Chapter Twenty-Eight

It was too dark for Blair to see exactly what was happening on the beach, even with the floodlights on the boat spotlighting the people swarming all over it. When she had attempted to run down in search of Cam, Paula had informed her that both she and Diane were confined to the house until further notice. Blair would have argued, but that only would have delayed Paula in organizing the teams to get Cam and Valerie up to the house. She was acutely aware that Paula was doing everything possible to take care of the injured, even though she had to be crazy with worry over Renée.

Despite understanding the reasons behind the protocols, Blair couldn’t control what she felt, which verged very close on panic. She just wanted to see Cam, and waiting was agony. She alternated between stalking out to the rear deck and pacing in the kitchen. Diane waited at the window, watching the activity on shore in pale silence.

“Here they come, finally,” Blair said when she was able to make out a clutch of figures transporting a still form on a stretcher toward the house. Only a single stretcher. Her chest tightened. What did that mean? Where was the second casualty? Where was Cam?

“I’m sure they’ll take them right upstairs,” Blair said, concentrating on what she could do rather than letting the terror swallow her. “Let’s go up so we can help.”

Within minutes, Felicia and Wozinski half-carried Cam into the bedroom. She was wrapped in an emergency thermal blanket and, other than her shoes, appeared to be naked. Her face was gray and her skin looked rubbery from the cold, but Blair was nevertheless enormously relieved to see that she was conscious and making some effort to walk. Blair pushed back the covers on the bed. “Over here.”

“I’ll get the IV set up,” Wozinski said, as Felicia and Blair helped Cam into bed.

“No,” Cam rasped. “You and Felicia give Savard a hand with Valerie.”

“Stark had supplies brought over from the emergency aid center at the marina,” Blair said, replacing Cam’s damp blanket with several layers of dry ones. “I heated four liters of saline in the microwave. Greg, I can help you get Cam’s line started while Felicia assists in the other room.”

“Yes ma’am,” Greg said.

Cam shook her head weakly. “I can wait—”

“No, you can’t,” Blair said firmly. “Go ahead, Greg.”

Felicia said, “I’ll be next door with Valerie.”

When Greg left to get supplies, Blair sat on the edge of the bed next to Cam. She cupped her cheek, shuddering inwardly at the icy touch. “Are you injured anywhere?”

“Bumps and bruises.” Cam’s teeth chattered. “Fire feels good. Maybe I can sit closer.”

“As soon as you get some warm fluids into you.” Blair stroked her face. “You know that rapid external rewarming can cause problems.” Blair had skied in enough remote areas to know the protocol for exposure and hypothermia. So did all of her security staff, and every shift contained at least one agent who was an EMT like Savard and Wozinski. Many hypothermia victims died during the initial resuscitation attempts because warming the outside of the body without raising the internal temperature led to cardiac collapse. “We’ll get you warmed up as fast as we can, but we’re not taking any risks.”

“Right now I’d take my chances,” Cam said, shivering violently. “Christ, I’m cold.”

“I’ll get some more blankets.”

“No,” Cam said, grasping Blair’s hand. “It won’t help. Just…stay close.”

“I can do better than that.” Blair kicked off her shoes, shed her jeans, and got under the covers. She cradled Cam’s head against her shoulder and wrapped her arms and legs around her. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Cam had drifted off by the time Wozinski returned. He silently and efficiently started an IV in Cam’s right arm and hung a liter of warm saline. “That will run for about ten minutes. I’ll be back to hang the second liter then.”

“Thanks, Greg.” Blair said, stroking Cam’s hair. “For everything.”

“It’s an honor, ma’am.”

Alone, Blair closed her eyes, even though she wasn’t tired. She wasn’t planning on sleeping. All she wanted was to listen to Cam breathe.

“Glad you’re here Greg,” Renée Savard said, applying EKG pads to Valerie’s chest. “Start another IV in her left arm, would you. We need to get another bag of the hot stuff into her. Her temp’s ninety-two.”

“Got it.”

“Tell me what I can do,” Diane urged, pressing close to the side of the bed near Valerie’s head, trying not to interfere but wanting desperately to do something. Valerie looked so white, so still…so lifeless. “Please.”

“Here.” Felicia tossed Diane a thermal towel from the emergency kit brought over from the marina. “Dry her hair and when that towel gets cool, I’ll get you another hot one.”

Valerie moaned, her body twitching reflexively when Diane touched her. Diane blocked out the sound and concentrated on doing anything she could to get her warm and dry. “Is she going to be all right?”

“Yes.” Renée placed an oxygen mask over Valerie’s face. “Here, hold this on. It’s really important. The warm air will heat the blood in her lungs and help raise her core temperature.”

“I’ve got it,” Diane said, taking the mask from Savard. When Valerie moaned again and jerked her head away, threatening to dislodge the mask, Diane leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Valerie, darling, it’s Diane. You’re all right. You’re safe. Let us help you.”

Valerie’s eyelids, so bloodless that the blue of her irises shone through the skin, flickered and opened. Wordlessly, she stared into Diane’s eyes.

Diane smiled and caressed her forehead above the re-breathing mask. “You’re going to be all right. I love you.”

Valerie nodded almost imperceptibly and closed her eyes again. Diane shivered, not from cold, but from the pain of losing that brief connection. “Tell me what to do. Tell me how to help her,” she said desperately.

Renée slid an arm around Diane’s shoulders and hugged her briefly. “You’re here, and she knows it. That’s exactly what she needs.”

“Do we know yet what happened out there?” Renée said, slumping into a chair in the command center. Mac and Paula hunched over the monitors. Printouts spewed from several nearby machines.

“Theories—no confirmation.” Mac said, looking over his shoulder. “How are they doing upstairs?”

“Both stable. Valerie’s in for a rough ride for a while.”

“Mac,” Paula said, pushing away from the computer console, “take over here for a second.”

“Sure thing, Chief,” Mac said.

Paula grasped Renée’s hand and gently guided her to her feet. Then she wrapped an arm around her waist and led her toward the hall. “You need to change your clothes. They’re wet.”

Renée looked down as if realizing for the first time that her shoes and jeans and shirt were dripping. She shivered. “Yeah. Good idea.”

Once upstairs in their bedroom, Paula took Renée into the bathroom. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Renée kissed Paula and brushed her fingers through her hair. “I’m fine, sweetie.”

“Okay,” Paula said shakily, wondering why she always seemed to lose it after she knew Renée was safe. “Stand there.” She pulled off Renée’s T-shirt and unzipped her jeans. “Take your shoes off and get out of these pants.”

Renée steadied herself with a hand on Paula’s shoulder. “What a cluster fuck. Who targeted Valerie’s boat, do you know?”

“No,” Paula said with disgust. “We’ve got satellite images of close to a dozen boats, not counting Tanner’s, that were in missile range. It will take a while to sort through them, but at first glance, they all look civilian or commercial.”

“It’s got to be Matheson.” Renée leaned against the vanity and closed her eyes, moaning with gratitude as Paula wrapped her in a huge towel. She burrowed her face in the curve of Paula’s neck. “You feel so good I never want to move.”

“Works for me.” Paula held her tightly and kissed the top of Renée’s head. “Scared me there for a while.”

“I thought we were going to lose both of them out there.”

I thought I might have lost you, Paula thought, and tightened her grip.

“I was pretty scared for a few minutes,” Renée whispered.

Paula finger-combed Renée’s tangled golden-brown hair. “Me too.”

Renée raised her head. “I’m sorry, sweetie.”

“Not your fault. You were doing your job, and I’m glad you were.” Paula kissed her. “I love you.”

“Yeah, me too.” Renée stroked Paula’s face. “Big-time.”

“And yeah,” Paula said grimly. “I think it was Matheson or one of his people. Who else could it have been? Henry must have told Matheson about the meet and Matheson decided to eliminate both of them at once.”

“Makes sense. Who would have figured he’d have that kind of firepower?” Renée shook her head. “We’re playing in a whole new league, now, aren’t we? Domestic terrorism is just another name for war.”

“We thought we had everything covered,” Paula said. “We were monitoring for air and water assaults, except we were looking for aircraft or boats. Who would have expected a missile launch off the New England coast?”

“I don’t suppose there’s any chance of intercepting him?”

Paula snorted. “Zero. I called Tanner’s people back in. Besides the fact that they’re civilians, he could have fired that missile from fifty miles away and been gone before it even hit.”

Renée stepped away, toweled off, and pulled the robe from the back of the door. Shrugging into it, she grasped Paula’s hand and walked back into the bedroom. As she opened the dresser and extracted clean clothes, she said, “Did someone contact the Coast Guard about Valerie’s boat?”

“Mac is doing that.”

“What’s our cover story?”

“We’re telling them it was a DEA surveillance operation and the engine on one of the boats caught fire. All personnel evacuated to another vessel, and there were no casualties. Because of the ‘sensitive nature’ of the operation, we can’t provide any further details.”

Renée grinned and pulled on dry jeans. “Nice. Your idea?”

Paula flushed. “Yeah.”

“I never knew you were so sneaky.” Renée found a dark green cable-knit sweater and pulled it over her head. Then she wrapped her arms around Paula’s shoulders and kissed her. “I’ll have to remember that in the future.”

“I didn’t want you to discover all my tricks before you were in too deep to escape me.”

“Oh, you needn’t worry,” Renée murmured. “There’s no chance of me going anywhere.”

Blair jerked awake and bolted upright. Cam was no longer lying next to her but sat with her legs dangling over the side of the bed.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Blair asked sharply.

“I want to check on Valerie.”

“Get back in bed, Cameron.” They were alone. A fire burned vigorously in the fireplace, throwing a hot red glow throughout the room. Blair gripped Cam’s wrist. “I mean it—and I’m not in the mood to argue.”

Cam, nude except for the sheet bunched at her waist, shifted to look down at Blair. “Just for a second. I only need—”

“You need some decent rest and to recover from nearly drowning out there.” Blair grasped her shoulders. “You don’t get it, do you? You’re not indestructible. And you won’t be any good to them, any of them, if you’re too weak or injured to function. If you don’t care about me, think about them.”

Cam blinked, her face registering her shock. “You think I don’t care about you? Is that what you think?” Gently, she tangled her fingers in Blair’s hair and kissed her, softly, first her mouth, then the angle of her jaw, then her eyes. “I thought Valerie was dead. I thought I was dying, too. But I knew I couldn’t, because of you. You’re all I thought about. You’re everything I live for.”

“Don’t.” Blair pulled Cam down on top of her and drew the covers over them. She caressed Cam’s back with both hands, slowly stroking the sleek skin and elegant curve of muscle and bone. “Don’t try to melt my heart. It’s not going to work this time.”

“All right,” Cam said softly. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for frightening you.” She kissed Blair’s neck and settled her head on Blair’s shoulder. “I couldn’t let her die, Blair.”

“No,” Blair whispered. “Of course you couldn’t.” She sighed. “What happened to Henry?”

“He’s dead. I ordered Donaldson to take him out.”

Blair stiffened. “Are you all right?”

“It had to be done. The boat was about to go up and he was in danger of shooting—”

“Darling, you don’t have to explain that to me. If you gave the order, it was the right thing to do.”

“You believe in me that much?”

“More.” Blair cupped Cam’s jaw. “I trust your judgment, just like all of them do. I can only imagine what it takes for you to make those decisions and give those orders, and maybe everyone else needs to believe that it’s easy for you to do, but I know differently.” She cupped Cam’s chin, tilted her head up, and kissed her firmly but gently on the mouth. “If you hurt, I want to know. If you need a shoulder, I have one for you. I can’t be on the front line the way you are, but I’m part of this fight just the same.”

“Thank you,” Cam whispered. “I’ve never understood more clearly than I did tonight that you are my strength.”

Silence ensued, then Blair said with a sigh, “Five minutes, Cameron.”

“What?” Cam said.

“You can see Valerie for five minutes.”

Cam stirred, raising herself on her elbow to study Blair’s face. “Why?”

“Because you won’t rest until you do, and because the others need to see that you’re all right. As wonderful as each of them may be, you are the force that holds them together.” Blair pushed the covers aside. “Let’s get up. I’ll help you dress.”

Diane finished settling a log on the fire and turned at the sound of the door slowly opening. Absently she cinched the sash on her robe.

“We didn’t knock because we didn’t want to wake her,” Blair whispered as she and Cam stepped inside.

“That’s all right. It’s good to see you.” Diane touched Cam’s arm. “Are you all right?”

“Fine. How’s she doing?” Cam asked quietly. She wore old khakis and a sweatshirt, and loosely clasped Blair’s hand.

“I’m not sure,” Diane admitted, pushing her hair away from her face. “She’s still asleep.”

“Diane?” Valerie muttered, twisting from side to side and dislodging the blankets that covered her. “Diane?”

“I’m here, darling,” Diane said and hurried to the bed. She leaned down and stroked Valerie’s face. “Everything is all right. You’re safe now.”

Valerie opened her eyes and after a few seconds appeared to focus. “Am I really in bed?”

Diane smiled. “You most definitely are.”

“I’m almost warm.”

“Yes,” Diane whispered, her voice breaking as the tears she hadn’t had the time or luxury of shedding finally filled her eyes. “You’re going to be fine.”

“Is everyone all right?”

Diane glanced over her shoulder. “Cam? Maybe you should talk to her for a second.”

Cam joined Diane by the bed. “Hi. Bit of a rough ride out there. Everyone’s fine, but you had quite a swim.”

A smile flickered across Valerie’s face. “I remember some of it. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“Henry…” Valerie frowned. “Henry.” She closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them, they were clearer. “I don’t think he knew what was coming.”

“No,” Cam agreed.

“He didn’t set me up tonight at least,” Valerie said faintly. She held Cam’s gaze. “Thanks for getting me out of there.”

“I’m sorry about Hen—”

“No, it was a good call on your part. Just…not on mine.”

“You don’t know that,” Cam said gently. “People change.”

“I wonder.” Valerie shivered violently and Diane quickly took her hand.

“You need to get some sleep, darling. No more talking right now.” Diane glanced at Cam. “Thank you for everything.”

Cam nodded and backed away from the bed. “Let me know if there’s any problem.”

“I will,” Diane said.

Blair slid her arm around Cam’s waist. “Let’s go. You’re shaking.”

“I want to check downstairs with Stark and—”

“Nice try,” Blair said, laughing gently. “You’re all out of options tonight. Might as well surrender.”

Giving in to the fatigue, Cam leaned on Blair. “Terms accepted.”

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 558