[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Cam laughed, trying to ignore the insistent throbbing deep in her gut. "Well, my attention is on something
different at the moment. I'd better have some coffee if you want me to think."
Blair took her arm and started to pull her towards the kitchen. Then she hesitated, turned, and grasped
Cam's face with both hands. She pulled her head down and kissed her, hard and fierce. When she pulled
away her knees felt weak and Cam looked slightly stunned.
"Well," Blair gasped softly, running her hands over Cam's chest. "Now I guess I'd better have some of
that coffee, too."
A few moments later they sat facing one another at the counter, their hands lightly touching.
"What's going on?" Blair asked quietly.
Cam told her about Doyle and Grant and the operation underway.
Blair watched Cam's face while she talked, listening for the things she wasn't saying. She had spent her
life listening to her father and his associates discuss everything from foreign policy to armed intervention,
and she knew something about strategy. She also recognized when some things were being glossed over
or omitted altogether.
"You can't intend for Grant to take him on herself?" Blair said when Cam finished outlining the basics of
the plan.
Cam shook her head. "No. Once we establish rapport and convince him that he really is speaking to
you, we hope he'll reveal something to help us trace him. Some reference to location, some historical fact
-- something to give us a fix on his physical location."
"And if that doesn't work?" Blair asked quietly.
"Then we'll set up a meet under the pretext that you don't want anyone else endangered, and lay a trap
for him that way."
"He might just lay a trap for -- me," Blair stated.And he lays his with bombs.
"He might," Cam allowed. "But we'll have dozens of agents securing the area, and if he's anywhere near
the meet site, which Ryan assures us he will be, we'll have him."
"What about Grant?"
Page 111
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
Cam's stomach tightened but her voice was sure. Uncertainty could not be entertained once an operation
was underway. "She'll be wired and armored and hopefully she won't get close enough to be in any real
danger. We just need her to leave here as you, in case he's watching the building, and to be visible
approaching the meet location."
Blair was silent for a moment, then she asked, "Who's going with her as back up?"
"Savard," Cam said. She met Blair's eyes and added softly, "and me."
Blair stood abruptly and walked to the far side of the loft, her back to the room, looking out the tall
windows toward the park. Cam sat for a moment, her good sense warring with an uncomfortable need to
make Blair understand. She stared across the room at Blair's rigid back, telling herself that she should
simply go back to work and do what needed to be done. But if she did, she knew that she would only be
bringing part of herself to the job. The other part would be wondering about Blair, and that fact
aggravated her almost as much as the cold silence in the room.
"Blair," Cam said quietly, crossing to stand behind her. She did not touch her, because the anger was
nearly a palpable barrier between them.
Blair held up a hand, not turning, her voice harsh and clipped. "Don't, Cam. Donot tell me it's safe or any
other such fairy tale about the brilliant planning of our security agencies. I know the track records."
Cam did touch her then, because she had to. She was finding that distance between them was harder
and harder to bear. She didn't want to think about what that might mean, particularly not now. She rested
her hands very lightly on Blair's waist, stepping near but not trying to hold her. "Everyone agrees that the
risk is low."
Blair made a faint choking sound that might have been a laugh, or a sob. She turned abruptly to face her,
pushing Cam's hands away. "Just when did you start thinking that I was stupid, Cam? Before or after we
fucked?"
"Goddamn it, Blair," Cam growled, trying hard to hold onto her temper, "I know damn well you aren't
stupid. The risksare low."
"I suppose you think that it wouldn't occur to me that Jeremy Finch is dead and you were almost killed
once already? Or do you think I've simply lost my mind?"
"If anyone has lost their mind, it's me," Cam snapped, her dark eyes flashing with fury. "And itwasn't
when we fucked. It happened the first time I walked into this room and you had the arrogance to come
on to me like I was some rookie you could lead around by my proverbial dick."
"Well, that didn't work very well, did it?" Blair seethed, looking pointedly at Cam's crotch and then back
to her face. "And it has nothing to do with the particulars of your anatomy."
"Actually, it must have worked," Cam said with irritation, running a hand through her hair, tousling the
dark locks into the disheveled look that Blair found so sexy, "because I haven't been able to make a
single decision since that morning without worrying about you."
Blair stared at her, remembering their first meeting and her surprise at discovering that her new security
chief not only wasn't intimidated by her but actually seemed intent on working with her. "I never asked
Page 112
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]