06. Honor Under Siege - Неизвестный

Cam shook her head. “He’s going to search.”

“Can you at least get him onto your boat?” Savard asked Valerie. “We can rig cameras and microphones to monitor you there, but if you have to board his, we’ll be lucky to get audio.”

“Will he search you for a mic?” Felicia asked.

Valerie shrugged. “I don’t know. He never has before, but the rules have obviously changed.”

Cam held up her hand. “We can’t depend on him coming aboard Valerie’s vessel. We’ll need long-range satellite tracking. Mac can coordinate that from here.” She looked at Stark. “You’ll need to pull people from Tanner’s day crew to augment your night shift. We can’t be certain they won’t try a dual assault, and you and Mac will be tied up coordinating communications.”

Stark stiffened. “Mac doesn’t need me to assist. I can go with the ground detail, Commander.”

Cam shook her head. “Not with Egret on site. You need to be here. If something goes wrong, you’ll have to evac her quickly. I’d suggest you make contingency plans to get her back to the White House, but that’s your call.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“We’ll have to go without visual if Valerie boards Henry’s vessel,” Cam said with a nod to Savard, “but I want audio surveillance that Henry won’t catch even if he looks. Wires are too risky if he does a body search.”

“He’s not going to have the equipment to look for an implantable,” Valerie said. “If we get it in by tomorrow morning, the puncture site should be very difficult to spot as little as twelve hours later.”

“A transdermal receiver?” Savard said, her eyes brightening with anticipation. “How are we going to get it? That’s the kind of stuff only the DOD has, and even that’s just a rumor.”

“It’s not a rumor,” Valerie said.

“What’s the range?” Felicia asked.

“1000 yards.” Valerie glanced at Cam. “He may see you at that range.”

“Possibly,” Cam said. “But we’re close enough to fishing and shipping routes that there will be plenty of water traffic, even at night. We’ll run without lights as much as we can.”

“That’s quite a distance if we have to extract quickly,” Savard said.

“Once Valerie and Henry rendezvous, he’ll be occupied and we’ll be able to drift in closer.” Cam cut her eyes to Valerie. “A minute. That’s likely to be how much time we’ll need to get aboard if you signal. Two, tops.”

“Understood,” Valerie replied with a faint smile. “That’s a very acceptable margin.”

“With respect, Commander,” Savard said, “that’s a long window.”

Cam didn’t disagree. Even sixty seconds could be a death sentence if the operation went bad. “We’ve got thirty-six hours to cut the margin. Let’s get working.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Friday

“You don’t have to leave right away, do you?” Diane sat on the bed watching Valerie dress. “It’s not even nine o’clock.”

Valerie hesitated, still not used to disclosing the particulars of an operation to anyone. Of course, before Diane, there had never been anyone close enough other than Cam. Now, even though she would trust Diane with her life, she felt uneasy discussing the work she did. She had only just returned from spending the day finalizing the last details of the plan with Cam and Savard, and her mind was completely engaged with what was to come. It occurred to her then that there were reasons intimate relationships were discouraged for agents such as herself. The needs of others were a distraction. Life was a distraction.

Forcing herself to focus on Diane, Valerie found her looking more pale than usual. She knew Diane hadn’t slept the night before, even though she had tried to pretend she was sleeping. Eventually they’d both admitted they were awake and had made desperate love until morning, when Valerie had silently slipped away while Diane slept.

“I want to be at the rendezvous point well before he arrives,” Valerie said.

“What about the others? They’ll be with you, won’t they?”

“They’ll follow a short time later. Don’t worry, they’ll be there long before anything happens.”

“Can I come with you to the marina?”

Valerie shook her head as she tucked her long-sleeved T-shirt into her jeans. “I’m riding down with one of Tanner’s crew and they won’t be coming back here.” She kissed Diane softly. “I don’t want you getting marooned out there in the middle of the night.”

“I don’t mind waiting.” Diane rose and clasped Valerie lightly around the waist. “I’m going to go slightly stir crazy waiting here.”

“You need to stay here,” Valerie said gently, pulling Diane close. She brushed her mouth over Diane’s ear. “It’s important that you stay close to Blair in case you have to leave quickly.”

Diane stiffened. “You mean if something goes wrong out there.”

“There are any number of reasons why Stark might want to move you both, and it won’t necessarily mean that anything has gone wrong. Just promise me you’ll do whatever Stark says.”

“I’m not leaving here without you.”

“You may have to. Please, love, I need to know that you will do what Stark says.” Valerie cupped Diane’s cheek. “I need to know you’re all right so I can concentrate on doing this thing. Can you help me?”

Diane took a deep breath. “Yes. But promise you’ll call me or come find me as soon as you can?”

Feeling Diane tremble, Valerie murmured softly and kissed her. “I won’t disappear. I won’t do that to you again. No matter what.”

Diane nodded. “Where’s your gun? You’re taking your gun, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” Valerie released Diane and went to the dresser where she kept her weapon. She clipped the holster to the waistband of her jeans. “He’ll expect me to be armed.” She didn’t add that he might also ask her to relinquish it as a show of good faith. Diane didn’t need more to worry about.

“I’m sure there are things I should be doing or saying, but I forgot to ask Blair for pointers,” Diane said shakily.

Valerie gathered her close again, drawing deeply of her scent, imprinting the shape and feel of her body and the way she fit so seamlessly into her own waiting places. “You don’t require any advice on giving me exactly what I need. I love you.”

“I love you too. I’ll see you soon.”

“Yes you will,” Valerie said gently. She kissed her and was careful not to make it feel like goodbye. She would not leave Diane with that memory.

Cam reached for her shoulder holster but Blair got to it first and held it up so Cam could shrug into it. She pressed against Cam’s back, caressing the tops of her shoulders and down her arms. When she reached her hands, she slid her fingers between Cam’s.

“Tanner was here earlier. I think she wanted to come with you.”

Cam shook her head. “We’re using more civilians than we should already, but since I know I can’t keep Tanner from sending her people out on the water to do perimeter surveillance, I asked her to head up that part of the operation. But there’s no way I’m letting her get anywhere close to Henry.”

“I wish you didn’t have to get close either,” Blair said, meeting Cam’s eyes in the mirror over the dresser. What she saw made her tighten her hold on Cam, wrapping their joined arms around Cam’s middle, as if she could keep her safe within her embrace, forever. “You’re worried about something. What is it?”

“The problem is we can’t really get close enough,” Cam said, “so we’re going to be relying on some pretty dicey technology. That’s not the way I like to do these things.”

“No, I know,” Blair murmured. “You like to be right there yourself. Is it selfish of me to be glad that you’re not going to be able to stand in front of her if someone starts shooting?”

Cam eased out of Blair’s embrace and turned. “No, it’s not selfish. I wouldn’t feel any differently if the positions were reversed. This is just one of those times when it’s actually better to be close to the line of fire.” Cam kissed her before walking to the closet to retrieve her windbreaker. “But we have an experienced team, and with Stark and Mac here coordinating and Tanner’s people on the water, we’ve got all the bases covered. It’ll be fine.”

“Where’s your vest?” Blair said sharply.

“In the truck.”

“Tell me you’re going to wear it.”

“I will.” Cam grabbed Blair and kissed her again, harder this time. “We’ll need to debrief as soon as we’re done, so it might take awhile before I can call. Don’t worry, okay?”

“I’ll try.”

She stepped back, but kept a grip on Blair’s forearms. “If for any reason Stark wants to evacuate, it might be tomorrow or the next day until we reconnect.”

Blair narrowed her eyes. “Why might Stark want to evacuate?”

“We don’t think Matheson will try to hit here, but it’s not beyond the realm of possibility.”

“Is that the only reason?”

“Blair,” Cam said pleadingly.

“Cameron. When will you stop trying to protect me?”

Cam shrugged ruefully. “Probably never.”

Blair stroked her face. “All right. Good enough. Then just answer when I ask, if you’re not going to volunteer the information.”

“If Stark loses communication with us for any reason, we’ve agreed that she will get you out. It might be something as simple as the satellite link going down, so there’s no reason for you to worry if it happens.”

“You can’t honestly believe that.”

“The only person at risk here is Valerie,” Cam said. “That’s the truth.”

“Don’t think I don’t care about what happens to her, Cam,” Blair said, “because I do. I like her. Diane loves her. I don’t want anything to happen to her.” Blair tangled her fingers in Cam’s hair. “But you are my lover, and you come first, before anyone. Before Diane. Before my father, before this country.”

Cam held Blair’s face as gently as she could and caressed her mouth with her lips. As she kissed her, she whispered, “The same is true for me. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“How’s the leg feeling?” Paula asked as she buttoned her shirt.

“Good. Steady.” Renée slid an extra clip of ammunition into her jacket pocket. “Did you post extra people on the beach?”

“Yeah.” Paula threaded her belt through her holster and snugged the buckle down. “We tightened the perimeters and doubled the guards. Matheson is not coming ashore without us knowing it.”

“What about the road?” Renée sat on the bed to lace her boots. It still hurt to squat down or bend over. Fortunately, she wasn’t going to be doing much moving once they got on board the boat.

“We put up roadblocks diverting everything except local traffic, and we’ve got two people there to check any cars coming through. Fortunately, island traffic is really light this time of year.”

“Yeah, I know. If this had been summer, it would’ve been a nightmare.” Renée walked to Paula and snaked her arms around Paula’s shoulders. “Don’t take any chances, okay? I don’t have to tell you how good Matheson’s people are.”

Paula thought back to the attack on the Aerie and the insane few moments when the automatic weapons fire was all she could hear. It seemed almost incomprehensible that six short weeks ago an attack like that had been beyond imagining, and now she was preparing to protect the first daughter of the United States against a possible assault by a group of US extremists as if it were business as usual.

“The commander was right moving us here. It’s more defensible than if we were almost anywhere else. But don’t worry, at the first sign of any problem, I’m moving her.”

“Good.” Renée kissed her quickly. “I’ll see you in a little while.”

“Hey,” Paula said, stopping Renée with a hand on her arm. “I know you want this guy. We all do. Just…just don’t take any chances, okay?”

For the first time, Renée recognized that Paula was worried. Worried and trying not to burden her by saying so. For the last two days, they had both been so caught up in planning the operation that they’d barely had a moment alone together. When they had taken a break, they’d had little energy to do more than fall into bed to catch a few hours’ sleep before getting back to work. And, she had to admit, she was excited about another operation and thinking about nothing else. She was eager to get back into the field, and hungry, aching, for payback. Ever since 9/11 she’d felt impotent, and the thwarted raid on Matheson’s compound had only added to her sense of helplessness. Now she had a chance to settle the score, and that was all she’d been thinking about.

“Hey, sweetie, I’m sorry,” Renée said. “I’ve been running on autopilot since yesterday morning. God, I want this guy so bad.”

“Do you think you’ll be able to take Henry alive?” Paula asked.

“That’s going to be Valerie’s call, I think,” Renée said, sitting down on the edge of the bed and patting the space next to her. “Sit with me for a minute.”

Paula sat beside her and slipped an arm around her waist.

“If Valerie reads Henry as still friendly, she’s going to recommend a meeting between the three of them—her, Cam, and Henry—someplace on neutral territory. If she doesn’t trust Henry or if Matheson shows, I think Valerie is going to make a different call.”

“That’s got to be tough after all the time they’ve worked together,” Paula said.

“She’s ice.” Renée said it respectfully. “She’ll do whatever needs to be done.”

“I know. We all will.” Paula kissed Renée and squeezed her hand. “Try not to mess your leg up again tonight.”

“I won’t.” Renée smiled, tightening her grip on Paula’s hand. “By the way, I love you like crazy.”

“Same here,” Paula whispered. “Same here.”

“All set?” Cam asked as Valerie joined her and Savard in the kitchen.

“Yes. Where are the others?”

Cam tilted her head toward the closed doors of the adjoining room. “Operations center. Do you want to look at the setup?”

“No,” Valerie said. “I’m sure Mac has everything under control.” Valerie stood next to the table where Savard was drawing a clear solution from a 50cc glass vial into a 1cc syringe and unzipped her jeans.

“How does your neck feel?” Savard asked as she opened a foil wrapper and extracted an alcohol swab.

“A tiny bit sore,” Valerie said, rubbing a fingertip lightly over the spot just below her ear where the transdermal microphone had been inserted that morning. “How do you read it?”

“Loud and clear,” Savard said, pointing to the wireless receiver that was barely visible in her ear. “Right leg or left?”

“Left.”

Savard pulled on gloves, swabbed Valerie’s upper thigh with the alcohol, and palpated for the femoral pulse. When she found it, she inserted the needle half an inch away, drew back until she saw venous blood, and injected the Neosynephrine. “You’re going to feel your heart race in a few minutes, but the peripheral vasoconstriction won’t be maximal for an hour and a half to two hours.” She met Valerie’s eyes. “Once this starts working, your skin is going to be damn cold and if he touches you, he’ll know.”