"I thought it was really funny when I called my friend AJ to get your home address last night. She was very reluctant to give it to me."

"AJ? Who's she?"

"An FBI agent stationed at Bureau headquarters in DC. She's an information specialist."

"And she's been feeding you classified information?" Cam exclaimed incredulously. "Holy Christ. She could lose her job for that-or worse."

"She's discreet, and I don't ask her for much. We're old friends from prep school."

"I never realized you had such a network of insiders," Cam said appreciatively.That explains a lot about how she's been able to keep such a low profile about her private life all these years. She's had help keeping the information under wraps.

It was Blair's turn to shrug. Then she grinned sheepishly. "I've had a long time to acquire them.

"So," Cam continued, "you think your friend has something to do with this? How well do you know her?"

Blair smiled enigmatically.

"Ah ha", Cam said, arching an eyebrow. "Recently?"

There was just a touch of heat in her voice.

Blair laughed. «Not what youre thinking, surprisingly enough. I covered for her a few times when she was out all night on a date, back when the schools actually tried to keep track of such things. Shes the daughter of a Senatorone who gave my father a run for his money in the primaries, actually. We have a lot in common.

"And you trust her?"

"Absolutely."

"Enough to tell her about this?"

Blair hesitated as she dished out pasta and sauteed vegetables. "Yesterday morning I would have said yes. Last night she soundedodd. Like she wanted to say something, but didnt."

"Or couldnt", Cam countered.

They carried the plates to the breakfast bar and sat side by side.

"What do you mean?"

"Did you talk to her at work?"

"Yes. But I was circumspect. I didnt use your name."

"Still", Cam said around bites, "she has to know everything going in and out of there is taped. And besides, maybe shes more loyal to the Bureau than to you, especially if she thinks Im dirty. Remember, she doesnt know me at all."

"I hadnt considered that", Blair said softly. The thought of anyone, but especially a friend, thinking that about Cam bothered her. She was at once angry and saddened. Unconsciously, she dropped her hand onto Cams thigh, stroking her softly. "Do you think I should try talking to her?"

"Not yet. Maybe we'll know more after we see what's in the newest delivery," Cam mused, covering Blairs hand with hers. "As soon as we're done, I'm going to find out if Savard is available to walk us through the lab."

"Cam, it's almost 8:00. Do you really think she'll be able to do anything tonight?"

"The Bureau's open twenty-four hours a day. We can always ask."

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Twenty minutes later, Cam, perched on a stool at the breakfast bar, used the nearby wall phone to call down to the command center and asked for Stark.

"Yes, Commander?"

"I'd like to arrange a meeting with Special Agent Savard this evening. Id like you to come along."

"Sure. Absolutely," Stark said, then added hastily, "yes, ma'am."

"Would you happen to have the number where she's staying?"

"Uh-right here, yes," Stark, who had just finished talking to Renee moments before, responded. "Would you like me to call, or..."

"Best let me do that. But thanks."

Stark gave her the number and Cam jotted it down. "Fine. Would you get one of the vehicles and wait for us downstairs, please."

Us, Stark thought.Huh.

"Roger, Commander."

After Cam hung up from, Blair asked, "Are you sure we should involve them?"

"No, not really. Cam swiveled around on the stool until her back was to the counter and regarded Blair, who stood a few feet in front of her. Tiredly, Cam rubbed her eyes. The headache was back. «But unfortunately, we need to do some digging and some legwork, and I don't see that we have much choice. Hopefully, if things go bad, I can keep them out of it."

"Go bad?" Blair worked to keep her voice casual.

"If I'm wrong, and I reallyam the primary target of whoever is digging around in D.C., then something may break-or leak-pretty soon. If I go down in a big way, I don't want anyone else going with me."

"That's not going to happen," Blair said emphatically, eyes blazing.

"We have to be prepared for that event. And if it happens, you're going to need to get distance, too."

"No."

Softly, Cam said, "It will have to be done. I would want it that way even if youweren't the first daughter. If this turns out to be some junior reporter's bid for fame, and it becomes an exposition piece on degeneracy in the nation's capitol or security breaches within the Secret Service or God knows what else-the story will be huge. If that happens, the spin will all be bad, and your name and your father's name can't be linked to it." Before Blair could object, Cam added, "You know I'm right."

"Define what you mean bydistance , Cameron," Blair said steadily, the edge in her voice so sharp it would have cut glass. "A week, a month-six goddamned years?"

"Please, Blair," Cam said wearily. "Do you honestly think I'd want that? You can't think it would be easy for me, can you?"

There was no fire in her voice, only a deep sadness. It was one of the few times Blair had ever seen Cam show even the slightest hint of defeat. It was so unusual, it shocked her free of her anger. Suddenly, she saw with brutal clarity that Cam was facing the potential destruction of her career as well as the threat to their relationship. Immediately, she went to her and slipped her arms around Cams shoulders, pressing Cam's cheek against her breasts. To her surprise, Cam's arms came around her waist and tightened. Blair could feel her trembling.

Tenderly, she kissed the top of Cams head. "It's going to be okay. We'll figure out what this is all about and we'll find out who's behind it and we'll put an end to it. Whatever happens, there's no way you're getting rid of me."

"I'd die for you without even thinking about it," Cam murmured hoarsely. "But I can't imagine living without you. Not now."

Listening to Cam's words, Blair pulled her lover closer still, a strange peace suffusing her.

"You don't have to worry, because you won't have to."

*****

Forty-five minutes later, Stark, Cam, and Blair stood outside the rear entrance of a nondescript six-story stone building in midtown Manhattan. Precisely at the designated time, Savard keyed the security lock and opened the door.

"Commander", she said when she saw Cam, her eyes moving over Starks face with a faint smile, then stopping in surprise when they met Blairs. "Good evening, Ms. Powell."

"Hi", Blair replied. "How are you feeling, Renee?"

"Okay. Ill be better when I can get out of this damn thing", Savard said, indicating the sling tethering her left arm to her chest. "Come inside. The security cameras are timed back here. Weve got a few minutes."

Savard led them through a warren of beige hallways that were indistinguishable from one another. All the office doors were closed and the harsh fluorescent lights spaced at intervals overhead cast everything in the same impersonal institutional glare. Opening the door to a stairwell, she said, "The labs on the third floor. There's a video camera in the main elevators, and I thought we might as well walk."

"Good idea," Cam replied. It was doubtful that anyone would actually go through the routine surveillance tapes in the absence of any reason to do so, but the less time their little group was recorded, the better.

The three of them climbed single file and then walked silently through yet another corridor to the last door on the right. Savard pushed it open and they stepped into a large open space divided into work stations by laboratory benches and tables containing high tech analytical equipment.

Since most of the technicians who worked in the lab were regular eight-to-fivers, the vast area was empty save for a lone white-coated figure hunched over a lab bench at the far end of the room. As the group approached him, Savard called out, "Hey, Sammy."

A pale, bespectacled young man with a thatch of red hair badly in need of a cut and a mildly befuddled expression on his face, glanced in their direction. Then, as if suddenly remembering an appointment, he smiled broadly. "Hey, Renee. You got something for me?"

"Yep. Savard pointed to the manila envelope in Cam's hand. «I need you to take a look at whatever's inside. I don't need to tell you the routine. Anything you can give us will be helpful."

His hands were covered in thin latex gloves, which he stripped off and replaced with a new pair from a cardboard box by his right elbow. Despite the fact that he must have realized that dozens of people had already handled the envelope, he took it from Cam with stainless steel tongs and laid it on a nearby glass surface. With a magnifying glass, he bent down to examine the surface, pausing for a few seconds over the hand-printed address.

Mumbling to himself, he remarked, "Standard magic marker, no postmark, nothing distinctive about the packaging."

He straightened and picked up the envelope. "Give me a few minutes and I'll see what I can turn up. Ill scan it for hand-writing analysis if you need that done later."

"Okay, great. We'll be in the conference room," Savard said, indicating a door in the far corner of the room.

"Uh-huh," he said distractedly, his mind clearly somewhere else already.