“Except hide out with Tanner and Diane at Whitley Point.”

“That would be my wish.” Cam kissed the tip of Blair’s chin. “Any chance?”

“I don’t know, maybe,” Blair said. “Not because I want to hide, but because I don’t want to stay here. And I can’t go back to Manhattan, because I don’t have any place to go back to.”

“This is sounding good,” Cam said.

“But—”

“Uh-oh.”

Blair smiled. “I’m not going without you.”

Cam frowned. “I’m going to be pretty busy, Blair. I’ve got to put a team together, for one thing. Then who knows what I’ll find once I start digging into this whole Valerie situation.”

“Are you telling me you’re going to direct the investigation from some office in DC somewhere? Where anyone could access your files or monitor your activities?” Blair made a face. “Even I know that’s not very smart. If you even suspect that there’s someone high enough up to get Matheson’s name from Valerie’s intelligence reports and warn him, then nothing is secure.” She grinned. “Unless you’re going to work out of Lucinda’s office.”

Cam groaned. “You make it sound so appealing. But we’re talking about a big operation here, baby.”

“You found Matheson working from Whitley Point. That was a big operation, too.”

“Yeah, and someone ferried Valerie off right under our noses.”

“Good point, except Valerie helped them from the inside.” Blair saw the anger and betrayal flicker across Cam’s face, knowing nothing she might say could lessen it. Only the truth could do that. “You’ve got to admit, it’s going to be more secure there than almost any place around here.”

“I’ll think about it. At least for a base of operations. Hell,” Cam mused, “we used to do all of our advance surveillance and intelligence right out of the Aerie. That was a damn big operation, too.”

“I’ll talk to Tanner tomorrow about speeding up the property purchase. I’m sure she can make it happen. Besides,” Blair said softly, “I love it there, and we need a place to live.”

Cam brushed her fingers through Blair’s hair, then drew her head down and kissed her. She murmured against her lips, “We do, don’t we.”

“Is it all right with you?”

“Are you going to be okay having a base of operations where we live?”

Blair laughed shortly. “Cameron, I’ve always had some kind of base where I live. Look at the Aerie. I’m used to it.”

“If you’re sure. Right now, I’d feel a hell of a lot better if you were back there.”

“I’m going to talk to Lucinda tomorrow about our plans,” Blair said.

Cam rolled her over and settled one thigh between her legs. “You’re not going to make me go with you, are you?”

“I can’t believe you’re afraid of Lucinda.” Blair curled her leg around the back of Cam’s thigh and nestled her center against Cam’s crotch. “It’ll cost you.”

“Anything.” Cam slowly rotated her hips between Blair’s legs. “Just name it.”

“Let’s see how many times you can make me come,” Blair whispered, “while I think about it.”

Cam laughed. “Tough duty.”

“Hello?” Diane said distractedly, expecting a wrong number.

“Hi. Did I wake you?”

Diane sat up abruptly, the sheet falling away unheeded. The sliver of moon and the glow from the surrounding city cast the room in dim, gray light. She hadn’t been sleeping, even though it was the middle of the night. “No. I was thinking about you.”

An indrawn breath and a beat of silence followed. Diane almost said her name, but knew instinctively not to. She waited, the seconds interminable.

“Are you home?”

“Actually I’m…” Diane thought of all the conversations she’d had over the years with Blair and how they’d always been careful, even when there was probably no need to be. Now, with Valerie, there surely was. “I’m visiting friends.”

“Ah. Anyone I know?”

“Yes.” Diane’s heart pounded and she strained to hear every nuance in Valerie’s voice. “How’s your trip going?”

“I shouldn’t have called, but I missed you.”

Diane caught her breath. “Can I join you? I’m in a bit of a hiatus myself right now.”

“That’s not a good idea.”

“Why not? I miss you, too. Terribly.”

“I’m not very good company right now.”

Diane heard the warning beneath the words but refused to be deterred. “Shouldn’t I be the one to decide that?”

“Trust me, it might not be all that…pleasant.”

“To be with you?” Diane said lightly while mentally translating, It’s not safe.

“Yes.”

“Then that’s all the more reason to let me come and prove you wrong.” Diane raised her knees and pressed her forehead to them. She closed her eyes, trying to shut out every other sensation except the sound of Valerie’s voice.

A sigh came through the line. “And that’s why I’ve stayed away.”

“I’m sure our friends could help cheer you up.”

“I’m not so sure of that.”

Diane hesitated. Blair was the one person in her life whom she trusted completely. But there was no reason that Valerie should. But what about Cam? Didn’t Valerie trust her? Cam would help Valerie, if she were in trouble. Wouldn’t she?

Would she? Cam’s allegiance was never in doubt. Blair first. Country second. And friendship? Diane had no doubt that Cam would risk her life for Stark or Savard or any of the others. Didn’t Valerie, Cam’s ex-lover and colleague, fall into the same category?

But then, she didn’t really understand anything that had happened. She didn’t understand why Valerie had left, why she’d stayed away, and why she was obviously afraid to talk to her now. She wouldn’t understand until Valerie explained it, and she desperately needed to know. “I want to see you.”

“Diane—”

“No one will know. Please.”

Another endless pause, not even the sound of breathing on the line.

Diane forced herself not to say anything more than she already had. She had never begged a woman for anything in her life, not even Blair when they had been younger and she’d been desperately in love with her. Blair had never known the depth of her feelings, perhaps because she had already learned to shield her emotions behind casual nonchalance. It hadn’t taken many disappointments before she had also learned not to make herself vulnerable by asking for things she couldn’t have. Valerie had effortlessly changed all that. And now, if she didn’t sense that begging would somehow endanger Valerie, she would gladly beg. Anything to break this unwilling isolation.

“How long will you be there?” Valerie finally asked.

“How long should I be?” Diane countered.

“A few days would be good.”

“I’ll try.” Diane opened her eyes. The moon had gone behind a cloud and the room was black. “Don’t be afraid.”

Valerie laughed thinly. “Of you?”

“For me,” Diane whispered.

“I don’t think I can promise that.”

Diane smiled. “And I feel the same. I’ll be waiting.”

“Goodbye,” Valerie whispered.

Diane sat in the silent darkness for a few more minutes, fixing the sound of Valerie’s voice in her mind. Then she pulled up the last number on her call log and called it.

I’m sorry. The number you’re trying to reach is no longer in service.

Chapter Seven

Tuesday

Blair paused halfway across the living room and groaned in appreciation as she smelled coffee. She turned toward the seating area in front of the windows and caught a glimpse of the first streaks of a hazy orange sunrise outside the windows. Diane sat curled up in one corner of the sofa in burgundy satin pj’s, her blond hair loose and partially shielding her face, a mug clasped in both hands.

“Hi,” Blair said. “Mind company?”

“No, of course not.”

Blair continued into the adjoining galley kitchen, poured coffee, and returned. She settled onto the sofa and mirrored Diane’s pose, legs drawn beneath her, partially turned so she could face her friend. “Early morning or late night?”

Diane smiled ruefully. “Both. Funny, I never used to mind sleeping alone.”

“It’s one thing to sleep alone because you prefer to,” Blair said half to herself. “But once you’ve gotten used to someone and then they’re not there, it’s a bitch.”

“I’d forgotten it’s not all that easy for you and Cam most of the time, either. Sorry.”

Blair stroked Diane’s shoulder. “I just meant I understand.”

“I know you do.” Diane was certain that Blair understood all of it—the reluctance to trust, the self-made barriers to protect against heartbreak and disappointment, and the terrible joy of letting someone inside at last. Blair had lived it, just as she had. And because Blair knew—knew her, knew what she hoped and feared, knew what it was to fight for what she wanted—Diane felt some of the desolation lift from her heart. “Valerie called.”

“Is she all right?” Blair held her breath and strained to hear the sound of the shower running in the master bathroom. She didn’t want Cam walking in on this conversation and hearing something she would feel duty bound to act on.

“I don’t know,” Diane said, her voice shaking slightly. “It was a tense conversation. She didn’t say that she wasn’t all right, but obviously something’s wrong.” She searched Blair’s eyes. “Do you know what’s going on?”

“Oh God,” Blair murmured. “I don’t, honey. Honest, not really. And I…” she glanced over her shoulder toward the hallway on the far side of the room.

“Cam’s involved somehow, isn’t she? And I’m putting you in the middle. I should go.”

“No,” Blair said sharply, grasping Diane’s arm to prevent her rising. “You should not go. No one knows anything, including Cam, other than Valerie snuck off in the middle of the night and doesn’t want anyone to know where she is.”

“You make it sound like she’s a criminal.”