06. Honor Under Siege - Неизвестный

“If he touches me it will only be for a second and I don’t think he’ll notice,” Valerie said as she zipped her jeans.

Savard gathered her equipment. “Wear as little as you can on the boat on the way out to drop your core temperature even more. I don’t know how well this is going to work. I’m just guessing on the dosage.”

“I dressed light and I’ll take my jacket off. I’d go in the water, but he’ll notice if I’m wet.”

“We can’t risk you getting that cold,” Cam said, shaking her head. “If you have to go into the water for any reason later on, and you start out with a core temperature that low, you won’t last thirty seconds.”

Valerie smiled. “You’ll be there before that.”

Cam said nothing.

“See you later,” Savard said, touching Valerie lightly on the arm before leaving.

“There’s a car outside to take you down to the marina,” Cam said as she and Valerie walked toward the front door. “I’ll ride with you.”

Valerie stopped. “No. Stay here. I know how many last-minute details there are to check. I’m all right, Cameron.”

The hallway was dimly lit, and Cam thought Valerie looked almost ghostlike in the shadows, as if she were already gone. It made her uneasy, and she unconsciously reached out and touched her cheek. “You’re not going to be alone out there.”

“I know. I’m not worried.” Valerie covered Cam’s hand for a brief second. Then she drew it away from her face, but kept Cam’s fingers in her grasp. “There are many things unsaid between us. You should know that there were times that your presence in my life was the only thing that mattered to me. There was never a single moment when I felt anything but cared for by you.”

“Valerie,” Cam murmured. “You’re—”

“Let me finish, because we’ve got work to do,” Valerie said gently. “I’ve been happier these last few weeks, despite everything, than I’ve ever been in my life. Diane means everything to me, and if it weren’t for having met you and realizing that I could love someone, I don’t think I would have been able to love her the way I do. Take care of her for me, if anything happens to me tonight.”

“All right,” Cam said roughly. “I’ll make you that promise because I don’t want you thinking about anything tonight except the operation.

Do your job, and I’ll do mine, and you’ll be back here before sunrise.”

“Thank you, Cameron.” Valerie leaned close and kissed Cam lightly on the mouth. “Happy hunting, Commander.” Then she turned and walked out the front door.

Cam listened to the engine start and the vehicle pull away before heading back to the operations center. The ache in her chest eased as soon as she walked in and saw Mac and Stark sitting before computer consoles. Felicia stood just behind Mac, her hand on his shoulder. These were her people, the best at what they did of anyone in the world. She trusted them to keep Blair safe. To keep Valerie safe.

“How’s the feed?” Cam asked.

Without turning around, Mac said, “Excellent. Our friends in the Pentagon have great toys.”

Cam leaned down to look at the satellite image of the sector of ocean where Valerie would rendezvous with Henry. It was so clear, she could feel the spray. “Amazing. Why didn’t we have this before we hit Matheson’s compound? We might not have dropped into a hot zone.”

“Because it wasn’t their action.” Mac looked over his shoulder at Cam and grinned. “And, you weren’t a deputy director of Homeland Security. If you had been, who knows what kind of cool equipment they would have pulled out for you.”

“Hopefully Henry doesn’t have the same toys.” Cam glanced at Stark. “Exit strategy in place?”

“Yes. We’ve got choppers standing by at Bradley.”

“Do they know why?”

Stark shook her head. “No, only that it’s priority one.”

Stark’s phone rang and she pulled it off her belt. “Stark. Send him in.” She closed the connection. “Tanner’s man is here.”

A moment later, Wozinski entered with a thin, sandy haired young man dressed in black BDUs.

“This is Jeff Donaldson,” Wozinski said.

Cam held out her hand. “Donaldson.”

“Ma’am.”

“Tanner tells me you’re a good shot.”

“Sniper duty in Somalia, ma’am.”

“Good.” Cam watched his eyes as she spoke. They were clear and calm and steady. “Comfortable with infrared targets?”

“Yes ma’am. If it’s hot, I can hit it.”

“That’s what we’re counting on.” Cam thought of the injection she’d just given Valerie. “And we’re hoping that one hot target is all you’ll have.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

“They’re leaving.” Blair rose from the living room sofa where she had been waiting with Diane.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll stay here,” Diane replied, her voice subdued.

“I’ll be right back.”

Blair caught up to Cam just as the team reached the front door. She smiled briefly at Savard and Felicia, then turned to her lover. She ran the edges of Cam’s windbreaker through her fingers as she leaned close and kissed her softly, far more quickly than she wanted. “See you soon.”

“I’ll call you,” Cam murmured. “I love you.”

Blair stepped away and in the next instant, Cam and the others were gone. When she turned, she saw Diane halfway down the hall, standing in the doorway of the living room. She forced a smile and went to join her.

“What now?” Diane asked.

“It’s going to be quite a while before we hear anything,” Blair said. “I’m too restless to sit, and if you’ll be all right, I’d like to check in with Mac and Paula. I’ll feel better if I know what’s going on.”

“I don’t know what I want to do.” Diane made an angry sound. “But I don’t need to tell you, sitting around and waiting is not my style. Can I come with you?”

Blair hesitated, remembering the horror of seeing Cam on the video monitor after she’d been shot—lying on the ground, bleeding— and literally watching her die. She doubted that they would have that kind of communication link tonight, but even if they couldn’t see or hear exactly what was happening, she still wasn’t certain that letting Diane listen to Paula and Mac monitoring the events was such a great idea. If something went wrong, Diane would never be able to forget it. Blair didn’t want that kind of nightmare for her.

“I may be new at this,” Diane said as if reading her mind, “and I’m hoping this is the last time I have to wait while she’s out doing something like this, but if she’s willing to go out there and do it, I can at least be a part of it here. Then I’ll feel like she’s not alone.”

“Okay,” Blair said, shaking her head ruefully. “I don’t know why I even questioned it. You wouldn’t have fallen in love with her if you couldn’t handle who she is.”

Diane smiled. “Thanks.”

Blair knocked on the closed door to the dining room before opening it a few inches and sticking her head in. “Can Diane and I come in?”

Paula swiveled in her chair, her expression distracted but her tone polite. “Of course. We’re not going to be able to explain much once things get going, but you’re welcome to stay.”

“Thanks,” Blair said. “You don’t need to worry about us, Chief.”

Blair and Diane moved up behind Mac and Stark.

“Can you tell us what we’re looking at?” Blair asked.

“This is a satellite relay of ten square miles surrounding the meet point,” Paula said, turning back to the computer monitor, which showed a smattering of small blips on a grid surrounding a dark circle in the center. “The majority of the vessels in the area are fishing boats, commercial ships, and the occasional recreational vehicle.” She pointed to a glowing dot in the middle of the circle. “That’s Valerie.”

“How do you know that?” Diane asked.

“We have GPS transponders in all of the vessels, including Valerie’s, the command ship with Renée and the commander and Felicia, and Tanner’s surveillance boats.” Paula skimmed her finger in a semi circle along the border of the screen. “These are Tanner’s people here.”

“When will we be able to see Cam?” Blair asked.

“They’re just leaving the marina now.” Mac adjusted the wireless receiver in his ear and spoke using a throat mic, keeping both hands on the keyboard of his computer. “Commander? How do you read?”

A few seconds passed, then Mac spoke again. “Loud and clear, Commander.”

Paula said without looking at him, “Can you put that on audio, please, Mac.”

“Yes ma’am.” Mac keyed a series of commands into his computer and then spoke again. “Ready for camera scan.”

“Sending image…now,” Felicia’s voice announced from the speakers.

Yellow, red, and blue images vaguely resembling human forms flickered on Mac’s screen and then stabilized.

“How do you read?” Felicia asked.

“Four hots.” Mac opened a small window within the larger screen and a fluctuating bar-graph appeared. “Temperature variation less than two degrees. Give me a coordinates check.”

Savard rattled off a list of figures.

“What are they doing?” Blair asked, not really expecting an answer.

“Checking the variance on the infrared thermal detector camera,” Paula said. “The lower levels of thermal radiance are due primarily to two things—either larger body mass and high body fat, which blunts the reading, or a true depression in body temperature.”

“You’re the warm one, Renée,” Mac said.

Savard laughed. “That’s what they tell me.”

“Mac, can you correct for body mass using the limited readings we have?” Felicia asked. “Valerie is thin and her core temperature is going to skew the thermal readings. Can you factor for that?”

“Working on it,” Mac said, inputting figures as he spoke.

“You’re in visual range, Commander.” Paula straightened and her voice took on an edge. “We have an approach vessel closing on ground zero, bearing…”

Blair sensed Diane trembling beside her and slid an arm around her waist. She kept her voice low so as not to disturb Mac and Paula. “Just remember that we’re only getting part of the picture here, so don’t worry, no matter what seems to be happening.”

“I know. I’ll remember. It’s just…she feels so far away,” Diane whispered.

“She isn’t. And Cam and Renée and the others are right there.”

“Savard, hold us here,” Cam’s voice said.

The words were so clear that Blair almost looked over her shoulder to see if Cam had miraculously returned. Even miles away over radio, the sound of Cam’s voice eased the tension that had been slowly clenching her muscles and squeezing around her heart until she felt as if she were a piano wire tightened to the point of snapping. She forced herself to take a breath and let it out slowly.

The red numerals in the lower left-hand corner of Paula Stark’s monitor read 2258.

Cam opened the priority one channel to Valerie. “Lawrence?”

“I’m here, Commander,” Valerie said.

“Approach vessel on its way.”

“Roger that.”

“If you’re forced to board his ship and we lose our audio link to you, I want you to bail at the first sign of trouble. Are we clear?”

“Clear, Commander,” Valerie replied.

“Confirming scan now,” Cam said. “Switching to open channel.”

“Roger that. Greetings, team,” Valerie said. “Glad to see you.”

“We’re right behind you, Valerie,” Savard said.

“Do we have her?” Cam asked Felicia, bending down beside Felicia’s computer array against one wall of the ship’s cabin. Behind them, Savard eased the engine down to idle and the ship rocked in the swells.

“I’ve got her,” Felicia said. “I’m just adjusting the feed to Donaldson’s video goggles.” She opened up the com link in her head set. “Donaldson? Target on screen?”

“Sweet and hot, ma’am,” he radioed from his position outside on the bow.

“Not too hot, I hope,” Cam murmured. “Where does she fall on the thermal range?”

“Five percent below mean.”

Cam frowned. “That’s not much to distinguish her from Henry.”

“She’s cold, I can guarantee you that,” Savard said. “Much colder and her reaction time will be so slow she won’t be able to protect herself.”

“Here he comes.” Valerie’s voice filled the cabin. “Switching to transdermal mic.”

Savard linked to Mac. “Anyone else out here with us?”

“Lots of someones,” Mac radioed, “but no one in critical range.”

“Okay, let me know if anyone moves within the strike radius.”

“Roger.”

A minute of silence passed until broken by Valerie’s voice, muted by the shielded microphone.

“Toss me your tie line,” Valerie said, “and come aboard.” “Here you go. Catch,” a deep male voice responded. “Drop your ladder. ”

Savard glanced at Cam in surprise. Cam shook her head, thinking it wasn’t necessarily a good sign that Henry was so willing to board Valerie’s boat. It meant they had an open channel to Valerie if they needed one, but if Henry’s plan was to eliminate Valerie, he wouldn’t want to do it on his own vessel. He’d want to do it on hers.

“Are you armed?” Henry said.

“Of course.”

“What about the others?”

“What others?”

“Don’t tell me you came without backup.”

“Do you see anyone?” Valerie asked.

Henry laughed. “Only about two dozen boats out there.”

“I told you I don’t trust them. No one knows I’m out here. Search the boat if you want.”

“Not necessary. I agreed to this meet under these less than optimal circumstances,” Henry said, “so you’ll believe me when I tell you that you need to come in. You’re in danger.”

“From whom?”

“From Roberts. The White House sent her after you.”

“Why?”

“They need a scapegoat. How long do you think they’ll be able to keep the attack on the president’s daughter quiet? Add to that they botched the assault on Matheson’s compound and let him escape.”

“He had help.”

“The country needs accountability, especially after 9/11. Someone needs to pay for that,” Henry said. “Washburn and the security adviser and a fair number of other people have decided it will be you, for starters. It’s out of our hands.”

“And if I come in?”

“We’ll help you get lost for a year or two. There’s work to be done elsewhere.”

“Convincing, isn’t he,” Felicia muttered. “Bastard.” “What’s the temperature register look like?” Cam asked. “There’s a three degree difference between them.” Felicia keyed Donaldson. “Can you distinguish the primary from the friendly?” “Yes ma’am, as long as they don’t move around too much.” “On my mark,” Cam ordered on the same channel. “Yes ma’am. Locked and loaded.”

“Who tipped Matheson?” Valerie asked. “We think he has friends in the Special Forces.” “Do we have a name?”

“Several possibles. I’ll brief you as soon as you are secure.” “Where do you want me to go?” “I want you to come with me now.” “Tonight?”