Diane reached over and took Blair's hand. "She's going to be fine. Even if they're involved in something risky, they're not alone. Your father and Lucy aren't going to let Cam do anything really dangerous. They know what she means to you."

"You are speaking about Cameron Roberts, my lover, right?" Blair said. "The one who believes that sacrifice is the greatest form of love?"

"Is she any different than you as far as that goes?" Diane spoke gently, but the look in her eyes said that she knew Blair would give up anything to keep Cam safe too.

"It's not the same." Blair turned away from Diane's appraising stare, blinking back the tears that were as much a result of frustration as fear. She sighed. "But her behavior is not a news flash. I should be used to it by now."

"No, not used to it. You'll never be used to it, I suppose, as long as she does what she does." Diane gave Blair's hand a shake. "But perhaps you'll begin to believe that she's coming back, because she always does."

Blair nodded. "I know. And I know that's the only thing I should really be thinking about."

"Good. So practice."

"I'll try." Blair leaned her head back against the sofa and stared at the ceiling, toying with Diane's fingers. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm all right."

Blair turned her head, hearing a calmness in Diane's voice that hadn't been there when they'd walked on the beach. She searched her friend's face. "My God," she breathed, "she called, didn't she?"

Diane said nothing.

"Are you afraid to tell me because you think I'll do something to endanger her?" Blair sat up straight. "Diane?"

"Some people here are very angry at her."

"Cam defended her this morning," Blair said. "Even though she was angry, she said she understood her. She said that sometimes they don't get to choose what they do."

"They do choose, though, don't they," Diane said quietly. "They choose to follow orders, because they believe that what they're doing is right or important or.. .necessary."

"You've really gotten a crash course in the trials and tribulations of being in love with a spooky, haven't you?" Blair said gently.

Diane laughed, a tremor in her voice. "Oh, I certainly have. No wonder you resisted Cam as long as you did."

"Yeah," Blair laughed, "for all of about two seconds."

"We're a great pair, aren't we?"

Blair slid her arm around Diane's shoulders. "I would never do anything to hurt you. Is she all right?"

"I don't know. I think so. We only...we only spoke for a moment."

"So you don't know anything?"

Diane shook her head. "Not a thing. I don't think she's in Washington anymore, though. So if there's something going on with Cam and Renee right now, she's not a part of it."

"No, probably not right now. But there was some reason that she left the way she did, and I expect there's going to be hard feelings about that for a while with quite a few people."

"What about us? Is it going to come between us?"

Blair reached for Diane's other hand. "Not if we don't let it. Let's agree right now that sometimes our lovers might not see eye to eye. That will be between them. Not us. Okay?"

"Okay."

"You do know what you're getting into, don't you? Because it's probably going to be a very bumpy ride."

"After this morning, I think I've got a pretty good idea just how rough it's going to be." Diane smiled softly. "But when I thought she was gone, really gone, it was as if something inside of me had broken, and I knew I would never be able to fix it. And then the second I heard her voice, everything felt right again."

"Well. That's your answer, then, isn't it?" "It seems to be. Does it ever begin to make sense?" "Once in a while," Blair said, "when you feel her next to you, and you know that that's the only thing in the world that truly matters."

*

"Savard," Cam shouted. "You hit?"

Savard turned her head in Cam's direction, spitting dirt from her mouth. Her face was pale and contorted with pain. "Twisted my knee when I landed. Tore something, I think."

"Can you move?" Cam took in the crimson stain on Savard's leg and the ragged tear in her pants. Bullet wound. Somewhere nearby, men shouted and the intermittent bursts of automatic weapons fire continued. "We need to get out of here," Cam said urgently. "Just crawl."

"Don't think.. .I can. You go."

"Forget it, Agent. Get moving." Cam gripped the back of Savard's jacket in her fist and pulled, inching forward on her elbows, keeping her belly and hips on the ground. She jerked Savard with her. "Push with your good leg and use your elbow for leverage. Come on. It's only thirty feet or so to the building."

"Commander, I..."

"Move"

"Yes, ma'am."

Together, they maneuvered across the open ground. At one point, Cam saw a figure in faded green camos race around the side of the building, a rifle in his hands. She sighted on his chest, waiting to pull the trigger if he trained his weapon on them. But before she needed to fire, he pitched forward, his rifle flying from his hands. He writhed on the ground, a red patch spreading rapidly high on his back. He'd taken a round in the shoulder. The Delta Forces aren 't shooting to kill, at least not unless they have to.

"The stairs are just ahead," Cam yelled. "Get up on one knee and put your arm around me. We're going inside."

Cam wrapped her left arm around Savard's waist, her weapon in her right hand. Savard pushed up with her uninjured left leg, and the two of them clambered up the stairs and through the door. The room was empty except for several chairs turned over on the floor and a desk that sat in front of a doorway centered in the far wall.

"You're bleeding," Cam said, easing Savard down to the floor by the side of the desk. She guided Savard's hand to the wound. "Press on this and keep your eye on the front door. Use the desk for cover if you need to. I'll check the back."

Assured that Savard was as safe as she could be, Cam ran quickly to the rear wall and put her back against it. Then, with her weapon arm cocked up by her head, she inched toward the open doorway. She suspected that Matheson's office was on the other side, since this was the building they had presumed was the command center. She hadn't seen anyone come out the front door, unless he'd been one of the first men to rush onto the parade ground as they'd landed. If he was, hopefully he'd been captured already. He might have escaped through a back door, or he could have gone out a window. She hoped that he was still inside, destroying paperwork or just waiting, foolish enough to make a stand.

She took one quick glance behind her and couldn't see Savard. She had probably moved behind the desk. Good. With a quick intake of breath, Cam swung into the doorway, keeping low, hoping to make as small a target as possible. A quick glance left, then right. There was one man in the room, standing behind the desk and looking straight into her eyes, as if he'd indeed been waiting. Cam held his gaze, but her mind was flooded with images. It was surprising the details that one noticed between one heartbeat and the next.

A maroon desk blotter was perfectly lined up in the precise center of the desk. A gold ring with a blue sapphire stone, a class ring of some kind, adorned his right hand. His clean-shaven, tanned face was expressionless save for a small smile on his thin lips, registering neither anger nor panic. That was odd, considering that a chain of rectangular explosive packs were laid out in front of him.

Cam couldn't tell for certain, but if those were C4 charges, she judged there was enough there to blow up a great deal of the surrounding compound, and everyone in it. From what she could see of the coils leading from the pale pink squares, he had not yet set the timer. When he snatched up what appeared to be the ignition switch and dove to the floor behind the desk, she had no time to think about anything, not even Blair. She catapulted out of her crouch, over the desk, and on top of him, grappling for his hand. He elbowed her in the throat, and she gagged, spots dancing before her eyes as she forced his wrist back, trying to dislocate it. He elbowed her in the neck again, and she felt herself losing consciousness. Just as she slipped away, she heard an explosion.

*

Everyone in the room abruptly stopped talking when Stark's phone rang twenty minutes before Blair was due to call Lucinda Washburn.

"Stark," she said. Her gaze flicked once to Blair as she listened, and she squared her shoulders. "Yes, ma'am, I understand. Forty minutes. Yes, ma'am, we'll be there. Yes, ma'am, ready to receive." She closed her phone and cleared her throat. "That was the chief of staff. They're sending a military escort to pick us up. I should be getting the coordinates by satellite relay right now. Ms. Powell, if you could get ready to leave immediately."

"Did Lucinda give you Cam's status?" Blair asked, her voice surprisingly steady, because she'd stopped breathing with the first ring. Cam would have called her had she been able to. This could only mean one thing. She was hurt. God, please let that be all.

"No, ma'am," Stark said hoarsely. "Just that they're airlifting casualties to McDonald Army Hospital in Virginia."

Blair swayed for just an instant before she took a deep breath and steeled herself. "Then we should go."

Chapter Thirty-Two

A military jet awaited them at the rendezvous point. Hara and Wozinski fell in behind Stark and Blair as they raced across the tarmac to the aircraft. A Marine lieutenant waited at the bottom of the staircase and followed silently behind them as they climbed rapidly aboard. The jet seated ten and had none of the trappings of their usual transportation. Blair made her way to the rear seats and slid into one, reaching automatically for the seat belt. Stark walked slowly up and down the aisle, inspecting the interior, as the jet taxied down the runway.