was.”

“Mmm,” Blair said, patting the sand she’d squeezed into a hard ball back into the ground. “Tanner understands. But she’s not a girl, like you are. It’s not the same.”

“You mean you wouldn’t snuggle with Tanner in the dark?” Diane teased.

“Snuggling is not what I had in mind with Tanner. Definitely not when we were teenagers.” Blair thought back to how wild and drop-dead sexy Tanner had been then. “And I don’t think I would, even now. After all, I’ve had a lot more practice resisting you.”

“Thanks, I think.” Diane kissed Blair’s cheek. “We have to go inside, sweetie. I’ve officially frozen my ass off.”

Blair reached for Diane’s hand as they rose. “Thanks for coming out to get me and just for…getting it.”

“Cam’s going to be okay,” Diane said gently. “She’s amazingly good at what she does, and besides, Felicia and Renée are with her.”

“I know.” As they started back toward the house, Blair added, “Cam’s going to figure out a way to help Valerie, too.”

“That’s what I keep telling myself. I have to believe it, because I can’t stand to think of anything else.”

“Sometimes it’s better not to think.” Blair stiffened. “Did you hear a car door slam just then?” She hurried up the stairs, tugging Diane behind her, and rushed past Hara into the kitchen. The room was empty. She raced toward the front of the house, Diane right behind her. “Paula, is someone here? Is Cam…oh my God!”

Blair skidded to a halt, barely stopping herself from throwing her arms around a beaming Mac Phillips. He was unnaturally pale, and whereas he’d always been slim and muscular, now he was simply thin. But his gaunt face was still handsome and his blue eyes bright and mercifully pain-free. She hadn’t seen him for several weeks, and he had still been in the rehab center then, recovering from the gunshot wound that he had sustained while protecting her during the attack on the Aerie. “Oh my God. What are you doing here?”

Mac clasped Blair’s hand, half shaking it, half holding it. “I got a call late this morning from the commander to pack my bags, and I’d barely finished when a Humvee with two of Tanner’s people showed up, and…here I am.”

“Did you know about this?” Blair asked Paula.

“No.” Paula tried to look serious and in-charge, but she couldn’t help grinning at their old team member. “Apparently it was arranged after we left DC.” She carefully clasped Mac’s shoulder. “How are you doing?”

“A hell of a lot better than I was yesterday. I’m officially cleared for light duty starting next week, but I’ve been sitting around all this week doing nothing but going crazy.” He reached down for his suitcase but Wozinski grabbed it first.

“I have that, sir.”

Mac raised an eyebrow. “Jesus, Greg. I’m not your boss.”

Greg’s face was totally serious. “No sir. Anything you need, just let me know, sir.”

Mac looked perplexed, but Blair understood. Mac had almost died trying to save her, and when an agent was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, other agents considered them heroes. The same thing had happened to Cam when Cam had been shot in the line of duty, and Cam was just as uncomfortable with the adulation as Mac seemed to be. Blair hooked her arm through Mac’s and gave him a little hug. “Does Felicia know you’re coming?”

“I’m not sure,” Mac said, blushing and looking even more handsome. “She told me about her new posting with the commander.” He met Paula’s gaze. “And Renée’s.”

Paula nodded, realizing that they had more in common than ever. She and Mac were all that remained of the original team. They’d been together before the commander took over, and now they were the veterans. And they shared something else, something almost more critical…the women they loved were both part of the commander’s OHS team. Renée and Felicia were involved in something potentially more dangerous than any of them had ever experienced. She squared her shoulders. “She’s really happy about it, and I think it’s exactly where she belongs.”

“Yeah.” Mac nodded. “Felicia too.”

“Come on back to the kitchen,” Blair said. “Are you hungry?”

“I could—” Mac broke off at the sound of footsteps on the front porch, and both he and Paula automatically stepped between Blair and the door, their shoulders touching, shielding her.

“It’s Tanner,” a voice called as a knock sounded.

Paula opened the door just enough to check outside, blocking the view into the room. After a second, she swung the door open and Tanner Whitley strode in with her characteristic saunter, a strikingly beautiful blonde in a naval uniform by her side.

“Mac,” Tanner said. “I trust the trip went all right?” Without waiting for an answer, she kissed Blair soundly on the mouth. “You look terrific.”

“You don’t look too shabby either,” Blair said, thinking that with her windblown dark hair, piercing dark eyes, and muscular build Tanner looked every inch the playgirl she had once been, rather than the head of a huge corporate conglomerate and the owner of Whitley Island. As usual, she was dressed in casual pants, an open collar shirt, and well-worn black boots. Blair smiled at the blonde who held Tanner’s hand. Adrienne was more than a decade older than Tanner, and Blair had only to see Tanner with Adrienne to know that the new peace in Tanner’s eyes was entirely due to Adrienne’s presence in her life. The gold wedding bands they wore only affirmed what was obvious from seeing them together.

“Hello, Adrienne. How are you?” The last time Blair had seen Adrienne had been immediately after 9/11. Adrienne had been spending almost all of her time at the nearby naval base where she was stationed.

“Slightly less crazy than last time we met.”

“I wish we weren’t always dropping in on you quite so unexpectedly.”

Adrienne’s calm blue eyes held Blair’s. “We’re happy to have you, anytime, under any circumstances.”

Blair was certain that Cam would not have confided any of the details surrounding their precipitous return to Whitley Point to Tanner, and she knew that Tanner would not have asked, but she understood Adrienne’s message. Without even knowing the circumstances, Adrienne and Tanner would be there for them, whenever they were needed. To her horror, Blair felt her eyes sting with tears. “Thank you.”

“Tanner, darling,” Diane said, kissing Tanner’s cheek. “Thank you for the wine and other essentials in the guest house.” She extended her hand to Adrienne. “Thanks for taking such good care of us.”

“If you need anything else that our security people can’t get for you, just let us know. We’ll see to it.”

“How are you at pinochle?” Blair asked.

Stark groaned. Adrienne smiled.

Just after midnight, the door to Blair’s bedroom opened slowly and a thin shaft of pale yellow light slashed across the room.

“Cam?”

“Hi baby,” Cam said. “Did I wake you?”

Blair rolled onto her side and turned on the bedside lamp. She canted the shade so that most of the light angled away from the bed and then sat up. “No. I wasn’t sleeping. Are you all right?”

“Beat, but okay.” Cam sighed as she crossed to the bed. “I’m going to take a shower and talk to Stark for a while, then I’ll—”

“You don’t have to shower and you can wait until tomorrow to talk to Stark. I want you to just come to bed.”

Cam hesitated. “Okay. I’ll wait until the morning briefing to check in with Stark. But the shower isn’t optional.”

“I like the way you smell,” Blair said, folding back the covers and patting the bed beside her. “If you don’t get in here soon, I’m going to think you’re avoiding me.”

“The only thing I’ve been thinking about for the last twelve hours is you.” Cam kissed Blair, put her weapon in the top drawer of the bedside table, and undressed rapidly. “But I’m still going to shower. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Blair waited until she heard the shower running and then followed Cam into the bathroom. When Cam stepped out of the enclosure and reached for the towel that Blair held, Blair shook her head. “You just stand still. I’ll do this.”

“You know what I’d really like?” Cam said as Blair toweled her hair and then wiped her face and neck.

“No, darling, what?” Blair bit back a murmur of concern when she saw that the bruises on Cam’s shoulder and hip had spread, darkening in the centers to almost black.

“I’d like that massage. I’m too damn tall to sleep in the back of an SUV.”

Blair knew that if Cam was asking, she was more than stiff from sleeping in the car. She was hurting. “I think that can be arranged.” She dried Cam’s chest and stomach, then her back. Kneeling, she gently smoothed the towel over Cam’s buttocks, down the outside of her legs, over her calves, and up her inner thighs. “Turn around, darling.”

Slowly, Cam turned. She skimmed her fingers through Blair’s hair and then over her cheek. “Feels good.”

Tenderly, Blair dried Cam’s thighs and hips, taking care with the bruise on the right side. “You’re so beautiful.”

“Let’s go to bed,” Cam said thickly.

Blair rose, her nipples tight beneath the T-shirt she had worn to bed. “Come on, I’m not done yet.” She took Cam’s hand and led her into the bedroom. “Lie on your stomach and get comfortable.”

Cam complied, pillowing her head on her folded arms. When Blair knelt next to her, she said, “Aren’t you getting undressed?”

“Not just yet.” Blair decided it was safer if she kept her T-shirt and panties on. Although her only intention was to help Cam relax, she became aroused any time she touched her, for any reason. Starting at the back of Cam’s neck, she worked her way down, pausing when she found the clusters of knotted muscles along the way and gently massaging them until they softened.

“Jesus,” Cam muttered at one point, “that feels great.”

Blair smiled. “Good. Now turn over.”

Cam carefully flipped over. Her limbs felt loose, her mind more than a little hazy. She was also wet. Blair knelt beside her in a short T-shirt and skimpy panties, her hair down, her face void of any makeup. Her full breasts pressed against the thin cotton as she leaned forward, her hard nipples clearly visible. Cam swept her hand up Blair’s side and cupped her breast.

“Stop that,” Blair protested with more determination than she felt.

“I want to touch you,” Cam murmured.

“Tonight is for you. Just relax.”

Cam sighed but she felt so good she couldn’t argue. She moved her hand to Blair’s side and left it there as Blair worked.

Staying away from the bruise on Cam’s right shoulder, Blair circled her thumbs along the muscles under her collarbone. Cam had a warrior’s body—her sleek muscles long and tight, her breasts small and round. Her nipples were neat pink circles, as compact and hard as the rest of her body. Scars marked her chest and thigh—the gunshot wounds she had earned in battle. “I love you very much.”

“Makes all the difference,” Cam whispered.

Blair smiled. “I know.” She stroked Cam’s stomach, then worked her way down the front of Cam’s legs. As she slowly skimmed her fingers along the insides of Cam’s thighs, she felt a different kind of tension infuse her lover’s body. She leaned down and kissed Cam’s stomach, then rubbed her mouth over Cam’s navel. “Feel good?”

Cam twisted her fingers in Blair’s hair. She was so relaxed she could barely move, but every nerve was singing with arousal. “Not even close.”

“That bad, huh?” Blair stretched out along Cam’s uninjured side, resting her cheek in the center of Cam’s stomach. She drew one leg up over Cam’s and nestled her sex against Cam’s calf. “If you promise to lie still, I’ll see if I can make you feel better.”

“You’re hot,” Cam whispered, drawing strands of Blair’s hair through her fingers. “I can feel how hot you are against my leg.”

“I am,” Blair said, smoothing a fingertip up and down the cleft between Cam’s thighs. “I’m very hot. And wet. That’s what happens when I touch you.”

Cam groaned softly. “Seems the same thing happens to me.”

“Oh yeah?”

“See for yourself,” Cam whispered, her fingers trembling as she caressed Blair’s face.

“I love this,” Blair said. “I love you. Now don’t move.”

Cam closed her eyes as Blair softly, ever so softly, massaged her clitoris until she climaxed. Blair moaned quietly, her mouth against Cam’s stomach, her legs shaking as she rubbed against Cam’s leg until she came.

“I didn’t know it was possible to come without moving a muscle,” Cam murmured, the last tendrils of tension bleeding away. “Jesus, I couldn’t get up now if I had to.”

“Good,” Blair said lazily, turning on her back so she could reach the lamp to turn it off. She found the sheet and pulled it over them. “Because I’m not letting you get up. Maybe not for a couple of days.” She turned on her side again and wrapped an arm around Cam’s middle. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

Cam stroked Blair’s hair and held her tightly. “I need to be here. I need you.”

“I’m here. Go to sleep now, darling.”

Morning would come soon enough, and when it did, the hunt would begin again. But for now, Cam accepted the peace that only Blair could bring her, and slept.

Chapter Fourteen

Thursday

Matheson smiled at the man who joined him on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. He was much younger, a stocky redhead in neatly pressed work pants and a brown leather bomber jacket with an American flag patch stitched onto the sleeve. They shook hands and moved off to one side of the rotunda as a maintenance worker began polishing the stone floor with an electric buffer. The noise made conversation difficult, but it also provided excellent cover.

“How are things at the new compound, Colonel?” Matheson asked his freshly-promoted second-in-command.

“The men have nearly finished the barracks, sir.”

“How is morale?” Matheson had lost some of his best officers during the Special Ops raid on his compound in Tennessee. Unfortunately, many of his ground troops were unseasoned volunteers who had never faced combat or even given any thought to what a real battle might be like. Now he needed to rebuild his paramilitary force and relocate his base, and some of the men—mostly truck drivers and other blue-collar workers—were beginning to realize that they weren’t just playing at being weekend soldiers. There was a war on. And war meant casualties.

“We lost about twenty percent of our original force to desertion, in addition to those who were captured,” the redhead reported. “But we’re adding new men at twice the normal rate since 9/11. The patriots are rising across the nation in response to the attack.”

As we predicted, Matheson thought. The only reason that he and his patriot brothers had been willing to aid the foreign insurgents was to further their own agenda. An attack on American soil was guaranteed to rally the loyal. Now, with more men joining them every day, he and his compatriots could consolidate their power base and expand their sphere of influence.

“The FBI will undoubtedly accelerate their attempts to infiltrate our ranks now, so be vigilant,” Matheson said.

“Yes sir. We’re screening carefully.” The redhead hesitated. “Have we resolved the problem with the security breakdown here, sir?”

Matheson shook his head. “Not yet. Take this lesson to heart, my friend. Never rely too strongly on anyone but your most trusted brothers-in-arms.” He clamped a hand on the younger man’s shoulder. “But, despite the unreliability of dealing with bureaucrats and low-level informants, it’s also useful to have sources inside the system. We may be able to deal with all our problems another way.”

“Sir?”

“I was advised that the White House press secretary released an interesting tidbit last night,” Matheson said. “Blair Powell and her deviant secret service guard intend to hold a so-called wedding ceremony. I imagine the papers will have that this morning.”

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 792